Well well well. Just when we think they might have taken their finger off the big red self destruction button that they’ve been bashing for years, Newcastle go and do it again. The sacking of Chris Hughton, however goes a bit further than bashing that button. It’s more like a sledgehammer, and to the testicles.
In an infuriatingly deluded statement, the Newcastle board claimed they wanted somebody with ‘more managerial experience’ to take over, before thanking Hughton for the good work he had done at the club.
‘Good’ doesn’t really cut it though, does it? ‘Good’ would suffice if he had simply stopped the rot after their relegation two seasons ago; stopped them going the same way of Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton, to name just four clubs who have failed to recognise where their respective ships were heading. Immediate promotion and an unbeaten home record is a bit more than ‘good’, would you not agree?
And this after being overlooked in favour of Alan Shearer and Iain Dowie for the temporary managers position during that fateful end of season run-in. In hindsight, it’s a wonder how Hughton could sit back and watch Shearer and Dowie patrol the technical area, like the before and after shots of a risky medical experiment, without going completely insane.
And who are Newcastle lining up for his job, exactly? If Hughton could handle everything he did last season, plus a stable 11th position in the Premiership in just under half a season, including a thumping of arch-rivals Sunderland and a 1-0 win at the Emirates against Arsenal and with the lack of managerial experience that effectively cost him his job, then what sort of mental ambitions do Newcastle hold for their new man to attempt to realise?
Relegation was supposed to thump some sense into Newcastle and considering they didn’t just reverse their fortunes in the Championship, they did so in relative style, they should feel very fortunate to be where they are. And it’s because of Hughton. The players think so. The fans think so. What the hell have the board been looking at these past 18 months? Should the Geordie fans be optimistic about their recruitment policy considering the judgement they have shown so far?
Speaking of the players, how on Earth are they going to take this? Under Hughton, Andy Carroll has become an England international, Kevin Nolan has revitalised his career and Alan Smith actually looks like something resembling a midfielder. He’s not been bad in the transfer market either, managing to tempt Ben Arfa away from Marseille on loan and convincing Sol Campbell- who was playing Champions League football for Arsenal this time last year- that he still has a future in the Premiership.
Newcastle have treated Hughton like a dirty one-night stand, someone they were almost ashamed to have at the helm of their club because he wasn’t glamorous or high-profile, who did the dirty job that nobody else was prepared to do. Now they’ve cast him aside for someone who, I presume, is a massive name- it simply has to be to justify the decision. They can’t bring in Curbishley, or Keegan again. How about Allardyce, Newcastle? Might as well compile the idiocy.
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