Shepherd, Bruce and Nolan offer support to Hughton as sacking rumours persist.

Posted on October 29th, 2010 | 109 Comments |

Hughton: Target of speculation.
Hughton: Target of speculation.
On the eve of Newcastle United’s home derby clash with the Mackems, Sunderland manager, Steve Bruce, ex Newcastle United chairman, Freddy Shepherd, and current club captain, Kevin Nolan have all come out in support of manager, Chris Hughton.

Hughton’s position as Newcastle manager has recently been called into question by journalists such as the People’s Alan Oliver and the Daily Hate Mail’s Colin Young, and bets on whether Hughton would be sacked were suspended at Ladbrokes recently. In response, the club issued a club statement after Wednesday’s League Cup defeat against Arsenal. The statement said:

“Chris is our manager and will remain our manager, and it is our intention to renegotiate his contract at the end of the year.”

Speaking in an interview for Talk Sport meanwhile, Freddy Shepherd said of Hughton’s time as the Magpies’ manager:

“I think Chris has done a great job, when you bear in mind the restrictions that he’s had of him and that’s football today.

“How can people complain about him? He brought them back up last season and I think he’s doing a great job. I don’t know how people can have a go at him, it’s just impossible.”

In another interview, Sunderland manager, Steve Bruce, also paid a similar tribute to the Cockney Colossus, saying:

“Football management is never easy and what he has done at Newcastle, for someone who has never managed a club before, is outstanding. The way Chris has conducted himself and the way he has galvanised them, has been terrific.

“I have the greatest respect for what he has done.

“When I see people are calling for him to go, or giving him undue criticism, I think it is appalling.

“He is one of football’s really good lads in a world of cut-throats.”

Finally, Newcastle United captain, Kevin Nolan, also had words of support for his gaffer, saying:

“No matter what happens on Sunday we are going to still be 110 per cent behind Chris Hughton,” he told Sky Sports News.

“For the statements, for anything else we don’t care what anyone else says outside. As a group of players, as a squad, as a staff and I believe as fans too we believe we are going in the right direction and the main focal point and the main leader in that is Chris Hughton.

“I think the talk is absolutely ridiculous on him having to win a game to stay in his job, it is absolutely ridiculous.

“No matter what we want to see Chris Hughton in charge of us and we believe we are going in the right way with him in charge of us.”

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1091 articles on this blog.

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109 Responses

  1. Can I just ask why the club are not talking to him about a new contract until the end of the year? Bit strange if you ask me.

    Still say there’s something fishy going on.

    More importantly, he desperately needs an assistant. He cannot do it all on his own.

  2. fuk off fat fred and bruce ,>>> How can people complain about him? He brought them back up last season and I think he’s doing a great job. I don’t know how people can have a go at him, it’s just impossible.<<<< who,s fukin them fred ya fat c unt thought you were a fan ,but now ya can join ed dudas as a c unt

  3. worky ide like too withdraw my 82 votes for hughton too get the sack :) but iam still wondering who the other vote belongs too

  4. batty says:
    October 29, 2010 at 4:19 pm

    “who,s fukin them fred ya fat c unt thought you were a fan ,but now ya can join ed dudas as a c unt”

    batty, I would just love to hear you and Joe Kinnear in a press conference together. :lol:

  5. Their scraping the barrel a bit getting Shepherds opinion on anything regarding Newcastle United after his handling of the club, The sleazy, hideous, fat barsteward.

    But sadly i must agree with him, It is ridiculous that this talk has ever started I cannot see what the man has done wrong, We are well on the way to staying up the only priority for this season…

  6. Apparently, it’s supposed to be common knowledge that manager contracts are more often than not renewed early in the New Year, more specifically, usually January.

    But while the rumours persist, it’s still disconcerting whether you want to believe it or not.

  7. I would love to see a genuine poll of every Newcastle supporter in the ground on Sunday to see who is behind Chris. I think you would find that anybody who is doubting he is the man for the job would be in the minority! Give the guy a chance – we were on our knees when he took over and we’re now in the top half of the Premier!

  8. Stuart79 says:
    October 29, 2010 at 4:14 pm

    “Can I just ask why the club are not talking to him about a new contract until the end of the year? Bit strange if you ask me.

    Still say there’s something fishy going on.”

    Stuart, Bowburn does have a very good point at comment #8.

