Paul Mitchell’s brief time at Newcastle looks more and more a disaster as the months go by.
After arriving on Tyneside to much praise, surely Dan Ashworth’s successor would enjoy a much smoother, successful time at the club? Sadly, not. In fact, his stay was even shorter and came with so little success.
Whether it was the disastrous negotiations for Marc Guehi, the initial clashes with Eddie Howe, his public criticism of our previous business or claims we overpaid for Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, the former Spurs and Monaco man never really got settled.
But the latest debacle from Mitchell’s tenure has just come to light, and it looks like the former sporting director may have done a lot more long lasting damage to the club than we may have originally thought…
Did Mitchell mess up Trafford deal?
Paul Mitchell may have inadvertently cost us the opportunity to sign Manchester City’s new no.1 James Trafford.
It’s no secret that we courted Trafford for over a year, and were thought to be frontrunners to sign him after he missed out on a move last summer, but nothing came to fruition as City ultimately swooped in.
But according to The Mail’s Craig Hope, Mitchell’s dealings with Burnley’s negotiating team and owner Alan Pace were damaging, rubbing up Clarets chiefs the wrong way and leaving Pace “livid.”
‘For example, I’m told that his dealings with Burnley were a large part of the reason why the James Trafford move did not happen sooner. Sources close to the Clarets say that owner Alan Pace was left livid by some of his interactions with Mitchell. Mending such relationships will be one of Wilson’s key tasks.’
New appointments must do better
Nottingham Forest’s Ross Wilson and ex-Real Madrid executive David Hopkinson are set to be appointed our new sporting director and CEO, with the pair facing a big task ahead of them in fixing the off-the-field mess we’ve become.
Wilson in particular will need to build stability at the club after Ashworth and Mitchell both left well before we expected, with a strong relationship with Howe, trust from PIF and the ability to mend relations that may have been impacted by Mitchell’s bullish approach.
It is easier to scapegoat Mitchell after his unceremonious departure earlier in the summer, but the more news that comes out, the more questions must be asked of the current hierarchy to understand their thinking about why they hired Mitchell in the first place: an appointment that may set Newcastle back months, if not years.
Like you say it’s easy to scapegoat him, I don’t think anyone comes out spotless from this summer’s debacle.
As for Craig Hopeless the least said the better, Panther put it perfectly about him the other day.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)