Hughton: “I will get support from above”.

Posted on November 18th, 2009 | 94 Comments |

Hughton: "Not desperate".
Hughton: "Not desperate".
Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton has been speaking in the aftermath of yesterday evening’s reserves victory against Hartlepool Town.

In the interview, Hughton reiterated that he wasn’t “desperate” to bring players in just for the sake of it, but that he would assess any opportunities that come up. He also added that he would get help “from above”. This wasn’t a declaration of religious faith by Hughton, but a reference to owner, Mike Ashley, who has enjoyed somewhat mixed fortunes since taking over the club in 2007.

However, the gaffer was busy assessing one such opportunity, ex Paris Saint Germain trialist, Fabrice Pancrate. The Frenchman is a versatile striker and winger who joined the club for a second time on monday after an earlier stay. As noted in our reserves match report, Pancrate played for around 80 minutes to generally good reviews, providing an assist for one of Newcastle’s goals.

On Pancrate he mused:

“He did well and I enjoyed what I saw.

However, with any player on trial it’s a case of looking at them over a period of time.

We really wanted to see him in a game so we gave him the opportunity this evening. He will be training with us for the next few days and that will give us a chance to have a real good look at him.

“We already have great quality on the right-hand side with Ryan Taylor, Jonas and Danny Guthrie but he could offer us something different with his pace.

“His biggest asset is his experience – he’s played in a couple of positions, is good on the ball, works hard and I enjoyed watching him tonight.”

Support from above.

On to the situation generally, Hughton pooh-poohed the idea that recent loans were a sign that there was no money whatsoever to invest in players on a more permanent basis, saying:

“It’s not a question of us having to go down this avenue because of a lack of funds. When chances come your way with a player who has played at a good level for a number of years you will have a look at him,” adding:

“There is certainly a willingness on behalf of the club that if we want to strengthen in certain areas then yes I will get that support from above.

“It’s not always about players that can go straight into the team. It’s also about having a well-equipped squad to handle the rigours of the next few months.”

Finally, on the subject of bringing further players in before January he said:

“We still have a little bit of time but I’m not desperate to bring anyone in,” he said.

“As we said with what we saw last night, if an opportunity that we like comes up then we will assess it but I’m not desperate to bring anyone in.”

Indeed, with Newcastle’s rather chequered transfer history, this ‘try before you buy’ method may have it’s advantages?

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1096 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

94 Responses

  1. Mmmm….. the squad’s thin says CH yet there’s no rush to bring players in?

    And….. getting support from above eh….. We’ll find out just how much if and when it happens I guess.

  2. lesh says:
    November 18, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    “Mmmm….. the squad’s thin says CH yet there’s no rush to bring players in?”

    Lesh, I think what he’s saying is he’s not desperate to bring in any old rubbish just for the sake of it. Though of course, it is very common to attach the most negative slant on anything Hughton says or does. :-)

  3. If Pancrate signs then all Hughton’s efforts should be focused on centre backs in January. Khizanishvili’s loan expires so only Steven Taylor and Coloccini (Kadar, Tozer + Morris if you count the reserves) are available. If Hughton can get Caldwell and Kilgallon in, it would be very good business.

  4. Every time Chris opens his mouth – good sound sensible comments come out.
     
    Could we imagine the carnage of a crying Shearer right now if he had been appointed – “Wheres my millions – I want more millions – without it I can not win games – boo hoo hoo hoo”. Me thinks not getting Old Big Heed Shearer was a blessing in disguise.

  5. just one bit of that worries me a little:

    “When chances come your way with a player who has played at a good level for a number of years you will have a look at him”

    doesn’t really say much about bringing in some younger talent to me

  7. Worky @2, of course we don’t wabt him to bring in rubbish for the sake of getting players in….. it’s just that one minute he’s acknowledging that the squad’s thin (see BBM commentry on the reserve match viz kids) yet he’s saying there’s no rush to add to it.

