It doesn’t mean I’d be happy but I’d take 17th now...
SAYS BRIGHTON’S CHRIS HUGHTON
CHRIS HUGHTON walked into a packed function room in one of Newcastle’s most storied hotels last month and a crowd of 400 rose to its feet.
In the past few years that same room has housed countless dinners with former Newcastle United favourites. Only three have earned a standing ovation before the starters have been served: Alan Shearer, Kevin Keegan and Hughton. That is the regard in which he is held on Tyneside.
And this for the manager of a Premier League rival. It is perhaps unprecedented.
‘I’d have to be very silly not to know what the Newcastle supporters think of me, it means a lot,’ says the Brighton boss, who gave up his own time to travel 300 miles north in support of Wallsend Boys Club.
‘It was my first managerial job and, despite the challenges, we won promotion in my first season. It was a special moment in my life, a special place.’ Only a special kind of person, however, is afforded such affection.
Hughton will now rely on the qualities which made him popular — honesty, determination and dignity — as Brighton are dragged towards the wrong end of the table after three straight defeats.
It is seven years since he was sacked by Mike Ashley with Newcastle 10th in the Premier League. He says: ‘I’ve never had an explanation and, in all honesty, I don’t need one. I’ll forever be grateful for having that chance.’
It is three years this month since Hughton took over at Brighton.
There was also his 59th birthday this week, not that he likes the fuss. His family — wife Cheryl, four children and six grandchildren — bought him a new coat, not to be worn on the touchline. And it is with them, at home, where Hughton finds sanctuary from the pressures of top-flight management.
‘The grandkids are great. They know the difference between winning and losing, but they don’t know the emotional difference — so they are a brilliant leveller,’ he says, admitting that they think their grandad’s job is ‘pretty cool’.
‘ It gives you perspective, particularly with the younger ones. If you’re babysitting and not in the best of moods, they can’t understand why. That actually helps.’
He has needed that diversion in recent weeks. Hughton is not under pressure from Brighton’s owner, Tony Bloom, or supporters. Far from it. But expectation and excitement soared when they climbed to eighth last month.
He, though, knows the reality for a promoted club.
‘I would take 17th now,’ says Hughton ahead of today’s visit of Burnley. ‘It doesn’t mean I’d be happy, but the most important thing for this club is to stay up, whatever it takes.
‘We have to be good enough to come through this period. The three teams who can’t cope with these difficult runs will go down.’
Hughton spent his birthday on the training pitch. Awake at 6am, he wanted to arrive with the answers his players need to spark a turnaround.
Early starts and working hard are nothing new. Aged 18 he turned down a professional contract at Tottenham to complete his apprenticeship as a lift engineer.
‘I was up at 6am every day. We’d meet in the cafe for a full English and from there out on to the tools,’ says Hughton, who eventually signed pro at 20 and went on to win two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. ‘I wanted to finish my trade, I’d done two years already and didn’t want to waste that.’
What would he do if he was in a broken-down lift today?
‘That was a long time ago, I’d press the help button!’ he says.
His practical skills aren’t what they once were. He has a bloodied scratch across his nose. ‘One of my chores was helping to put up the Christmas tree,’ he explains.
‘Inadvertently, with the scissors in my hand, I managed to catch *excluding caretaker jobs myself. If someone else had done it, I wouldn’t be impressed.’
Hughton’s work ethic came from his parents, growing up in Forest Gate, east London.
‘My mum came over from Ireland, one of seven children, and they came here to work. My dad came over from Ghana to study and then work,’ says Hughton, who went on to play 53 times for Republic of Ireland. ‘From an early age it was instilled in me, working was your pathway in life.
‘As a 13-year-old I’d have to get three buses to train at Tottenham. We didn’t have much but you appreciated what you had and worked harder for more. But my parents were always polite to everyone. They stressed about treating people with respect.’ Those principles perhaps triggered Hughton’s reaction towards Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after Brighton’s 5-1 defeat at the Amex Stadium a fortnight ago.
‘The first thing I did was go to shake Jurgen’s hand,’ he says. ‘His player came across and they ended up hugging. At that moment you’re angry and full of emotion, angry that you’re standing there waiting. I said to him, “You should shake the manager’s hand first”.
‘But credit to him, he came looking for me afterwards to explain. I don’t think it was something he did on purpose.’
Hughton’s annoyance was accentuated because his team’s collapse was out of character, losing by four goals for the first time under his charge.
He took over when Brighton were 23rd in the Championship, saved them from relegation and won promotion at the second attempt.
‘I’m incredibly happy here, but we have a big challenge,’ he says.
‘The chairman had ambition and built this from scratch. Only five years ago they were playing at the Withdean Stadium in front of 5,000 and training wherever they could.
‘He has built an exceptional training ground and wonderful stadium. He is a local man, he wants his club to be successful and grow again from here.
‘But first of all we have to stay in this division, that is my job.’
Achieve that this season and he’ll win a standing ovation from 30,000 — never mind 400.