The Paul Mitchell media spin - Have these comments been taken out of context?

There's been so much said about Paul Mitchell's "fit for purpose" comment two weeks ago. Perhaps a poorly worded phrase on our transfer strategies, I just feel it's been taken way out of context.

Some in the media reported on it like he was openly slating so many of our signings and fuelling this so-called 'civil war' behind the scenes. However, isn't it more likely he was referring to the chain of events that led us to that absolute mess at the end of June?

Our signings since the takeover have largely been big hits, but we also allowed ourselves to become hours away from a PSR breach and points deduction a few months ago, forcing us to sell two big talents (Minteh and Anderson) and waste time in July assessing where we went wrong. It was a huge mess that we only just got away with.

Don't get me wrong, it's not been a bed of roses. I do think there's been a bit of a power struggle behind the scenes and I imagine Howe has had difficulties adjusting, but I also believe *some* of the media narratives we've seen have been blown out of proportion slightly.

Mitchell's 90-minute chat with the media two weeks ago was a good thing - we needed to hear from the club after such a poor end to the summer - but he might think twice about doing something similar soon if one or two of his comments can be twisted to this extent.

In hindsight, a NUFC TV style video interview may have been better, allowing for more clarity and context behind his comments, yet there's been some clear examples of how his words have been twisted to fuel this 'feud'.

A perfect was him stating in his interview a fortnight ago that he's been speaking to Howe regularly. This was said in the context of the transfer window, where the pair would naturally speak most nights as we make key decisions on targets and discuss what to do next. That window has passed now and Howe admitted last Friday that he's not spoken to Mitchell for over a week. Howe insisted that was very normal now the window has shut, yet some journalists jumped all over this, suggesting 'something is up' or Mitchell wasn't telling the truth about their relationship.

It was just unnecessary when Howe himself played down any fears over their recent lack of contact and said "absolutely not" with a smile when asked if there was some 'civil war' behind the scenes.

Back to Mitchell's comments on our approach to transfers and the fallout from that, it's fair to say the players we've recruited post-takeover have generally been brilliant and we've rarely overpaid. But that strategy also led us to within hours of a points deduction in June; which clearly had a knock-on effect from July onwards.

As a result, it's not untrue that parts of our strategy have not been 'fit for purpose.' Mitchell's straight-talking nature may have ruffled a few feathers and we'll have to hope our next two transfer windows run much more smoothly, but he wasn't wrong - we can't have a repeat of June's chaos - and a narrative the media are holding onto more than Howe.