Football club, Newcastle United, who currently sit 11th in the Barclays Premier League, yesterday announced that they have dismissed their first team manager, Chris Hughton, with immediate effect.
Hughton brought the club back from the Championship last season, by winning the English second tier, and has produced some good performances from his team this season, including a 5-1 drubbing of arch rivals, Sunderland, at St James Park last month.
Newcastle lost 3-1 away at West Brom on Sunday, but the decision to sack Hughton must be regarded as something of a surprise, given his excellent record since taking over the management of the club.
In a statement, the club said it was in the market for someone “with more managerial experience”.
However, the decision has met with shock among first team players, including captain, Kevin Nolan, who said of his squad “we were shocked by the announcement.”
Rumours suggest that Newcastle may have made the move in order to secure Martin Jol, who stepped down as manager of Ajax on Monday, but there has, as yet, been no formal announcement from Newcastle.
It is not yet clear if the club has anyone in mind to replace Hughton, however, for the time being, Peter Beardsley, the former player, and current reserve team coach, is to handle the first team management as an interim caretaker.
I wonder why they do that…I dont like the owner and decision, stupid!
peter reid was at newcastles trainin ground yesterday