Hughton Sacked

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

REVEALED: Why Hughton got the Newcastle bullet

 

Published 23:00 06/12/10 By Simon Bird

 

Which one of you is Mike Ashley? You're a cant!

[Gemmill 44931]

http://twitpic.com/3dlb1x

 

[Christmas Tree 4728]

REVEALED: Why Hughton got the Newcastle bullet

 

Published 23:00 06/12/10 By Simon Bird

 

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Recommend

 

Chris-Hughton-sacked

 

Chris Hughton's crazy world as Newcastle boss can today be revealed – including being forced to battle owner Mike Ashley in fantasy football results.

 

Hughton had spent the last three months on the verge of being axed by managing director Derek ­Llambias and Ashley – because they want a manager who is more ­“showbusiness” and can grab the club headlines on the world stage.

 

The ex-Tottenham coach kept a dignified calm in public, but was constantly fighting confrontation behind the scenes that could put Newcastle’s pursuit of a major managerial figure in jeopardy.

 

•Hughton was required to submit a list of predictions for future games and discuss them with the United chiefs... whose own fantasy football ­guesswork has forecast that the Geordies will finish in 11th place this season.

 

•Sources close to the Hughton camp have let slip that he had a furious bust-up with the top brass immediately AFTER beating Sunderland 5-1 in the club’s greatest derby triumph in living memory.

 

What should have been a night of unbridled celebration was soured for Hughton because he was accused of milking the crowd as the Toon Army chanted his name.

 

•Hughton was expected to hold meetings with Ashley and Llambias just before games, and respect their footballing input. Former boss Kevin Keegan routinely ignored such interference so close to a match but Hughton, in a bid to keep the peace, always made himself ­available.

 

There is no suggestion he took any notice of the feedback he was given, but Ashley and Llambias regard themselves as ­knowledgeable football fans, whose opinion is valid on even small tactical matters.

 

•Hughton was also furious that his close relationship with senior players, treating them as human beings with opinions rather than schoolchildren, ended up being perceived as a weakness and an example of ‘bowing to player power’. He angrily denied such charges last Friday.

 

Hughton was sacked at 2pm yesterday after being summoned to St James’ Park.

 

The timing has been widely condemned with the Magpies five points clear of the drop zone in 11th. But they are on a five-game run without a victory, with only two points from the last 15.

 

Hughton had been effectively ‘on trial’ since September and needed to prove himself as a top- flight boss, despite his obvious heroics in taking Newcastle from the wreckage of relegation, and knitting together a strong team- spirit that clinched ­promotion in style.

 

Ashley and ­Llambias were adamant that Hughton would not be getting a new, big-money contract extension.

 

The big reason cited behind the scenes is that they want a boss who can attract the Sky cameras to St James’ more often, at almost £500,00 per televised match.

 

While Hughton’s measured exterior was just what the club needed to calm the chaos of the relegation season, Ashley and his cohorts reckon that more spark is needed to sell the club now they are surrounded by the glitz and worldwide profile of the Premier League.

 

Plans to sack Hughton surfaced in October after Newcastle were thrashed at home by Arsenal in the Carling Cup.

 

Yet the club issued this statement: “Chris is our manager and will remain our manager. It is our intention to renegotiate his contract at end of year.”

 

Privately, United were happy to see Hughton’s job ­insecurity was out in the open. To understand why, is to ­understand how Ashley runs his businesses.

 

His top lieutenants love a good verbal scrap. Swearing and cursing each other is a way of life, and he relishes the creative tension it produces. It is the same when it comes to Newcastle.

 

The next boss had better be a tough operator.

 

Ironically, United cashed in on the rumours swirling around in autumn. The players united in support of Hughton, convincingly beat Sunderland before going to Arsenal to record a shock win.

 

But Hughton was badly ­weakened by his No.2 Colin Calderwood departing to manage Hibs, with rows about a successor dragging on for weeks.

 

It became impossible for Hughton to find a replacement given that there was no contract to secure his own job.

 

Club insiders are grooming Peter Beardsley for a senior managerial position as he has been a constant supporter of the Ashley regime, but they want experience this time round.

 

Beardo was placed in caretaker charge last night alongside Steve Stone. In the end, perhaps Hughton was done for precisely because he kept a lid on the hidden moments of turmoil.

 

Had he taken on Ashley and Llambias in public it may not have done him many favours, but up to the end he retained the backing of the Toon Army.

 

There was not one moment when the Geordie fans turned against him.

 

Every week they sang his name, and Hughton, modestly, almost reluctantly, clapped back in their direction.

