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After
Newcastle United chalked up their biggest home win over local rivals
Sunderland for more than half a century in October, crushing their
biggest rivals 5-1, the first question manager Chris Hughton was asked
was whether he thought the victory had made his job safe.

Such is the
quicksand that the north-east club has been built on in recent years
that even a result that once would have warmed their fans through the
coldest of north-east winters proved only a short-term reprieve for an
honest, straightforward, likeable and successful manager.

Earlier that week
the club had issued a statement supporting Hughton following widespread
speculation about his future in the wake of a 4-0 home defeat by
Arsenal in the League Cup.

When they followed
the Sunderland success by beating a full-strength Arsenal at the
Emirates – with an earlier win at Everton and a 6-0 thrashing of Aston
Villa also in the bag – one might have thought that Hughton had proved
his credentials for a club desperate for some continuity.

Can’t seem to learn
from the past Newcastle’s revolving door managerial policy in the
previous 12 years had seen 10 managers come and go.

Kevin Keegan, Kenny
Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Bobby Robson, Graeme Souness and others all came
and went on the back of often reasonable Premier League showings before
the combination of Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer failed to prevent their
relegation in 2009.

In the 24 years Alex Ferguson has been at Manchester United, Newcastle have changed their manager 14 times.

Yet after all that,
chairman Mike Ashley said via the club’s statement on Monday that he
wanted a more experienced man in charge.

Having worked as a
coach at his former club Spurs for 14 years, and under 10 different
managers, having spent two as Ireland’s assistant boss and two at
Newcastle in various guises, Hughton is hardly wet behind the ears.

Ashley, who tried
unsuccessfully first to win the fans over and then to sell the club,
initially hedged his bets by making Hughton caretaker for at the start
of last season before appointing him full time in October 2009.

Decent record

Hughton duly
secured the Championship title and had made a decent fist of gaining a
foothold in the top flight, helping develop Andy Carroll into an
England striker and getting the best out of midfielders Joey Barton and
Kevin Nolan.

Newcastle’s home
record was poor, with defeats by Blackpool, Stoke City and Blackburn
Rovers not going down well in the wake of last season’s unbeaten home
campaign in the Championship.

Yet after 16 games
they are 11th in the standings. Liverpool, Everton, Villa and
Birmingham City, all top-half finishers last season, are below them.

Yes, they have been
inconsistent – sandwiching a 1-1 draw at champions Chelsea with a 5-1
loss at Bolton and Sunday’s poor show in the 3-1 defeat at West Brom –
but so have just about every other team in the Premier League this
season.

Four more points would put Newcastle in the Europa League places, four fewer would have them in the relegation zone.

If they finish the season in 11th place will Ashley be casting around again for a new man?