There were headlines this weekend after the West Ham victory proclaiming: "Hughton Proves Doubters Wrong".
But fans have been calling for a switch from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 all season ... and the dropping of new signing James Perch, who has failed to put in one half-decent performance all season.
The penny dropped and Hughton finally gave Andy Carroll someone to feed off by going with 4-4-2, and Danny Simpson came in for Perch.
We won - and apparently Hughton is proving "the doubters" wrong.
Yet the Toon boss was honest enough to admit after the game: "We switched things today, and we are learning all of the time."
Peter Lovenkrands: "It's been very frustrating, but with the system the manager's opted for I haven't had much of a chance.
"It's just a case of getting your head down and keep working away. Hopefully I'll take my chance when it comes, like I did last season.
"Arsenal are exciting to watch, but I must admit it's not too much fun when you're running about after them because they tend to have so much of the ball.
"There will be a lot of hard running for us to get through.
"Every time they play you know it's going to be a good game because they pass the ball so well. They're a favourite team to watch for a lot of people and you can see why.
"They come closest to Barcelona's passing game, they have the same kind of style because they had players who are comfortable on the ball like Cesc Fabregas.
"Some teams can just play that way. Arsenal are one of them, they've been doing it for years and it's down to Arsene Wenger."