Well done Sir .................what a great guy you are and I do hope you keep the job for 2010/2011 season ..
you deserve it !!
I think Newcastle were helped in their promotion push by staying in Hotels rather than hostels :dft012: .
Meanwhile QPR are a few points out of the relegation zone even if they do have a game in hand. 4-0 drubbing by Leicester over the weekend and we worry that we only beat Wigan 2-1.
Newcastle are getting a lot of credit considering that their team is better than several teams in the prem, including a winger who is FIRST CHOICE FOR ARGENTINA!!!!
Other than that, I do like Chris Houghton, maybe he will come to us when the inevitable happens at Newcastle and he gets the boot for failing to break the top 4 in his first season back in the prem.
ChequeBook ...the Toon can go swing for all I care, I hate having to sit on a mountain in Leeds to see us play away. They never tell you that you need a hard hat and spikes on you boots when you go there, have not missed them this year :023:
Chris was treated very badly by all concerned. In particular bringing in that humourless **** Sherhaaaha as manager last year. Chris stayed very dignified, there was no whinging in the press al la Ince and his : A man of colour speech
he got on with the job, a job that must have been very difficult with a nightmare owner and all those big egos in the dressing room ....................................now they are already up and it is only the first week in April.
I hope he fecks off to some decent club, I am sure there are some who will sit up and take notice and the experience of the past two years or so are priceless. Nice to see a 'local' manager in The Premiership
If you can be bothered to read it this article is interesting, in particular the comments to the article and the number of Toon jokers saying ''I inny Houghton's biggest fan ...'
http://www.nufcblog.org/2010/02/one-chris-hughton/
One Chrissy Hughton?
On a day when two of this season's unsung heroes finally got some vocal recognition from Level 7, there was perhaps more to take home than the three points from a comfortable 3-0 victory over Preston. Newcastle supporters have had every right to question the current board, with the owner's intentions still up for much debate (see here for more details).
For his sins, Chris Hughton is now in cahoots with Ashley and Co. and inevitably suffers by association with his employer and the lasting ill-feeling between board and supporters. But even the most cynical of supporters are conceding that whatever their opinions of what the relationship between Hughton and the board represents, whether he's just an extension of them or his own entity and doing his own thing, what he's delivering is winning football. Not always pretty, not always elegant but generally, winning.
So I guess it was inevitable that by it's nature, the more vocal element in black and white would recognise his contribution in song. That it happened in yesterday's game was still perhaps a surprise to some, certainly yours truly, although arguably it was already overdue. And that it happened on a day when a new Coloccini ditty was given some air time by the lads and lasses of Level 7, was perhaps just a happy coincidence, or is it that the mood is just slightly brighter all of a sudden?
The mood was far from bright at kick off, as most of us uninformed about Routledge's absence discovered that Guthrie had been forced onto the right with Smith back in the middle with Nolan. Otherwise the team was unchanged but there was that inevitable foreboding that without a combination of our two wing wizards, we were going to be in for a long afternoon.
We didn't have to wait long for the mood to match the bright sunshine though, as Smudger won a loose ball and found Lovenkrands in behind the full back just inside the box. The Dane teased a cross towards Carroll at the back post but the flight of the ball took it over the despairing keeper and into the top corner. The striker at least had the decency to look sheepish, shrugging as he headed towards the corner to celebrate.
Despite the pre-match feeling being that it would be a tight affair, the early goal got the juices flowing as the home crowd sensed another goal feast. But it wasn't to be, and when Lovenkrands pulled up with a hamstring pull, the natives were distressed to see the thus far slightly underwhelming Leon Best replace him. But Newcastle saw saves from a well-struck Smith volley and when Williamson's header was well saved, the ball just wouldn't come down quick enough for Best. Preston had their own chances and Parkin had a couple of decent opportunities to equalise for the visitors. First being denied by a point blank save from Harper and then volleying wide a few minutes later.
