The 51-year-old former Republic of Ireland international accepted the job nobody else wanted a little more than 12 months ago and, against the odds, was rewarded for his efforts with the Championship trophy and promotion back to the top flight.

Newcastle were a club in turmoil when Hughton took the reins on a temporary basis for the third time last summer with Tyneside legends Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer both having departed from St James' Park in circumstances which left owner Mike Ashley facing the latest in a series of backlashes from disgruntled fans.

Big-name players were tripping over themselves as they headed for the exit door having failed to dig the club out of their relegation nightmare, and with the club seemingly in financial meltdown, many commentators were predicting a collapse of epic proportions.

But those men who stayed, under the guidance of Hughton and Colin Calderwood, summoned up a commendable unity and sense of purpose which saw the Magpies first restore pride and then claim both promotion and the title long before the final day of the campaign.

The former Tottenham full-back, of course, has been involved in the coaching side of the game for the best part of 20 years, and has more than once been thrust into the limelight in between permanent appointments.

However, it was a steep learning curve on which he embarked in the depths of the club's despair, and the way in which he negotiated his first year in the hot-seat rightly won him widespread praise and the Championship manager of the year award.

Hughton said: "What helped is I have been in that position before, albeit on a temporary basis, I have worked closely with managers in the past.

"And of course, we won more games than we lost and in that environment, it is slightly easier than when you are involved with a team that's not doing so well.

"Certainly, my job has been made easier by the fact that we managed to have more highs than lows last season."

Hughton's modesty was a feature of last season - he repeatedly attributed the club's success to the efforts of the players - although he acknowledges that he has grown into the role of manager rather than that of coach holding the fort.

However, Hughton knew long before Newcastle mathematically secured their return to the Premier League that the stakes would be considerably higher this time around.

In addition, Ashley's revelation that there would be no new capital expenditure on the playing staff despite the estimated £60million windfall promotion ensured left him to reshape his squad on the tightest of budgets.

The manager firmly believes the players who fought so hard to end the club's top-flight exile are good enough to form the basis of a side which can keep them there and that, in essence, will be the only target for the new season.

Where Sir Bobby Robson was famously sacked just a matter of months after finishing fifth, the ambitions nowadays are limited to survival, at least in the short term.

Hughton said: "It is important that this club has a period of stability in the Premier League, and I don't think anybody would expect a team coming from the Championship to the Premier League to be knocking on the door of Europe.

"It's stability we need, and that can't happen overnight.

"It's about getting to the Premier League, which we have been able to achieve, and building over the next few years."