The sacking of Chris Hughton is a crime against football

Newcastle United’s decision to part company with Chris Hughton yesterday was a total travesty. He had been hugely successful in his two seasons at St. James’s Park, working miracles on a meager budget.

Hughton took an underperforming team which had been relegated and subsequently stripped of its most valuable assets and guided it to the summit of the Championship at the first attempt. You only have to look at Leeds United to realize that when established Premiership clubs do go down there is no guarantee that they will bounce straight back again.

Not only did Hughton transform Newcastle United but the former first team coach did it the old fashioned way. Without the resources to revolutionize the squad with an influx of new signings he was forced to try and get the best out of the players he already had at his disposal, something a succession of Newcastle United managers had conspicuously failed to do.

Alan Shearer’s role in the club’s relegation did not diminish the clamour for him to be offered the job on a permanent basis in the summer of 2009. Hughton must have felt every inch the caretaker throughout a pre season in which he was widely seen to be holding the fort while the terms of the prodigal son’s return were worked out. The highest scorer in the club’s history even saw fit to moan on a Match of the Day broadcast about the delay in his appointment.

It was not until Hughton had been named manager of the month on three successive occasions, guiding Newcastle United to the best start in the club’s history, that the board finally decided to bite the bullet and offer him an actual contract.

Before Hughton took over virtually no-one in the Newcastle United squad was enhancing their reputation while at the club. Under his astute guidance Andy Carroll, Shola Ameobi and Kevin Nolan found the form of their lives while Jonas Guttierez, Fabricio Coloccini and Peter Lovenkrands were also rejuvenated.

The softly spoken man with over a decade’s coaching experience was expected to try and turn a team still traumatized by its recent relegation into realistic promotion contenders. He succeeded in style and Newcastle United won the division with an incredible 102 points, finishing 11 points clear of second place West Brom.

Immediately prior to Hughton’s appointment Michael Owen, Obefemi Martins,  Mark Viduka, Damien Duff,  Sebastian Bassong and Habib Beye were all either sold or released meaning that he inherited only the remnants of the squad which had not been good enough to remain in the Premiership. Newcastle United had been stripped of £40 million worth of talent and Hughton was given a token transfer budget with which to replace them, rendering his achievement in developing a team which would dominate the Championship even more extraordinary.

For a promoted side to make their stay in the Premier League anything other than temporary is notoriously difficult. Unless a manager is given an extensive transfer budget the mandate for any team emerging from the Championship should be to try and finish at least 17th.

With owner Mike Ashley tentatively trying to sell the club Newcastle United’s transfer budget was nominal. Hughton was forced to operate on a shoestring, bringing in predominantly out of contract or on loan players. The situation was exasperated when winger Hatem Ben Arfa suffered a potentially season ending injury in only his fourth appearance.

Despite the absence of financial support Hughton still managed to guide his team to a very credible 11th at the time of writing. He has also thrown in emphatic wins over Aston Villa and Sunderland for good measure as well as a victory at the Emirates. His brave decision to award Andy Carroll the number nine shirt has been rewarded with a nine goal haul and an England call up.

Admittedly there have been a handful of disappointing results but Hughton has clearly done a credible job and could hardly be accused of mismanagement. The decision to bring his reign to such an abrupt end has left neutrals incredulous and people connected with the club incensed. Newcastle United legend Malcolm Macdonald was one of the first to speak out,

“I think it’s a very harsh decision. There’s been a couple of really poor performances, the last two away games in particular, but they’re in 11th position and I still feel he has been very harshly done by,” he said.

Former Newcastle United midfielder Rob Lee also voiced his opposition to Hughton’s dismissal,

“I’m amazed. It’s totally unjust if you consider what he did for the club. He got them back where they belong in the Premiership when they were on their knees. This will upset the fans – I’m sure there will be uproar,” he said.

Fans are normally among the first to call for an underachieving manager to be sacked yet support for Hughton is almost unequivocal. Mike Ashley sparked a mutiny by effectively forcing out Kevin Keegan and his reputation has never really recovered. Discontent with the Newcastle United owner appeared to be forgotten in the wake of the club’s promotion but Ashley might not be made to feel quite as welcome by the paying customers at St James’s Park after Hughton’s shock dismissal.

It is reminiscent of the equally reprehensible removal of Sir Bobby Robson, a decision which probably paved the way for Newcastle United’s relegation. The previous campaign the club had narrowly missed out on Champion’s League football but a mediocre start to the season was enough to get the former England manager sacked.

History appears to have repeated itself. Whereas Freddy Shepherd was under the misguided impression that his team belonged in the Champion’s League Ashley seems to feel that the current crop of players should be aspiring towards Europa League qualification.

In Robson’s final full season Newcastle United finished fifth. Under his successor, Graeme Souness, the club came 14^th. Hughton has his side on course to remain in the top tier of English football for at least another season, whether his eventual replacement will be able to improve on that record remains to be seen.

Hughton’s dismissal also constitutes a potentially demoralizing vote of no confidence in the players themselves. They can be justifiably proud of their collective achievement in taking the club back to the top tier of English football but by removing the manager Ashley has burdened them all with the collective stigma of failure.

Resisting the temptation to take a swing at his erstwhile employer Hughton responded to his dismissal with immense dignity,

“I am immensely proud of my achievements with Newcastle and I enjoyed a fantastic relationship with the players, my staff and the supporters during my time as manager. I now wish them and the club all the very best for the future,” he said.

Newcastle United are currently on a quest to find a new manager with Martin Jol’s name believed to be high on the list. It could be a thankless task because the best man for the job is almost certainly the one they just fired.

Picture: Getty Images

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