    Surely if it is thin, there is an urgent need to get good players into the squad as we’ve a busy and critical series of games over the festive season.  The need’s defined because we need to emerge from it at the top of the pile rather than have to play catch up with limited player availabilty due to injuries etc.

    I’m certainly not taking anything away from what he’s done with what he’s got and it’s probably me not translating his words into his intentions.  He does right to play his cards close to his chest I guess – it should strengthen his hand in any negotiations.

  8. danny-boy… Stardust is Sawdust an nowt’ll change his ways…….

    ah bless him – he’s somebody’s bairn!

  9. I thin kall he means is no panic buying, its all well & good Pancrate (for instance) having a good game last night, but Marlon’s first game was alright too, and he’s struggled to produce the same form again
    we have got a timeframe, we’re not sure of a budget and we know we need players, the world and it’s dog knows our situation so we have a massive risk of being priced out without busting the bank for any other club so you’re damn right he’s playing his cards close, can you blame him?
    8)

  14. “There is certainly a willingness on behalf of the club that if we want to strengthen in certain areas then yes I will get that support from above.”

    “on behalf of the club… if we want to”. If nobody can read from that Mike Ashley has the final say – or even chooses – the transfers at this club then I don’t know how else he could have put it.

    Just shows to me Hughton is a puppet for Ashley and quite content to allow Ashley to do whatever he wants with transfers as long as Hughton has “Manager of Newcastle United – won promotion” on his CV. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Hughton, and I can’t knock anybody who takes the job otherwise we wouldn’t have a manager at all. I just don’t like the entire set up of how much interference Ashley has and how little power the manager has.

    The one person who makes a team good or bad is the manager. Look at David Moyes for evidence. The one person who can make a team great or terrible is the owner(s)/chairman – just look at Arsenal, Villa, Spurs for that.

  15. but on the flipside Andy, how much abuse do the owners of Arsenal/Villa/Spurs get from their own fans?
    there’s no denying Ashley has the final say, after all, he’s signing the cheque, don’t get me wrong, I don’t like it – but that’s how it is
    only one argument:

    “The one person who makes a team good or bad is the manager. Look at David Moyes for evidence. The one person who can make a team great or terrible is the owner(s)/chairman – just look at Arsenal, Villa, Spurs for that.”

    that’s 2 people? Owner & manager….

  16. Nah think I didn’t write it very well. A good manager can take just about any team and make them perform well on the pitch. To have a good club, you have to have a good structure and good owner. Who stays out of things.

    To be fair, I wouldn’t say Spurs, Villa or Arsenal’s owners get much abuse. Villa are now a top 5/6 club, Spurs have a good team, good manager and plans for a very good new stadium – and from the top down i’d say Arsenal are the best club in the country.

  17. i’ll agree with you there, good manager can motivate the players he has, CH is doing ok so far, I think we’ve gone too far now with Ashley to ever have a similar symbiosis as other clubs – too much damage done to rectify now
    I think Arsenals success has an awful lot to do with Wenger, his eye for a player who will do well in the EPL is unparalleled tbh – IMO of course

  21. Nah batty@18… Stardust may have got one bite but I dangled a little morsal in his swim (@8) and …. no response.

    He must be a bit off colour or perhaps he feels above all of this imbicilic trivia we proffer to his sagacity! 

  28. need MUCH bigger to reel me in Batts ;) lol
    it just seems like he’s half-hearted these days, even those shiny spurs boys didn’t really draw him out yesterday
    lol

  30. Yep Danny I am quiet these days – we have a manager, we have a team playing well, we are top of the league,  Mikes in charge, Keegan and Shearer are distant memories, , the mob are silent and defeated – and the ones that dont know they are defeated are about to find out they have lost their pensions in the NUST scam lol.
     
    So I am pretty content – just sitting in an afterglow.

