Source: Northern_Echo
Hughton vents wrath in hour's inquest
CHRIS Hughton kept his Newcastle United players in the changing room for an hour after his side's 3-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion yesterday - where both players and coaching staff 'vented a bit of anger'.[LNB] Initial reports suggested that Hughton had opted to show his players a rerun of their performance at the Hawthorns, but, 90 minutes after the full-time whistle, the Magpies manager emerged to face the media.[LNB] While it was Danny Guthrie's individual error that led to the Baggies' second goal - killing the game off - Hughton was quick to point out that it was the whole team performance which irked him so.[LNB] Hughton said: "After most games there's a bit of an inquest into the game, and when there's a game where we didn't do particularly well, these can be normal things. Some of it's about getting answers, venting a bit of anger, but it is a normal thing after a game particularly when it's a result like today's.[LNB] "On the back of what was a good result for us last week, I didn't think we started the game well enough. We know with the way West Brom play, there are going to be times when you'll concede a little bit of possession because of the numbers they play in midfield. We added to our own downfall with the goals."[LNB] While Hughton would not be pushed on what was said in the changing room, the manager believed that such an exchange of views is cathartic.[LNB] He explained: "What you want to do after a game is get certain things off your chest and it's a good opportunity for the players. When there's been a performance like that, it's normal. What is said in the changing room stays in the changing room. We haven't been good today, an inquest is normal under the circumstances.[LNB] "I'm happy with the reaction. What you want to be able to do is put the defeat behind you as quickly as possible, this time after the game was a good opportunity to do that.[LNB] "What we have done is worked very well as a team over time, what we do is as a team and anything we say will very much be as a team, and stay that way.[LNB] Hughton remains confident that his side can navigate their way out of what he labelled a "difficult" spell which has seen the Magpies pick up just two points from a possible 15.[LNB] He said: "This season has been one of highs and lows, we've picked up some tremendous results and had some disappointing results. The Bolton game was the poorest so far, but we came here on the back of a good result against Chelsea and we were endeavouring to get something out of the game today. We certainly weren't good enough in enough departments today and that's why we were in there so long."[LNB] "It's a very tough division. I've said all along that we're going to have good periods and bad periods, it's where we are and our aim has always been to stay in this division. At the moment we're going through a difficult patch. What we have to do now is make sure we learn from it. I think we'll come through it.[LNB] "We are capable of picking up good results. What we have to do after a bad result is pick ourselves up again. We're capable of doing that."[LNB] Hughton was disappointed not to be able to name Joey Barton in his starting line-up, the midfielder suffering a slight groin strain in training, while Guthrie's injury sustained while slipping on the ball is not thought to be a serious one. Both are expected to be fit for the visit of Liverpool at the weekend.[LNB]