 

He could rant and rave when standards slipped, but he also earned respect for protecting the players during difficult moments, including dressing-room scraps and sticky results.

 

He was a straight man, who played a straight bat in public, while also being passionate.

 

It was precisely what the club needed to settle the turmoil of the previous decade and claw back some stability.

 

That stability was blown apart by Ashley yesterday.

 

Hughton certainly didn’t deserve it.

 

The timing of the sacking was strange but, as explained, not totally ­unexpected.

 

He walks away with a modest pay-off of less than £200,000 – compared to the £4.5million it cost to get rid of Sam Allardyce. But at least he leaves with great dignity and the total respect of the Geordie faithful, and football fans everywhere.

 

They will sing their goodbyes for him at the Liverpool game this Saturday, for sure.

 

Unfortunately, Chris Hughton will not be around to milk it in front of the directors.

 

Fucking hell

 

 

Shite article really.

 

The manager was asked to predict forthcoming results.

 

Im sure its normal for managers and boards to talk business and see where they think they are going to be at certain points throughout the season.

 

Meetings before a match.

 

Again Ashleys the owner and probably the most common time for them to meet up would be on a match day. Again cant see any problem in this.

 

Mountain out of mole hill stuff.

 

Crap Journalism.

[Kevin 1]

http://twitpic.com/3dlb1x

 

 

hahahahahahahahaha

[Billy Castell 0]

If Pardew or Curbishley takes over, then Ashley is the biggest mong in the country.

[ChezGiven 0]

Why would they complain about him not being showbusiness enough and then for milking the crowd?

 

Just Bird doing his job i suppose.

[Christmas Tree 4728]

How long before there's a Mick Dennis type article portioning some blame on the supporters? God this feels like toon armageddon again the day.

 

 

MORE FOOL YOU FOR THIS, MIKE ASHLEY

 

By Mick Dennis

 

PERHAPS he is an undercover agent, employed by Sunderland. Perhaps he is copying Roman Abramovich and trying to fix what is not broken. Or perhaps Mike Ashley has just made an astonishingly crass decision based on utter ignorance.

 

 

Newcastle owner Ashley must think winning the Football League last season and climbing to 11th place in this campaign’s Premier League are modest achievements. That is the central folly at the kernel of the mad decision to get rid of manager Chris Hughton.

 

It is often the fans, the self-styled Geordie Nation, who are deluded about Newcastle’s place in the world. But this time it is Ashley who has miscalculated where the club are, how they got there and where they should be.

 

It would be possible to forgive supporters, who see everything through the prism of fierce partisanship, for taking Hughton’s record at St James’ Park for granted.

 

It would be just about understandable if they thought that, following relegation, Newcastle’s promotion as Football League champions was simply a return to the natural order. But most of them do not think that because they are not stupid.

 

They know that, for many clubs, relegation from the Premier League is only the beginning of a spiral of decline. They do not have to think about Leeds or Southampton or Sheffield Wednesday to understand. They only have to look 38 miles south at Middlesbrough.

 

Most Newcastle fans acknowledge as well that this campaign has been far, far better than it might easily have been. It is Ashley who thinks nothing of it all. More fool him.

 

Last season, Hughton had no money to spend, yet his team scored 90 goals, were unbeaten at home and surged to the Championship title playing with verve.

 

This season, again operating on a penny-pinching budget, they have approached the potentially perilous Premier League with boldness and belief and are as close to fifth place as they are to the bottom.

 

As is usually the case when a despotic owner makes this sort of blunder, yesterday’s dismal events were accompanied by platitudes.

 

The club statement read: “Regrettably, the board now feels that an individual with more managerial experience is needed to take the club forward.”

 

They were wise to avoid the cliche “to take us to the next level”. After disrupting a successful regime, they could easily find that the next level is the Championship again.

 

Ashley wants someone “more experienced”. Well, Avram Grant has more managerial experience. And if they want a “big name”, perhaps Jan Johannes Vennegoor of Hesselink wants to get into coaching.

 

Hughton has plenty of experience. He played in the last decent Tottenham team and worked as assistant manager at the same club. I calculate that he was there, as player and coach, under 14 managers. He is a clever enough student of the game and of people to have learnt from them all.

 

Why sack Hughton at this moment? I can answer that one. The timing is because Sunday’s defeat by West Brom provided a convenient alibi. If Ashley is going to pass judgment on Hughton after one particular game, why not after the “demolition derby”, the 5-1 dismantling of Sunderland? Or the 6-0 destruction of Aston Villa or the Carling Cup triumph at Chelsea?