  31. the afterglow is blinding you mate if you think the mobs defeated ;)
    try opening the other eye so you can see the full picture

  34. we care Chuck, just only so far lol
    as bemusing as it is to admit, sometimes he make sense….
    ok, now I feel dirty…
    :)

  35. Sorry Uncle Chuck.
     
    By the way – are you appearing again at the Theatre Royal this year – I hear A Christmas Carol is back on…..just wish those bloody ghosts would hurry up and visit you.
     
    Signed….Bob Stardust…your humble servant.

  40. YOU SEE STARDY !
    Thats how it`s done, if you want a reaction !
    Actually I find myself agreeing with you on occasions,  truth is it`s all about the smug attitude ,  but then,  would`nt be you if you did it otherwise, would it ?

  44. iam sitting here laughing me head off  billy bunters blog night oot remember that stardy lol yee cannit come batty y will beat me up

  45. andy,
    ellis at villa was one of he most hated owners of recent times mate.
    Strangely or not, they didn’t get 1 10th of the bad press we do about it.
    Get a memory.

  47. Clint admittedly i’ve only paid notice to Villa since their recent success with O’Neill, and from what i’ve seen Ellis just backs him for whoever he wants (Downing for £12M, Delph for £8M) and generally seems a decent owner. When was he hated?

  48. That’s not a fault of the owner at Everton though Clint, having less money than others. In fact it further reiterates the point of what a good manager – Moyes –  can accomplish.

  53. Not being funny Clint but I was actually on about Lerner lol, I obviously just got names mixed up when you said I was talking about Ellis.

    To be fair if you look at the plans for Spurs stadium, and still how much investment Levy has put into the team – backing Redknapp, they must be loving it considering they were up for relegation at the start of last season. Then they brought in a good manager.

    Have to say though i’m not ashamed one bit to admit if I could have had a choice to support any club apart from Newcastle it would have been Arsenal, they’re probably the most natural, well set up club I know.

  54. Levy is a figurehead, not the owner of spuds.
    That’s some global conglomerate man.
    Can’t remeber the name & not arsed to look it up.
    Aye, the gooners are the best set up club & play the best football too, no doubt.
     
    I was just trying to say (re: villa/everton) that if we had owners like kenwright & ellis,  we’d hate it. That’s if we don’t already?

  56. Sure enough we’d hate Ellis. But to be fair Kenwright has stuck with Moyes for all this time and it’s paying dividends for them now. Something we haven’t done in about 20 years – stuck with a manager.

  57. True mate.
    But  think it’s more moyes has stuck with kenwright.
    But credit to moyes & kenwright for sticking together anyway.
    moyes makes him money & he claims poverty.

  59. Andy @ 56 Something we haven’t done in about 20 years – stuck with a manager.
    Nah mate that would be to boring until next season then we can get a longterm manager in Big Al with a 10 yr plan now that would be sweet.

  60. Dave i’m just not sold on Shearer as a manager to be honest mate. A legend, a great footballer, an ambassador for the region, but football is a results business, and would I trust him with a 5 year contract? No.

    I’d rather go for a proven manager, who has tasted success and been there with other clubs. Our last great manager, Robson, had been just about everywhere as a manager and is half of the reason we did so well at the time.

    I still think we as a club (call me deluded) can attract a top manager – although it’s all down to the owner really. I love it on my NUFC DVD when John Hall’s recalling signing shearer – he says, “I said to Kevin, if you could have one player in the world, who would it be? And he told me, Alan Shearer. Then I said to Kevin, you’ve got him, we’ll put the money up for him”. So that just goes to show what a relationship between the owner and manager and sharing a drive for success can do.

