Paul Mitchell (Sporting Director)

[Danh1]

9 minutes ago, Sean said:

There is clearly some tension behind the scenes - people jostling for more power and/or control in their roles after the management upheaval. This can range from mild tension to civil war () depending on who you believe.

 

Just out of interest (as I kinda zoned out over the summer), were Amanda and Mehrdad still here when Crystal Palace's DOF turned us down? And had they left before we approached Mitchell?

Aye, I’m sure they left at around the time Mitchell was appointed. 

[Theregulars]

What a hire. 

[80]

51 minutes ago, Sean said:

Just out of interest (as I kinda zoned out over the summer), were Amanda and Mehrdad still here when Crystal Palace's DOF turned us down? And had they left before we approached Mitchell?

Still here when Freedman rejected. But supposedly their departure had been on the cards for a while, so it's plausible them going - or at least a lack of clarity on the board situation - fuelled his decision.

 

There are a few things that can be reassessed from the last half year with their departure in mind.

[timeEd32]

Freedman also said no a month before the PSR mess. Makes you wonder if he got a sense of a tricky situation.

[Zero]

Sometimes I do wonder why Mitchell said the current system is “not fit for purpose”. Was the system changed after Ashworth left? I mean that’s a system that spotted Bruno, Botman and Gordon so I won’t say it was a failure. Yes you can argue that we shouldn’t over spend last summer on Barnes and Hall but that’s a problem of decision rather than system

[rebelrouser]

1 hour ago, Zero said:

that’s a system that spotted Bruno, Botman and Gordon so I won’t say it was a failure. Yes you can argue that we shouldn’t over spend last summer on Barnes and Hall but that’s a problem of decision rather than system

We were forced to sell Minteh and Anderson, and we spent a lot of money for Tonali to not play for a year.

[Chinese Fans]

Compared to Eddie Howe, Mitchell's emotional intelligence is so low. I even have reason to suspect that Mitchell and Howe cannot work closely together.

[McDog]

Just now, Chinese Fans said:

Compared to Eddie Howe, Mitchell's emotional intelligence is so low. I even have reason to suspect that Mitchell and Howe cannot work closely together.

 

 

How many hours of conversation with the lad did it take to form that opinion? Just curious.

[Chinese Fans]

20 minutes ago, McDog said:

 

 

How many hours of conversation with the lad did it take to form that opinion? Just curious.

I just have a strong feeling. In Mitchell's interview, there were differing opinions about Eddie Howe and the club system, which could be a voice of disunity. But Eddie Howe always emphasizes the unity of the club in every interview.

[Zero]

1 hour ago, rebelrouser said:

We were forced to sell Minteh and Anderson, and we spent a lot of money for Tonali to not play for a year.

 

That’s the problem of squad planning and financial management, not the scouting system. As long as we spotted talents that proves to be more valuable than the cost we paid then it’s a success

 

You are right re Tonali though. We must have missed the background checking part

[toontownman]

I'm sure it's been discussed ad nauseum, but worst case and push come to shove if there is an unworkable rift, who goes?

 

Instant obvious reaction is Mitchell and I think everyone is rightfully attached to Eddie, it's unthinkable he would go.

 

However, in the grand scheme of things sporting directors generally outlast managers and are higher in the hierarchy aren't they?

 

Guess it depends who PIF feel is in the wrong.

 

However no-one looks good if someone leaves. If it's Mitchell you basically give all the power to Howe and might as well let him pick the next DoF. I don't think that's good for the long term either. Howe leaving for England would suck too.

 

Hope everyone just finds a workable way through.

[Matt1892]

46 minutes ago, toontownman said:

I'm sure it's been discussed ad nauseum, but worst case and push come to shove if there is an unworkable rift, who goes?

 

Instant obvious reaction is Mitchell and I think everyone is rightfully attached to Eddie, it's unthinkable he would go.

 

However, in the grand scheme of things sporting directors generally outlast managers and are higher in the hierarchy aren't they?

 

Guess it depends who PIF feel is in the wrong.

