Former Newcastle manager set to take charge of Zimbabwe after 18 months out of football

By Agencies

CHRIS HUGHTON is poised to return to management – with Zimbabwe set to appoint the ex-Newcastle and Brighton boss.

Former Tottenham and Republic of Ireland defender Hughton had a year as Ghana‘s national coach before being sacked in January 2024.

He now reportedly heads a 300-plus list of applicants to manage Zimbabwe, who axed German coach Michael Nees on October 22.

The Londoner, 66, has also managed Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Norwich City.

Ex-Spurs and West Ham boss Harry Redknapp, and former Liverpool and Zimbabwe keeper Bruce Grobbelaar, have also been linked with the Warriors vacancy.

The African side, captained by Wolves defender Marshall Munetsi, finished bottom of their World Cup qualifying group.

Zimbabwe FA chiefs now want a new coach ahead of December’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.

ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi said: “The process of appointing the Warriors coach is at an advanced stage.

“We will announce the appointment by next Monday, or Tuesday at the latest.”

Hughton’s first job if appointed will be to prepare Zimbabwe for friendlies against Algeria on November 13, and Qatar four days later, ahead of the Afcon finals.

Nees’ sacking came after Zimbabwe failed to win any of their first four World Cup qualifiers.

The team have lost three of those games, suffering defeats to Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho.

Their only draw came against South Africa at the start of this month.

Their Afcon campaign begins on December 22 against Egypt, while they will also face Angola and South Africa in the group stage.

Hughton started his coaching career on the books of boyhood club Spurs in the youth sides, before moving to Newcastle’s backroom staff under Kevin Keegan in 2008.

He went on to become permanent Newcastle boss and led them back to the Premier League at the first time of asking after relegation in 2008-09.

The most prominent spell of his managerial career came at Brighton, who he joined in 2014.

At the Amex, Hughton guided the Seagulls to the Premier League and established them as a top flight club across five years.

His last club management job came at Forest, where he helped them stay in the Championship in 2020-2021, but was sacked the following sesason.