Once a week for an hour during the Premier League season, The Athletic’s Newcastle United subscribers have the opportunity to ask us for our views and insight into what’s happening at their club.
Here, we have pulled together some of their questions and our answers from Monday’s edition of our Inside Newcastle live Q&A, which focused heavily on the club’s sporting director Paul Mitchell, who gave a wide-ranging interview last week and whose future has been the source of much speculation.
Want to ask a question on anything Newcastle-related? Chris Waugh will be back on Monday at 2pm BST (9am ET) for another session…
Attending the Mitchell interview, how did it land with you? Some of his quotes do come over as trying to delegate blame or trying to protect his own position — Ian B
Chris Waugh: I was at St James’ Park for the interview, which took place around a boardroom-style table in the Sir Bobby Robson Suite. It was as informal as a formal interview can get — if that makes any sense — but there were around a dozen or so people sat around a table in a room with no natural light, so it was quite a curious setting.
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Before giving my verdict on the interview itself, I think Mitchell deserves credit for speaking out so soon after what was a bruising window for him. Admittedly it was probably in his interests to do so, and at least some of what he said seemed to be an attempt to deflect responsibility, but Newcastle had for so long been a club who only put the head coach/manager forward to speak. In recent months, Darren Eales, the CEO, and Mitchell have accepted questions from journalists and have tried to explain the club’s strategy and thought process at an executive level. That is a positive move and I hope it continues.
As for what Mitchell actually said, I recognise that there were several different slants to the coverage provided by those in attendance. Perhaps that was inevitable, given that Mitchell answered questions for nearly 90 minutes and no subject was off limits, which again is to his credit, but that also shows his message was arguably a little muddled.
My reading of what Mitchell was trying to achieve — and this is only supposition — is that he wanted to draw a line under the summer, highlight what he perceives to be long-term underlying reasons why the window turned out as it did, and stress that future transfer business will look very different under his stewardship.
Did he achieve that? In my view, not overly successfully as it became lost among other themes and some of his more ambiguous quotes. There did seem to be a lack of ownership of the Marc Guehi saga and the failure to strengthen the squad, while Mitchell’s keenness to underline the positive difference he believes he can make may have — seemingly inadvertently — come across as a criticism of what had come before.
It would be a shame if this stopped Mitchell from communicating again in future, as it is essential that fans hear from the sporting director, and a lot of what he said was insightful and informative when it comes to the strategic direction the club intends to head in. But I am not convinced Mitchell perfectly articulated the points he originally hoped to get across.
Is Mitchell on the verge of walking out? — Adam H
Waugh: Is Mitchell on the verge of resigning, as was reported elsewhere over the weekend? Newcastle are certainly adamant that is not the case and were bemused by the claims.
That denial has come from Mitchell — to clarify, I have not spoken to the sporting director about this myself, but to others at the club who have directly asked him about it — and the rebuttal is that he is keen to stay and intends to serve out his “long-term” contract.
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Undoubtedly, the past two months have been unsettling at Newcastle since Mitchell arrived, with a hierarchical restructure and new relationships having to be built during the pressurised environment of the summer transfer window. There has been what Mitchell himself described as “positive conflict” between himself and Eddie Howe, the head coach, while there has even been disquiet among some figures inside the club following the comments made by the sporting director last week.
Eddie Howe did not get the players he wanted during the summer transfer window (Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)
Yet it would be curious for Mitchell to put himself forward to speak to the media and seemingly try to defend what has widely been viewed as a failed first window, only to then walk out shortly afterwards. Why not just leave and then get your version of events across in a more sanitised environment, rather than discuss your vision for the club’s future?
The bedding-in period remains ongoing and Mitchell is under a lot of scrutiny right now, but Newcastle seem confident he is not about to resign.
What is going on with recruitment? Where does the blame lie? Who is the key decision-maker on transfers? Is it a collective responsibility? Why was Mitchell brought in on July 4 if he was going to sit back? — Felix S
Waugh: It is largely a collective responsibility — Howe has retained the final say on targets so far — though Mitchell was the person who opted to pursue the Guehi deal aggressively.
Ultimately, the list of targets had been largely determined before Mitchell arrived. Even so, Mitchell’s insistence that he played a “supporting role” to a “predetermined strategy” fails to consider that, from July 4, he was the person in charge of recruitment and he was, for the most part, the one who led negotiations with Crystal Palace for Guehi.
Did Howe turn down some alternative targets? Yes, but that was because he did not believe they would significantly improve the team in the way Guehi would have done. There were other names Howe wanted to bring in but, by the time Newcastle were beginning to accept that Guehi was perhaps beyond their means, those elite alternatives were either not available or too expensive themselves.
