Hughton Has To Understand - It's Football - Not Maths!

Last updated : 13 September 2010 By Footy Mad - Editor

The Toon boss rightly said that defeat at Old Trafford on the opening day of our Premiership campaign was not the end of the world ... "we are just one of many teams that will lose against Manchester United".

But results come as you take them, and just as the 6-0 win over Villa took us by surprise, so did the 2-0 defeat to Blackpool.

You cannot predict who you beat, where or when, and he may as well throw away his little red book on predictions because it ain't gonna happen.

I'm sure Hughton had a home win against relegation favourites Blackpool top of his list, so that's one page ripped out and put in the bin.

Personally I didn't think it was a bad performance, and shoot me down if you like, but I thought the defence played better than the midfield or attack, even though we conceded two goals.

It's not the disaster some are talking of, but it has to be a wake up call to the Toon boss, because he has to understand that it's Newcastle history he is fighting here.

During my days of watching Supermac in the 1970s, we could lose to Hereford one week, then win at Old Trafford the following weekend. We've seen that sort of thing so often over the decades ... and I'm sure it is the one thing Hughton wants to change.

It's all about consistency, and as Saturday showed ... we are nowhere near it ... just plain and simple Newcastle United!

Chris Hughton: “If I look at the way they played and the chances they had, they had minimal goalscoring chances.

“The first one comes from a penalty, where have three players around the ball.

“The second from DJ Campbell comes when we are pushing bodies forward.

“That was a frustrating one to give away, but I don’t think we are vulnerable to the counter-attack.

“We have to give them credit, they defended very well and the goalkeeper had an inspired day.

“It was not a good day in front of goal for us and they have reaped the rewards from that.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Blackpool, but it was a game we should have won.

“We can gain things from a defeat and there is a group of lads in there (the changing room) who know we should have won the game.

“We would feel more down if it was the actual performance which was the problem and we had not created anything.

“There are enough positives to take us into the next few games."