The old Chris Hughton discussion thread

[Wallace]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/680757/NEWCASTLES-CHRIS-OF-LIFE.html

 

 

NEWCASTLE'S CHRIS OF LIFE

Hughton has transformed 'circus club'

 

By Garry Doyle, 16/01/2010

 

IT WASN'T so long ago when everyone was predicting Newcastle United would do a Leeds.

 

And by that we don't mean assembling a team with enough spirit and ability to go to Old Trafford and pour egg on Sir Alex Ferguson's face.

 

No, the Leeds reference had more to do with the descent of a club who graced the Champions League semis in 2001 - and are now operating in the third tier of English football.

 

Could Newcastle go the same way?

 

Damien Duff certainly thought so. In July, prior to his move to Fulham, Duff told friends at Carlton House, Newcastle's pre-season base: "This place is a circus. Chris is the only one holding things together."

 

Chris is Chris Hughton, one of three Irishmen managing in the Championship, and a man who has performed a minor miracle in this, his first full-time managerial job.

 

If this seems excessive praise for someone in charge of the biggest club, with the biggest budget in the Championship, then bear in mind the circumstances when Hughton took over.

 

To start with, it looked like he would only be at St James' Park for another month or so while Newcastle owner, Mike Ashley, completed its sale to prospective buyer, Barry Moat.

 

Had Moat's takeover gone through, then Hughton would have been on his way - with Shearer, the Great Messiah, who collected just five points from eight games last season, ready to step back in.

 

Instead, as speculation surrounded not just his, but absolutely every player on Newcastle's books, Hughton - minus a contract, nor much hope of getting one - tried to keep the ship afloat in turbulent seas.

 

Of course, it hardly helped that key members of the crew - Michael Owen, Sebastien Bassong, Habib Beye, Damien Duff, Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins - had jumped overboard.

 

And those who remained didn't appear to have the stomach for the journey, losing 6-1 to Leyton Orient in pre-season, at which point, mutiny was in the air.

 

There and then, Hughton matured from trusty sidekick - he had spent 14 years in various assistant coaching roles at White Hart Lane - into a bona fide, No1.

 

Along with key senior players, Alan Smith, Steve Harper and Nicky Butt, Hughton called a team meeting and spelt out in no uncertain terms what the future held.

 

"It won't just be this club that'll suffer but you will too," he told the squad. "Keep playing like this and tell me who'll want to buy you? Who'll touch a player who isn't doing a job? Your past reputation will count for nothing."

 

It was the sort of tough-love the players needed. After all, in the Championship, "they are everyone else's Cup final" according to Blackpool boss, Ian Holloway. They had to be ready for a scrap.

 

Six months later, they've proved they are and if they manage to defeat promotion rivals, West Brom, at St James' Park tomorrow night, they will be nine points clear of the play-off zone.

 

Key to their success - and where Hughton deserves credit - is the way Premier League flops Fabrizio Coloccini, Claudio Capaca, Jonas Gutierrez, Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor have turned their careers around.

 

Middlesbrough boss, Gordon Strachan, after seeing his side played off the park last month, said: "Newcastle have a team full of men. They have experience, character, mental strength and quality."

 

And if the players were finding their level in the Championship, then so too was their manager.

 

Born in London 51 years ago, Hughton never shied away from his Irish roots, winning 53 caps for his country before he became assistant manager to Brian Kerr in 2003.

 

It was as an assistant - and perpetual caretaker - that he was commonly known, having stepped into that breach seven times, at Newcastle and Spurs, prior to last summer.

 

Along the way, he has had to swallow his pride. Late last season, after the Messiah's second coming, Shearer's disciple Iain Dowie usurped Hughton's position, an unsubtle demotion.

 

Hughton didn't say a word and got on with his job, whatever that had become.

 

This professionalism, dignity, calmness and ability to see the bigger picture - Dowie, by the way, is now sending in match reports on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday programme - defines Hughton as a person.

 

And it stood him well during the summer, as the Moat takeover saga stretched on for three months, with Shearer hanging around in the background like a bad smell.

 

Undeterred, Hughton got on with things, picking up a couple of loan signings in the August transfer window to supplement his threadbare squad before mobilising his troops into action.

 

There have been plenty of problems since. A permanent contract didn't arrive until October and in the dressing room, he had to face down the ageing Butt, who wants to play in absolutely every game but simply no longer has the legs to do so.

 

Off the park, trouble flared among the younger members of the squad as Andy Carroll faced an assault charge before Nile Ranger and Danny Simpson got involved in a punch-up.

 

But Hughton has managed to deal with the issues quietly while keeping the show on the road, placating the demanding supporters who despise the Ashley regime, while at the same time standing up to both the owner as well as managing director, Derek Llambias.

 

"Chris has always been a lovely man," says one person who has worked closely with him for years. "He's unusual because he is a manager who is genuinely nice and not the sort of spoofer or hard b***tard that some in the trade can be.

 

"But there is steel running through him. He has never let Ashley walk all over him. If he had have done so, then Newcastle would have failed."

 

Still, bigger challenges lie ahead. In the summer, takeover chat will resume and Hughton's position will once again come under scrutiny.

 

Should he survive, then he has to build a team capable of surviving relegation. Defeats will see the fans turn and the press will inevitably follow.

 

Despite inheriting a shambles of a club and rebuilding it brick by brick, he knows the hard work has yet to begin.