  61. Yes, Although Arsenal probably have more money (billionaire`s on the board) they are adamant  about sticking to a set business plan, one that does not run at a loss, despite having built a multi million pound stadium recently.
    An admirable plan and what can I say about Wenger, that has`nt already been said and the quality of the football, a pleasure to watch.
    On saying that,   Spurs are also a team with big money backing, who are about to build a new stadium (what are the odds on it being named White Heart Lane 2#)   and with Arry in charge are doing good.
    On a different subject  just read an interesting article in regard to fan ownership of Germany`s football clubs, it`s above on this site
    SportingPreview.com

  62. Andy @ 60 I agree with most of what you say Bu as it stands I have to call you deluded as I dont think we would get a proven manager while Ma is here as I dont think he has any longterm plans for us I think his plans run out when we get promoted and the club is back up for sale,

  63. I still think things could have been a whole lot different if Ma had a replacement lined before sacking BSA

  64. Ah Dave like I said it all depends on the owner – but I stand by my belief that a club our size can attract a top calibre manager.

  65. What a poisoned chalice, i am talking about the managers job at NUFC.
    As long as Shearer is around, no manager will feel secure in the job.
    He has consistently lobbied for the position and continues to do so, even following what can only be described as a catastrophe, he was directly responsible for our current position, by losing all but one game and that was against our fellow NE neighbors and now second tier rivals The Smoggies.
    Look, dumb as he may be in regards to football, even Ashley figured that one out, else why  was he (Shearer) not offered a contract
    He had his shot and blew it , which by all reason is a fact, I wish he would stop lobbying and go back to being a  pundit, or go learn the business elswhere.

  66. Chuck I think you know the truth, He wont go away. But I think the reason for him not being offered the job has got nowt to do with anything other than the fact that Ma wanted to sell because he didnt want to spend the money needed. I just think its a crying shame that we well have to go through all the Sale sh1te again next season.

  67. HABIB Beye insists he will know when he has finally won over the hearts and minds of the Villa Park faithful – when they start chanting his “Happy Days” theme song from the Holte End.
    The player, nicknamed “The Fonz” on Tyneside during his days with Newcastle United, was a cult hero at St James’ Park in his first season there as a defender.
    ————————————————-

    Taken from the Birmingham Mail.

    I was fully aware of the Happy Days thing, but personally I have never ever heard Beye called “The Fonz”, anybody else?

  68. andyNUFC says:
    November 18, 2009 at 6:29 pm

    “I was fully aware of the Happy Days thing, but personally I have never ever heard Beye called “The Fonz”, anybody else?”

    I thought that was just Alfonso Alves at Middlesborough. I live in London, but I still get to quite a few games, I know other fans and I don’t think I’ve heard that one before. I’ve just heard the ‘Happy Days’ song.

  69. Aye same Worky, to be honest though, as much a catastrophe our club has been for the last 2 seasons, I still feel I can laugh at Boro breaking their club transfer record for Alves, and where is he now? Somewhere in Saudi Arabia or somewhere, haha!

  70. Ah, Habib thought moving to Villa would save his Career and then ends up a reserve player which he fully deserves to be for lying to us!

  71. TF, Beye is a top class player and deserves to be at the best clubs, you can’t really blame him for not wanting to stick around at this mess.

  72. If Mike Ashley is really serious about staying with this club for the foreseeable future, then my advice is to spend whatever it takes to bring Gus Hiddink to NUFC
    Yeah I know laugh and scoff all you want, everyone has his price and it`s rumored Hiddink wants a return to the EPL, following the end of his contract, (which he is adamant about) with the Russian team.
    Who knows, we gain promotion and offer a decent sum, the challenge may just attract him.
    Face it, he is probably the best there is right now and undoubtedly he will find a home with an EPL club, so Mike there`s your answer, what the hell give it a shot.
    Nah ! what am I thinking would`nt spend the dough !
    Probably end up at Liverpool or Chelsea again, ah well !
     

  73. andyNUFC

    I know he’s a top class player and does deserves to be at a better club BUT he cant come out and say he wants to stay and fight for the club then leave a couple of weeks later. Same goes for Duff.

  74. TF I have no doubt that Duff, Beye and Martins would have stuck with us this season – the simple matter of the fact is that they were on too high wages, unsustainable for this league. We had to sell them.

  75. Big Dave
    Yeah, you are right, is what it is, not much we can do about it !
    Well off to watch the second leg Irish vs. French, hoping for a good game.
    Coupla Amstel`s will make it more enjoyable.

