Fat tabloid pig on Hughton's departure

[Jimbo 133]

Hughton's end at Newcastle was a tawdry business, you can bet on it

 

By MARTIN SAMUEL

 

The bookmakers seemed to know before he did. That was the nice thing about the sacking of Chris Hughton at Newcastle United. If you are going to get shafted you may as well be totally, royally shafted; a shafting to tell the grandchildren about, in fact.

If someone is going to do you over, it should be the sort of mugging that makes the 10 o'clock news. And this was a headline-grabbing beauty. Bong! Big freeze continues, thousands left stranded. Bong! Overdraft charges soar to 38 times the Bank of England base rate. Bong! And Newcastle sack the manager who beat Sunderland 5-1.

No, seriously, they do. Honestly, we're not making it up. This happened.

 

Axeman: Newcastle owner didn;t appreciate sacked Chris Hughton's worth

It would be bad enough in isolation, really, but the additional thought that someone, somewhere, perhaps a crony of owner Mike Ashley, made a right few quid out of it as well opens a whole new frontier of abhorrence.

It is the little twist that makes this probably the most tawdry sacking in the history of football; and, as you know, that's a pretty tough field.

Good luck to Hughton if he was the mystery gambler, of course. Good luck if, when they finally got around to telling him the news, he excused himself from the room, shot into the nearest Ladbrokes and stuck his pay-off cheque on his own name as the next Premier League manager to go.

It is unlikely, though, knowing him. Hughton seems a decent sort who would first wish to say goodbye to his players. And as they left the training ground entirely unaware that a new face would be taking them into Saturday's game with Liverpool, one presumes he was as clueless as the rest of us.

The players heard the same way as the public. News filtered through that odds on Hughton's sacking had been slashed overnight. Some bookmakers wiped him from the slate completely, others made him punishing odds on. The sack race is a lucrative market, so any wager that moved it so dramatically would have to be big.

 

You bet: Bookmakers suspended markets on Hughton getting the chop before it was officially announced

For the innocents among you, this is how the process works. A good friend once had a bet on a horse called Rebecca Sharp, an accumulator which involved two other races. His first horse won, and those winnings then carried over to the next horse, which also won.

Now he had the whole lot going on his third horse, Rebecca Sharp, which was a relative outsider. Because his winnings had accumulated and Rebecca Sharp was a generous price, an initial outlay of £100 had expanded until potentially he stood to collect £26,000 at odds of 33-1.

With an upside of £100 and a downside now measured in tens of thousands, bookmakers get twitchy, and my friend, watching the race on television, took great delight as Rebecca Sharp's odds began tumbling on account of his bet.

His bookmaker, a leading firm, was frantically trying to lay the bet off by backing Rebecca Sharp with rival companies as an insurance policy to cover liability. Then those bookmakers did the same, the sudden activity in the market driving the price down. The story has a happy ending, too: Rebecca Sharp won.

Hughton's journey is more dispiriting but the principle is the same. A bookmaker must have noticed either one big bet, or a flurry of activity, on the Newcastle manager being sacked. He covered his potential losses elsewhere and this started a round of speculation.

William Hill closed the book on Hughton completely on Monday morning, having opened the day at 15-1. Skybet made him 1-2. At a Christmas lunch in London, a guest who is an executive at Ladbrokes said Hughton would be the next manager dismissed, with utter certainty; 10 minutes later the official announcement came.

 

Nobody will ever know why the news broke as it did, but Ashley moves in a circle that is known to like a bet. If one of his acolytes has profited from this inside knowledge it truly would be the most heinous spectacle: to not just jettison Hughton, but to cream a quick buck off the deed would represent a new low.

Ashley overpaid for the club from the outset and has not appreciated the worth of much since he has been there. He certainly did not appreciate the worth of Hughton, a coach who had done more than his shift at the coal face and who was finally giving Ashley's regime credibility it scarcely deserved.

Born in Stratford, London, Hughton had become the acceptable face of the Cockney mafia, winning the supporters over with some impressive results this season.

Nobody would have predicted in August that Newcastle would defeat Aston Villa 6-0, put five past Sunderland, win at Arsenal and knock Chelsea out of the Carling Cup before drawing with them in the league. Many other results have been patchy, not least the recent run culminating in the 3-1 defeat by West Bromwich Albion, but there is little doubt that with the personnel available Hughton had his Newcastle players punching above their weight.

His parting gift to the club is a young striker, Andy Carroll, with the promise to become an established member of England's squad. Hughton deserved to see that mission through.

It would appear, though, that Ashley was waiting for an excuse to dump him. Many have asked why Hughton was not rewarded with a new contract this season, and now we know. Ashley did not want him there; he thought him inexperienced, perhaps lacking in authority.

This is flawed logic, because how was Hughton supposed to gain respect while being so publicly undermined by his employers? If they did not trust him enough to extend his contract beyond May, why should the players listen to him? It was a miracle that he took the club as far as he did, in the circumstances.

 

Five star: Newcastle's 5-1 thrashing of rivals Sunderland was not enough to save former boss Hughton from the axe

Were Ashley currently locked in a room with Pep Guardiola, this decision might make sense; but the names being linked with Hughton's job - Martin Jol, Alan Pardew - do not seem such a significant upgrade. Jol had a lot more money to spend at Tottenham Hotspur than he will at Newcastle, but could never bloody the nose of the top four, while Pardew is a decent manager who has been around the block with varying degrees of success.

