Mitchell clears up Howe relationship, reveals Al-Rumayyan talks aims dig at Ashworth
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Paul Mitchell has expressed his optimism for the future of Newcastle United while discussing his relationship with Eddie Howe, recent talks with Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and suggested that the scouting network Dan Ashworth left behind is not ‘fit for purpose.’
Whilst reports earlier in the summer had hinted at potential disagreements between Mitchell, Howe and Darren Eales in regard to the club’s direction and stance on transfers, our sporting director insisted that the trio were on the same page for much of the summer, including a supposed joint-decision to end the pursuit of Marc Guehi in the final days of August.
“Every player we looked at, Eddie wanted to explore, wanted to try sign or wanted to have an extensive conversation about.”
Delving further into his relationship with Howe, Mitchell stated: “The core foundation is the respect part, but you’re going to have points of contact, because it’s a stressful industry we work in where you might have to have a strong debate. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Positive conflict is still healthy to move forward and that part of the relationship can’t be all Eddie’s way or Paul Mitchell’s way, it’s got to be a collaboration of both.”
“What I’ve seen of Eddie Howe and how good a coach he is, he is super impressive on the grass, and I’ve got pretty good context with the ones I’ve worked with, and what I think I can bring to the table, I’m excited to see where that can take us.”
Having only just arrived on Tyneside in July, former Tottenham and Monaco man Mitchell was keen to get going as soon as possible, but the club’s ongoing strategy, as well as procedures put in place by predecessor Dan Ashworth may have hampered Mitchell’s plans more than helped them.
In what many are interpreting as a thinly veiled dig at Ashworth, Mitchell claimed that Newcastle’s scouting procedure still needs ‘extensive modernisation’.
“Is it fit for purpose in the modern game, with the modern challenges? Because other clubs that have maybe adopted a different approach over time, with more intelligence, maybe more data-informed than we are, actually prospered, didn’t they, this window? And I think that’s where we have to grow.”
And if the club is looking to grow further and further, Mitchell will have been delighted to share that the club still has the backing of Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who recently attended St James’ Park to witness Newcastle’s 2-1 triumph over Spurs.
Having held formal face-to-face talks with Al-Rumayyan, Mitchell added: “He (Yasir) is as ambitious and enthused as ever. I only know from my interaction – I can’t speak for anyone else’s – but he’s super ambitious and he wants us to perform at the number one level.”
“He wants us to perform not only through the money we spend – he wants us to be best in class across everything we do, whether that be youth development, the women’s team, scouting and recruitment, data and insight, coaching, innovation. He wants our position to be at the top.”
Even after a summer of heavy upheaval, which saw the departure of the aforementioned Ashworth as well as the popular duo of Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi from the club, Mitchell looks to be heavily optimistic that Newcastle are in a strong position if it hopes to return to the European stage after this season.
“My job is to get us in five years’ time to our ambition…should we be getting into Europe in some context this year? I think that is a realistic ambition, I do. European football as an ambition is a realistic one, I think for everyone, and that has to be the challenge for us all.”
Mitchell also added “I think we are a good team, and I think last year there were a lot of different contributing factors that still need to be assessed, I think there were a lot of different challenges that this club for a long time hadn’t faced before, that we no longer have.”
“Keeping your best players, that was also a challenge for us this year – to keep the drivers of the team, the talent, the quality, that was also something we had to work hard towards, and I think we succeeded.”
