Source: Telegraph
Chris Hughton has witnessed a tumultuous first year at Newcastle
Hughton headed to Tyneside to bolster Kevin Keegan's coaching staff having been round the proverbial block a few times, mainly at Tottenham's where he clocked up more 300 appearances as a player before joining the backroom team and taking the helm twice as caretaker manager as bosses came and went.[LNB]That is a role the 50-year-old has reprised for the second time at Newcastle following manager Joe Kinnear's triple heart bypass operation, the latest blow to hit the club that has experienced unprecedented upheaval over the last 12 months.[LNB]'There have been lots of obstacles thrown in our way, even in the short period of time I've been here,' Hughton said.[LNB]The strife-torn club was brought to its knees after Keegan resigned when he lost a power struggle with director of football Dennis Wise and the ensuing fans' revolt forced owner Mike Ashley to put the club up for sale.[LNB]Ashley has now taken the club off the market but resentment remains towards him, with fans planning a protest march to the football citadel today ahead of Everton's visit to the North-East.[LNB]Despite his London background, Hughton was spared the wrath of the Toon Army when they turned on the club's 'Cockney Mafia' last autumn, which confirmed his status as one of the game's survivors that was jeopardised when he lost his previous job, sacked alongside Martin Jol by Spurs in October 2007.[LNB]Now Ashley will be hoping Hughton's enduring qualities come to the fore over the next couple of months as he spearheads a fight for Premier League survival.[LNB]Hughton may have spent most of the time in the background serving 10 Tottenham managers since his playing days finished at Brentford in 1993, but the former Ireland assistant manager insists he will rise to the challenge of safeguarding Newcastle's top-flight status.[LNB]'I have been around the game long enough now to be comfortable the new responsibilities because I have been in the firing line around that pressurised position of first-team manager,' Hughton said.[LNB]'I'm also under no illusions it's going to be tough, but I have confidence in my own ability to manage the situation. We have some tough games coming up and even in this relatively short 13-game period there will to be some highs and lows. But am I confident in this group of lads performing well enough and getting the results? Yes.' [LNB]Hughton may have been promoted but he will stick with the tracksuit that has become synonymous with Irish football's first black international.[LNB]'I'll be a tracksuit manager because how I would like to be seen on Sunday is how I am which is a coach that enjoys being out there on the training field and enjoys coaching and working with the players,' he added.[LNB]As for his own managerial ambitions, Hughton admits 'that's a difficult one'.[LNB]'Yes I do have managerial ambitions but it is not the most important thing for me,' he concluded. 'What has been more important for me over the years is being in the right place at the right time.[LNB]'The most important thing for me at this moment is being fortunate enough to be in a position where I have been given that authority to look after the team for whatever this period of time is.[LNB]'It seems that over the years when managers have gone and I ended up staying it is because that was the right place to be at that particular time. That's what I feel at this moment in time.'[LNB]
