Hughes: When did it all start going right?

When news of our change of owners hit the newswires in the early hours of the first day of September last year every journalist and football fan, even those with only a passing interest in the game, were soon putting two and two together and informing anyone who could care to listen than Mark Hughes would be out of a job sooner rather than later.

His past as a Manchester United stalwart didn't really endear him to our supporters either. Many were against him solely because of his stints across the road. During last season, and the disappointing away form that cost us so dearly, the dissenting voices were deep in numbers, at games, in the pub, at places of work, and obviously heard loudest online. At some point, however, something changed, and without a trophy or hugely significant event to point to i'm not sure exactly when Hughes won over the remaining doubters.

Results this season have obviously been good, performances are encouraging, we look more like a team, and with better players at his disposal any manager should hope to see an upturn in fortunes, especially when spending considerably like we have done. In my opinion, though, the tide really started turning in Hughes' favour before this campaign got underway, and before the most recent players arrived, or last season had even finished.

For me, the return leg of the UEFA Cup quarter final against Hamburg at Eastlands really signalled a change in attitudes towards Mark from those who perhaps weren't prepared to be fully in his corner before. Both the team and the supporters really bust a gut that night and although the eventual outcome was terribly disheartening i certainly came away from the game that night almost beating my chest with pride at how things were moving along.

I can't speak for everyone else, you may well feel differently, but the fact that we'd almost made a semi-final of a European tournament, though maybe a relatively small achievement by the standards of the sides we're hoping to catch, proved a nice little taster of what could happen, and even though our route to that stage may not have been particularly tough, we gave it a decent shot. Since then i don't think i've heard a single yelp of discord from the 'Hughes Out' brigade.

Any manager going to achieve anything significant at this club was always going to have to come in with a sledgehammer, demolish everything and build from the bottom up, ridding the place of underperformers, hanger-on'ers and instilling a winning mentality sadly lacking in the recent past. For far too long it had been a club built on sand.

Such drastic changes will always be met with critics, and involve tough decisions. Many of us were sad to see Joe Hart replaced, or Richard Dunne sold, or Daniel Sturridge leave for pastures new, but Hughes is being proved right, and the 'typical City' negativity, both on and off the pitch, looks to be coming a thing of the past.

Over the summer Hughes has really come into his own. He's always come across as quite a stubborn character, but he seems to have developed an added confidence and more of a sense of humour, perhaps in part down to the owner and chairman's unwavering support. He's got his own squad now, not Sven's, or Pearce's, even Keegan's. His people have come in behind the scenes, the facilities have been improved to his specifications and it's his club rather than simply one he's the manager of.

How long he's manager of Manchester City will ultimately be decided by results, but it's a relief to be able to stick fingers up to the journalists and fans of other clubs who were assuring us that he wouldn't last until Christmas/Easter/the new season. The owner has kept his council and Khaldoon must have noticed qualities in Hughes to give him his full backing.

For the first time in my years supporting the club it feels like everyone is pulling in the same direction, from those right at the top, through to the managerial and coaching staff, playing squad, and even us fans. At times last season it looked like Hughes mightn't be here for the long-haul, i can't imagine the place without him now.