Football’s crazy ins and outs are talk of the Tyne and Tees

Oct 22 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Middlesbrough are looking for a new manager while Newcastle United appear to have found theirs more by default than design. Chief Sports Writer Luke Edwards reports.

However, supporters do not have to, and neither will they, ever be subjugated by the people who run the club or blindly complementary to those who manage it in their name.

There has been fresh talk of boycotts in a bid to hurt Ashley in the pocket, but many still want to support the team regardless and would a boycott merely make a bad financial situation worse, prompting the sale of players in January which would, in turn, weaken any promotion challenge?

It is a horrible dilemma which will lead to plenty of soul-searching in black-and-white households over the coming weeks and months about the meaning of loyalty and the purpose of direct action.

It is also a tough position for Hughton to be in. Firstly, he is not Alan Shearer. Secondly, he is Mike Ashley’s appointment, Thirdly he is the only visible member - and therefore obvious target - for criticism of a disgraced regime.

He is fine when results are going well, but as soon as they take a turn for the worse, as they have done this week, he immediately comes into the firing line.

As ever with Newcastle, the timing could not have been worse. Hughton has finally buckled and admitted he is in line to take the job on permanently at a time when the team’s promotion push has shown the first signs of faltering.

We should not blame Hughton for Ashley and we should not start to assume a team which is only second in the table on goals scored after 13 games will not go up in May.

Graeme Souness always talked a better game than we saw on the pitch during his ill-fated spell as one of Hughton’s predecessors, but he was entirely correct in his declaration you are never more than two games away from a crisis as Newcastle manager.

That makes the game against Doncaster Rovers this weekend Hughton’s first must win of the campaign.

Fail to do that and the cracks will continue to grow and he will be only two more away from seeing the whole thing come tumbling down around him.