The play was predictably narrowed with Guthrie's natural instinct being to tuck inside and effectively leaving Simpson to provide the width. In fairness, the full back did that quite well and demonstrated an ability to mix the type of cross he can throw in, which was something I've not seen him do that often, but which was a welcome sight. The middle of the park was too static though, and on a number of occasions, frustration both on and off the pitch could be sensed as the options available to the man on the ball were minimal.
By this point, Level 7 were amusing themselves with their own aside as the new Coloccini ditty did the rounds for the first time with any gusto. Coloccini has been one of the standout performers this season, so perhaps surprising that it's taken this long but then it's not the easiest name to get into a song. Or so I thought...
Struggling at first to understand just what the feck they were singing, it soon became clear that the lyrics were as thus –
Sung to 'I love you baby' by Frankie Valli
"Oh Coloccini,
You are the love of my life,
Oh Coloccini,
I'd let you shag my wife,
Oh Coloccini I want girly hair tooooooooooooooo..." (though I'm not convinced it wasn't 'curly hair')
much to the amusement of the uninitiated and obviously it didn't take long for it to spread. And when a Preston supporter trussed up in a lovely summer dress and sporting a glamorous blonde curly wig made himself known, it seemed there might be a theme to the afternoon. The subsequent banter between the man in question, was in keeping with the general mood and after a rendition of "One Lily Savage", when Level 7 demanded that he "Get his t*ts out for the lads", of course he generously obliged. Perhaps, as per, we overstepped the mark with "Do you take it up the ****" though...
The second half started well enough and within ten minutes, we had our second goal. Smith seemed at times, bizarrely, to be the more offensive of the midfield partnership but when he and Nolan combined well in the box, the Scouser was left with an easy slotted shot past the keeper to make it 2-0. And yet, there was again a failure to capitalise on that impetus and when Gutierrez came off for Ryan Taylor, we effectively lost any wide outlet.
And with little to shout about on the pitch, it was the man in the hot seat who became the subject of Level 7's attention as cries of "Hughton give us a wave" started. An apparent reluctance was unfortunately-timed, give the swift response from Harper who had received similar attention after another decent save. The most obvious explanation being that Hughton isn't a name easily pronounced or duly heard in song, and let's face it, he'd hardly have been expecting it.
But eventually he cottoned on and duly gave a wave in the direction of the Leazes and thus, songs which have been on the lips of many but rarely been whispered formulated. Versions of "One Chris Hughton", "Chris Hughton's black and white army" gradually emanating from the ranks, some with more universal consent and others with the obvious enthusiasm of a few die-hards with great willing.
Either way, when Pancrate came on for Guthrie and set up an almost carbon copy chance for Ryan Taylor to steer in the third, it effectively put the cherry on the cake. And while some question his tactics and others worry about his ability and pedigree should we be promoted, there was a clear nodding of gratitude and acceptance to Hughton yesterday. Because if promotion and the dreamy world of Premiership football is your bag, then we may indeed, at least for now, be walking in a Hughton Wonderland.
What I find mildly amusing is that someone born in Stratford London, speaks with a Cockney accent and looks like he could be an exponent of limbo dancing, could play over fifty times for the Republic of Ireland
Don't tell me that Chris Hughton's grandmother once went out with a man who knew someone who had been to Limerick.
Easy there tiger :008:.......................Chris was not really a plastic .............................
His mother was Ms Burke from Ballygrennan which is indeed in Co. Limerick ...
He has a son Cian (how Irish is that ) in the Spurs reserves
Chris will be sacked 4-5 weeks in and replaced with a higher profile manager such as Hughes or the likes. It's a shame as he's done a really good job...or has he? 'Castle' went down with still a good team and a team that was worthy of bouncing back even if they put Lawrie Sanchez in charge.
