KaKa

Was interesting watching Howe talk about Minteh yesterday. Seemed very much a move out of a short term necessity, and not some sort of strategy. Mitchell's comments about internal recruitment being a long term goal, also don't align with that Chelsea type model. We will see a number of these guys come through if they are good enough.

And already folks were complaining about us giving him a 'big' contract based off that?! My goodness ...

Have seen him in numerous clips. No idea where this has come from.

Other clubs might be promising him and even quicker pathway to play if he's really good. That other kid they have Nwaneri, looks very talented and is the best of their prospects, and he barely gets a sniff.

Was it? Can't 100% recall now. Thought it was a permanent transfer.

The strange thing with Wilson is that he didn't really seem to be willing to embrace a more secondary role despite all the injuries. I just didn't get the reasoning in keeping him really, at least we will have to bring someone in now, and he really can't have any complaints. Once he is back up and running he'll likely be third choice, so he'll have to accept that.

If that Atletico Madrid bid was really a thing, we missed a trick there.

This whole Wilson thing is going to be the case with Arsenal fans as well this season, regarding Partey. There were people over there quite glad that he's supposedly staying. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Absolutely mortifying! Their tears will soon come too. He and Wilson must be related.

There were people in here saying they'd be fine with going with him and Isak again this season. I could not believe what I was reading at the time. This man can no longer be counted on at all, unfortunately. No one is likely to buy him now either, and so we're likely going to have to let his contract run down. At least now we know for certain that we have to sign another forward of decent standard to back up Isak.

The interesting thing is that if you look back to when we were first linked with Mitchell in March, there was also talk of lists of potential replacements for Howe also being drawn up at the time, which I thought was weird. I think that may have been true after all. Only because there's a chance the ownership may have been annoyed by the issue with Howe and Ashworth, and were positioning themselves to clean house if necessary. If you Google it the main name being bandied about at the time was Mancini. But pretty certain there's a list of other candidates. That will be a part of Mitchell's remit.

Yeah, ideally the Sporting Director oversees the approach to identifying players e.g. Mitchell talked about using data to further inform more traditional scouting. This was something we were apparently looking for, to modernise our scouting, which was still not very data driven. And so, with that now being introduced, it could mean some players are rated or ranked differently now. In any case, a list of players should be made available for the manager to then select from. I've always thought that was a fair compromise, but some managers might not necessarily feel that way.

Yeah, absolutely. I remember reading about Mourinho being annoyed with their recommendations, and over ruling them at times, which led to some players playing with injuries, and suffering for It. It can be a sticking point. I think it's something we really need though, and so hopefully, Howe is open minded about it. That interview with Bunce he constantly emphasized working closely with the manager, and making his life easier. Think he was making an effort there to ease some concerns.

Don't think it would have necessarily been a case of being unhappy with the season in itself and blaming AS and MG for that. More so not being happy that the Sporting Director and Head Coach were not working well together and it was not in the best interest of the club really pushing on. And so if it meant them having to move on then so be it. And now the reality is that if issues persist there, then Howe will likely have to move on too.

I wasn't one of them, but it's a point people on here raised numerous times and were frustrated with, and they felt it wasn't helping with the injuries. They may have been right. The Performance Director has clearly been brought in with the remit to get a handle on managing player optimization, and now the whole situation is going to be monitored more closely. If players need more rest and recovery, and more rotation needs to take place, it will be made clear to Howe, and he'll need to adjust.

Yeah, I'm pretty calm about the whole thing. The sporting director role is really important nowadays, and we managed to get a top one. If it's ultimately something Howe is not able to adjust to, then he'll have to move on, which would be unfortunate really, but it's just one of those things. The Sporting Director and the head coach have to be aligned, and able to work together. Looking back it does make me wonder if this was indeed tied into Staveley's and Mehrdad's situation, and whether they were perhaps too cosy with Howe, which didn't allow for the relationship with him and Ashworth to develop properly. We'll see how it goes. Considering this all now, I think the changes made this summer may have been absolutely necessary, in order to clean things up.

If we do loan him it would be with a view to a permanent. Probably enquired about him with Savio joining them from Girona/Troyes. Still a far few ahead of him as options for that right side in Silva, Savio and Foden.

Actually ... there was the one article that said we approached Mitchell originally, but didn't come to an agreement, and then went back to him later on. There was some insinuation that Mitchell wanted to oversee recruitment in some capacity, and that had to be resolved. It may be that Howe made some compromises in that area, on the condition that he was allowed to maintain command in others, and so that's just being emphasized. Who knows man. Ultimately Mitchell seems to think highly of him and is here now, and they both seem pretty sound, and so we just hope for the best. And if it doesn't work out then so be it ... ultimately the Sporting Director needs to drive forward the direction of the club, and so Mitchell will then just need to get his own man in. My gut feeling is that after a bit of time to get comfortable, it will all work out well.

This is how I see it too. Howe seems a no nonsense guy when it comes to his work, and he's just sending a strong message, especially after Ashworth. Better to nail this all down right from the outset with the new guys. A more relaxed approach previously probably led to the issues with Ashworth.

I think he's definitely done that intentionally. More so to emphasize the importance of having those discussions from the outset, and ensuring the club have done a better job of clearly stating everyone's roles. Not because of an issue with Mitchell, but due to the nonsense that took place with Dan Ashworth. Not a big deal though IMO. I respect it.

100%. When he talked about the boundaries bit it was in response to the interviewer's follow up on him saying that as long as he's happy at Newcastle he will be here. Then even when he talked about the boundaries, he says that with all of the changes they haven't actually had a chance to sit together and discuss how they'd all prefer to work together. Not sure why people are anticipating this as an issue behind the scenes, especially when Mitchell has even stated Howe was a big part of him joining!

I can't believe how much this is being spun as a negative and cause for panic ... but then again, I can actually believe it. So typical.

Luke was going on about Howe not being spoken to about the new director of football, but from Mitchell's interview that isn't true. These journalists are a mess man.

Targett should be in January too as a loan signing. And that's when he was actually good!

Eddie needs to send these lot on their way pronto.