Hughton: We should have beaten Hull

Caretaker manager Newcastle boss Chris Hughton insisted he had fielded a team capable of beating Hull as the crisis on Tyneside deepened.

Two goals from City’s on-loan striker Marlon King were enough to claim three points for the promoted Tigers at St James’ Park despite debutant Xisco’s late strike on a day when the action off the pitch was as significant as what took place on it.

Thousands of fans demonstrated against owner Mike Ashley and executive director (football) Dennis Wise outside the stadium before kick-off, and the protests continued as the game turned against the team Kevin Keegan left behind when he resigned.

Mounted police eventually broke up an even uglier gathering more than an hour after the final whistle as the rebellion grew in intensity.

Hughton conducted his post-match press conference with the backdrop of a cacophony of noise – and was adamant that the men he selected were good enough to do the job.

Asked if the drama surrounding Keegan’s resignation and the subsequent outcry had affected the players, he said: “The easy thing would be for me to say yes, the events of the last few weeks had a bearing on the result.

“Probably more to the point was we certainly have got a few injuries in vital positions, we had a few players coming back late from international duty, which is the norm that everybody has to accept and put up with.

“But the preparation with what we have got has been good. I can’t fault the attitude and the professionalism of the players. That I can’t fault.

“We had a starting line-up of 11 players that was good enough in my mind to certainly win the game today, but it wasn’t to be.”

The Magpies started promisingly enough, although Xisco, one of the deadline day signings over whose arrival Keegan apparently had no say, squandered two excellent opportunities.

When Danny Guthrie, who was later sent-off in injury-time for a wild swing at Craig Fagan, fired wide after being set up by Geremi, the Tigers began to sense that it might be their day.

They got their noses in front when King converted a 34th-minute penalty after Nicky Butt had tripped Peter Halmosi in the box – but the alarm bells did not start ringing in earnest until the striker finished off a 54th-minute counter-attack to plunge the home side deep into trouble.

Newcastle’s response was lacklustre until Xisco’s 81st-minute strike sparked a late flurry of activity, but there was to be no escape.

Ashley and Wise were conspicuous by their absence less than 24 hours after it emerged that the billionaire had held inconclusive peace talks with Keegan, and managing director Derek Llambias, an unknown figure to most fans, looked on as the chorus of disapproval grew ever louder.

Asked if he expects to be in charge for much longer, Hughton said: “I haven’t got a clue.

“At this particular moment, my thoughts are on Monday, to try to pick up this group of lads, to recover and prepare them for the next game.

“Whether that will be me or somebody else, at this moment, I don’t know.

“Anything that is thought about or done upstairs is something that is completely out of my hands and out of the players’ hands.

“Of course, it will happen at some stage – when that will be, at this particular moment, I don’t know.”

Hull boss Phil Brown, born in South Shields and a boyhood Sunderland supporter, was understandably delighted by his team’s performance and the result.

Asked what the win meant to him, he said: “Three points, seven from four, maybe getting one or two monkeys off our backs that we were going to be automatic cannon fodder for going down.

“I don’t know, I hope it doesn’t alert too many people’s attention to the fact we can play a little bit, because then all of a sudden, the big boys put the big guns out.

“But to me personally, it means I have come back to the north-east [and won] for the first time since 1985 when I left Hartlepool, and it’s a great moment for me and my family.”