After being sacked by Stoke, Hughes had planned to dedicate some time to his family. His daughter Xenna, a Welsh international hockey player, is competing in this month's Commonwealth Games in Australia and Hughes had intended to fly out and support her.
Unfortunately, however, events at St Mary's changed those plans.
"If I'm being honest, I didn't anticipate getting back in (management) until maybe next season," Hughes told BBC Sport. "I had lots of plans, things we were going to do.
"I'm supposed to be in Australia as we speak because my daughter's in the Commonwealth Games playing hockey for Wales so that was my big plan. I thought, 'Oh yeah, I've got an opportunity to go there'.
"But there you go. I've apologised to her..."
Given how the Premier League table currently looks and the performance Southampton gave against West Ham on Saturday, it's not a situation that seems to have worked out particularly well for anyone involved.
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