 

However no-one looks good if someone leaves. If it's Mitchell you basically give all the power to Howe and might as well let him pick the next DoF. I don't think that's good for the long term either. Howe leaving for England would suck too.

 

Hope everyone just finds a workable way through.

I think results on the pitch will ultimately decide who stays and goes this season but as I said prior to all this coming out that I don’t see both of them being here at the start of next season.

I think PIF would side with Mitchell, they clearly have a view of how they want the club to operate and that involves a DOF figure. It doesn’t look good for us in footballing circles if 2 of the most highly rated DOF type figures leave the club in such a short space of time due to lack of control.

 

Of course that has to be balanced with supporter reaction if Howe is moved on and that becomes difficult mid season, the ideal situation for Mitchell is that the FA ask for permission to speak with Howe and he lets them do that, which would be a clear indication to Howe that he is happy for him to move on.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mitchell isn’t plotting a replacement manager and transfers for next summer already, I thought Howe would be sacked if we don’t qualify for Europe this season but now I think that might be tightened up even further to needing to qualify for the Champions League to become untouchable.

[Zero]

Mitchell is the latest appointment by PIF, and together with the arrival of Bunce, departure or Staveley, he must have PIFs backing at this moment

 

The only way Howe could turn this around is to have some magnificent achievement this season, so great that PIF willing to alter their preferred structure again

 

[Ben]

19 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

I think results on the pitch will ultimately decide who stays and goes this season but as I said prior to all this coming out that I don’t see both of them being here at the start of next season.

I think PIF would side with Mitchell, they clearly have a view of how they want the club to operate and that involves a DOF figure. It doesn’t look good for us in footballing circles if 2 of the most highly rated DOF type figures leave the club in such a short space of time due to lack of control.

 

Of course that has to be balanced with supporter reaction if Howe is moved on and that becomes difficult mid season, the ideal situation for Mitchell is that the FA ask for permission to speak with Howe and he lets them do that, which would be a clear indication to Howe that he is happy for him to move on.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mitchell isn’t plotting a replacement manager and transfers for next summer already, I thought Howe would be sacked if we don’t qualify for Europe this season but now I think that might be tightened up even further to needing to qualify for the Champions League to become untouchable.

 

I love Howe and I think he was fucked over in the summer transfer window, next summer will be very interesting for our "purples" if we don't qualify for champions league, I think Mitchell will have his work cut out replacing them and Howes management team 

[HayDen Traces]

Ever since Mitchell came in the mood at the club has changed.

We felt together with Amanda. That togetherness seems to have gone.

[Whitley mag]

Tension is probably the right way to describe it, civil war might be a stretch but I suspect things will settle until Jan window, which will be the acid test.

 

The fact Yasir pulled the plug on the Guehi negotiations shows clearly that when a decision needs to be made he will make it, if they can’t work together it will be a sad state of affairs but results on the pitch will dictate who goes.

 

On the plus side Howe seemed impressed with Bunce which is certainly a positive and hopefully puts that one to bed.

 

Finally the man who has kept quiet during the international break Darren Eales, think he needs to step up as Mitchell was clearly his appointment, I’ll reserve judgement as hopefully he’s a man of action behind the scenes, but would have been nice to have heard from him during this period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14 by Whitley mag

[HayDen Traces]

7 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

Tension is probably the right way to describe it, civil war might be a stretch but I suspect things will settle until Jan window, which will be the acid test.

 

The fact Yasir pulled the plug on the Guehi negotiations shows clearly that when a decision needs to be made he will make it, if they can’t work together it will be a sad state of affairs but results on the pitch will dictate who goes.

 

On the plus side Howe seemed impressed with Bunce which is certainly a positive and hopefully puts that one to bed.

 

Finally the man who has kept quiet during the international break Darren Eales, think he needs to step up as Mitchell was clearly his appointment, I’ll reserve judgement as hopefully he’s a man of action behind the scenes, but would have been nice to have heard from him during this period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with what you say.

