As revealed by Mark Douglas at iNews, academy coach Adam Bartlett has now been named the club’s head of goalkeeping following the departure of Simon Smith in the summer.
The 36-year-old has enjoyed a long career in the North East, playing for Hartlepool, Gateshead and Darlington. Bartlett was part of the Newcastle squad that travelled to the San Siro 17 years ago, as the third-choice goalkeeper when we faced Inter Milan – but was released in 2005.
Bartlett stepped into the role following the departure of long-serving coach Smith, with his appointment in the role now being made official after impressing Eddie Howe since joining his staff in March.
Bartlett confirmed his promotion via LinkedIn, posting: “I am happy to share that I am starting a new position as Head of Goalkeeping at Newcastle United Football Club.”
It is of little surprise that Dan Ashworth has opted to promote from within, it is common practice for the technical director to do this if he believes the candidate shows enough promise. Ashworth likes to create an aspirational culture amongst his workforce, speaking on the Training Ground Guru podcast in 2020, he said:
“Of all the things I’ve learnt in the 13 years I’ve been a technical director, the big one is that it’s about giving young people a chance. That might be a young coach, a young player, a young physio – you don’t know quite what they can do until you give them an opportunity.”
Well done Adam
Good to see local lads coming good !
Michael Fryer(Quote)