Chris is a good, well spoken man but not good enough for the Premiership! As a No.2 yes and a goal celebration hugger I'd have him at Fulham all day long but as the gaffer, no! :53:
Quote from: KCat on April 06, 2010, 01:00:00 PM
Easy there tiger :008:.......................Chris was not really a plastic .............................
His father is from Buncrana, Donegal He has a son Cian (how Irish is that ) in the Spurs reserves
I hear what you are saying KCat but my grandparents and mother were Welsh. My grandfather was a Welsh miner but I am defiantly English because that was where I was born. Had I been good enough and Wales had come knocking on my door I would have turned them down - honest.
Over the years players have got caps for countries they know very little about and it is all wrong. This is illustrated by the story of Jason McAteer who when making his debut for ROI said to his colleague that he hoped the Irish National Anthem wasn't as long as that one they had just endured. His colleague whispered to him, "That was our anthem".
Owen Hargreaves was born in Canada - he should play for Canada. Chris Hughton was born in England - he should play for England. The exception to this is if kids are born overseas because their parents were posted there for a short while. I accept that John McEnroe is hardly German even though he was born there, but if a person lives in a country permanently then they should honour that country.
It's an old fashioned concept but then I'm an old fashioned sort of bloke.
For feck sake !!!
Good on you Chris ..................where ever you lay you hat :011:
Quote from: KCat on April 06, 2010, 02:10:09 PM
For feck sake !!!
Good on you Chris ..................where ever you lay you hat :011:
Bollocks to Chris - he's never done anything for me :007:
Mr. Hat, Owen Hargreaves [certainly a Welsh name if ever there was one] was told by the Canadian U-17 coaching staff that he had no future in football. Luckily a scout for FC Bayern thought differently. Even while he was at Bayern, Canada never showed any interest while England did.
We have several players on our USA team who were immigrants as a child, or who were born here to first-generation parents. We've lost Nevin Subotic for the same reason that Canada "lost" Hargreaves [and that idiot is STILL part of our national coaching scheme], and lost a brilliantly talented lad named Guiseppe Rossi to Italy for the opposite reason. Although he was born in New Jersey, his immigrant father worshiped the Azzuri while living in a country who thought soccer was a pansy sport only played by French people. Hated to see Rossi accept an Italy U-21 cap while turning us down, but I could understand it. Emlyn Hughes made it clear that he played for England rather than Wales [even though his father was capped by Wales in rugby] because an England cap was more prestigious than a Welsh cap. Is Hughes more laudable than Rossi?
Now I'm assuming that Houghton is more Irish than Lawrie Sanchez is Northern Irish, but certainly there's something about honoring your father or mother in these circumstances, and since neither Sanchez or Houghton were likely to turn out for England ... .
Just helping Mr. Hat hijack the thread. Nothing to see here; move along.
Quote from: KCat on April 05, 2010, 11:23:58 PM
Well done Sir .................what a great guy you are and I do hope you keep the job for 2010/2011 season ..
you deserve it !!
totally agree, after being passed over those last two seasons while Toon tried to find 'the guy', the humbly sticks with the team, keeps his my shut, and carries on. Don't care if his team was good or not. He deserves the managers job next season.
Thread unhijacked......... :011:
Sorry to be pedantic but his name is Hughton.
I am sorry but I don't see anything honourable in 'honouring" the land of your fathers (or mothers).
The English Cricket team right now has almost as many South Africans in it as Englishmen. Where's the glory or the fun in cheering on a team of foreigners?
Britain once rushed through naturalisation papers for a South African athlete called Budd so that she could run for Britain. The whole thing was a joke and the laugh of it all was that she was about as fast as my granny on her zimmer frame.
You may have a point about your immigrants Mr Don but I bet they know their own National Anthem unlike many other internationals I could mention.
Cris Hooton is neither here nor there. But I do feel, probably unfairly, that the standard has been poor in the Championship this season. Been unimpressed with the little I have seen on telly. But always like Newcastle and most of their fans so look forward to their return.