Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell has spoken about an exciting “five-year plan” at St James’ Park.
The former Monaco supremo joined the Magpies earlier this month and has insisted that one of his reasons for signing for the club was head coach Eddie Howe. Alongside performance director James Bunce, Mitchell will now set out his plans and ambitions for the club, starting with a strong finish to the current window and getting to the bottom of the injury crisis on Tyneside.
When talking about the five year plan, Mitchell told NUFC TV: “I think it takes time. At some points on the journey over the next five years we are going to have to rely on a level of patience. I know that is a hard thing to ask for. But it is important to understand that we are on a journey.
“It will take time, we have got some great elements that make me super excited and have been drivers to my decision, the coach being one. I think in five years I think we can really challenge for important things. And at an important level and that’s what we need to do.
“We have an ambition and we need to plot a strategy over time to get to that. Not just get there (Champions League) once every five years but get there every year and put Newcastle on the global map. We want our name and brand on the tip of everybody’s tongue. That is my big driver is to really establish us in the global game in the right way.”
Mitchell, a former Wigan and MK Dons player, also spoke of the need to end the current transfer window on a high.
He said: “Shorter term, transfer window I always say how can we make the team better. We make the team more set up to win. How can we align the club more to the way the coach wants the team to develop over time. That is the challenge this window.
“We have some really great components. You have to be a little more strategic because the elements you are looking for might be one or two positions not a whole total rebuild.
“We have made this big leap to this level so it is about getting the small decisions right over time. Not making those big decisions and destabilising what we’ve already built. We have some really exciting foundations.”
In a week that has resulted in Howe being heavily linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate stepped down, Mitchell said he is looking forward to working with the ex-Bournemouth boss.
Mitchell said: “I think it is fair to say Eddie did his apprenticeship on the south coast, I did mine in Milton Keynes, but then did my university finishing school at Southampton. So Eddie was building what was a great job in Bournemouth while I was helping Southampton build their own project as well.
“So we know each other and were both raised in football through the south coast. We know each other and have a tremendous amount of respect. I see our philosophies being a natural collaboration.
“And it was something that was one of the motivations to come here. I think it’s going to be tremendously successful if I am honest. You see Eddie’s qualities, he is already impressive on the grass, you can see his player development CV. That fits nicely with my recruitment CV.
“We recognise a player that has performance potential but then you can extract that potential through great coaching and great technical sessions every single day. I think that collaborative approach brings together his strengths and mine. I can only see a positive outcome to that.”
When reflecting on the role of Bunce, Mitchell feels the arrival of his former Monaco colleague is a major boost for the injury hit Magpies. Last season Newcastle suffered 42 injuries in total including setbacks that left some returning Toon stars quickly back in the treatment room after botched comebacks.
Summing up, Mitchell concluded: “Something that has been well documented is injury prevention and the amount of injuries around the first team.
“It is something that Eddie wanted to address. The organisation and ownership wanted to address. My job is to go and find the best in class.
“We need to put that (injury list) right. If we are to perform well we need to give our best players accesibiluity to the coach, the way we do that is by keeping them fit, healthy, resilient and robust. So our coach has a chance of winning on match day. James is an elite specialist in performance.”