 

[Ridman]

 

 

Key to their success - and where Hughton deserves credit - is the way Premier League flops Fabrizio Coloccini, Claudio Capaca, Jonas Gutierrez, Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor have turned their careers around.

 

 

??

[ChrisMcQuillan]

 

O'Neill isn't British. He's mostly played and managed in Britain, but he's Irish.

 

 

 

 

 

Being from Northern Ireland makes you British.

 

He is still most likely from Irish heritage, but is a British citizen.

[Guest ST James]

Lets get behind Chris and giv him a chance he deserves it if we get promoted.

[BottledDog]

Lets get behind Chris and giv him a chance he deserves it if we get promoted.

 

Exactly.

Everyone seems to assume it's easy, but I have been won over by his atitude and interviews and that he has through all this kept our stars happy; If he can see us through the second half of the season, he is up there with the best we have had.

 

The negativity against one of the most honest and impressive employees our club has had in many a year is frankly disgusting. If we make it up, fantastic. If he stays on in his role then he will have deserved a shot.

 

Good luck Chris, I hope for all our sakes you can prove these fuckers wrong.

[Ronaldo]

Fuckers?

 

He's proved his tactical ineptitude throughout the season and cowered from dropping big players. We have no hope with him in the premiership.

[madras]

Fuckers?

 

He's proved his tactical ineptitude throughout the season and cowered from dropping big players. We have no hope with him in the premiership.

he dropped butt. who else without raiding the academy ?

[Ronaldo]

Butt has played far too often this season, the guy's nowhere near up to it anymore.

[madras]

Butt has played far too often this season, the guy's nowhere near up to it anymore.

is he any worse than smith ?

[Ronaldo]

Of course he is man. We've had one good season since we signed him and that was the season he was on loan at Birmingham - who got relegated the same season.

 

Smith's a poor player but Butt is a constant and absolute liability, he has no place playing professional football anymore.

[Yorkie]

Butt has played far too often this season, the guy's nowhere near up to it anymore.

is he any worse than smith ?

 

He's got absolutely nothing on Smith.

[madras]

Of course he is man. We've had one good season since we signed him and that was the season he was on loan at Birmingham - who got relegated the same season.

 

Smith's a poor player but Butt is a constant and absolute liability, he has no place playing professional football anymore.

what does that mean, we've had no good seasons since enrique signed therefore he's crap ?

 

smith and butt are interchangable...both crap, i'd margianlly take butt as he tries to take repsonsibility, smith doesn't. of the 4 first team central midfielderds at the club, i'd be quite happy keeping nolan and guthrie if we failed to get promoted.

[Ronaldo]

I'm saying that Butt is one of the biggest reasons we're in the championship right now, the opposition are effectively a man up with him on the pitch.

[madras]

I'm saying that Butt is one of the biggest reasons we're in the championship right now, the opposition are effectively a man up with him on the pitch.

idisagree. have you watched alan smith ?

[merlin]

Irish passports are a hell of  a lot more acceptable in a lot of the world than a UK One......................  the Canadians are well thought of as well..................

Irish passports are a hell of  a lot more acceptable in a lot of the world than a UK One......................  the Canadians are well thought of as well..................

 

Do you actually hold a non-UK Passport ? If you think its so bad to have one, I assume you don't live in the UK ? If you think having a non-UK Passport is so good, I suggest you try entering Chile or Argentina on a Canadian one ; you will find that you have to pay US$100 for the privilege - UK Passport holders enter FREE....maybe other countries in the world don't share you opinion, but then maybe its because they know the Brits are so hard-up after the massive debts they've accrued over the last 10 years that they had better try not to deter them !!

 

Also, its a good job you were referring to Irish PASSPORTS rather than Irish Credit - ask their public sector workers about the wages/pension cuts THEY have had to pay for Ireland's huge debts.

 

Probably a sign of things to come in the UK after May......

[Ronaldo]

He's terrible, but better than Butt. Night all.

[madras]

He's terrible, but better than Butt. Night all.

the only diference i see is one will take some responsibility and the other wont.

[Jayson]

Butt normally gives the opposition a lot more time on the ball than Smith

[Guest n4e]

I have to agree with Ronaldo on this one. No arguement really.

[gazza ladra]

I have to agree with Ronaldo on this one. No arguement really.

[Kaizero]

I have to agree with Ronaldo on this one. No arguement really.

[Elliottman]

I have to agree with Ronaldo on this one. No arguement really.

[Parky]

Butt has played far too often this season, the guy's nowhere near up to it anymore.

 

He picks the side.

[Guest dover]

I have to agree with Ronaldo on this one. No arguement really.

[Shak]

He's terrible, but better than Butt. Night all.

the only diference i see is one will take some responsibility and the other wont.

 

I see what you're saying, one thing you have to commend Butt on is that he doesn't hide and will try and exert himself on the game where others in CM won't (Nolan is a complete disgrace in this regard).

 

However, Butt taking responsibility ends up being completely counter-productive to our attacking football. Rather than actually playing a simple pass, he'll get it into his head that he's David Beckham and start spraying wildly ambitious 50 yards passes up the field. And I genuinely can't remember one of them ever coming off for him.

 

Sometimes less really is more, I'll take Smith passing off responsibility over Butt thinking he's Jan bloody Molby any day of the week.

 

They're about even as far as defensive play goes as far as I'm concerned, Butt reads the game much better while Smith has a better engine. Both of them give away far too many stupid fouls for my liking, and ideally neither of them will be at the club next year if we go up.