You can pick fault with his tactics, claim that he had the best squad in the Championship, claim he allowed senior players too much power or anything you like, but at the end of the day it was him that guided us back into the Premier League and put the foundations in place for what we see at NUFC currently.
Hughton, who was sacked by the club back in December, spoke to Talksport radio yesterday in what is a rare public appearance for him. In the interview he admitted that he is itching to get back into management and claimed that he wasn’t surprised that he was sacked by Newcastle as he was half expecting it.
“On the day that I was told was it a shock? Yes it was. Was it a surprise to me? No it wasn’t. It wasn’t a surprise because of the processes building up to it,” said Hughton when quizzed about the day he was fired. He continued:
“There were times when I perhaps could have got that support from the club, in particular a few weeks before when it had gone out that I was going to lose my job. There was a time there where I could have got that support from the club.”
“I’d lost my assistant Colin Calderwood, who was a wonderful assistant to me, some six weeks before I eventually went, and wasn’t able to bring in a person that I would have liked to have brought in so it’s not as if the signs weren’t there.”
“Everybody looks back at what they could have done better but what I’m quite proud of is if I look from a football front and what we were able to instill in the team and the targets we were able to meet I’m incredibly confident that certainly from football results and football matters that wasn’t why I lost my position.”
Hughton has faced assertions that he is more of a coach rather than a manager, especially after spending so long being the man behind the main man. He proved with us that he can handle the task of being a manager however and is keen to shake off the tag of ‘good assistant’ that he seems to have attracted over the years.
“I’m very much a manager,” said Hughton. “I’ve done a long apprenticeship, working under a lot of very, very good managers but the feeling I’ve had over the last year and a half is the best feeling.”
“It’s of course more stressful and it’s a bigger job than what you anticipate with the areas of expertise you need. But there’s no better feeling than doing well, guiding the team to get the results that you need to get. There’s also no better feeling than the relationship you have with other managers.”
It’s been four months since Hughton was sacked by the club on the back of a disappointing 3-1 loss to West Brom. That was, apparently, the straw that broke the camels back and ultimately Hughton paid the price with his job despite doing a grand job under extreme pressure, and with little assistance, from the board.
Has it put him off a return to management though? Not one bit. In fact Chris would be willing to drop down to the Championship if he felt the right opportunity came along – Alan Shearer take note!
“I’m very open. I’ve enjoyed management for the period that I have at a top club. I want to sample as much of that as possible and if that means back into the Premier League that’s where I’d be delighted to go. But you have to be open.”
“What I do want to do is I want to get back into work. I’ve been out for a period of time now and watched an awful lot of football but I’m itching to get back into work at the highest level as possible.”
I’m one of the ‘Hughton is gone, get over it’ crew, mainly because we have to. We can **** and moan all we like about the sacking of Hughton but it will change precisely nothing, which is why I’m behind Pardew and want him to succeed. Put simply, if Pardew succeeds then so do Newcastle United.
However, that shouldn’t detract from just what Chris Hughton did for us. He gave us a dignified aura and paved the way for whats will hopefully be a recovery that will see us maintain our Premier League status for some time. I, for one, wish him all the best and hope he finds himself a job where he is allowed to excel and is given the backing that he requires.
Best of luck Chris!
It was on my Birthday he got sacked which was a surpirse.
I’m surprised he hasn’t got himself a job since he left like considering how well he did, hopefully he gets one soon.
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
Looking back , as Chris said himelf , its shouldnt of come as a surprise but it was at the time , I think he done a great job at the club and I wish all the best going forward , I get a feelin he wont be offer a job in the op flight n he may have to look in the championship but fair dues to him he is willing to do that
Johno Toon(Quote)
Even if Hootz allowed the big personalities rule the dressing room, it worked and was the right thing to do in hindsight.
Is that not good management, knowing when to step in or leave them to it?
It is in my book.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
I think the phrase
“dain’t fix it if it isn’t broken” should have been applied.
