Hughton talks wobble.

Posted on November 12th, 2009 | 46 Comments |

Chris Hughton's roman emperor look.
Chris Hughton's roman emperor look.
Although much criticism has been levelled at the communication skills of our erstwhile Owner and Managing Director, it isn’t an accusation that could be made about Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton, recently. The quiet man turned up the volume slightly since his permanent appointment, with the ammunition of recovering from a recent mini-slump and being at the top of the league after 16 games.

Speaking on the team’s fairly recent rocky patch (a couple of defeats preceded by a pair of lacklustre draws), Toon’s Cockney Colossus said:

“I think expectations had got higher and higher after our start to the season, but the little slump was a timely reality check. It reminded everyone that we are not going to simply walk this division. We are not going to run away with it.”

“We have a six-point cushion again and that is good, but we have to maintain our recent form. We have seen how difficult this division is now because we didn’t know too much about it before we actually got into the games. If you look at the season so far, everyone is taking points off each other.

“If you look at the teams that came down from the Premier League, Middlesbrough have found it hard, particularly at home, and West Brom have lost games they weren’t expected to.”

Indeed, last years champions, Wolves, lost a whole ten games last season, the year before, West Brom lost eleven, and the year before that, a certain team of vagrants from the lesser side of the North East lost a mighty twelve and still won that very pretty little Football League trophy. The last team to really ‘storm’ the division was Reading in the 05/06 season when they lost only two games. They did draw quite a few though.

But I digress. Getting back to Hughton, he went on to say:

“So, although we have lost games, to be top of the league is pleasing at this stage, but there is still a long way to go. We are six points clear of the play-off places – that is a good position to be in.”

Stating the obvious a little in parts, perhaps, but, with the indifference he gets from many Newcastle supporters for his sterling work over the last few months, perhaps they need a reminder.

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1084 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

46 Responses

  1. Even Manure has lost a few games on the path to winning many of their titles…. Losses are worring but  we can not hit the panic button when they occur.. If the boys on the park give it their all and lose, so be it… 1/2 arsed efforts can be a little harder to stomach!! I for one am over the moon with the teams performance this season… keep it up lads..

  2. Hughton too Aussie, past stints as caretaker in the EPL have been lacklustre at least, he’s starting to show a few more promising signs, granted at championship level but it’s still  a tough league and he’s doing a good job, motivating the players and I suspect his half time team talks must be improving based on the games we’ve looked shocking in the first 45 but the second half has improved
    in spite of all the boardroom palaver still going on, things on the field are looking kinda rosey at the minute

  3. The one thing i noticed on this blog is that the blogger over here are very sensible, positive & optimistic or should we all just wait for SJT & Mickytoon to join this blog :P

  4. Laurence Donegan writes:

    Barcelona are not so much a football club as a social, cultural and political institution. Theirs is a story that inspires. Rangers and Newcastle these days are not so much football clubs as cautionary tales. Few beyond the diehards of north‑east England and (one half of) Glasgow care what happens to them, and those that do care will presumably have better things to do in straitened economic times than throw good money after bad.

    hmmm, so nobody cares huh? that’ll be why most of the countries free press – inc. you Laurence, feel the need to write evermore stories about our plight/downfall/owner/fans, sometimes I really wonder if these so called “journos” actually even think about what they’ve put down on paper…

  5. 3

    Toonkistan says:
    November 12, 2009 at 9:07 am
    The one thing i noticed on this blog is that the blogger over here are very sensible, positive & optimistic or should we all just wait for SJT & Mickytoon to join this blog

    being an optimist Toonkistan leaves you hugely open for constant disappointment, better to be a pragmatist

  6. Toonkistan, I’ve been here since it’s inception.  Once this place started up I never went back onto Ed’s blog.  Too much petty name calling going on.
    I’m not sure who you have me mixed up with, but I’ve never been Mr. Doom and Gloom anywhere.  I’m a realist and if that means that I sometimes post negatively then so be it.

  7. He’s got SJT bang on though!! :)

    But I did like SJT for all his whingeing.

    Gotta be honest, one good game does not mean we’re a good team by any means, so we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.

    And danny-boy, you’re a good poster and most certainly a pragmatist by all accounts. But this league isn’t what I’d call ‘tough’ fella.

    As AMF points out, 1/2 ar*ed performances are harder to take. I think we’ve seen poor quality and lacklustre performances spattered throughout. It’s the very fact that the league is so average that we are where we are. Peterbro was a massive improvement but look at the clip of them.

  8. fair comment & ta BBM

    it’s different to the EPL for sure though, by tough I mean a lot more physical than the mainstay of the squad would be used to, having to change your game to suit the teams you play against being a lot more in your face would be a tough change for anybody – far fetched I know but I wonder how Arsenals passing game would fare with a 15 stone centre back sliding through everytime you touch the ball!

