Source: Telegraph
Newcastle's success down to Chris Hughton's composure, says Colin Calderwood
The former Tottenham colleagues have guided Newcastle to a ten-point lead at the top of the Championship and Calderwood has no doubt that Hughton's tranquil style of management is responsible for restoring harmony to a club beset by instability since Mike Ashley bought it two and-a-half years ago. [LNB]"In what were pretty choppy waters, I think that Chris has been the essence of calm," Calderwood said. "He has never wavered, whether that be this season, last season or all the time that I knew him at Tottenham Hotspur. [LNB] Related ArticlesNewcastle 2 Middlesbrough 0Gordon Strachan: Boro can turn season aroundHughton: Carroll can help NewcastleMike Ashley 'starts to prepare for Premier League'Hughton: Newcastle promotion not guaranteedMax Clifford: Newcastle promotion key for Mike Ashley"His ideals and the way he goes about things haven't changed at all. The players here are so honest and well principled and Chris doesn't ask them to do anything other than commit themselves and play football. [LNB]"There is nothing fancy added to that. No outside influences. We don't do any mind-bending exercises or anything like that and our basics are our basics. We have stripped it very bare and if you want to show your talent as a player then that is what you have got to do." [LNB]Hughton was, of course, handed the St James' Park manager's job by club owner Ashley after the sports' retail tycoon's gamble on appointing Alan Shearer as interim manager backfired and resulted in relegation. [LNB]Calderwood believes that tumultuous period as well as Hughton's times with Spurs and the Republic of Ireland have stood him in good stead for the challenge of returning Newcastle to the Premier League at the first time of asking. [LNB]"Chris has a very calm personality and that is backed by the experience he has had with both Tottenham and the Republic of Ireland and by the time he has spent here," Calderwood added. [LNB]"He's also got himself a good grounding with some top managers such as Glenn Hoddle and Martin Jol and has some great experience at international level with over 50 caps for Ireland. [LNB]"That is a fantastic apprenticeship for anyone to have and it spent over 30 years so he's really put the work in." [LNB]That they are such close allies now can be traced back to their days coaching at White Hart Lane. [LNB]Calderwood added: "Have I found him easy to work with? Yes - and I always have. In the same year that I joined Tottenham as a player Chris joined as a coach and at that stage we weren't massive friends that went out and about together. [LNB]"But we then had a two-and-a-half year spell at Spurs where he was coaching the first team and I was looking after the reserves. That was the time that we forged a familiarity and a friendship and we both recognised that we both had good principles. [LNB]"When I was working with the reserves he was always keen to know what they were doing and who was doing what. Those were important times and I think it was that period the led to him making the call to me last year about coming to Newcastle." [LNB]Newcastle, the odds on favourites to return to the top tier, strengthened their grip on pole position in the Championship promotion race to ten points with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at St James' Park [LNB]The Tyneside club have lost just three times this season and Calderwood believes his players will raise their targets with their campaign due to reach its half-way point at relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day. [LNB]"Wherever you are and whatever you are achieving, you can re-set your targets," the former Scotland international added. [LNB]"When you're going along like we have been doing then you have got to somehow be better and that is hard to do. [LNB]"But within our performances there is always room for improvement ad we have got to re-hatch our plans, set performance targets and if we do that properly then we will get where we want to be. [LNB]"We shouldn't be content with what we have got. There has got to be an ongoing renewal process that keeps us on our toes. [LNB]"There is nothing wrong with us aiming to be at the top of the league and there is no reluctance to talk about it. [LNB]"What we want to do is be there and deserve to be there because we are eager to get on with it." [LNB]
