According to the Chronicle, the next Newcastle United ‘boss’ will be asked to liaise with the club’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson regarding potential transfers.
The report suggests that any new manager or ‘head coach’ will “have a say” on his own transfer targets, however it seems the club are now looking to return to the ‘Graham Carr model’ following Rafa’s exit – a system that had VERY mixed success prior to Benitez’s arrival.
Former ‘chief scout’ Graham Carr left the club two years go, with his role made largely redundant after Benitez’s push to take total control of transfers.
Here’s a snippet from the Chronicle’s latest piece, which confirms Charnley is now searching for Rafa’s replacement:
‘Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley has started the search for Rafa Benitez’s successor with a blank canvas in terms of names – but the next Toon boss will be asked to dovetail with head of recruitment Steve Nickson.
‘The new boss will certainly have a say on his own targets but a database of players put together by Nickson and European scouts Mick Tait and Paul Baker will also be available.
‘Back in 2015, then boss Steve McClaren agreed to go along with some of Graham Carr’s picks from Europe which resulted in Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba and Gini Wijnaldum.
‘Newcastle aren’t likely to make any huge changes to their blueprint or outlook on transfers.
‘The situation at United is certainly leaning back towards a “head coach” role with the proviso of working closely with Nickson and his recruitment team. But as it stands, Newcastle are carefully assessing their position.’
Lee Ryder’s latest report suggest the club may go in a ‘new direction’ following Rafa’s exit, however the above approach doesn’t sound new at all to me.
It just sounds like the old method used before we finally broke the mould and brought in Rafa three years ago – an experienced and world class operator who took control of all footballing matters.
That’s what’s so crushing about Benitez’s exit. He fought for change and pushed for control of recruitment, but it feels like Ashley and Charnely will bring in a ‘head coach’ who’s not only willing to accept their tedious transfer blue print, but also work closely alongside our head scout Steve Nickson.
Here’s Carr’s signings prior to Rafa’s arrival. A real mixed bag, with some huge flops alongside several incredible bargains:
Let’s hope Nickson’s potential suggestions prove to be slightly more consistent, with us likely to need all the help we can get now Rafa is no more.
The players on the list brought in by Carr and the then managers, that Benitez sold is where the profit was, the players brought in by Benitez were mainly losses, think he had one Merino. I suppose some will eventually make some profit but some were awful signings.
So the system did work in the main, we had better football with the listed players than the ones of late. But the takeover will change back to entertaining football and success along the way. HWTL
Whinger(Quote)
Quite a few donkeys in Carr’s list and most of the good ones could not wait to leave this unambitious club. Also the profit from the sales were a nice little earner for the FCB. No decent PL players coming in as PL wages are well above the wages that the club are willing to pay. Colback will be captain next season and Hoss up front. Wow can’t wait for the next seasons struggle at the bottom of the PL. There again I will not be watching the Toon until Ashley is gone!
LA Toon(Quote)