Chris Hughton

Christopher William Gerard Hughton (born 11 December 1958) is a professional football manager and former player. Quotes Newcastle was the highlight of my career as a manager, You want to be part of winning teams, so that would have to be the highlight. It was my first managerial role, too, so it was very special for me and shaped my career. Whatever I was able to give the players, they gave me more. That club gave me an opportunity and I feel I’ve developed as a manager since. What we went through that [promotion] season, and the next one [when Hughton was sacked in December] gave me a good grasp of what management was all about, the ups and downs. And I’d like to think I’m a better manager because of it. But the achievement here, I think, would be greater just for where we are as a football club. Newcastle are an established Premier League club with massive support, but this club has never been in the Premier League. We’ve established a good level of consistency and that is a credit to the players and their desire. Where we are, above Newcastle, is probably different to what most people would have expected. The expectations on them are different because of the club they are and the squad they have. They are strong and recruited well in summer. But I don’t want to take anything away from our players, or our aims and aspirations. I am surprised [to be above Newcastle], but we’ve got a team who have worked hard enough to have deserved it. We learned about the small details from last season. We’re trying to look after them now. Every single goal we concede is a big thing. When we keep clean sheets you can see that everyone, not just the defenders, is happy. Clean sheets are one our biggest strengths and if we get one, we normally win the game. Last season was a tough time but we really learned a lot. The team came back stronger in pre-season. Some teams go down, some come back stronger and we are that type of team and those type of players. We are mentally strong. There are a lot of good things about this group. Quality is important, but the margins between teams are so small in this division. It’s easy to talk about spirit and togetherness but it is a big thing, especially when things don’t go as you want. We were on a bad run, not just in terms of results but also how we were playing, and yet we have come back even stronger. We’ve had our bad period. Now every win takes us a step closer to the Premier League. Winning this game would be a big step given the strength of the opponent in front of us. Brighton promotion would be bigger than Newcastle feat, says Hughton, February 28 2017 External Links