To be honest, I was raging after the West Brom game though 😳
Moreno(Quote)
“divvent fix it if it isn’t broken” not d’aint. That’s north Tyneside lingo. 😉
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Moreno – And me. And I still stand by it 😈
toonsy(Quote)
And south shields.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Why do interviewers never ask the crucial questions? Ie was it because player power was undermining your authority. ?
He’s always gonna say no but he might put his side of the story.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
has anyone got a wii
hitman(Quote)
I’ve always wondered who Hughton actually signed for us. Because it’s obvious Carr got us Tiote and Ben Arfa – Hughton didnt have a clue about the Ben Arfa transfer, he said the day before we signed him it was just transfer roumers and we wouldn’t be getting him.
Hughton and Calderwood obviously signed Perch, I’m guessing Hughton signed wanted Routledge because of his Spurs days.
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
hughton signed ben arfa ABSOLUTE LEGEND
Army69(Quote)
what times kick off with manure 2day lads??
Army69(Quote)
I think that maybe CH got loaded with too much baggage from the painful relegation season. MA & the Owl would see him & be reminded of what a hash they made with sacking and losing managers. Looking at some of the Youtubes from that year, there was a lot of football talent that was not properly used, CH became the last fall guy for the head-office foibles.
BeeGuy(Quote)
Its tues amry
Johno Toon(Quote)
Hootz also signed Best. Don’t know if that’s a good thing or not at the moment.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Not only did he bring us success, getting promotion far easier than I thought and hoped for, and then getting us victories at the Bridge, the Emirates and of course memorable 6-0 over villa and 5-1 over the scum, we’ve got a lot to be thankful to him for. I still maintain he shouldn’t have been sacked, but again I’m not going to linger on it now as Pardew is our new manager and we’ve moved on from Hoots. Re-the West brom game, possibly the angriest I’ve been about a performance from us! Still remember how bad guthrie was that game…
NewkieBrown(Quote)
This article finally tipped me over the edge.
Since this blog was set up I’ve been flittering between this, .org and .com, but I think this is now the best blog for a Newcastle fan.
Great articles, great posters with opinions brutally honest about our club without going too doom and gloom or getting involved with all the ‘conspiracys’.
Yeah the 6-0 villa and 5-1 mackem humping stand out for me. When we came up I was a bit worried where goals were going to come from tbh, wasn’t 100% Carroll would make the stepup and other options being Shola and Loven.. And the Villa game just smashed and doubts!
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
You’ve made the right choice Solano 😉
dan4toon(Quote)
@17
Your name is quality 😆
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
One thing Hughton gets no credit for is making us a packet.
His management of Carroll alone made him a £35m player, no one else. If we had another manager who went zero tolerance with Carroll, we wouldn’t be in a position to (possibly) make the squad better in the summer.
Cheers Hughton, true legend.
funkyjesus(Quote)
SolanosTrumpet – Top man 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Hitman – I have. The Mrs was mad keen for one, so i got her one and it’s sat there collecting dust for the past four years 🙄
toonsy(Quote)
sorry clueless divent want too listen too ya ,christ man can some 1 shut him up
batty(Quote)
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/04/16/ryan-taylor-eager-to-stake-claim-for-nufc-72703-28532096/2/ 😉
dan4toon(Quote)
Dan – I’m saving that for later 😈
toonsy(Quote)
Reet, off shopping. Dan, you’re on boss duty 😉
toonsy(Quote)
😎
dan4toon(Quote)
aye toonsy same here,i got mine softmodded,coz i wasnt paying that much for games.. the reason i asked was coz a didnt know how to put spin on the ball in tiger woods 12..
but av sussed it 😆
hitman(Quote)
😯 Toonsy out of hot pants
And dont you dare write anything bad about Raylor 😎
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
I’ve just had a wii, must be all the tea I’m drinking 😉
reet off oot to buy more paint 🙁
richietoon(Quote)
I demanded a wii for Christmas a few years back and played on it about 3 times 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Think I’ll just stick to my Gameboy and Pokemon Blue 😎
dan4toon(Quote)
Back from a night out wth my Deportivo supporter friend. Went to a pub that sold Newcastle Brown ale in bottles. Nice drink. I’ve got nowt to say, But I thought I’d better say it just in case you all forgot who I was.
