Although that music is sometimes more quaint than it is interesting, the band is certainly worthy of praise, and Allen himself shows a great deal of uncharacteristic passion while blowing on the old licorice stick.
In Bournemouth, delegates old enough to remember the Powellite fire and brimstone had to endure one worthy speech after another in praise of tolerance and inclusion.
Those qualities drew generous praise from Hughton, who clearly sees in the Gateshead-born frontman a worthy inheritor of the number nine shirt once worn by club legends such as Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer.