Hughton wary of Tangerine threat
Sep 10 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
CHRIS Hughton believes over-confidence will be Newcastle United’s biggest enemy when they take on overwhelming relegation favourites Blackpool.
United have made an admirably capable start to life back in the Premier League, thrashing Aston Villa and outplaying Wolves after their opening-day disappointment at Manchester United.
Tomorrow’s challenge is slightly different though, with United clear favourites to win the game and entering the contest with the weight of expectation on their shoulders.
Hughton is acutely aware of that fact and believes that Newcastle will underestimate the Seasiders – who began their Premier League campaign with an explosive 4-0 win – at their peril. Like Hughton’s side, they have taken four points from their first three games and appear to still be riding high following their unlikely promotion.
“I think Blackpool are very dangerous opponents,” he said. “A lot of their danger stems from the manager. He not only wants them to do themselves justice in the Premier League but he also wants them to play a certain way.
“They will be involved in a lot of entertaining games, that’s for sure. Look at what they did to Wigan on the opening day of the season. Arsenal was difficult for them with their man sent off but they have applied themselves very well.”
Hughton’s natural conservatism means that United fans expecting to see their team go gung-ho, as they did in the 4-1 demolition of Blackpool at the end of last season, will probably be left disappointed. Instead, Newcastle are likely to retain the services of Alan Smith as a buffer in front of the Newcastle defence, with Kevin Nolan tucked in behind Andy Carroll.
“We are in confident mood but we will have to be careful and we’ll have to be cautious at points as well,” he said.
“For us it’s about getting the right balance between wanting the right amount of confidence in our players and not taking anything for granted.
“But what we can’t do is underestimate the opposition. This is a team who not so long ago went away from home and won and scored four goals.”
Optimism has been boosted on Tyneside by the arrival of Hatem Ben Arfa, who comes with an impressive highlights reel of spectacular goals.
His latest came for France in a friendly with Norway – and repeated views on YouTube will have whetted the appetite of the United supporters.
“He is a very gifted footballer who can play anywhere across the forward line,” Hughton said of his new arrival.
“He should be ready. He’s missed a little bit of training but he’s played a fair amount of games and just before he joined us he was involved in a full international with France. So, he’ll be fit – no problems.”
Meanwhile, United are confident that four-goal striker Carroll will have recovered from an ankle injury in time to play a part in the game.
“He trained yesterday and came through it okay. We’re hoping there is no reaction to it now – he was fine during the session,” said Hughton.
Meanwhile, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway says a simple philosophy helped rescue Matt Gilks’ career.
The Rochdale-born goalkeeper was thinking of quitting the game and working in a factory or garage instead before Holloway arrived in May 2009. Now life could not be better with the club mixing it with the Barclays Premier League elite, with Newcastle next up.
On the back of that, Gilks joined the Scotland squad for the first time for the recent Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Gilks credits Holloway for his recovery but the Blackpool boss remains modest about his motivational powers.
He said: “The crowd had got on to Matt a little bit and he lost his place. But I told him if you play well, you will keep the shirt. If you don’t, someone else will play. I just stuck to my word. Through feeling he had a chance, the boy regained his self-esteem.
“What I needed to teach him was that feeling belongs to him. No-one should take that away from you. Even if you’ve had the worst game ever – don’t lose that. I can only use words. But I want his actions on the field to carry him through the rest of his life.”
Former Newcastle loan signing Marlon Harewood is back in the Blackpool squad after missing the 2-2 draw against Fulham in their last outing with an ankle injury.
Fellow striker DJ Campbell could make his debut up front after arriving from Leicester but Alex Baptiste is sidelined with a fractured hand.
