contract, with Southall eventually leaving the set-up. When he took over, Wales were going through a bad patch but in the five years with Hughes in charge, Wales came close to qualifying for UEFA Euro 2004. In their Euro 2004 qualifying group, Wales ended up second, beating Italy 2–1 in Cardiff in the process, but was denied a place in the final tournament after losing to Russia in the playoffs. Blackburn Rovers Hughes quit the Welsh national side in September 2004 to take charge of Blackburn in the FA Premier League, the last club he had played for. His key aim was to keep Blackburn clear of relegation, which he succeeded in doing, while also taking the club to an FA Cup semi-final for the first time in over 40 years. In his second season, he helped Blackburn finish inside the top six of the Premier League and subsequently qualify for the UEFA Cup, beating teams such as Chelsea, Manchester United (twice) and Arsenal en route. After just missing out on the League Cup final, his team sealed their spot in Europe by defeating champions Chelsea 1–0 at home. On 4 May 2006, Hughes and assistant Mark Bowen signed new three-year contracts to remain at Blackburn until the summer of 2009. Hughes then set about creating a formidable side at Ewood Park. He entered the transfer market, bringing in players such as Benni McCarthy (£2 million), David Bentley (£500,000), Ryan Nelsen (free), Stephen Warnock (£1.5 million), Roque Santa Cruz (£3.5 million), and Christopher Samba (£400,000). Rovers finished tenth in the Premier League in 2006–07, and reached the UEFA Cup round of 32, where they were knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen 3–2 on aggregate. Rovers faced Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, their third consecutive semi-final since Hughes took charge. The match ended in defeat, 2–1. He won the Premier League Manager of the Month award for October 2007, and eventually led Blackburn to a league finish of seventh in 2007–08, Hughes's final season in charge at Ewood Park. During his spell in charge of Blackburn, Hughes's side was accused of being "over-physical" and "dirty" on multiple occasions and the club finished bottom of the Premier League disciplinary table in all four of Hughes's seasons in charge. Manchester City On 2 June 2008, Manchester City sacked manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. Interest was also reported from Chelsea, however, who had recently sacked their