Who's said he's done a great job? Just being used to show how another manager has done with an arguably comparable team.
And unless my maths is wrong Stokes average league position is more like 13th (12th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 13th) so Hughes is well on course to take them to their highest ever Premier League finish, bit harsh to say all he's done is tread water tbh.
Fair enough, I misread their previous finishes. He's done better than I had realised.