Brazilians feel the force when Sparky rages

Mark Hughes has revealed that the language barrier is not a problem when he gets angry with Manchester City's big name foreign stars.

Brazilian duo Robinho and Jo were left in no doubt about Hughes' mood in the aftermath of the 2-2 draw at Newcastle on Monday night.

City were thankful for a late Stephen Ireland equaliser to rescue a point against a team that were both a man and a goal down with almost 80 minutes to play.

And the City boss, whose team face Stoke at Eastlands today, said: "The foreign players understood how angry I was at Newcastle the other night, don't worry about that.

"Every single player was made aware that what we produced just wasn't good enough. Of course I get angry when things aren't going right. It doesn't matter who is in the team.

"Immediately after the game I could only think of the negative aspects of the performance - and we had failed to beat a team that played with 10 men for 80 minutes.

"After things settled down a few days later, I was able to look at some of the positive aspects. The players did show some character to rescue a point with only four minutes to go and I have to give them credit for that."

City have already lost four league games this term, with Hughes seeing his team beaten by Aston Villa, Chelsea, Wigan and Liverpool.

The City boss does not want to diffuse the exploding expectations of the Eastlands fans. But he feels that City's Arab owners are much more conservative in their hopes for the team this season.

Hughes (below) said: "There are big expectations here - but that's why I came to City. That's what I want and I would never try to quell expectations.

"But the owners are more realistic. They understand where this team is and that we haven't gone from a side that struggled last season to a team that can be in the top four.

"They know where this team is in terms of development.

We have weaknesses in the team that we can't address until January.

"At the moment we look great going forward. The problem is that we have looked a little bit too exposed at the other end.

"That's something I'm looking to address, although I think most people would agree that some of the football we have played already this season has been exceptional.

"We have played the vast majority of our games against teams in the top half of the league.

"Now we are entering a period where we play teams who are below us in the table - and that offers us a real opportunity."

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