Newcastle row ‘inflamed’ as meeting goes ‘badly’; Howe ‘gets backing from key club chief’

Newcastle United chief executive Darren Eales has thrown his weight behind manager Eddie Howe amid tension between him and Paul Mitchell, according to reports.

Mitchell arrived in the summer as the Magpies’ new sporting director after previous roles in scouting and club development at Southampton, Tottenham, RB Leipzig and Monaco.

He takes over from Dan Ashworth, whose departure to Manchester United was finally confirmed in early July after months of negotiations.

Odysseas Vlachodimos, Will Osula and Lloyd Kelly joined over the summer, while Lewis Hall’s loan deal from Chelsea became permanent – but there was disappointment that more signings didn’t follow.

And Mitchell has criticised the recruitment department in recent days and insists Newcastle need to improve their strategy in forthcoming transfer windows.

Mitchell said : “There are things we got wrong in our strategy for sure. Me coming in when I did probably wasn’t the best timing for the organisation but what it has done is allow me to witness a process.

“As custodians of this club, we can’t just keep spending, spending, spending because at some point that won’t enable the club to facilitate its goals.

“I don’t think any Newcastle fan wants to see this club in a place where other clubs were last season with docked points (or) financial penalties because that can really affect our growth.

“Should our scouting and recruitment be driven more extensively with a wider reaching net? It definitely should be because this is becoming a really nuanced space now. You can’t just capital fund everything every year and buy loads of players at peak age and peak price.

“Was, let’s say, the scouting network, the lengths and breadths of our process and our strategies, including the influence of Eddie Howe, bigger and broader enough? Probably not. And that’s the bit we analyse to be better. That’s the bit we have to adjust and modernise.”

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Howe wanted to sign a new centre-back in Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and a new right winger but Mitchell was unable to get deals over the line before the transfer deadline.

The Sun insist that the duo have ‘clashed over transfers and the team’s playing style since Mitchell was appointed in July’ but Howe now has the ‘backing from a key club chief’ in form of CEO Eales.

And now Mitchell’s interview is ‘believed to have inflamed the existing tensions’ and ‘one source questioned if all three [including Eales] could continue working together’.

Howe and Mitchell ‘got off on the wrong foot in July’, while the report adds that a ‘meeting between Mitchell and the players also went badly, while several members of Howe’s coaching staff also expressed concerns at his combative approach’.

The Newcastle manager, who has had great success as Magpies boss, was left ‘unimpressed by Mitchell’s transfer dealings’ and Howe has ‘privately expressed frustration at the limited incomings  — while Mitchell blamed the manager for his inflexibility over targets’.