 

I can answer that one as well. The clues are that Hughton was paid a pittance in Premier League terms, rumours about his future circulated every month or so and Ashley and henchman Derek Llambias kept stalling when asked about a new contract.

 

Ashley was waiting for an opportunity to sack a manager he never valued.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13882]

The worst part of this is after having a drink, the exact same sinking feeling I had in 08/09 when Keegan went has returned

[TicTacWoe 0]

I don't get the whole "not showbusiness enough" slant on this, very few managers of any quality (ie Mourinho) would be what you'd call flashy or headline grabbing in the way Bird is alluding to. On top of that, they forced Keegan out who fits that bill perfectly! The whole thing is a contradiction, those sort of managers don't put up with the likes of Ashley, it's the quite guys like Hughton who do and he still got sacked.

[Christmas Tree 4728]

 

[Ayatollah Hermione 13882]

Surely this is the thing that FINALLY makes the Ashley apologists see some sense?

[TicTacWoe 0]

 

 

thats fucking tragic as is the whole thing in general...

[Christmas Tree 4728]

 

 

thats fucking tragic as is the whole thing in general...

 

 

Just noticing your avatar aswell of old Beardo. Great player but lots of noises from lots of sources tonight alleging that he's a very political figure at St James and frequents Ashleys arse a little too often.

[acrossthepond 877]

 

 

thats fucking tragic as is the whole thing in general...

 

 

Just noticing your avatar aswell of old Beardo. Great player but lots of noises from lots of sources tonight alleging that he's a very political figure at St James and frequents Ashleys arse a little too often.

 

Something you and he have in common, then. Have you experienced inexplicable chin growth over the past twelve months?

 

Are you Pedro? Are you Pedro? Are you Pedro in disguise?

[TicTacWoe 0]

 

 

thats fucking tragic as is the whole thing in general...

 

 

Just noticing your avatar aswell of old Beardo. Great player but lots of noises from lots of sources tonight alleging that he's a very political figure at St James and frequents Ashleys arse a little too often.

 

Aye, my all time favorite player but he does sadly seem to be very much a yes man in the Ashley regime. Though at the same time, you don't keep your job at Newcastle for very long these days if you speak out of turn.

Edited December 7, 2010 by TicTacWoe

[Christmas Tree 4728]

 

 

thats fucking tragic as is the whole thing in general...

 

 

Just noticing your avatar aswell of old Beardo. Great player but lots of noises from lots of sources tonight alleging that he's a very political figure at St James and frequents Ashleys arse a little too often.

 

Something you and he have in common, then. Have you experienced inexplicable chin growth over the past twelve months?

 

Are you Pedro? Are you Pedro? Are you Pedro in disguise?

 

 

Just call it as it is, without all the drama.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Christmas Tree

[Christmas Tree 4728]

 

 

thats fucking tragic as is the whole thing in general...

 

 

Just noticing your avatar aswell of old Beardo. Great player but lots of noises from lots of sources tonight alleging that he's a very political figure at St James and frequents Ashleys arse a little too often.

 

Aye, my all time favorite player but he does sadly seem to be very much a yes man in the Ashley regime. Though at the same time, you don't keep your job at Newcastle for very long these days if you speak out of turn.

 

Mine too.

[Phil 6]

Surely this is the thing that FINALLY makes the Ashley apologists see some sense?

 

Who he brings in will ultimately be the deciding factor.

[Ken 119]

It wouldn't matter if he managed to bring in Gus Hiddink, he'd still have to work with a depleted squad and without the resources to strengthen it. Depressing this, it really is. The chance of relegation is much more likely than this time yesterday.

[dbsweeney 0]

The big reason cited behind the scenes is that they want a boss who can attract the Sky cameras to St James’ more often, at almost £500,00 per televised match.

 

Someone has to explain this to me?

 

How the the Prem. TV schedule work in the UK?

 

In Australia, we get to see Toon play every week (every game), and that's on Fox Sports (Murdoch's Aussie cable sports channel).

 

Surely (in terms of being shown on TV every week) that's the same in the UK, ain't it?

[jaythesouthernmag 0]

Where would we be if we had only picked up a few points from our next 4 or 5 games, which is a distinct possibility. Relegation zone and sucked into a fight to survive which frankly we didn't do to well in last time.

 

Ashley had a decision to make, either stick with Houghton or look elsewhere. It's obvious he doesn't have the faith required to let Chris have a go and to be honest some of his tactics/subs and purchases have been a bit dodgy. Ben Arfa and Tiote are both class but look at Sol,Pearch and Best, woeful.

