Chris Hughton is gone, but why?

Picture by Alan Walter













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I woke up this morning to hear speculation that Newcastle boss, Chris Hughton, may be about to be sacked by owner Mike Ashley, and now that speculation has become reality.

A statement from the club this morning read: 'Regrettably the board now feels that an individual with more managerial experience is needed to take the club forward," but if you look at Newcastle's last three managers; Chris Hughton, Alan Shearer and Joe Kinnear, you wonder why this sudden change in fortunes.

Maybe Ashley had forgotten that Newcastle stormed to the top of the Championship last season and were unbeaten at home?

Although the Premier League is another kettle of fish, it was barely six weeks since Newcastle smashed their local rivals Sunderland 5-1 and everything was all good and gold on the horizon.

Two weeks later and I was up at Newcastle with Blackburn Rovers and although we came away with three points, Newcastle, with Carroll and Nolan, looked threatening.

Ok, they might have lost three of their last five, and only picked up two points in that time, but the side still stand 11th in the Premier League table; something of a success given the step up to the Premier League and with the injuries they have?

If you think back to the start of the season, fans and media expected Hughton to be the first managerial casualty, but he has impressed in guiding the Toon Army four points away from the relegation zone and picking up points against both Arsenal and Chelsea.

In a week where England lost the World Cup bid, this is sure to hit Toon fans hard, and the main question now is who will replace the former Spurs defender, with a lack of available, experienced managers.

The other question is whether Ashley will back the manager, whoever it is, with experienced staff like Sam Allardyce sacked prematurely in previous years.

One thing is for certain, this choice could make or break Newcastle's season and the fans will be calling for Shearer, but maybe it's time the Premier League stepped in to protect some of the younger, more talented, managers from chairmen and owners who have ambitions which are clearly too high for newly promoted teams such as Newcastle.