Hughton: The Straw that Broke the Magpies Back?

Bit of an essay, so I'll not judge if you choose to skip it!

With the news/rumours that Enrique has terminated his tenancy, following reports from Philnocchio Thompson that his move to the Bin-Dippers was, "a done deal" (having already secured the record breaking signature of Andy Carroll), despite both players having, within the previous 12 months, pledged their whole careers to the Black and White cause, this got me thinking...

What changed? Why, in a season when we have surpassed the expectations of pundits, opponents and indeed some of our fans (myself being one of them) has the seemingly unbreakable 'us against the world' mentality we had adopted almost unyieldingly since the disaster that was the Leyton Orient defeat, simply fizzled out with little more than a few whimpering from the odd player and the quiet murmurings of a grumbling terrace?

Andy Carroll was black and white to the core, he was living every Geordie's dream, he was our talisman, our diamond, our number 9. He had the chance to surpass the scoring record of Alan Shearer and achieve something even Jackie Milburn couldn't, to begin and end his career at the place he claimed to love more than anything, Newcastle United...

Enrique was an adopted Geordie, of that there was little doubt. The sheer emotion that ran through the stadium 'that' night against Forrest was electric...From the players, through the fans and into the Directors box, every single one of us was on that field, at the bottom of that pile on, screaming, cheering and clapping for OUR El Torro! He said he was settled, he said he was happy...

So what changed? Is it money? Is it the lure of Champions League football? Is it the chance of silverware? All of these things would be understandable, but if they're the reason, why, so soon before moving, would you come out and pin your colours to the mast?

For me, the day that saw it all begin to waver, was the day Chris Hughton was sacked! Until then we were in it together...We had nothing to prove to anyone, Hughton had won us over, we loved him and he loved us. The players knew he was a rookie, but respected his honesty, his unassuming character and his natural humility. People were beginning to draw comparisons to the likability of Sir Bobby. The 6:0's and 5:1's were reminiscent of the glory days of Keegan. We had a manager who was learning, and improving and we were on the crest of a wave....

To take that away, and to replace him with Pardew (and this is not a dig at him) was like removing the glue that held the whole, delicate construction together...Hughton was the soothing influence Joey Barton had always needed. Hughton was the polite face of a club which had, for too long, snubbed it's fans and journalists. Hughton was the man, who when he made mistakes, took it on the chin, stood up and brushed himself off. The players respected that and wanted to play for him, to fight for him, and more importantly to stay for him...Pardew is Newcastle United's manager, but Hughton was OURS!

Am I saying Carroll would've stayed had Hughton not being fired? No, not necessarily, but I'm convinced he'd had thought longer and harder about approaching the man who gave him his big career break with a transfer request than the new man, sitting in his seat!

 

With the news/rumours that Enrique has terminated his tenancy, following reports from Philnocchio Thompson that his move to the Bin-Dippers was, "a done deal" (having already secured the record breaking signature of Andy Carroll), despite both players having, within the previous 12 months, pledged their whole careers to the Black and White cause, this got me thinking...

What changed? Why, in a season when we have surpassed the expectations of pundits, opponents and indeed some of our fans (myself being one of them) has the seemingly unbreakable 'us against the world' mentality we had adopted almost unyieldingly since the disaster that was the Leyton Orient defeat, simply fizzled out with little more than a few whimperings from the odd player and the quiet murmurings of a grumbling terrace?

Andy Carroll was black and white to the core, he was living every Geordie's dream, he was our talisman, our diamond, our number 9. He had the chance to surpass the scoring record of Alan Shearer and achieve something even Jackie Milburn couldn't; to begin and end his career at the place he claimed to love more than anything, Newcastle United.

Enrique was an adopted Geordie, of that there was little doubt. The sheer emotion that ran through the stadium 'that' night against Forrest was electric...From the players, through the fans and into the Directors box, every single one of us was on that field, at the bottom of that pile on, screaming, cheering and clapping for OUR El Toro! He said he was settled, he said he was happy...

So what changed? Was it money? Was it the lure of Champions League football? Was it the chance of silverware? All of these things would be understandable, but if that is the case, then why, so soon before moving, would you come out and pin your colours to the mast?

For me, the day that saw it all begin to waver, was the day Chris Hughton was sacked! Until then we were in it together...We had nothing to prove to anyone. Hughton had won us over, we loved him and he loved us. The players knew he was a rookie, but respected his honesty, his unassuming character and his natural humility. People were beginning to draw comparisons to the likability of Sir Bobby. The 6:0's and 5:1's were reminiscent of the glory days of Keegan. We had a manager who was learning, and improving and we were on the crest of a wave....

