**It could be pretty simple to point the finger of blame at Paul Mitchell for the eventual mess that led to Alexander Isak's departure from Newcastle United.**
Just a few short months ago, Alexander Isak could have walked on the River Tyne; he was so revered by the Geordies. He was hailed as one of, if not the best, strikers in the world by many Newcastle fans.
However, that love turned sour when the striker started to act out to engineer a move away from Newcastle, which led to him going on strike, releasing a statement where he played the victim and ultimately moving to Liverpool on transfer deadline day.
Isak often claimed broken promises were the reason for his fallout with the club, and that stems back to Paul Mitchell saying that the club wouldn't be looking to renew his contract, as he was on good terms and at the time had four years remaining on his deal. This was despite Amanda Staveley allegedly telling Isak they'd look at his contract after over-delivering on the pitch.
Eddie Howe enjoyed a good relationship with previous sporting directors, except for one, it seems
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That wasn't Mitchell's only faux pas in his brief tenure as sporting director, having publicly hailed the transfer policy as not fit for purpose, which upset a lot of people at the club. His demeanour and no-nonsense attitude reportedly rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
When asked about working with a director of football on Friday, Eddie Howe put to bed the rumours that he dislikes working with a sporting director, going on to name people he's enjoyed working with in the past.
> “I don’t know where that has come from \[the idea that he doesn’t like working with a sporting director\].“I’m desperate for a sporting director. The way the modern football club works, I think you need that person with the expertise, the person who’s going to lead the club in all sorts of different ways.“That might be the academy, transfers, it’s a never-ending network now that the sporting director has to navigate his way through. So it’s an absolutely pivotal position.“I had a very good relationship with Dan Ashworth and a very good relationship with Richard Hughes at Bournemouth for many years.
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> “We need the position filled, but ideally with the right man, the man who can lead the club forward in many different ways to a very successful era. I’m fully supportive of the position.”
Eddie Howe didn't even acknowledge Paul Mitchell on Friday morning
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Paul Mitchell's name was suspiciously absent there, suggesting that they didn't enjoy the best working relationship.
Mitchell resigned when it became clear that Darren Eales would be stepping down as CEO, with reports suggesting that Eales was pretty much his only ally in the camp. Mitchell likely knew he wouldn't last without Eales' protection and jumped before he was pushed.
Let's hope that the relationship between Eddie Howe and the next sporting director, believed to be Nottingham Forest's Ross Wilson, gets off to a better start.