Newcastle caretaker boss Chris Hughton admitted it was his decision to field a team of youngsters after watching his side crash out of the Carling Cup at the hands of Peterborough.
First-half goals from Craig Mackail-Smith and Tom Williams earned Posh a 2-0 victory and a place in the fourth round. Only three of Newcastle's players were over 23 years of age and only two recognised first-team players started the match.
Hughton explained: "I made the decision before the game because we've got players with a few little niggles and lads that have been involved in most of the games so far. I either played them with a risk of them getting injured or field a side of youngsters. In the end it was too much for them.
"We knew it would be tough with the side we put out. The performance in the first half was not good enough. We allowed them too much possession and gifted them two goals. We know we rode our luck but certainly I wanted a better performance.
"I never spoke to the owner (Mike Ashley) about the team selection. I have to protect the vulnerable ones in our squad.
"There is no doubt promotion is the biggest target this season. But I don't want to look upon the cup competitions as something we would be glad to be out of."
Comment 1 - 12 of 12
Hughton is absolute scum, i'll never forget the elbowing of Paul Power in the 81 final which he completely got away with, people like him have no lace in football.
The club should tell the fans of their intentions before selling the tickets. how much did the trip down to peterbourgh cost?
& tsk tsk jack it should have been "off" not "of"!!!
m there are also 2 overseas consotia who are still in the running having done due diligence
trouble is when you rotate s hit with s hit all you end up with is dizzy s hit and you get beaten of championship also rans
What rotation policy we have no players to rotate.
Still dont believe the price for the @#$% they put in Mate
Enough Said were would you rather be Posh supporters and to those who doubt CH tactics on the night hope hes reading this
Pos. Team Pl W D L GF GA +/- Pts
1 West Bromwich 8 6 2 0 20 7 13 20
2 Newcastle United 8 6 1 1 13 4 9 19
3 Middlesbrough 8 5 1 2 14 9 5 16
4 Preston North End 8 4 3 1 15 9 6 15
5 Sheffield United 8 4 3 1 14 9 5 15
6 Cardiff City 8 4 1 3 12 7 5 13
7 Blackpool 8 3 4 1 11 7 4 13
8 Watford 8 3 4 1 13 11 2 13
9 Leicester City 8 3 4 1 10 8 2 13
10 Bristol City 8 3 4 1 8 8 0 13
11 Coventry City 8 3 2 3 10 11 -1 11
12 Queens Park Rangers 7 2 4 1 7 5 2 10
13 Scunthorpe United 8 3 1 4 11 15 -4 10
14 Sheffield Wednesday 8 2 3 3 14 12 2 9
15 Doncaster Rovers 8 1 5 2 8 10 -2 8
16 Crystal Palace 7 2 2 3 6 10 -4 8
17 Derby County 8 2 1 5 10 13 -3 7
18 Peterborough United 8 1 4 3 10 13 -3 7
19 Nottingham Forest 8 1 4 3 8 11 -3 7
20 Swansea City 8 1 4 3 3 8 -5 7
21 Reading 8 1 3 4 6 11 -5 6
22 Barnsley 8 1 2 5 6 14 -8 5
23 Ipswich 8 0 4 4 8 15 -7 4
24 Plymouth Argyle 8 0 2 6 7 17 -10 2
M: I hope it is true. But, alas, I never believe anything that is printed in any media (except the date and price)
The good news is that the Telegraph on Sunday heard that a deal had been done with Moat for £ 100 mill. The paper checked with the club and were told that it was in its final stage of sale and purchase. Looks as if bank and Ashley are happy that funds are in place with the purchaser. Lets see how fast things now move with the lawyers and the paperwork.
Hughton had absolutely zero choice; he simply had to rest first team players. Look what happened last time with Shola and Jonas; it's not as if we were ever gonna stand an earthly of winning this pot is it!
Promotion is the priority, not this cup.
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