The unsung hero in a season of highs at Newcastle
Is it just me or has Chris Hughton been given little in the way of plaudits for the job he is doing this season with Newcastle United? With 10 games remaining the Magpies need 16 points to mathematically guarantee their return to the Premier League at the first attempt, and there has been little cause for concern at St James Park along the way. After last year’s disastrous relegation there was potential for the club to implode but Hughton’s rein has run so smoothly that even Mike Ashley doesn’t seem to be the figure of hate that he was 12 months ago. And for that he should be extremely grateful to Hughton and his monumental efforts since taking the job, initially on a caretaker basis, last summer.
Maybe part of the reason I am so impressed by Hughton’s actions this campaign is that I fully expected Newcastle to struggle in the Championship. I felt they would suffer the hangover of all hangovers and stutter to a mid-table finish, much like we are seeing from their North East rivals, Middlesbrough. Clearly, they have an outstanding collection of players for Championship level but I was of the opinion that the divisions between fans and club were too large and many of their most talented assets would not be up for the slog that a 46-game haul, in the second tier, is. But how wrong I was and for that Hughton deserves so much credit. The Londoner instantly unified the dressing room and got their massive support right back on side with the excellent results that followed. St James Park has become a fortress and since October, when they showed signs that they might not have it all their own way, Newcastle’s form has been almost exemplary with their 3-0 defeat at Derby being an absolute anomaly and the only time a game has yielded no points in 23 outings. Indeed, Wednesday night’s victory over Scunthorpe now means the Toon have taken a huge 52 points from those games.
Hughton has also conducted himself in an excellent manner – never giving too much away and staying level-headed after wins and defeats. In typical fashion, he refused to talk about how close his side were to clinching promotion after the comfortable win over Nigel Adkins’ strugglers.
Hughton told Sky Sports: “The aim of this football club is to get back into the Premier League. However we manage to do that, whether it’s automatically or through the play-offs. That was always the aim and objective and nothing’s changed from that.”
But surely Newcastle will achieve their aim automatically for they now, in theory, need just five wins to secure a top two spot seeing as their goal difference is so superior to that of Nottingham Forest’s – the side lying in third place. And with Forest still having to visit St James Park it is likely that a victory for the home side on that occasion will put them out of sight. While many assumed Newcastle would bounce straight back this campaign, to actually go and do it will be some achievement for Hughton. And, so far, he has made it look easy, despite all the pressures that go with such a big and unforgiving job. He has assumed nothing and has managed to get his squad matching their work rate to their talent. It looks like it is going to end swimmingly for Newcastle in May and if/when it does Hughton should get all the accolades and acknowledgement he deserves.
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Here Here, totally agree. Hughton isn’t getting the plaudits he deserves. When we got relegated I thought we’d struggle to get in the play-offs. I use a NUFC forum a lot and at the start of the year the question was put “where do you think we’ll finish this season” and less the 10% probably more like 5% though we’d get promoted first time of asking.
I’m over the moon the job he’s done for our club and certain individuals need to stop saying he isn’t a Premiership manager. Give him a chance, the bloke has done a great job.
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gotta admit, i thought we would struggle, especially when you look at the previous efforts by Hughton.
I think Chris (together with the lads) deserve the plaudits as its them who have done it (when/if we go up) automatically.
And thanks to Cashley,for not letting his investment do a portsmouth !!!
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I’m still not sure of Hughton to be honest. I don’t question his character in anyway just think that the majority of teams in this division have been pretty poor so we should have been getting promoted anyway. Big test will come once we get promoted. If he manages to keep us in the Premier league then I will give him the acknowledgement you say he deserves. I know it may not be a popular opinion however at least I’m not being hypocritical saying he is a good manager when he is winning and a poor manager when we are losing. I feel he has made some excellent signings such as Routledge however I feel the Best signing was pretty poor. I also feel that the handling of Ranger hasn’t been the best. I’m wondering if something has happened behind the scenes because he doesn’t seem to be getting a fair chance in the team.
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