  9. This rumor does a couple of things.

    1. On the positive, it deflects pressure off the team. They can concentrate on football, rally around the squad and show support for their mgr.

    2. On the negative, it might put doubt in the minds of some players who might be considering a move to NUFC. Who wants to come in if the mgr. is about to get the sack?

  10. CC says:
    October 29, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    “Their scraping the barrel a bit getting Shepherds opinion on anything regarding Newcastle United after his handling of the club, The sleazy, hideous, fat barsteward.”

    “But sadly i must agree with him, It is ridiculous that this talk has ever started I cannot see what the man has done wrong, We are well on the way to staying up the only priority for this season…”

    Agree, on both points :)

  11. Why the hell is the press want to f**k up with us everytime !!?? no matter good or bad we are , if we doing good they just come up with the s**t made up rumour or if we doing bad they just make it even worst.

    I’m really feel sorry for CH that have to go through with some s**t news and that came from nobody than the press themself.

    All the sack rumour thing is sh*ttt considering we doing OK at the moment and FFS we 9th in the league. Why don’t they go pick other team that lie below us , there are many team that not doing so well right now I mean with all the respect Liverpool , West Ham are lying in the bottom and all situation around them is not really good. Just leave us alone.

    The press are totally bunch of bastard who made the fan for their excuse of thing that they came up , everyteam have some fan that not satisfied with thing all the time but they choose to pick us. w***er

  12. @bowburnmag: i actually don’t follow the Joke…

    care to elaborate to me??

    cause i hardly follow news articles on other clubs other than Milan,RM,and Newcastle.

  13. Magpie_May13 says:
    October 29, 2010 at 5:02 pm (Edit)

    “Why the hell is the press want to f**k up with us everytime !!??”

    Because we are the most impressionable and unstable fans, and hence the most likely to provide a reaction. Once there is a reaction, then the story creates it’s own momentum.

  14. AngelOfDeath says:
    October 29, 2010 at 5:07 pm

    “@bowburnmag: i actually don’t follow the Joke…

    care to elaborate to me??”

    The search term in the top right hand corner, AOD.

  15. no other manager dare to manage newcastle when they reach relegation last 2 years but hughton has take the responsibility as a caretaker..managers come n go in newcastle but hughton remains there with the lads..he brought newcastle from a loser to a winner..no way they can sack him..he has become the no 2 legend of newcastle manager after bobby robson..bobby robson has brought newcastle to glory but hughton has shown the lads the loyalty..

  16. Rich – Someone took a sccreenshot of a Blackburn forum where someone said he was looking for a job. This particular Burnley found it amusing so posted the screenshot on the Burnley board, but he forgot to clear the search box at the top roght of the corner and is said “soapy tit w@nk” :lol:

  17. The image is still there by the way, just checked. I think they cached the thread before he could edit it :lol:

  18. mazri says:
    October 29, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    “no other manager dare to manage newcastle when they reach relegation last 2 years but hughton has take the responsibility as a caretaker”

    Well said, mazri, but Joe Kinnear did as well, and all he got was insults. It nearly killed him off too!

  19. :lol: why doesn’t he put it in his favourites like the rest of us ;-)

    whey time for me to get ready…one has a soiree to attend in Jesmond :-)

  20. That is quality, I thought you were laughing at the stupid Allardyce grass growing thing… :lol:

  21. Does anyone honestly think Barton is gonna behave himself? Clattermole bust his foot or something in his Wigan days and Barton was out for ages. He’s well gonna want sly revenge for that, also remember when he went completely studs in on Etuhu’s groin.

  22. I support Hughton, but Ashley is right to hold off n extention talks. Hughton was superbin the CCC, had a very good transfer window conidering the hand e was dealth, but now he needs to prove he can hack it in the Prem. That is tough to judge with such a small sample size. Let’s see where we stand n January or May before we make up our minds.

    I think the club was right to ban some of these nitwits from st. james, but what did we expect, tools like Oliver were going to respond to their banning by writing positive pieces in return? the club has nw spoken on the issue which should settle the matter. Sadly, it won’t.

  23. workyticket says:
    October 29, 2010 at 5:32 pm
    mazri says:
    October 29, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    “no other manager dare to manage newcastle when they reach relegation last 2 years but hughton has take the responsibility as a caretaker”

    Well said, mazri, but Joe Kinnear did as well, and all he got was insults. It nearly killed him off too :lol: you realy like him worky dont u :)

  24. batty says:
    October 29, 2010 at 6:10 pm

    “you realy like him worky dont u”

    Honestly, batty, I think that he was a much better manager than the fans gave him credit for.