Brisvegas(Quote)
🙄 😆
batty(Quote)
Interesting to see how wham play without pirouetty parker… 🙄
CC(Quote)
aye cc hes there man 🙂
batty(Quote)
Clueless I dont think it was a surprise to anyone, But what is a surprise is that you are still out of work 😉 But maybe your waiting on the England job 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
@Britishgas
You’ve never got anything worthwhile to say 😉
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
dave hes after the chief writers job on org 😉
batty(Quote)
I think Hughton will probably be back in work during the close season, I would put me pennies on West ham when Grunt gets bulleted after relegation…
CC(Quote)
wahey booby
batty(Quote)
heard richie offered him a new cleaning job,just to fix the flat up like,on the same money 😀
icedog(Quote)
Grunt 😆
dan4toon(Quote)
cc aye hes that good it wont take him long too be snapped up ,how long ago did he leave us 😕
batty(Quote)
Batty I think he would get it without to much trouble, only prob is how is he going to sit down to write with someone hanging outta the back end of him 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
a tell ya what once clueless starts yappin ya cannit shut him up
batty(Quote)
Ice I always knew Richie was tight fisted, I hope he give’s him a tip because he is on peanuts 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
dave joking aside i reckon he is that good he will be snapped up by chelski closed season 😆 😆 😆 womens team that is 😉
batty(Quote)
Nah Batts I dont think he would drop to that level I think he is waiting on an International post
Big Dave(Quote)
Batty
How many jobs have come up really, West Brom which he turned down and Blackburn with the chicken farmers who make Fat mick look sane…
CC(Quote)
Who was it that said he was going to be No2 at Chelski ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
bet he wishes big al would hurry up and take a job,he might tak him on 😆
icedog(Quote)
CC I didn’t know he turned down the WBA job ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
cc 😆
batty(Quote)
Apparantly over bonuses if they stayed up, Then they went for Woy
CC(Quote)
CC do you really think Hooters would have turned the Job down over a bonus, considering he was apparently on £5k with us ? I would bet that Woy wouldn’t even get out of his bed for £5k nevermind a bonus.
I only heard that rumour that started with one source and a few websites ran with it
Big Dave(Quote)
DAVE ime with you paper ***** imo 😉
icedog(Quote)
Ice I dont think Sir Al would have him mate after the way he tried to make out that he arranged the Ireland camp when infact it was Sir Al that organised it all 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
big dave
Well you may be right, The mail seems the most reliable source of that story 😆
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1355719/Chris-Hughtons-West-Brom-stalled.html
CC(Quote)
Ice IMO Hooter would have jumped at the chance of a prem job if only to prove hemsel and money wouldn’t have been an issue
Big Dave(Quote)
CC the only problem with that story was that it was published the day after Woy took the job 😆
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/west-bromwich-albion/8318119/West-Brom-appoint-Roy-Hodgson-as-manager.html
Big Dave(Quote)
Phil Thompson just said Sunderland aren’t getting a grip on that game.
🙁 That must mean they are doing well
Moreno(Quote)
DAVE spot on m8,we have it sussed 😉 plenty back-stabbers in the footy game
icedog(Quote)
MORENO 😆
icedog(Quote)
big dave
where does it say that, All i can see is the hughton one was done in the early hours of the 11th and the hodgson one was done late that same day
Anyhoo its certainly been a good move by WBA to put Hodgson in their above us now…
CC(Quote)
or not 🙂
CC(Quote)
New article up anyway 🙂
toonsy(Quote)