Newcastle United staff still waiting for update on huge club decision following arrival of new CEO
Newcastle United recently had a change at the top with David Hopkinson coming in as CEO to replace Darren Eales, who stepped down from the position due to health reasons.
Darren Eales' unfortunate blood cancer diagnosis seemed to derail the forward momentum of the club in terms of decisions being made on important things, such as the stadium and training ground.
Additionally, sporting director Paul Mitchell clearly knew that without his closest ally in the boardroom, things would become difficult for him at the club and opted to resign in the summer.
That simply added another problem for the new CEO to deal with, although the recruitment process for a new director of football kicked off alongside that of a new CEO.
Ross Wilson is still expected to join Newcastle United, but there are doubts
It has been reported that Nottingham Forest's Ross Wilson will be the man to replace Mitchell at Newcastle, but earlier reports of his imminent arrival proved to be wide of the mark.
Indeed, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is keen to retain Wilson's services, so there's still a feeling that the Magpies could end up looking elsewhere.
Chris Waugh addressed the subject in his latest Q&A for The Athletic, and he claims that those inside the club don't even know what's happening and suggested that the Ross Wilson deal is not irreversible, if indeed there is one in place.
"While Wilson is expected to join, it is not a fait accompli. Newcastle and Forest still need to agree on his release, should he indeed accept the job (the soundings at this end are that they believe he wants to), and there may be a period of notice to serve.
"Senior figures on the footballing side have yet to be told when a sporting director will be in place, either, with the interim structure, which presently contains a vacuum at the top of footballing operations, still in place.
"Getting a sporting director in place well before the January window is definitely in the club’s best interests and is very high on Hopkinson’s to-do list."
The recruiting process seemed a bit off in the first place
We always felt that it was odd that the club would seek to recruit a sporting director before having a new CEO in place. Given that the two will have to work closely together, it made sense that the new CEO would have some say in who the appointment was.
There's still a good chance that Wilson will join the club, but we can't rule out a change of tact.
Hopefully, the delay in appointing a sporting director isn't a sign of what's to come when it comes to making a decision on the stadium and new training complex. That's dragged on long enough now.