I do hope Eales isn't too proud to admit his appointment isn't working and can make a change before we lose our best manager in decades.

 

If that is what is needed to calm the situation.

 

 

Edited September 14 by HayDen Traces

[gbandit]

49 minutes ago, Zero said:

Mitchell is the latest appointment by PIF, and together with the arrival of Bunce, departure or Staveley, he must have PIFs backing at this moment

 

The only way Howe could turn this around is to have some magnificent achievement this season, so great that PIF willing to alter their preferred structure again

 

Just because they have a preferred structure doesn’t mean that they’re happy with the people in that preferred structure either now or in the future. The idea that Mitchell gets a free pass simply because he fits the structure is shortsighted given that appointments don’t work out all the time even if they fit a model that owners want. 
 

This idea that Howe can’t work within this structure seems to have been swallowed whole by some of our less critically minded fans, when the issue could just as easily be that Howe can’t work with Mitchell but can work with the structure. This is all massively premature anyway and we’ll know more about how they can work together by the end of January. 

[Kid Icarus]

Also worth mentioning that PIF aren't this slick, professional outfit with an immaculate record too. This only represents ~5% of their investments/projects, but this is still the same organisation that thought the original plans for Neom, Quiddiya, a sports city, and their e-sports investments were realistic/savvy.

 

Anyone correctly raising concerns that their ambitions were pure fantasy were replaced or told to make it happen, with those ambitions slowly but surely scaled back to the point where the original plan was unrecognisable or cancelled altogether. 

[PauloGeordio]

Match day soon! International breaks always leave the journos & us a vacuum to fill with something to tear ourselves to pieces over  At least after 2mow it’ll be back to the usual Longstaff shouldn’t have started & needs to be shot. Tripps is our only hope down the right. Eddie needs to fuck off with this 60minute sub malarkey and Sandro should’ve been on from the off.

Roll on the Wolves match 

[The Prophet]

1 hour ago, Zero said:

Mitchell is the latest appointment by PIF, and together with the arrival of Bunce, departure or Staveley, he must have PIFs backing at this moment

 

The only way Howe could turn this around is to have some magnificent achievement this season, so great that PIF willing to alter their preferred structure again

 

 

Howe has nothing to turn around. He continues to do an excellent job.

[The Prophet]

36 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

Tension is probably the right way to describe it, civil war might be a stretch but I suspect things will settle until Jan window, which will be the acid test.

 

The fact Yasir pulled the plug on the Guehi negotiations shows clearly that when a decision needs to be made he will make it, if they can’t work together it will be a sad state of affairs but results on the pitch will dictate who goes.

 

On the plus side Howe seemed impressed with Bunce which is certainly a positive and hopefully puts that one to bed.

 

Finally the man who has kept quiet during the international break Darren Eales, think he needs to step up as Mitchell was clearly his appointment, I’ll reserve judgement as hopefully he’s a man of action behind the scenes, but would have been nice to have heard from him during this period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where is this from?

[Zero]

25 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Just because they have a preferred structure doesn’t mean that they’re happy with the people in that preferred structure either now or in the future. The idea that Mitchell gets a free pass simply because he fits the structure is shortsighted given that appointments don’t work out all the time even if they fit a model that owners want. 
 

This idea that Howe can’t work within this structure seems to have been swallowed whole by some of our less critically minded fans, when the issue could just as easily be that Howe can’t work with Mitchell but can work with the structure. This is all massively premature anyway and we’ll know more about how they can work together by the end of January. 

Normally I would agree with you but considering

 

1. How he had power struggle with Bournemouth management which resulted his departure

2. How Ashworth was kinda forced out due to unable to work with Howe, if report is true

 

the struggle with Mitchell will make it 3 out of 3 to me. I don’t think the benefit of the doubt lies on Howe side, unfortunately 

 

 

Edited September 14 by Zero

[Zero]

2 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Howe has nothing to turn around. He continues to do an excellent job.

Imagine we get a loss tonight

[PauloGeordio]

7 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Where is this from?

The ether!