Upthemags

Eddie without doubt. PIF won't be dipping their hand into the sporting director pot for a third elite sporting director.

No issues with a 100m+ release clause - is extraordinary when he's healthy but seems to have a knack for injuries. We could sign the whole England national team with that money if it came to that. Would be best to keep him around of course - would be no replacing of his quality at striker.

Will probably make sense to extend Wilson. A lot on here seem to think other clubs are clamoring for our deadwood and can be readily sold by the right person. Wilson isn't deadwood, but his chronic injury history paired with his extreme efficiency when he's healthy probably means its best to resign him since he won't fetch anything more than a nominal fee. If he stays healthy this season, though, and (miraculously) plays 25-28 games - who knows, could see him fetching 5m or so. But still probably best to keep him around for his 8ish goals or so nailed on.

ay ay ay

Yea he seems the type that would take offense at all the faux-sensibility - love it personally

Bang on

Not much you can do when the other bloke's scored about 1000 goals

Would not be surprised if he's called up before the end of the season

Seems like some wouldn't be satisfied unless Mitchell took the blame for a window he admittedly, from both Howe and himself, had no control over. Strange really

Seconded - think Mitchell's stamp will be much clearer: young appreciating assets from Europe. Expect we'll see significant activity in Jan.

Yea I have no problems with Gordon fashioning his self-confidence in the style of, say, an elite American athlete. I can see it bristling against British modesty, but I don't think modesty is top of the list for Newcastle or our owners post PIF takeover. If anything, Gordon is emblematic of who we are, and who we want to be - brash, the best, disruptors. Remember Mandy's crack? We'll be number one in the world? Hardly modest, hardly polite. Personally, I like the bully / shithousing attitude that characterized our 22/23 season. We had an attitude about us that we'd do well to recapture, and that Gordon does well to encapsulate. (See my profile picture.)

Took the words out of my mouth

I found the honesty from Mitchell very refreshing after a summer of very little communication from the club. I think we were owed honesty after the window, too, and Mitchell realized that. Mitchell, like it or not, is the new boss in town, and he's carving out power for himself and making it clear to all involved, eddie included, that he's the head honcho going forward. Was it the politest way of going about it, or the most respectful of everyone involved? No it wasn't. But thinking he'll take the blame for someone else's targets/strategy is just unreasonable imo.

Not really understanding this - there was legitimate uproar from fans, and even journalists, that Mitchell had just overseen one of the most pathetic transfer windows in recent memory. To boot, then Howe came out and said he was not all that involved with transfers, effectively pinning the blame on Mitchell, when, by all other understanding, Eddie was dictating our summer targets in light of the Ashworth departure. Did you think he was just going to fall on the sword 2 months into his new role? He knew what he said would ruffle feathers, but personally I'm glad the lad has the wherewithal to stand up for himself and not be a scapegoat for our window.

People still aren't grasping that the summer window wasn't even his window - but Howe's (both of them), Nickson's, Eales'. Mitchell is here for the long term whether we like it or not. (Unless he decides there are greener pastures elsewhere.)

Sad because Southgate ultimately cut off his nose to spite his face in not playing AG. Who knows what Southgate could've achieved if he could've put tactics over his own emotions.

Absolutely bonkers we almost coughed up 70m

Mitchell is here to stay IMO. Sacking Mandy and Mehrdad is a clear indication to me that Mitchell will be backed over Howe if it comes down to it. I hope the Bournemouth stuff is overblown because it would be a shame to lose Eddie in the event he's unsatisfied not having significant control over transfer business. It's hard to know what to make of Mitchell's interview as regards Eddie - does Mitchell actually want Eddie long term or not I'm not sure. Ideal system for me is Mitchell picking players, Eddie choosing from Mitchell's shortlist, and Eddie managing the squad. With that setup, I think we'd see stratospheric improvement.

Basically said as much when he said we need to "diversify"

I think you must have missed the Paul Mitchell interview mate. I think you must have also missed the fact that we... didn't buy him? From the horses mouth regarding our pursuit of Guehi this summer: 'It’s about setting precedents to the market that we will pay fair value for the right profile.' We felt, ultimately, that Guehi was overvalued by Palace, and so didn't pull the trigger, which I suppose you would have had us do. Yes - I will side with our top brass on that one.

Coming from the guy who think Marc Guehi is 'easily' better than Christian Romero. I think our top brass know better - call me crazy I guess.

Maybe you would - but the club doesn't agree with you, and neither does any other club in the top flight. Which is why Guehi is still lining up for CP this season. And it's a good thing because we wouldn't survive if we operated that way.

Stopped reading at Romero mate. 'easily'. What a ridiculous take. I'll side with the professionals, who decided this window that Guehi is not among the likes of those defenders. A very solid Premier League defender? Absolutely. You don't spunk 70 million on a player because they 'fit the system'. If we had unlimited money to spend - sure. I'd be happy with Eddie fielding the full England international squad. But the strictures we operate under do not let clubs (bar the cartel) operate that way.

Define "at the top"? Do you honestly think Guehi is better than any of the following? Maybe 2 or 3 of those names at most? Romero VDV VVD Stones Martinez Ake Konsa van Hecke Gabriel Saliba Dunk Dias Akanji I honestly think Schar is better than Guehi as well. There is a reason zero other clubs were offering what Parish wanted for Guehi, and its because he was being grossly overvalued by them, and ultimately, we agreed with the rest of footballing world on that score. Glad Mitchell held the line on this despite Guehi being top of the wish list for Eddie. His fair market value for most teams, based on the lack of interest from other clubs, I would guess is somewhere around ~45m.

There are some good points in this post, but there's a glaring hole throughout this, and a glaring hole with letting a manager dictate transfer policy: The manager simply does not have enough hours in the day to be well versed in the young talent throughout the world. And, relatedly, the manager's skill is not in identifying talent before it has fully blossomed. That means that regardless of how judicious Eddie is and how long-term his thinking is, he simply isn't the right man to be making transfer decisions that have (literally) decades-long ramifications for the club. I have no doubt Eddie rightly identified Guehi as someone who could step right in, and immediately perform and push us forward. The problem, though, is in a PSR world, we can't field a team of Guehis. Whether we like it or not, our revenues means we have to play ball the way your Brightons play ball, your Aston Villas, your West Hams. We simply cannot afford to bring in 1 Marc Guehi (or zero Marc Guehis) each summer window. We'd never field a complete Champions-League challenging team as players would age out before new ones could be brought in. The point has been (rightly) belabored on here by some that a DoFs job is to have an eye for the long term. That is spot on. My hope is that for future windows, Mitchell comes to Eddie with a list of players to pick from, and we go from there. I really hope that isn't a breaking point for Eddie if it were to come to fruition because we would be losing a top 5 manager in the league. In any case, if we keep up our current form, this is all probably a non-issue. If we finish 5th, I can't see PIF moving to expel Eddie or to rock the boat/change transfer policy in any way. And I think any of us would be happy if that were the case.