Newcastle Hughton says 20-man brawl proves players care
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Caretaker Newcastle boss Chris Hughton has insisted that an ugly mass brawl during a friendly at Huddersfield last night showed his players care about the club.
The match at the Galpharm Stadium erupted at the break after a confrontation between Senegal international Habib Beye and Town skipper Peter Clarke sparked a 20-man melée. There was a later clash too between defender Fabricio Coloccini and striker Lee Novak as Newcastle maintained their winning pre-season run with a 1-0 victory.
However, Hughton, who confirmed that referee Jon Moss had not been involved in his decision to withdraw Beye, played down the incident, while promising he would look into what had happened.
He said: "I will be investigating the incident today. But sometimes it's nice to have that bit of edge on the pitch – at times it didn't look like much of a friendly.
"That's the nature of the game. You have got players who care out there and sometimes they overstep the mark – but that's part and parcel of the game.
"You would rather have a game where the players care, and that is what happened with that incident. The referee didn't ask me to take Habib off – I was always going to do that."
Huddersfield boss and former Magpies midfielder Lee Clark was not unduly concerned either, although he admitted the game had been played in a far from friendly manner.
He told the Huddersfield Daily Examiner: "It was just a competitive match. It wasn't played in a friendly manner whatsoever because both teams were very committed with players wanting to do their best for their clubs.
"That's what you want. I would rather have that than a game played at testimonial pace with no one tackling each other. Lee [Novak] had blood on his face and a cut on his chin, but it's got to be a contact sport. It's just football."
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Managerless Newcastle United have been dealt yet another blow with the news that their midfielder Nicky Butt will miss the start of the new season.
The 34-year-old needs surgery to repair the hand injury he suffered in last weekend's friendly at Darlington and will not be available for four weeks.
"Newcastle United can confirm that Nicky Butt requires an operation on the hand injury sustained during Saturday's 7–2 victory at Darlington," a club statement said.
Caretaker boss Chris Hughton revealed after Saturday's game that Butt had suffered a partial dislocation of his thumb. The Magpies open their Championship campaign at West Brom on Saturday 8 August.
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Was he at Newcastle when Bowyer and Dyer fought on the pitch?
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no
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This is the situation where Barton comes in handy.
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Originally posted by sand king:
This is the situation where Barton comes in handy.
lol
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something is seriously not wired correctly in barton's family brains....his brother is a violent racist murderer and so is the cousin...and this guy is really violent, only his football money gives him some hope for therapy in the future...