To take that away, and to replace him with Pardew (with no disrespect intended) was like removing the glue that held the whole, delicate construction together...Hughton was the soothing influence Joey Barton had always needed. Hughton was the polite face of a club which had, for too long, snubbed its fans and journalists. Hughton was the man, who, when he made mistakes, took it on the chin, stood up and brushed himself off. The players respected that and wanted to play for him, to fight for him, and more importantly to stay for him...Pardew is Newcastle United's manager, but Hughton was OURS!

Am I saying Carroll would've stayed had Hughton not being fired? No, not necessarily, but I'm convinced he'd had thought longer and harder about approaching the man who gave him his big career break with a transfer request than the new man, sitting in his seat!

HTL!

 

A number of things make so little sense to me:

1. Chris Hughton was sacked for no reason whatsoever, there is literally no justifying it IMO

2. Enrique stayed with us in the Championship, now when we have 35mil in the bank to spend and European aspirations, he may leave because "we are not the same s we used to be". All this having said he would happily end his career here.

3. Everything that happens to Andy Carroll. He is quite literally living the dream, and ****ing us over off the pitch, but we stick by him and defend him to the hilt, we love him and he is looking like the next Shearer, then leaves for more money.


The unthinkable, unjustifiable, completely nonsensical bullshit happens to us every year. Why cant we be a normal, boring club?

 

You lost me at Bi...

 

I made it to the second sentence. That was a Tolstoy novel in itself.

 

sexual ?

 

" the magpies " Im guessing thats the nickname for newcastle rovers ? Im a bit confused , most of this is gobbledygook because I know nothing about english football.......if only there was somewhere else for these kind of team specific detailed football articles to go

unless , of course, this houghton fellow really did take a straw and break a magpies spinal column with it , in which case I d suggest contacting the rspcb and the guiness book of records

 

Don't blame Enrique if he does want to move. He doesn't owe us anything in my eyes after staying with us in the Championship season. If he wants to get into the Spain squad, he'll have to do it about now, as Capdevila can't be far from retirement and if he's going to get into the squad, he needs to play for a top team and play in the Champions League (or at least the Europa League). For that reason, I think he'd be leaving anyway, regardless of whether Hughton was in charge or not.

 

But why didnt he go when we got relegated? And if his intention was only to get us promoted again, why did he say he wanted to stay for the rest of his career (while in the CCC)?

 

On Hughton though, I remember when Carroll scored the winner against Arsenal and went over to hug him and I thought "those two can really take us somewhere, on and off the pitch". We had a fantastically underrated motivational manager and a local lad banging in the goals, and neither one lasted til the end of the season.

 

This! There's got to be something else involved!

As I said in the article, if it's about Champions League football, International Selection or winning trophies then fair enough, but, why pledge your allegiance literally only months ago?

 

He said on that Late Kick Off that "we are a different team now" than to when he joined. But we now have more chance of getting into Europe than that bunch of bottlers in 07/08 or whenever it was, maybe he just thinks big names = success and that's why Liverpool is a possibility.

 

I agree with you mate, since then Enrique hasn't looked happy playing like he did under Chrissy. He had the respect that Pardew is still yet to earn from them and it shows. Yes, he's given Fergie a chance at the back and fair play, he did really well in the few games he's played, but even this was down to injuries, not choice. There's not much between them managerially, yes Pardew has more experience, but he doesn't have them playing like they did for Chris. I believe Nolan is the only thing keeping this team together right now, his influence is invaluable.

 

What the **** is wrong with you?

 

To be fair, and as much as I hate to admit, they are far more likely to win anything than we are:

- New(ish) owner, who has yet to REALLY splash his cash (£50m from Torres)

- World class front line which cost them a mere £7m!

- A proven manager who loves the club and who is loved by the fans (affording him time).

It's ****e, but but we've been a small fish for too many years now, we just can't compete with the big boys!

 

Sorry about this duplication lads...I accidentally posted this on the general chat board (realised my mistake and reposted it on here) then Mick moved it across automatically to stop the ****-witts above going to town on it...Just means there's 2 of them.

I can't delete it for some reason?

 

I'll comment on the other one then haha

 

AG or Leazes will be able to merge them hopefully.

 

I agree with you mate, since then Enrique hasn't looked happy playing like he did under Chrissy. He had the respect that Pardew is still yet to earn from them and it shows. Yes, he's given Fergie a chance at the back and fair play, he did really well in the few games he's played, but even this was down to injuries, not choice. There's not much between them managerially, yes Pardew has more experience, but he doesn't have them playing like they did for Chris. I believe Nolan is the only thing keeping this team together right now, his influence is invaluable.