  25. Evening all, Worky i’m near sure I read an interview with Jose and he said that JFK was never there except match days and he didnt really know him. Apart from that he just came across as a lying rent a gob that made us a bigger laughing stock than we allready were.
    I would have CH over him anyday of the week ;)

  26. i still meet toon bashers who think we haven’t changed and are expecting top 4 finish. Stories like this don’t help. A big show of support on sunday for CH, also an online petition would be a nice gesture.

  27. Hughton won’t be sacked, ridiculous if he was.

    And the user didn’t edit that post on Clarets Mad, it appears to have been too popular and exceeded it’s allowed bandwidth with the image uploading site he used.

  28. Big Dave says:
    October 29, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    “Evening all, Worky i’m near sure I read an interview with Jose and he said that JFK was never there except match days and he didnt really know him.”

    Dave, are you sure it wasn’t an interview with Stewart Robson where you read that?

  29. thing that really worrys me about sundays game sky are showing it in 3-D,seeing toonsy/richietoon etc in 3-D,doesnt bear thinking aboot :)

  30. I am disgusted by the media’s attempt to psychologically bully Hughton before the Derby in the hope he buckles under the pressure, loses the game and is then subsequently sacked/quits. This is the clearest example of a media witch hunt since Rafa Benitez was here. We, a newly promoted side, are sitting in the top half of the table after 9 games, having won our last game, and sitting just below Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea in terms of goals scored. Yet somehow they reckon Hughton is about to be sacked??? Did I miss something? Can anyone name another team that would be in this situation? Because I certainly can’t. I genuinely believed that a Mr Nice Guy like Hughton would be left alone by the media, but it seems anyone connected to our club is a target, regardless of their persona or general behaviour.

  31. EL TORO as i said y/day when was the last time the toon won 2 away and a draw with so few games played i know home form is a bit iffy but we will get there imo

  32. Worky im 99% sure it was Jose’s interview the same one that he said KK never really spoke to him.
    Ice you would need to have one hell of a big Wide screen to fit Toonsy in.
    As for all the CH shite I cant help but think that MA didnt help by banning the Mail and Co, I think that just made them more eager to cause sh1te

  33. @ 29 CH deserves a new and improved contract now not in jan or at the end of the season – he is the one that has stabalized the club – got us promoted & stuck about £50 million on the value of the club whilst having his hands tied behind his back.

    fat clueless ashley hit the – jackpot – when he stumbled over appionting him & he should be rewarded for it.we could wave goodbye to all the (daft?) rumours at the same time.

    and another thing – did your mudder never tell ya it’s bad manners te taalk with ya mooth full like.

    public hoose time..

  34. I dread the thought of JFK coming back, he is an absolute
    fookin knacka.

    The press would have a field day if he returned, I recall him telling all and sundry that we were in the middle of a great run when he suffered his heart attack.
    Er no Joe, we had not won in something like 6 games.

    He promised us international loan signings during the Jan window, complete crap.

    Big mouthed buffoon of the highest order IMO.

    RANT OVER………CH is doing a fine job.

    Back to my glass of vino.

  35. The only certain thing in the footballing world is the uncertainty of it.

    Given credibility to rumours is only valid when the event actually happens, waste of time and (my limited) brainpower otherwise.

    To quote Rhett Butler “I just don’t give a damn, Anal Oliver about your crappy journalistic underachieving efforts”

    Can we talk about something other than scurrilous lies.

  36. On a slightly different note we have loads of tiny black flies being a bit of a nuisance in my neck of the woods in the SE anyone else getting them?

  37. Not everyone is on the piss some of us have finished and stupidly got home just in time to watch this million pound shit that ive had to endure all fecking week… :mad:

  38. hopes all the proper supporters stay for the full ninety mins not like the wigan game never been so annoyed to see black and whites leaving stadium before the end of the game were stooping to the makems level mind!!!