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Howe did not merely want another centre-back to bulk out his squad who he did not believe was categorically better than those he already has. Especially given a significant purchase could affect future recruitment by harming Newcastle’s position in regards to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) moving forwards. But it was not only Howe who felt that way; Eales, Mitchell and other influential figures at the club shared that viewpoint.
Newcastle as an organisation need to learn lessons from the summer strategy, but Mitchell must bear his responsibility for the window as well, even if he has the mitigation of arriving midway through it.
How far away from Liverpool are Newcastle when it comes to having a data-informed recruitment model? — Matt D
Waugh: The short answer is that Newcastle are nowhere near as advanced in some areas of data analysis and data-applied recruitment as some other top-flight clubs. Mitchell rightly identified that as a key area to address and that was part of the reason why he was brought in as sporting director in the first place.
Howe has been keen for Newcastle to modernise their transfer model because, as largely successful as recruitment has been post-takeover, it has relied upon good scouting and diligent work from staff. It is nowhere near as scientific as the approach at some other clubs.
The issue is that introducing a more data-informed approach will not be straightforward, cheap or merely happen overnight. Liverpool, Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion have their own very sophisticated models which have taken years — and in some cases around a decade — to perfect. Creating a model which can apply specifically to Newcastle’s needs, their playing style, their unique circumstances, what Howe seeks in a player and so much more will be complicated and it cannot be rushed.
So, yes, Newcastle can definitely improve in this area and divert significantly more resources — both money and personnel — towards it. But there will be no quick fix; it will take time to effectively evolve that area of the club.
At what point do we start to worry about the lack of action about a new training ground? — Damien B
Waugh: This is a very fair question as the three-year anniversary of the takeover is in less than a month and a new training ground has not been built and St James’ has not been expanded or a fresh stadium proposed. Those are the two big infrastructure projects which have been required and neither has yet taken place.
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Mitchell stressed last week that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which now owns an 85 per cent majority stake in the club, is as ambitious and committed as ever — yet actions speak louder than words. If Newcastle really want to be “No 1”, as Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the club’s chairman, declared last year, then they need world-class facilities.
Although the best part of £15million ($19.6m) has been invested in the Benton site and it has been significantly upgraded, it is still not comparable to the training complexes that the best sides in the world boast.
Part of Mitchell’s remit will be to oversee such a project, alongside Eales. It will require PIF funding, however, and whether that is forthcoming or not in the short-to-medium term will be indicative of how ambitious PIF really remains.
Is there much confidence of any transfers getting done in January? — Stephen L
Waugh: Newcastle are in the process of conducting a post-summer review — they do one after every window — while it will also take time for Mitchell to fully embed the changes he intends to make to the recruitment strategy, so those are caveats to this answer.
However, there is already a belief within the club that they have the capacity to act in January and will do so if the “right player” — as multiple sources term it — or players become available at prices Newcastle deem to be fair. Ironically, failing to acquire Guehi means Newcastle have greater PSR wiggle room and that makes signing a player mid-season more likely.
Guehi remains of keen interest, but Newcastle will assess which area of the team is in greatest need of strengthening in January and also which of their long-term targets are attainable. Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles’ respective returns from ACL injuries in the winter may mean Newcastle opt to wait until next summer to bring in another centre-half, especially if Palace have not lowered their demands.
The late-window enquiry for Anthony Elanga, the Nottingham Forest winger, showed how the club will be flexible and pivot positions to make best use of their PSR headroom.
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The early indication is that Newcastle will not panic and will only move for players they believe will materially improve the team — and who they feel are available for a decent price — but that there is a willingness to act in January should opportunities present themselves.
Summer windows are still deemed as being more conducive and cost-effective for significant business, but Newcastle showed when they signed Anthony Gordon last year that they will do enticing deals mid-season.
Where’s our Lewis Miley? — Liam B
Waugh: Miley broke his metatarsal in early July and the initial prognosis was that he would be out for around 12 weeks, with his return pencilled in for early October. I asked some sources about Miley this week and they seemed pleased with the 18-year-old’s progress.
Lewis Miley made his full Premier League debut in November and became a regular starter until injury hit (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
But Sandro Tonali’s return means Newcastle’s need in midfield is not as great as it once was and, although Joe Willock may miss another week or two due to his latest thigh problem, there should not be a requirement to rush Miley back. Given the volume of football he played last season and the back injury he subsequently suffered, Newcastle want to manage Miley’s return and, if Willock is available again soon, hopefully they will have the necessary resources to be able to do that.
If that is the case, then Miley should be available roughly around the October international break.
(Top photo: Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images)