  9. Danny Boy, i never thought about that angle mate, Hughton does seem to be coming out of his shell……
    BBM -I’ve played a lot of football over my younger years (I’m 38 now with knackered ankles) and every time we played against a poor team we seemed to get dragged down to their level. I think it is easy to over look this fact… It’s hard to lift when you are playing smaller teams.. Complacency is like a cancer, the moment you take anything for granted you get a poor result… I personally don’t care about attractive football this year.. Let’s keep grinding out wins and get promoted..

  10. lost my point there, for us, the physicallity is a worry because the squad is so small, all it takes is a few injuries – Shola/Taylor/Colo for instance….. et voila: WOBBLE
    we don’t need many of those if we want to bounce straight back

  12. AMF – it’s not really a case of wanting attractive football, although I am an advocator of playing the beautiful game in the right way.

    What I mean, as you pointed out, are the half-hearted challenges and lack of effort. They have been apparent. But also too has the sheer laziness in application when passing, and it’s been infuriating. Sometimes even the simplest passes have been going astray. The movement has been non-existent at times as well. Crossing and set-plays have improved but we still need to be much better.

    Peterbro was a world away from some of the other games but that’s partly down to the fact they didn’t look interested or were too scared to squeeze for long periods of the game.

    I’m just about to retire by the way (probably) due to a gammy cruciate. Unless they make it brand new and I can squeeze a few more seasons out of my ageing body. :)

  13. Micky please disregard my comment it might be some other micky on ED’s blog….i too am a realist and i realize the fact that nothing comes before the promotion push not beautiful football, fancy signings, owners, MD or even the messiahs…..promotion is a must so we should all support the manager & team especially now that the team is playing as a unit however the individuals dont have the quality required to survive EPL but they are good enough to walk this league :)

  14. I think if we’re all honest, we have no problem seeing a team lose as long as they played well, current situation, winning ugly as its been called is necessity, but I agree BBM/AMF the effort has got to be apparent, teams like Scunny deserve to beat us if they put in 100% and we don’t, skill levels SAY we should’ve walked it, but if your twice as good as someone and only put in a third of the effort, you’re still gonna lose
    that’s why the attitude from the very beginning of the season has to carry on, we need everybody to give everything for as long as we can
    my footballing career was cut short by other interests – knackered knees from Karate, not that I was ever that good like
    8)

  16. BBM & Danny-boy, we all seem to be suffering form the same kind of ailments… The one that finally killed it for me was a heart injury… I feel that some of the players NUFC had playing for them last year had the same condition… Playing golf now… no more walking around wounded at work on a Monday morning… good days..

  17. Guys CH deserves his shout. I loved what he did for Derek on the weekend. That shows good management those who have studied Business management know these motivation tools.
    The say he is an Intelligent bloke. Good he has all his badges.

  18. I still play for fun AMF, knock around with the lads that kinda thing but not competitively anymore, know what you mean though, as much fun as it was, not worth the aches & pains in the week anymore

  20. Complacency is like a cancer” never a more true word spoken. I’ve played  many a game where we are 1-0 down just because we knew we were by far the best team.

    Hughton will need to learn how to motivate the players for these games. Getting into the right mindset can be tough – as at the back of your mind you know you are by far the best.

  21. Stardust,
    I’ve also played in many a game where i have been 1 nil down because we were sh*te mate

  25. It’s nice to read some comments about football. All of us support Newcastle because we love the team and we love the game of football. Sometimes the game of football gets forgotten with all this off field BS that is going on for the past few years. What happened to just loving Newcastle United and enjoying all the stuff that goes along with watching them play?
    I’m sorry if this sounds a bit sentimental… I’ve had a number of icey cold becks and I’m feeling a little introspective!!

  29. its right though Lesh, if you think you are better than your opponent then you dont try so hard, same in any sport/competition and that’s the mindset we need to avoid, take nothing for granted
    thankfully so far it hasn’t done us any major damage – 2 defeats in the league aren’t crushing, and the exit from the cup to peterborough is probably a blessing, but it needs to be stopped, we can’t keep doing it

  30. Stardust says:
    November 12, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    “Getting into the right mindset can be tough – as at the back of your mind you know you are by far the best.”

    We should still be the “best team”, but not by that much anymore. Since the squad was pruned of all the players that SHOULD have made us contenders for Europe, we are little different from West Brom and the Smoggies in terms of the ‘strength’ of our squad (I’ve checked). We’re above West Brom and miles above the Smogmonsters, but we can’t be expected to win every game with ease. As I pointed above, hardly any team ever ‘walks’ the Championship, and even the winners can usually expected to pick up ten or eleven defeats along the way, and we’re on track for about seven or eight. I think we’re about as we should be, and considering the stuff going on in the background, that’s quite an achievement.