 

It's better he's done it know so he can give a new manager a bit of time before the window opens to see who he wants out and tbh there should be a few. If he backs the new guy with 10-15 mil plus what he recoups through sales then I think that's pretty fair. I would be dissatisfied with any of the names mentioned with the exception of Jol or MON

 

Only time will tell if he is right or wrong but he's the owner and its down to him

[dbsweeney 0]

Where would we be if we had only picked up a few points from our next 4 or 5 games, which is a distinct possibility. Relegation zone and sucked into a fight to survive which frankly we didn't do to well in last time.

 

This would be a distinct possibility under any manager considering who we're up against and that we're a newly promoted team. Only now, we'll be doing it under a manger the players don't know or care about.

 

Ashley had a decision to make, either stick with Houghton or look elsewhere. It's obvious he doesn't have the faith required to let Chris have a go and to be honest some of his tactics/subs and purchases have been a bit dodgy. Ben Arfa and Tiote are both class but look at Sol,Pearch and Best, woeful.

 

He was only able to purchase within the means that Ashley allowed him to spend ... so fuck all. What class of player did you expect him to be able to purchase?

 

It's better he's done it know so he can give a new manager a bit of time before the window opens to see who he wants out and tbh there should be a few. If he backs the new guy with 10-15 mil plus what he recoups through sales then I think that's pretty fair.

 

 

Why would he give the new manager any cash if he didn't the last?

 

I would be dissatisfied with any of the names mentioned with the exception of Jol or MON

 

Well, prepare to be dissatisfied ... Why on earth would Jol or O'Neal come to us when they know that there'll be fuck all to spend. Think back to why O'Neal left Villa in the first place.

 

Only time will tell if he is right or wrong but he's the owner and its down to him.

 

Yes, he is ... and God help us, 'cause Ashley certainly won't.

 

On paper, we have a worse squad than what we had when we went down. What we had in our favour was that the squad played as a team, with everyone playing for each other. And that was down to Hughton. \\

 

And now he's gone.

 

How on Earth can anyone think that what Ashley did was correct?

 

Grow a brain.

[Guest]

I didn't think he was a top manager or would be, but thought he was doing a good job with his hands tied behind his back, which is why I agreed that so long as Ashley owned the club he was worth keeping.

 

Now we are back to square 1 again, but the point is that expecting people to put together a good team with no money is asking the impossible. But like many others, it seems Ashley is expecting exactly that.

 

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?showtopic=28915

 

 

Also, wasn't it you who constantly use the term "back him or sack him", so he sacks him, and you criticise

 

 

You're a joke is what I'm basically saying, and I'm not defending Ashley, I think it's a fucking minging decision.

[peasepud 59]

Sad to say but Id have no respect for Pedro if he took over full time.

No doubt the great unwashed will be shouting about Geordie Saviours and all that shite.

Ye can't say that Peter fuckin hell. If someone offered you the chance to be a pornstar would you say nar, cos that's the analogy Pedro would be faced with.

 

Beardsleys dislike of Hughton isnt a great secret and like Bird says hes spent 3 years kissing the arse of Ashley slowly moving himself further up the chain. Should he manage to get a result on Saturday Id say hes nailed on to get the job full time. Then lets see how well we do for transfers etc when the manager is a bloke who backed the chairman over what was supposed to be his mate. Players will be bought and sold by the chairman and the manager will take whatever with a grin and a comedy "obviously".

[peasepud 59]

I didn't think he was a top manager or would be, but thought he was doing a good job with his hands tied behind his back, which is why I agreed that so long as Ashley owned the club he was worth keeping.

 

Now we are back to square 1 again, but the point is that expecting people to put together a good team with no money is asking the impossible. But like many others, it seems Ashley is expecting exactly that.

 

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?showtopic=28915

 

 

Also, wasn't it you who constantly use the term "back him or sack him", so he sacks him, and you criticise

 

You dont half miss the point sometimes, firstly that thread you link to is LM saying hes worried about relegation not that Hughton is shite. The point you show in bold above is a massive factor. Nobody could expect to do well with the resources Hughton had and yet he managed to exceed expectations. That doesnt mean we all thought we were heading for the Champions League you can still have respect for what the manager does but be worried about relegation.

 

Secondly, I dont believe LMs "back him or sack him" is a call for his head its pointing out the fact that a chairman has to have faith in the man he appointed because lets not forget this is Ashleys appointment not someone hes been lumbered with as Allardyce was.