Quiet man Hughton making a big noise
No dramas, no crises as calmest man in football steers Brighton towards Premier League promised land
NEWCASTLE is a club with the capacity to test the sanity and destroy reputations.
It says a lot about Chris Hughton that he is one of the few managers in recent memory to escape from Tyneside with both intact.
There was a time when the view of the former Ireland full-back was that he was too nice to succeed in the murky world of English football.
But the 58-year-old has a steel which has tackled that perception and booted it into touch. He has endured setbacks and come back stronger.
And, this evening, the biggest game of the Championship season to date begins with Hughton’s Brighton a point ahead of a Newcastle team that was expected to streak clear under Rafa Benitez.
There is a decent chance that the current top two will both go up automatically. The points gap that really matters is the cushion of six that Brighton enjoy over third-placed Huddersfield.
With 13 games remaining, they are on course to make the leap to the Premier League for the first time and end a wait for top-flight football that dates back to 1983. Stability has been the hallmark of their campaign.
Brighton have lost just four games this term, whereas Newcastle, as ever, tend to specialise in experiencing a wider range of emotions. They have scored more, conceded more and suffered defeat on seven occasions.
Yet their travelling fans have respect for Hughton because of the manner in which he temporarily steadied their ship and led a promotion campaign in 2009/10 before getting sacked the following December due to concerns over his managerial experience. Outcry was the common response.
Granted, it did take a while for Hughton to emerge from steady work as a backroom staff member at Spurs (and briefly with Ireland) to the insecurity of being front and centre. And his CV post-Newcastle has not been free of blemishes.
MISTAKES
After a decent stint at Birmingham City, Hughton did a good job overall at Norwich but he made mistakes in the 2013/14 campaign where he was eventually shown the door before they suffered relegation.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel was an expensive flop and the manager’s frequent preference for a 4-4-2 meant that he struggled to find room for Wes Hoolahan.
Richie Towell is a different type of operator to Hoolahan but Hughton’s continued love of that system does not suit the ex-Dundalk man either. But it’s patently suited to the strengths of his current personnel and is delivering results. Players know where they stand with a boss who has conviction in his beliefs, even if he doesn’t shout from the rooftops about how he goes about his business.
He was replaced at Newcastle by Alan Pardew, who was never shy about popping into Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday to explain why he was doing such a good job.
Hughton’s press conferences will not be box office, but his style of management is bringing Brighton towards the centre stage.
It would be up there with anything he achieved at Newcastle if he gets them across the line. Brighton do have decent financial backing – they have built a fantastic academy facility and can offer good wages – but they still lack the wealth of sides that have come down from the Premier League and benefited from parachute payments.
Their better players will always be of interest to other clubs and, last September, Hughton’s star central midfielder Dale Stephens vented on social media when a dream move to the Premier League was blocked.
Stephens is out of contract at the end of the season, and in other dressing-room environments such a flashpoint might have unsettled the whole group. But Stephens has not downed tools and continues to perform, even though his deal is expiring.
He has paired up effectively with veteran Steve Sidwell and they starred in the weekend destruction of play-off candidates Reading.
Skipper Bruno and goalkeeper David Stockdale are also free to negotiate with others ahead of the summer, yet they have managed to remain focused on the major prize at stake and responded to last term’s near miss via the play=offs – a disappointment that has knocked other hopefuls back.
At Newcastle, Hughton is remembered for controlling his emotions despite working with some high-maintenance and demanding characters.
Former Magpies goalkeeper Steve Harper spoke warmly this week about Hughton’s influence.
ENVIRONMENT
“What came through with Chris was that he always said the right thing,” he stressed.
“In that environment you get found out very quickly but Chris looked after the players the right way. He was a players’ manager – and by that I don’t mean that he let us pick the team or do what we wanted.
“Chris made the big calls when he needed to but he took the players with him. Part of management is getting the lieutenants of the dressing-room onside and he did that.”
It takes strength to stay calm in the face of pressure. The qualities that have made cynical observers question Hughton might just be the key to his success. Brighton v Newcastle, live, Sky Sports 1, 7.45