Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe (left) and sporting director Paul Mitchell
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe (left) and sporting director Paul Mitchell
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe was whisked away for transfer talks in the immediate aftermath of his 19-minute meeting with the written Press.
Upstairs, Howe spoke with Yasir Al-Rumayyan while sporting director Paul Mitchell was also present.
The former Monaco supremo has maintained a low profile since a damning public interview in which he stated that the club's scouting network was "unfit for purpose" but now he gets the chance to implement his own plans.
Remember, Mitchell arrived in the middle of the summer last season and made it clear that he was unable to have the full impact he was looking for. But after months of preparation, he will get the chance to execute those plans, walking the walk after talking the talk.
Mitchell arrived at St James' Park with James Bunce as his performance director back in July last year. But while Bunce has got involved in the traditional post-game photographs after wins, Mitchell has steered clear.
After Champions League qualification was secured despite the 1-0 loss to Everton, Mitchell not only got involved with the lap of appreciation around the hallowed turf but also jumped into the team picture in front of the Gallowgate End.
Mitchell waved his fists in delight while Newcastle supremo Al-Rumayyan took centre stage. If Howe's bullish spirit on transfers in the Press conference transferred to the boardroom, the next week or so could be very interesting indeed.
Howe said: "Speed is key for us & I have reiterated that many times internally. Speed is key because we have to be dynamic, we have to be ready to conclude things very quickly, because good players don’t hang around for long. That’s always been my thought and my message on recruitment, because you can have a period when you think you have time - but then you look around quickly and you see that time has elapsed and you missed opportunities you won’t get again."
Howe then added: "That’s what we will be trying, but the reality of that is it’s not always in your hands - but we will do our best to do things early."
Whether he was referring to his own hands, or the hands of the powers that be, if agents begin to get greedy or clubs start demanding bigger fees remains to be seen."
Yet the immediacy of a meeting with PIF chiefs after their flight over from Riyadh was encouraging as was the mood of Mitchell and Al-Rumayyan. Some decisions have already been made but while Howe heads away on holiday, he won't be switching his phone off!
He said: "I will have a discussion with the chairman and representatives from PIF today, and I’m looking forward to that. We’ll be trying to lay some foundations for what lies ahead in the summer.
"In terms of timings and everything that follows that, I don’t know, but the planning and all the things that go on behind the scenes has been there for a number of weeks. We’ve been working hard to try to set things up for what we need to do."