Either man will walk into a dressing-room demoralised by the sudden departure of a popular manager, though, and could find it tough.

One final thought. Hughton was unique to the Premier League as its only black manager. Nobody expects Ashley to act as a social engineer to the detriment of his club, but being the sole employer of a black coach did give Newcastle a certain accord with neutrals.

In a sport with so many black players, the dearth of black managers is a worrying anomaly and Newcastle were the proud exception. More importantly, Hughton was not there as part of some patronising programme of positive discrimination, but because he deserved to be. He did a damn fine job.

Apparently that is not enough any more. What are the odds?

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...l#ixzz17YnOxGz1

[Kitman 2188]

Wouldn't surprise me if he made a few crooked bets on the side....

[OTF 6148]

Not at all. This explains where all the first lot of speculation came from when it was earlier rumoured that Hughton would go. The results he was getting made it impossible for them to sack him so they simply waited for what they deemed to be an acceptable time. No doubt they would have been hoping or expecting it on the back of the Chelsea game, but having garnered a creditable draw there the inevitable was put off for another week.

[Dr Gloom 19826]

Why pardew though? Why? Something stinks

Edited December 8, 2010 by Dr Gloom

[Monkeys Fist 38768]

Wouldn't surprise me in the least if Pardew made a fucking mint at the bookies off this.

[ChezGiven 0]

There has been talk of MA being the one making money at the bookies too.

[ChezGiven 0]

Why pardew though? Why? Something stinks

 

So he can get rid of Smith, Barton, Colocinni and Nolan. All earning a shed load and too close to Chris. So he can sell then sell the club with a very low wage bill.

 

Happy New Year.

[spongebob toonpants 3604]

Why pardew though? Why? Something stinks

 

So he can get rid of Smith, Barton, Colocinni and Nolan. All earning a shed load and too close to Chris. So he can sell then sell the club with a very low wage bill.

 

Happy New Year.

 

Don't forget Carrol -neatly tied into a 5year contract for optimal sale value

[GeordieMessiah 0]

There has been talk of MA being the one making money at the bookies too.

 

If that tlak was to be substantiated by fact, what would be the repercussions for him and the club?

 

I suspect it's a pointless question I'm asking. He's going to get away with it anyway, regardless, isn't he?

[peasepud 59]

There has been talk of MA being the one making money at the bookies too.

 

If that tlak was to be substantiated by fact, what would be the repercussions for him and the club?

 

I suspect it's a pointless question I'm asking. He's going to get away with it anyway, regardless, isn't he?

Im guessing here but theres probably no law against it, unlike betting on a match nobody else has lost out except us.

 

I think this is nailed on, we used to think it when Shepherd made some decisions but Ashleys a different league to him, he'll have had mates and arseholes all over the country placing bets on both Hughton going and then Pardew replacing him.

 

It wont be the first time either, how much do you reckon he made on Kinnear? That must have been a tidy little number as nobody even suspected he was in the running.

 

Make no mistake about it, these are the most corrupt, disgusting duo any football club could be saddled with and slowly but surely hes going to get his pound of flesh through the likes of this, selling off of assets and then finally whats left of the club.

[Dolly Potter MD 0]

It would be a decent investment if Erik Prince's [of BlackWater fame, and owner of] henchmen dropped Ashley a quote pertaining to their protective services, via email.

[Happy Face 29]

Shite article

 

What's his mate's treble on the big dogs got to do with anything?

 

The books were closed on Redknapp earlier in the season weren't they?

[KeithJ 0]

Martin Samuel got his article spot on there and for once didnt blame the fans however one little thing in the article!

 

He says Hughton blessed Newcastle with Andy Carroll who can go on to become an established member of the England team however only a few months ago, he said that Andy Carroll had his chance at Man Utd and blew it. Said he wouldnt do much in the Premiership and wrote the lad off.

 

Funny how Martin Samuel can twist events.

 

Andy Carroll chance blew Old Trafford

[manc-mag 1]

Martin Samuel got his article spot on there and for once didnt blame the fans however one little thing in the article!

 

He says Hughton blessed Newcastle with Andy Carroll who can go on to become an established member of the England team however only a few months ago, he said that Andy Carroll had his chance at Man Utd and blew it. Said he wouldnt do much in the Premiership and wrote the lad off.

 

Funny how Martin Samuel can twist events.

 

Andy Carroll chance blew Old Trafford

 

eeeeeeee the fat pig!

 

Welcome to the board btw.

[ewerk 26352]

Martin Samuel got his article spot on there and for once didnt blame the fans however one little thing in the article!

 

He says Hughton blessed Newcastle with Andy Carroll who can go on to become an established member of the England team however only a few months ago, he said that Andy Carroll had his chance at Man Utd and blew it. Said he wouldnt do much in the Premiership and wrote the lad off.

 

Funny how Martin Samuel can twist events.

 

Andy Carroll chance blew Old Trafford

 

He did subsequently acknowledge that he was wrong about Carroll tbf.