Newcastle United are set to be joined by a new face on the technical team after an outside the box move for key staff member
Assistant head coach Jason Tindall and Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
Assistant head coach Jason Tindall and Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
Newcastle United look set to make a shrewd addition to their coaching staff with the arrival of new set-play coach Martin Mark.
The 31-year-old will join up with the Magpies for the start of pre-season training which gets under way today with a series of fitness tests. Mark arrives from FC Midtjylland in Denmark after serving five managers during a three year stint.
The Dane is a UEFA A Licence coach and was the pick of head coach Eddie Howe and his staff with Newcastle thinking outside the box with an appointment few predicted. Mark will work alongside set-piece analyst Kieran Taylor, assistant manager Jason Tindall and first-team coach Stephen Purches.
Mark has previously served as a youth coach for Aalborg, Thisted and Vestervig but has worked at senior level since 2022.
Newcastle original advert for the job Mark will now take read: "We’re looking for an experienced and innovative elite level coach to support our First Team by leading the strategic planning, design, and execution of all offensive and defensive set-play routines. The Set Play Coach will work closely with the first-team coaching staff, analysts, and players to maximise performance outcomes from dead-ball situations.
"Collaborating with the wider Analysis Team you will conduct detailed video and data based analysis to identify set-piece trends and vulnerabilities, delivering high-quality, position specific training sessions to ensure high performance.
"This is an outstanding opportunity to directly impact the continued growth of an ambitious Premier League club."
Newcastle scored 12 times from set-pieces last season in the Premier League and famously netted from a set-play in the Carabao Cup final as Dan Burn headed home Kieran Trippier's corner. The invite for a set-play coach continued: "Working closely with our Head Coach and broader, innovative, elite First Team Coaching and multi-disciplinary teams you will be resilient to meet the high workloads and sustain output throughout the intense demands of the schedules of professional football."
When asked about hiring a set-play coach in October 2024, Howe said then: "It’s something we have discussed, looked at and talked with the club about.
"I think we have a set play analyst who is very good. Kieran Taylor (analyst) does a lot of work with Jason regarding our set plays, they work incredibly hard to try and improve our product from our corners and set plays but also from a defensive viewpoint which we’ve not been too bad.
"A lot of work goes into them, we practice them a lot. Sometimes you go on runs where you score and sometimes you go on runs when you don’t but we do know it is an area we need to contribute to. It can win you games and it can really make the difference, as other teams have found out this year."