Ross Wilson speaks about big change to Newcastle United's recruitment policy since he took over as sporting director
Newcastle United are hoping it will be third time lucky with Ross Wilson after the previous two people to hold the title of sporting director under the new ownership haven't exactly set the world alight.
Dan Ashworth had potential, but there always seemed to be friction between him and Eddie Howe; also, it was later decided that he was handed too broad a scope. Not that it mattered, as he bolted at the first offer of a new job.
Paul Mitchell, meanwhile, came into the club, pissed everybody off and then left during the summer transfer window, so the less said about him the better.
Ross Wilson was brought in from Nottingham Forest during this season, and his first transfer window in charge will be January, but we'll be fair and won't judge him too harshly on the winter window.
Ross Wilson is diverting Newcastle's recruitment staff to look outside of the EPL
Ross Wilson addressed fans on Monday night as he was alongside CEO David Hopkinson at the fan event at St James' Stack, and he spoke about how he has already changed the way our scouting network is working (via The Chronicle), looking at players outside of the Premier League for maximum value rather than banking on Premier League-ready players.
"Obviously, this club has been on a really interesting journey in recent times, from a relegation battle to a Champions League club, and that requires different things in different moments.
"That’s the first thing I would say. The second thing I would say is that the club had to navigate a really difficult period in the summer with Paul [Mitchell, former sporting director] moving on right at the end of last season or maybe a month later.
"They were operating without a sporting director in place. Obviously I couldn’t be here because I was still part of my previous club’s plans for that summer transfer window which was important there, and I respected that.
"Darren [Eales, former CEO] had to step away as well at the same time, so that wasn’t easy. But the club ultimately navigated that in a way that’s got us the squad we’ve got now, and there’s been some excellent acquisitions that have come from that summer period. Moving forward, we definitely want to expand our recruitment network.
"We’ve already done that, to be honest, in my time here. We’ve already expanded the recruitment network. We’ll continue to do so as we move forward.
"I think it’s also clear that we feel that it’s highly likely, not always, but highly likely that there’ll be more value outside of the Premier League than there is in it. It’s not always the case, but I think it would be a fair assumption to say that’s something we’ll be looking into."
Newcastle's best summer signings this year had zero Premier League experience
Newcastle's main recruitment focus in the summer was Premier League-proven players, but the two players who have made the most impact after arriving in the summer both came from abroad.
Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw, both German internationals, came in from VfB Stuttgart and AC Milan, respectively, and both have been outstanding, whereas Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga were recruited from the Premier League and haven't made anywhere near as big an impact.
There's definitely sense in trying to recruit from further afield, especially if the net result is that we get outstanding players for a fraction of the cost we'd have had to pay if they were from Premier League rivals.
