10 Newcastle Centre-Backs Chancel Mbemba Should Look To Emulate

7. Aaron Hughes

A jack of all trades, Hughes was never given the chance to master the art of playing centre-half while at Newcastle, often used as a full-back instead. The Northern Irishman played more than 200 games for the Magpies before departing in 2005 for Aston Villa, where he was to be given more opportunities at his favoured position. To allow an academy player of such versatility and usefulness go for less than £1 million at the age of 25 was a perplexing decision by Graeme Souness. Hughes was a comfortable defender who didn't really do anything flash but was just so dependable that it really didn't matter. You knew that you would get his best game every week and that he could pose problems for the majority of Premier League forwards at the time. His time at Fulham proved that Newcastle did themselves - and Hughes - a disservice by not valuing his contribution more highly and, while not a top-tier centre-back, his tidy play would be a welcome change from the bomb scare defending of Messrs Taylor and Williamson in particular.