... with a vast amount of riches (in terms of talent) at his disposal, let's see how good he REALLY is.
He openly admits, due to injuries leading up to Christmas, his team picked itself.
He drafted in the kids for cup ties, which soon saw us dumped out of the Carling Cup (at London Road) and the FA Cup (at the Hawthorns).
And it was interesting to note, reporters picked up on his comment today: "The defeat at Derby was the first time this season we have conceded three goals in a game", when Huddersfield (Carling Cup) and West Brom (FA Cup) scored three and four.
But he said those games were with weakened teams, so (as we all thought) he couldn't wait to see the back of both competitions.
So he STANDS or FALLS by his promotion push ... since the cup competitions (amazingly) were of no interest to him.
When questioned today, he denied Newcastle were complacent in their 3-0 defeat at Derby County last night.
Chris Hughton: “It would be too easy to blame the officials although I thought their penalty for their second goal was very soft.
"It was the sort of penalty we would like to receive, especially as we’ve only been given one all season.
“That came at a crucial time in the game and it was a turning point in the game.
"On the balance of play, it was an even game in terms of chances and Wayne Routledge had a really good chance when we were 1-0 down.
“We were always a threat, I didn’t think they were better than us but they put the ball in the back of the net and we didn’t."
One reporter said: "It was like 'After the Lord Mayor's Show'" and Hughton jumped to his own defence.
Chris Hughton: “I would refute that accusation!
"We knew we had a really tough game here after the excellent performance against Cardiff and we got exactly that. We didn’t get that little bit of fortune you need.
“I don’t think there was a hangover at all. We have to dust ourselves down and take it on the chin.
"We have conceded three goals, which isn’t something we are used to doing.
"But we have to move on and look to bounce back against Swansea.
"It is a set-back but there were always going to be highs and lows between now and the end of the season.
“We’ve another tough away game at Swansea coming up – we must make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen again.”