Chris Hughton responds to Newcastle owner Mike Ashley comments

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Brighton and Hove Albion boss Chris Hughton is a former Newcastle United manager.

Brighton and Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton has responded to The Times about Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s comments about him earlier this year.

In an interview with Sky Sports in August 2017, Newcastle owner Ashley admitted that he was unfair to Hughton.

Hughton was dismissed as the Newcastle manager in December 2010, with the Magpies then in 11th place in the Premier League table, as reported by BBC Sport.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United full-back has guided the Magpies back into the top flight of English football from the Championship at the end of the previous season.

“I thought I was very unfair to Chris Hughton, who got us promoted, I don’t think I gave him enough time,” Ashley told Sky Sports in August 2017.

Hughton has now responded to those comments from Ashley and told The Times: “I’ve heard Mike Ashley’s comments and it’s nice when someone says something they don’t have to say. You have to take it in the spirit it was meant.

“We say this about most supporters but Newcastle’s are a very special group, the large majority are local to the area and when you look at a club that hasn’t won trophies in recent times and still get 52,000 through the turnstiles it shows what kind of people they are.”

Both Newcastle and Brighton got promoted from the Championship to the Premier League at the end of last season, and both the teams are struggling at the moment.

While Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle are third from bottom in the league table at the moment with only 15 points from 18 matches, Hughton’s Brighton are just three points above the relegation zone in 13th place.