Paul Mitchell announced his exit as Newcastle United sporting director earlier this week.
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan can understand why Paul Mitchell attacked Newcastle United’s recruitment setup last September.
A bombshell announcement earlier this week saw the Magpies part ways with the sporting director just 10 months after his appointment. Mitchell succeeded Dan Ashworth in the hot seat, who also left in controversial circumstances to join Manchester United.
Tight PSR restrictions meant the 43-year-old was unable to make a first-team signing. Now he is set to leave Newcastle next month under a cloud of uncertainty.
Was Paul Mitchell’s press conference key?
Many point towards the explosive press conference Mitchell gave to reporters following his arrival, where he ripped into the club’s recruitment setup, as a key turning point. Fears about a strained relationship with Eddie Howe emerged - with the Toon boss keen to play down the suggestions.
However, just 48 hours after the season finished, Mitchell confirmed his exit at the end of June. This has reignited the debate about whether the duo got on, with Newcastle’s statement not giving reasons behind his departure.
‘Slightly unfair’ - Simon Jordan on saga
Speaking on talkSPORT, ex-Palace chief Jordan believes Mitchell was right to demand a different “It's slightly unfair the way that this has been lifted for Paul Mitchell because is it fit for purpose? Or does anybody know what the purpose was of the motivations behind? Because what he's saying is we bought players that were once upon a time fit for a purpose that is no longer the purpose that we have now.
“So it changes the dimensions of how we're going to go forward because we've got inherited contracts, inherited players. It's not about criticising them. It's about Newcastle, when certain buying policies were invoked, they were for different reasons.
“And now Newcastle have got a different set of aspirations. Yet they cannot fulfil those aspirations because they're being stymied by transfers that were there at a different time that are still being carried by the club in terms of wages and ability to shift them or an impact upon PSR.
“So I think in all fairness to Paul Mitchell, I think there's nothing really wrong with what he said. It's just allowed it to be taken out of context and turned into a confrontation between him and the manager.”
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Simon Jordan attacked Paul Mitchell in September
Toon fans may have noticed a U-turn in Jordan’s stance. Following Mitchell’s tell-all presser in September, the former Eagles owner ripped into the Newcastle sporting director.
“I don’t know why he’d say I think it’s difficult coming into a predefined strategy, Jordan said. Because if it’s difficult, don’t come into it then. I’m assuming that you were recruited because you met the requirements of a predefined strategy.
“Otherwise, why would they recruit you? And ultimately, once you’re in that strategy, you can start finesse and to look at the way that things can evolve as you’re trying to evolve the football club. So I think that’s a stupid thing to say.
“And we also understand that most football clubs want predefined strategies. You want to be able to have continuity you want to be able to have a situation where senior employments can can leave and the strategy of the football club doesn’t change with the weather, based upon the personality that’s sitting in the dugout, or sitting in an influential position. So I think that’s a ridiculous thing to say in the first place it.”
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