Alan Shearer claims a lot of Newcastle's problems this season can be traced back to when their sporting director quit
Paul Mitchell, right
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Newcastle United are still paying the price for Paul Mitchell's bombshell decision to walk away from the club at the end of last season.
That's the view of former Magpies skipper Alan Shearer, who moved to defend under-fire Eddie Howe after a season of inconsistency and poor results.
Howe was left to shoulder a much bigger burden during the summer after Newcastle were left with no sporting director or chief executive for what turned out to be one of the most seismic transfer windows in the club's history. Alexander Isak went on strike as he looked to push through a record move to Liverpool, while the Magpies were trying to make major reinforcements of their own ahead of a Champions League campaign.
Mitchell announced just days after the end of the season that he was leaving as sporting director while chief executive Darren Eales was also stepping down for health reasons.
Shearer, while admitting that performances and results haven't always been up to standard this season, says that the context of the summer must be considered by those questioning Howe's role in the club.
"I think you have to look at the bigger picture to see why and what's gone on rather than just say ok, the results," he said.
"I get it that because of the very high standards he has set - Champions League football, continually getting to latter stages of cup competitions which we have always struggled in, getting into Champions League and all of that - that's the standard he has set now so when you drop below that then you are going to come in for some criticism and I get that and understand that.
"As a manager you have to go out and win games and at the minute Newcastle are not and they're not sitting pretty in the Premier League with what they've spent.
"So let's get back to looking at the bigger picture. What happened and how come Newcastle are here now?"
At the heart of it for Shearer, the club's record goalscorer, is a tumultuous summer and poor recruitment, with a lot of the £250million spent not bearing fruit yet. And he insists the problems lie at the lack of structure at the club during this time.
"I'm not on the inside so I'm only looking at it from an outsider's point of view," he added on the Rest is Football podcast. "It looks to me that what's happened in the summer hasn't helped anyone. They didn't have a sporting director, they didn't have a chief executive and that for me clearly wasn't right and left the club in a bit of turmoil.
"They then have gone from being a club that has recruited so well - look at Hall, look at Livramento, Tonali, Bruno - all these guys that they brought in for big money, Isak was another one. All these guys were brought in for decent money and have been brilliant.
"Yet this summer Newcastle's recruitment hasn't worked. They spent an absolute fortune.
"They were left in a really difficult situation (over Isak). With no sporting director and no chief executive, who was managing that situation? Who was actually saying if this happens we have to have cover, if he stays fine, but if he doesn't who are we going to get?"
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