If there’s one current Premier League manager who Newcastle fans hold deep affection for, other than their very own Benitez of course, it is Chris Hughton.
The 58-year-old took over United at a very difficult moment in the club’s history and expertly led them to promotion, before being harshly sacked the following campaign.
He has done well at just about every club he has been at and Hughton has performed a magnificent job at Brighton, leading the club to the Premier League and this term attempting to stabilise their position in the top flight.
But it is not just his managerial success which so endears him to Newcastle fans; the fact he is a genuinely nice human being also serves him well.
He is very much one of the cliched ‘nice guys’ in football, and he is proving you do not have to have a dictatorial style to succeed as a manager.
In the matchday programme he highlighted his kind nature by professing his support for Prostate Cancer UK, stating: “Prostate cancer is an opposition like no other; this disease does not discriminate.”
Interestingly, however, Hughton has a poor record against his former club. Before this match, he had never beaten the Magpies in six previous attempts - losing on four occasions, and drawing two of them.
Well, at the seventh attempt, Hughton has finally found a way to defeat his ex-employers. Newcastle fans wish him well this season, but they did not want to see their former boss triumph in this one.