It has been a very challenging transfer window for Newcastle United, made all the more difficult by the chaos behind the scenes.
There has barely been a hierarchy at St James’ Park this summer, with Paul Mitchell leaving his role as sporting director. He has not been replaced yet, and neither has chief executive officer Darren Eales.
That has piled the pressure on Eddie Howe, who has had Andy Howe and Steve Nickson working on recruitment. There have been some tough moments, but Newcastle have actually had a good summer away from the Alexander Isak situation.
Amid some impressive business, it should not be too long until Newcastle United have a new sporting director in place.
Nottingham Forest sporting director Ross Wilson looks on.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Newcastle United set to make Ross Wilson announcement soon
For a while now, Ross Wilson has been the favourite to replace Paul Mitchell at St James’ Park.
He is poised to leave Nottingham Forest and join the Magpies, with the Athletic’s Daniel Taylor providing an update on Wilson’s future at the City Ground on the Athletic FC podcast.
“I think once the transfer window has finished, there will be some sort of announcement that he’s [Ross Wilson] going to Newcastle,” he said.
“He does a lot of stuff at Forest and he’s a big figure there but he’s not been particularly involved in the recruitment. He’s not the guy who picks the next striker, they’ve got various others who do that.”
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
Dan Ashworth was not in charge of recruitment at Newcastle United
It is interesting to note that Taylor said Wilson has not played a particularly big role in Nottingham Forest’s recruitment. That may come as a surprise, but it is a common misconception that the role of a sporting director is to just buy and sell players.
It was a similar situation at Newcastle United when Dan Ashworth was in charge. He oversaw the entire footballing operation, acting as a club builder at a time when the Magpies were being totally restructured.
Ashworth laid the foundations for Newcastle’s success. By the time Mitchell arrived, his remit was recruitment. Sadly, he did not make a single major signing while his position adversely influenced Nickson and Andy Howe’s roles within the club.
With Newcastle turning to Wilson, Taylor’s comments would suggest they are set to hire someone who is more like Ashworth in their approach to being sporting director rather than Mitchell.
Most importantly, he needs to get on with Howe, after the Newcastle United manager endured a frosty relationship with Mitchell at times.