**Six weeks ago, David Hopkinson arrived on Tyneside to take over as Newcastle United's Chief Executive Officer, filling the role vacated by Darren Eales, who stepped down due to health issues.**
It's far too early to have any indication of how David Hopkinson is settling in, what he's changed or how things are going to pan out, but [Craig Hope has offered a peek behind the curtain in his latest Newcastle Confidential column for the Daily Mail.](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-15220789/Newcastle-Confidential-David-Hopkinson-review-Eddie-Howe.html)
The overall vibe is that Hopkinson is bringing something fresh to the club following the takeover. A bit of a firmer hand, but not at all in a bad way.
It can be summarised by his mantra, "You're either with us, or with yourself", and the new CEO has launched a 100-day review to weed out those who fall into the latter category.
David Hopkinson is six weeks into his time at Newcastle
David Hopkinson, Ross Wilson and Eddie Howe are presenting a united front
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'There will be changes in strategy, personnel and, in time, culture', writes Craig Hope, who seems quite impressed with the Canadian so far after an off-the-record chat about the club's future.
Hopkinson's aim is to have everyone pulling in the right direction. Opposing ideas and disagreements are fine, but ultimately, everyone has to be pulling in the same direction from the top down, so anyone who has their own ideas and actively goes against the grain may find themselves down the dole office.
Unlike previous management structures, it does sound as though this one is already pretty united. Hopkinson, the new sporting director, Ross Wilson and Eddie Howe are all said to be presenting a united front, which we don't feel has happened since the takeover went through. Sure, Eddie Howe and Amanda Staveley were close, but Dan Ashworth never felt like he fit, and then Darren Eales, Paul Mitchell and Eddie Howe might as well have been working for different clubs.
We do have a big worry about David Hopkinson's 100-day review
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As we said, it's way too early to make any judgments. We like what we're hearing, but, as Hope pointed out, albeit way less cynically, Jim Ratcliffe enacted a 100-day review when he went into Manchester United.
Fingers crossed Hopkinson isn't anything like Ratcliffe and doesn't end up on a power trip, sacking the tea lady and laying everybody off for fun.
We'll have to see how it all goes, and we're sure there will be personnel changes, but hopefully they are just those who don't buy into the vision of the club and not just layoffs for the sake of it. Let's not be _that_ club.