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Newcastle yesterday moved to silence speculation that manager Chris Hughton was in danger of being sacked if the club lose Sunday's much-anticipated Tyne-Wear derby at St James' Park, though quite how the ridiculous rumour came to be taken so seriously is in itself shocking. Admittedly, the current Magpies board have made many strange decisions since taking over in 2007 - and no, we're not just talking about expecting Alan Shearer to save them from relegation - but surely they wouldn't turf out the man who has stuck with them throughout the madness, and on top of that done a fine job. Having stopped Newcastle from "doing a Leeds" last season and instead guiding them out of the Championship in the most comfortable fashion imaginable, the predicted relegation battlers are sitting pretty...