Don't really know where to put this, but a cracking piece from the Mail about recent goings on. Waddle's comment made me crack up...
While the team he created came wading through the debris of a chaotic week, Chris Hughton was far away from the action.
A fine manager, crassly discarded, was celebrating his birthday and coming to terms with his cruel misfortune. Yet still he cast a long shadow across St James’ Park.
His was the face on the fans’ banners, his was the name on their lips. Well, his name and those of the men who sacked him; the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and his managing director Derek Llambias.
The fans spoke warmly of Hughton, the man who led them to the Championship title last season and delivered some remarkable results in the Premier League this term; six goals against Aston Villa, five against Sunderland, victory at Arsenal, a point against Chelsea.
They revered Hughton for bringing stability, dignity and a real measure of success to a club which had been a stranger to such things. The players seemed to share that view. ‘There was such a dignity about the way he left. It goes without saying that we were shocked’, said Newcastle’s captain Kevin Nolan.
And if they loved Hughton, then they despised his executioners. These, after all, are the people who employed Joe Kinnear and Dennis Wise, as well as Alan Shearer and Iain Dowie, perhaps the least successful double act since Cannon and Ball. Shrewd judgment is clearly not their forte.
Hughton’s successor, Alan Pardew, had arrived on a wave of apathy. There is usually a cast of thousands for the introduction of a new manager at St James’ Park. Pardew was greeted by a couple of cleaners, the local postman and the club cat. Enthusiasm was easily contained.
The preamble to last night’s game was unpromising for Pardew. Kevin Keegan, one of his many predecessors, offered a character assessment.
He said: ‘You can’t work with these people. You can’t trust them. They tell you one thing and mean another... Mike Ashley doesn’t know anything about football and Derek Llambias knows even less than him. So you’ve got two people running the club who know nothing.’
Chris Waddle, another Newcastle favourite, added his own commendation: ‘When you’ve got Batman and Robin upstairs, you’ve got no chance,’ he said.
In fairness, there was support for Ashley’s treatment of Hughton from the former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd: ‘A lot of people won’t agree with me but I think he has done the right thing. I would have done the same,’ said Shepherd. Some might find that encouraging. Others would suggest that, with Shepherd as your friend, you really don’t need enemies.
Pardew arrived to boos and banners acclaiming Chris Hughton. Ashley turned up with chins sagging, neck gaping, radiating all the gravitas of a ticket tout.
Next to him, Llambias looked like a casino director, which he is. It was at his casino, it seems, that he made the acquaintance of Pardew, who was sacked by his three previous clubs.
As we know, there is nothing a casino boss loves more than an habitual loser.
Newcastle had found their next manager. Pardew affected a cheery indifference. ‘I’ve had a lot of texts from other managers saying I must be mad coming here,’ he said.
Perhaps so, but the fact the alternative was continued unemployment possibly influenced his decision to sign a five-and-a-half year contract.
The team, Hughton’s team, played willingly enough for the new man against a Liverpool side whose performance belied its recent encouraging results.
Indeed, when Nolan scored after 14 minutes, it seemed that they might get Batman and Robin off the hook.
But Steve Taylor’s own goal did nothing to improve the mood and jeers were simmering until the 80th minute, when Joey Barton stole the lead.
The final flourish, an extravagant drive by Andy Carroll, had Ashley up on his feet, dancing and demonstrating his delight and relief. It would be pleasant to report that his joy was shared across the length and breadth of English football. But it wouldn’t be true.
Pardew, sensitive soul that he is, announced he would be contacting Hughton for his observations. ‘But he’ll be hurting, so I’ll give it time,’ he said. Splendid idea. About five-and-a-half years ought to do it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1337850/Patrick-Collins-Chris-Hughton-Newcastle-United-hero-Batman-Robin-upstairs.html
