The second tier of English football tends to be a very interesting one.

The final table can make somewhat of a mockery of pre season predictions, with a number of surprise packages emerging to upset the applecart.

And so, again, there are a number of sides who are currently exceeding expectations. Nottingham Forest were always going to be stronger than last campaign, but most wouldn’t have considered potential automatic promotion at this stage. Swansea and Leicester City are have fantastic season’s, especially considering the latter’s attempt to gain back to back promotions.

Then there are those who deemed it likely to be up there, in the mix, but have found life in the Championship a real struggle, notably Ipswich Town, Reading and Queens Park Rangers.

All in all, it is a very tough division to get out of, especially for relegated teams, which is why it is vital to try and make an instant return. It may compare to your 5-a-side soccer or 6-a-side football league. Win a few and you’re up there, fighting for promotion to the top flight, lose a couple on the bounce, and you are looking at 6-a-side football oblivion and the trap door.

Much was made out of Newcastle United’s decline and relegation from the top flight, with a real expectation that they may “do a Leeds”, and drop through the leagues at an alarming rate. The future looked grim. Uncertainty loomed. A chairman in Mike Ashley who realised that ploughing money into a club you support isn’t always nice and rosy, and a manager unaware of how long he would be at the helm, with no contract in place.

This is why the professional manor in which Chris Hughton has gone about guiding Newcastle to an inevitable return to the Premier League shouldn’t be underestimated. The turmoil in which the Magpies found themselves was all to evident to see after a thumping pre season friendly defeat to Leyton Orient led many to suggest a season of struggle in the Championship.
Hughton has worked wonders at Newcastle

So the way in which Hughton has galvanised a demoralised squad, remaining unbeaten at home thus far, with seeming ease, is an outstanding achievement. Following the weekend’s 6-1 mauling of Barnsley, Newcastle sit eight points clear and it would seem as if an instant return is now nothing more than a formality.

However, Mike Ashley has received some heavy criticism on Tyneside, at one point being hounded out of St James Park, following the clubs increasing bad run of form and appointment of Denis Wise, added to the Kevin Keegan saga, with the ‘Messiah’ walking out of the door.

Maybe, then, it would be justifiable to give the man some credit. Since appointing Hughton as permanent manager the football on the field has seen Newcastle march to the summit, and stay there for the majority of the season. The temptation to sell in January was resisted, with Hughton being given the opportunity to further strengthen his squad rather than offloading high earners.

Ok, so there may have been a certain degree of fortune in persisting with Hughton, when it became clear that Ashley was looking for another boss after the departure of Alan Shearer.

Since then however, Ashley has stabilised the club and helped steer it in the right direction.

Ashley continues to receive criticsm on Tyneside

A number of Newcastle fans are still persistently targeting the owner, which has led to director Derek Llambias to publicly defend the chairmen, stating: “if it wasn’t for Mike’s continued input, we would be in a similar position to Portsmouth. Since the beginning of the season he has pumped £25.5 million into this football club, and this week a further £5 million was needed. In addition to these amounts, Mike, realising the need to bring in new faces and back his manager’s request, spent £5.5 million in the January transfer window.”

These are the facts of what Ashley has done this campaign. Ok, he has made past errors, some of them proving to be pretty major, and having a detrimental downturn in the clubs fortunes.

A season is a very long time in football, at any level, whether it be at your 6-a-side league or at the pinnacle of the professional game. Would it not be right now to forgive? Not necessarily forget, but just move on. Newcastle will be promoted, and who knows, this time next year could be challenging for Europe.

Then maybe the hounding of a man who has ploughed millions and millions of pounds into a football club he quite clearly cares a big deal for will persist. Maybe.

Alex Z