  31. it is an achievement worky, but it’s 1 we need to keep going, 1 or 2 of the performances against the likes of Scunny & Doncaster felt like they were falling into the trap of “we’re better” and that needs to stop, look at Real Madrid, they got hammered in the copa del rey first leg so they fielded a full strength team second leg but still couldn’t overturn it, sometimes a seconds complacency can cause too much damage to recoup
    we’re all proud of the lads for what they have achieved in difficult circumstances at best, but we’ve 2/3 of a season to go yet

  33. danny-boy, that was a blow, wasn’t it?  Most people put it down to us bottling it, but ManU just did what they always do at the end of the season, they went on a terrific unbeaten run to the end of the season.  They just about do it every year.  They are written off around Christmas, like they will be this year to Chelsea and come May they will be champions.

  34. You’ve got to laugh at the piece in the Chronicle posted by Lesh. The fans have been literally leaping up and down at the lack of communication from the club, then Llambiarse has offered to meet the NUST before the PNE game and they have turned it down, stating they are not ready to hold talks!!! The Chronicle are suggesting they will turn down the request until they have raised funds for a buy out. Jesus what planet are these people on? If that is the case, looks like Llambiarse is in for a long long wait as it ain’t going to happen. I just hope a lot of innocent fans don’t get taken for a ride and lose money. Let’s hear the detail from NUST as it seems like this is a case of wishful thinking.

  35. massively Micky, I’m from Nottingham and at the time worked with some real hardcore Forest fans, even they wanted us to win it!!
    that’s the spirit we need, I’ve no love for them but they can pull the results out when they need to, there’s a difference between thinking your better and proving it
    admittedly I think Fergie’s time is coming, too many poor starts/bad runs these days, wouldn’t have happened years back

  36. this taking things for granted palavour can cost you dear , the same thing happend to me last saturday night….i was playing pool (in my local) and taking money off the usual mugs when i noticed this stunning bird was trying to catch my attention –  i said to myself  i’ll obviously be taking her home tonight !…..after spending the rest of the night defeating all comers on the pool table and relieving them of their hard earned my attentions  turned to the  woman i would be treating to a fish supper…….yes you’ve guessed it – some loser copped off with her while my mind was elsewhere.

    ..so CH make sure them boys take nothing for granted and stay focused from the first bell and we’ll fly this league.

    needless to say i had a suitable replacement in no time at all.

  38. Micky Toon says:
    November 12, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    “Most people put it down to us bottling it”

    I put it down to Batty changing the shape of team, combined with some tough away games at the end of the season. It wasn’t Batty’s fault, he was a very good defensive mid. It was Keegan’s. He should have carried on ‘entertaining’ in the usual, cavalier fashion.

  39. that was Micky Worky lol
    you mean you score 4 we’ll score 5 mate?
    those were the glory days indeed, the atmosphere amongst the players feels more like those days, relaxed & mostly happy – thats a good thing right now, but I still stand by the complacency thing, keep working hard & enjoying the games, but don’t assume you can stroll past the teams around us

  41. lol
    no worries, at least you’re reading what I have to say, even when it’s what somebody else said!
    8)

  42. geordie deb says:
    November 12, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    “The Chronicle are suggesting they will turn down the request until they have raised funds for a buy out.”

    If that’s the case, Deb, the fans who have put money into the scheme will have risked as much as half a million pounds in ‘administration’ costs if the deal doesn’t come off. If it’s true that they refuse to meet for talks to establish the feasibilty of this scheme before they have the 10% ‘proof of funds’ (which should be 100% anyway), that’s wrong and they would be playing fast and loose with the fan’s money. I wouldn’t put one penny into a Jerry built scheme like this, and as I mentioned in another comment, I still haven’t managed to find them on the FSA register.

  43. I said yesterday Worky, it worries me, there’s an awful lot of exactly what the fans want to hear coming from the NUST camp but nothing concrete in financial terms, we’re talking a lot of money from good honest people with good honest intentions, surely talking to the muppet & his puppet puts the whole thing in the clear light of day right from the outset?

  44. Worky and Danny Boy
    Good comments. I wouldn’t give them a penny, but worry for those people who out of blind loyalty to the club will stump up the cash.
    This just sounds too half baked to get anywhere, and I would hate to see hard working people lose their money when the thing implodes.

  45. deb – I agree.  I really hope for the sake of the romantics that will pump their money into this venture, that it does work.  I would hate to see people lose their money.  However, saying that, you should go into any investment opportunity with your eyes fully open and take proper independent advice from someone who knows what they are doing.  Personally I wouldn’t use any of the people the trust are putting forward as IFA’s, I’d take the agreement and run it past someone else, just to ensure complete impartiality.  As with all risky investments, always only invest what you can afford to lose.  This is a massive gamble. It’s not like putting the money into shares of a blue chip.

  46. Yep, agree, a romantic notion, or possibly a rip off.
    Fantastic opportunity for a bit of larceny !