Hughton defends Martins decision

Mar 2 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

CHRIS Hughton has shrugged off the abuse he received from Newcastle’s fans after his decision to substitute Obafemi Martins as United crashed 1-0 at Bolton yesterday.

Martins left the field with United’s away fans chanting ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ at caretaker manager Hughton and first-team coach Colin Calderwood, even though the Nigerian had been utterly ineffective in the second half. Hughton, though, is quickly having to adjust to the pressure of frontline management in the absence of manager Joe Kinnear and he was unapologetic for making the substitution. “What everyone must realise is that Oba has been out of action for quite some time,” he said afterwards. “We were able to bring him on in the last game and he gave us a good 35 minutes.

“It was right and fitting he start, but he’s been out and perhaps just lacked that little bit of sharpness, that’s why we took him off and brought Mark Viduka on.”

However, the frustration in the away section had just as much to do with the team’s collective lethargy as the replacement of one of their favourite players, and this was a worrying performance given that Middlesbrough and Blackburn won.

Newcastle are just two points above the bottom three and host Manchester United on Wednesday before another relegation showdown at Hull City on March 14.