  76. andyNUFC

    So why is Coloccini, Nolan, Gutierrez, Geremi, Butt, Smith and Barton still here?

  77. Because if they weren’t then we wouldn’t have a team. Plus we probably just accepted the best bids. We got really good money for the players we sold in all fairness.

  78. andyNUFC says:
    November 18, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    “I still feel I can laugh at Boro breaking their club transfer record for Alves, and where is he now? Somewhere in Saudi Arabia or somewhere, haha!”

    The strangest one was Ramos at Tottenham and then, even worse after Tottenham sacked an excellent manager to get him, Royal Madrid made exactly the same mistake. Despite all their supposed knowledge and resources to check out a candidate, they BOTH got the wrong gadgie! They forgot to get the technical director at Seville too, who was the real key to Ramos’s success.

  80. Toon _ Factor
    Perhaps he really did want to stay (Beye) who knows, but I believe he was on that list of highly compensated players and the fact he was in his thirty`s not exactly one for the future.
    All of those things combined were contrary to him staying, though he was a a good player, same thing in Duff`s case.
    You know, this thing about loyalty to any club is something of a rarity in to-days game, players are there primarily for the dosh and yeah some of the top players are also in it for success and silverware.
    But they are no different from most of us, wanting jobs that pay the most.

  81. Yeah i agree with that.

    People may go on about how much our players earn, but its not their fault they’ve been offered that much in the first place, if someone offered me 20k a week and another offered 50k it’s not a hard choice which to accept is it.

  83. Worky

    I wasnt talking about that but i dont know who  he is anyway, i  follow the spanish league but not  as thorough as i do english.

  84. Lovenkrands is another freebie who was nearly 30 when we signed him and he was the first to score against Van Der Sar in about 8 years and he was one of our best players last season.  It’s just the delay until literally the last minute to sign him in the summer that has caused his lack of match fitness and a family illness has also added to that.  When he gets back to full fitness and gets playing, he will be one of our best again.

    Another factor with Lovenkrands is if we sign this Pancrate guy, then we have him, Jonas and Ryan Taylor as dedicated wingers and Jonas and Ryan Taylor can play on both sides if needed – we should be covered for wingers and that allows Hughton to use Lovenkrands in his best role – the lightning fast poacher who feeds in the box and with the likes Shola, Ranger and Carroll up front with him, he will be lethal.

    Signing Pancrate may well be worth the money for the benefit we gain with Lovenkrands alone, nevermind what he would personally bring himself.

    We have to try it.

  85. Well said wickywoowoo

    I also think the team lacks pace and by all accounts that french lad has bags of it , plus as you pointed out it lets mclovin upfront to add pace to our front line

  86. I was born in Glasgow and am a Celtic fan by birth but since moving to England at a young age, I adopted the loonies of Newcastle as my “English team” as they are pretty much Celtic with the passionate fans and love of attacking football.  Only difference is black stripes instead of green hoops.  I have stuck with them for 15+ years so far.

    The reason I tell you all that – I know better than pretty much every other Newcastle fan just how much of a hassle and pain Lovenkrands can be upfront.  He did it often enough to give Celtic grief, we just need to give him the same chance at Newcastle.

    Play him in his correct position and when he is fit and I have total faith that he will be raping these Championship defences aswell as most of the mid table teams in the Premiership also.

  87. With LuaLua, Lovenkrands, Pancrate and young Leadbitter at right-back last night I think we had managed to have four of the fastest kids I’ve seen at the town in a while, all on one pitch.

  88. How did lualua play bowburnmag? From waht you saw last night could he break into the firest team?

  91. I know this aint an irish site but Ilrenad into extra time against the french! Gettin married next July , might be havin an early honeymoon in south africa yet!

  94. Johno Toon – flattered to decieve a little bit. Too much like the original, does all his hard work and tricks in the wrong areas. The boy can run though.