‘Harsh’: Michail Antonio says ‘quality’ manager was really unlucky to be sacked by Newcastle

By Charles Jones

Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Michail Antonio has been discussing Chris Hughton’s time at Newcastle.

Antonio was discussing the managerial landscape, and he noted that one manager he believes hasn’t had as many opportunities as he should have is Chris Hughton.

Indeed, the Jamaican international said that Hughton is a quality coach, but at times, he’s been treated harshly, noting that his sackings from both Norwich and Newcastle were quite harsh.

Newcastle harsh to sack Hughton

Antonio gave his verdict on Hughton’s time at St James’ Park.

“One great manager I always think about is Chris Hughton. He was quality. Some of the sackings he got were quite harsh. Norwich, Newcastle, those two sackings were quite harsh for me. He’s been to Nottingham Forest in the Championship and he hasn’t been back in, and then you see other managers like Neil Warnock who always manage to get back in,” Antonio said.

Harsh

Antonio is right, 13 years on it’s still hard to see why Newcastle sacked Hughton back in 2010.

The Magpies had just been promoted, and they were 11^th in the table when he was sacked. It’s not as though they were in danger of returning to the Championship.

In the end, Newcastle said they wanted to go for someone with more experience, but that is a shoddy reason to sack a manager who has just won you the Championship title.

Hughton himself has said that he doesn’t understand this sacking, and more than a decade one, it’s still stirring conversation.

The Mike Ashley era was a strange one for Newcastle, and that decision to sack Hughton was amongst the most baffling calls he made.