  39. @Big Willy
    To quote Rhett Butler “I just don’t give a damn, Anal Oliver about your crappy journalistic underachieving efforts”

    Was that quote lifted from the directors cut of “gone with the wind” cos I don’t remember it from the original. ;)

  40. Big Dave says:
    October 29, 2010 at 10:27 pm
    TBH im more a coffee man
    CC like yer avatar mate im still waiting to see batty’s<<<< never have coffe after 6 m8 ,and a still cannit dee that avatar :lol:

  41. Batty its easy lad, as for no coffee after 6 I would have atlest 5 coffees after then :) .
    I wonder where the Dawg is tonite maybe curled up infront of the fire again

  42. alreet Dave,I’m a wee bit pissed but came yem early cos wor lass is bad and didnt gan oot.
    looking forward to beating the scum of the earth on sunday.
    How’s you?

  43. See Richie ye are a good lad no matter what Icedog says about ye :) im good mate just about to go get something to eat, and yeah cant wait till sun ;)

  44. I was tempted to stay oot longer Dave but me soft heart won thru in the end ;-)
    Where in NI are ya….I had the luxury of Woodbourne(spelling?) and the Maze…great fun :-)

  45. guys,derek llambias is 5th highest paid director in premier league behind the likes of david gill of manu,ivan gazidis of arsenal,gary cook of mancity,niall quinn of shaite..
    we pay the lad 780000pounds a year!!!and i found out the last guy was paid 1.3million!!!can we afford to spend so much on people who sit at desks and in our VIP box?after all we had a 16million pound loss..

  46. I said 2 the mrs let’s play Chilean miners, she said you want me to go down your shaft till I reach the bottom…I said no f**k off out of my sight for 4 months

  47. I said 2 the mrs let’s play Chilean miners, she said you want me to go down your shaft till I reach the bottom…I said no fu ck off out of my sight for 4 months

  48. A woman asks her husband, ‘Would you like some bacon and eggs? A slice of toast, and maybe some grapefruit and a brew?’
    He declines.. ‘Thanks for asking, but I’m not hungry right now. It’s this Viagra,’ he says. ‘It’s really taken the edge off my appetite.’
    At lunchtime she asked him if he would like something.’ A bowl of homemade soup, or a cheese sandwich?’
    He declines. ‘The Viagra,’ he says, ‘really ruined my desire for food.’
    Come dinnertime, she asks if he wants anything to eat. ‘Would you like a juicy steak and homemade apple pie? Or maybe chicken curry or a stir fry?’
    He declines again. ‘No,’ he says, ‘it’s got to be the Viagra . . . I’m still not hungry.’
    Well,’ she says, ‘Would you mind letting me get up now, I’m absolutely starving!

  49. batty – i just put 3 x’s on the coupon without looking at who i’m picking.

    so far – 3 wins & 3 losses.

    :)

  50. Sitting here with me ready brek and um bongo hoping for some sparkling wit and in depth footy chat and their isnt any fecker on here again, Not even the .org Tea Drinkers club… ;)

    P.S For anyone whos interested – http://www.youtube.com

  51. A Mackem arrives at the ground one Saturday to find the place completely empty. He went to the office and asked an official,
    “What time does the match start?”
    “There’s no match today,” replied the official.
    “But there must be!” argued the Mackem. “It’s Saturday.”
    “I’m telling you there’s no match today,” repeated the official.
    “But there’s always a match on Saturday afternoon,” said the mackem, “even if it’s only a reserves game.”
    “Watch my lips,’ shouted the irate official. ‘There is no M-A-T-F-C-H today!”
    “Well, for your information,” the mackem shouted back, “there’s no F in match.”,

    “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” yelled the official ;-)

  52. Off-topic, but has anyone else read today’s Guardian? Our old favourite Louise Taylor has done an interview with Tioté, and for once everything seems to be ok… apart from the general sense of snobbery she has. How does this sound?

    “The northern European sky above his head is the dullest shade of grey and a persistent drizzle has chilled the air at Newcastle United’s unglamorous, functional suburban training centre”

    Unglamorous and functional? Have I not read that ours is widely regarded as one of the best in the Prem, if not Europe?

  53. batty they came out as follows…

    blackburn

    cardiff

    peterborough

    4-3 to me i hope & if neebody has any objections i’m off to wet me whistle!

  54. Aye Greg, I read the same article, she just cannae help having a dig at Newcastle the daft slapper…

  55. Well, that’s my plans screwed for the day then. Set my alarm for 8am. Got up at 12:30pm…… Oops :(

  56. Why bother to perpetuate this non story by allowing it web space ?

    It’s utter bollocks as everyone knows. Next time I see Anal Oliver I’ll make sure he knows what I think of him :(