Newcastle staff ‘stunned’ by Mitchell ‘claim’ amid Howe ‘exclusion’ as ‘new bust-up revelation’ surfaces
According to reports, Newcastle United’s staff were ‘left stunned’ by what new sporting director Paul Mitchell said during a ‘behind-the-scenes meeting’.
Mitchell has ruffled feathers at St James’ Park since being appointed as Dan Ashworth’s replacement.
There were significant changes at Newcastle United in the summer as former co-owner Amanda Staveley also left the Premier League club.
It has been widely reported that Mitchell has been critical of the previous recruitment model at Newcastle, but he was heavily criticised in the summer as the Magpies struggled in the transfer market.
Eddie Howe’s side missed out on top target Marc Guehi after they failed to beat Bayern Munich in the race to sign Michale Olise.
FFP rules heavily impacted Newcastle in the summer. It was suggested they would have to sell Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak or Bruno Guimaraes to balance the books, but they managed to keep their key trio as they offloaded Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson instead.
Despite this, they had a poor transfer window as Lewis Hall, Odysseas Vlachodimos and William Osula were the only players they bought.
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It has been reported that Howe and Mitchell have already had a fallout. Earlier this month, the Newcastle boss admitted they have “healthy debate and argument”.
“I think it has to be a collaboration. I fall out with (assistant) Jason (Tindall) a lot – if you want to talk about ‘bromances’, that’s probably the closest one I’ve got at the club – but we fall out a lot,” Howe said.
“We have healthy debate and argument, and that’s never been a problem. As long as that’s respectable and it’s for the greater cause, which is always the football club and making sure we try to get positive results, there’s no issue with that.
“But I think the collaboration part is the key thing and it’s got to be teamwork for the ultimate aim.”
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A report from Football Insider claims ‘Mitchell left senior staff at Newcastle United stunned by what he said in a behind-the-scenes meeting shortly after his arrival’.
‘Staff were told by the sporting director soon after his 4th June appointment that he was now the person in charge and who they would be answering to from that point onwards.
‘Eddie Howe’s exclusion from this meeting also raised red flags among the staff, with many beginning to question who was truly in charge at St James’ Park.
‘Sources with knowledge of the meeting have told Football Insider that scouts and other backroom staff members are said to have been stunned by Mitchell’s claim amid uncertainty over their own positions at the club.
‘This new revelation following widespread reports of a public falling-out between Howe and Mitchell, which the pair themselves have done little to dispel.
‘Disagreements over transfer targets during the summer led to a frustrating transfer window, marred by the bust-up between the pair behind the scenes.’