Chris Hughton's place in Tyneside folklore was assured in 2010 when he carefully guided Newcastle United back to the Premier League.
The Magpies won the Coca-Cola Championship 12 years ago and made it look easy - but the reality was that Hughton, using a calm approach and excellent man-management, turned focus on to the pitch amid a political mess and fan protests at St James' Park.
At the time Newcastle were touted to follow Leeds down the divisions after a long run in the top-flight instead they took the division by storm, spending very little on transfers and bedding in youngsters like Andy Carroll and Tim Krul into the team.
On the final home game of the season a banner at the Gallowgate End unfurled to read: "Hughton is a Geordie."
That place in local folklore was more than assured and even now Hughton gets frequent reminders of his time at Newcastle.
Hughton told Chronicle Live: "To be honest it's a strange thought process for me.
"I don't look back on my time at Newcastle - because it's always there with me, once you've been part of the club it never goes away.
"For me, there were so many firsts.
"It was the first time I'd worked away from London, Newcastle was my first stint away from the capital.
"It was my first role as a manager and first foray into management.
"And it was my first time in the Championship.
"So for me, Newcastle is always with me, always there, it was an incredible time.
"What you tend to look at once you get older are the good times.
"The disappointing moments you almost try to eradicate.
"And of course I was at the club when we got relegation, I don't think about that, I think of the better times.
"How much I enjoyed living in the area and how welcome the Geordie public made me feel.
"And what an incredible season in the Championship it was.
"I also enjoyed the Premier League season for the time I was there.
"So for me, it doesn't go, I don't have to look back on it, it lives with me."
Indeed, Hughton gets regular requests from Newcastle fans and supporters in general when he's on the football circuit.
Hughton said: "Even to do this day I consistently bump into Newcastle supporters that will thank me or recollect things!
"We always bump into people who have Newcastle as their second team - that goes back to Kevin Keegan's first time at the club and how much people enjoyed that.
"So the amount of Newcastle fans or people I bump into is consistent.
"It never goes more than a month where I don't bump into somebody who talks about Newcastle and it's nice.
"I am always looking for their results and always want them to do well."
Newcastle collected 102 points at the top of the Championship that year with no team able to get near them.
They were promoted by Easter with Andy Carroll grabbing 19 goals and Kevin Nolan not far behind him with 17.
The likes of Jose Enrique, Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez excelled at the challenge of playing in the Football League and other youngsters like Tamas Kadar and Krul started to emerge.
When Hughton left United he left behind a devastated dressing room with the core group of Joey Barton, Nolan, Steve Harper and Alan Smith complaining to managing director Derek Llambias over the hasty manner of his departure.
It was an exit that proved to be unjustified after big wins over Sunderland (5-1), Aston Villa (6-0) and away victories at West Ham and Arsenal.
The former Spurs star said: "There is so much fondness really, one the team I had but two the individuals.
"You follow them and see what they are doing now.
"Kevin Nolan at West Ham as coach doing well, Nicky Butt at Man United coaching, Andy Carroll still playing, so that team and that squad is very much etched in my head.
"That's the same for other teams I managed but that team was very special - and it was my first team in management.
"The one thing I have been very grateful for was the opportunity to do it.
"I will be forever grateful for the opportunity because it set me on the way to a management career.
"And hey that was an unbelievable start for me and that's what I will never forget - even without pictures and reminders.
"It's always etched into my head."
Hughton says he doesn't need any pictures on the wall at his home but admits he occasionally goes through his belongings from that 2009/10 season.
Hughton said: "If you walked into my house you wouldn't know I was a football manager!
"I'm not one that puts up lots of pictures.
"But I have got albums and mementos of my time at Newcastle, pictures and signed shirts.
"The photographs of the promotion celebrations and pictures on the pitch - I have them all.
"I don't have them on view.
"But go through them, but I don't need to because it's all etched into my head."
One of Hughton's other former clubs in this weekend's opponents Brentford also brings back positive memories for the ex-full-back.
Hughton said: "I can tell you that my spell at Brentford was a wonderful part of my career.
"I'd spent the large majority of my playing career at Tottenham then I'd gone to West Ham for over a year.
"I finished my career at Brentford and I was fortunate that we won the old Third Division and won promotion to the old Second Division.
"So it was a really good period of my playing time.
"It actually set me up for my coaching career too as I learned a lot in that time, the manager at the time was Phil Holder and he allowed me to get involved in a little bit of coaching with the team.
"That set me up for going into coaching which is what I did when going back to Tottenham and taking the reserves.
"I have very fond memories."
Hughton knows that Newcastle may be coming up against a Bees side that have struggled in recent times but there is a major feel-good factor around the newly promoted London club at the moment.
The former Republic of Ireland defender said: "Brentford at this moment are enjoying the first parts of their journey.
"I don't think they get the praise that they deserve.
"The team played at Griffin Park and the place was famous for having a pub on each corner of the stadium.
"It goes back in history and there are a lot of fond memories.
"Their progress started with looking at the game.
"It was a different way of bringing players in and running the club.
"The thing that you really want is to be in the Premier League with a new stadium and it couldn't have gone any better for that to coincide with promotion.
"I remember the opposite when Coventry were at the old stadium, then ended up going down, Brentford went the other way.
"The club don't get the praise they deserve."
The Magpies go into this weekend's important clash at the Community Stadium on the back of a reality check after Burnley beat Spurs to close the gap.
It's a six-game unbeaten run for Newcastle but they recently strung together three successive wins - something former Brighton and Norwich chief Hughton sees as one of the most valuable things in football.
Hughton added: "I think the value, and from working with Premier League clubs like Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton, of back to back wins is huge.
"Managing teams like Norwich and Brighton who aren't top 10 clubs as such means you see how valuable those back to back wins can be.
"We used to talk about it.
"Back to back wins can do a lot for you.
"Now when you take that to an unbeaten run of three, four or five games, a team in the bottom 10 can see the landscape of their season change in a period of just a few weeks.
"That is exactly what has happened to Newcastle, even if it didn't look like that not so long ago.
"It's not because the team is not good enough or you are making a judgement call on the players, it's just the thought of getting two or three wins on the spin can seem quite far away especially when the team hasn't managed that all season.
"But this is the game we're in.
"It can happen by really good football, fortune or a bit of luck, but whatever reason it can happen.
"And when it does happen it gives you such an incredible lift!
"That's what I'm seeing at Newcastle at the moment.
"They've had that incredible lift.
"The exact same way as when I look at Brentford's start to the season, that early lift put them into the position they're in now.
"Overall they have had a decent season.
"The season is now levelling off a bit because of injuries or whatever and Brentford find themselves in a position where they will be looking for another lift, those back to back wins if possible."
Hughton's last stint as a manager came with the Seagulls but he will now work with Ghana ahead of their World Cup qualifying play-offs against Nigeria.
Beyond that Hughton is eager to take on his next challenge.
Hughton said: "Yes, and I have a lot of energy.
"I am going to be involved with Ghana.
"My father hailed from Ghana and Ghana have two World Cup play-off games against Nigeria.
"I am involved in that.
"There is a coach but I have the title of technical advisor and my role will be to support the coach and the staff for these two games.
"But I am very much looking to get back and have a lot to offer."
And you won't find a Newcastle fan who doesn't want to see Hughton build on his successful CV, the gates of this football-mad city will always be open to a man they regard as a club legend after he steered the club clear of the abyss.
