There's absolutely no doubt that things behind the scenes at Newcastle United are tense right now with the new sporting director failing to deliver any major new signings for the manager.
Eddie Howe and Paul Mitchell's working relationship hasn't got off to the best of starts with the new sporting director unable to secure the transfer of Marc Guehi.
Reports suggest that Howe had told Mitchell that Guehi was his number one priority, that's who he wanted and nobody else. We'll never know the truth, but all signs do point towards that being the case.
In fairness to Mitchell he was fighting a losing battle as petty Steve Parish was out for revenge after Newcastle approached his director of football, Dougie Freedman about the sporting director role before Mitchell was appointed.
Steve Parish was playing his own little game, stringing Newcastle along, moving the goalposts and seeing just how much of the transfer window he could waste knowing that Newcastle would stay at the table as long as they thought they had a chance of landing their man.
Crystal Palace dragged that out until transfer deadline day leaving Newcastle with very little time to do any business with only a failed, desperate bid for Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest being reported after the Guehi deal collapsed.
Surely neither Howe nor Mitchell would have ended Friday night happy, but after Howe's warning shots after Mitchell's summer arrival, there has been plenty of speculation over whether Howe will do a Kevin Keegan and walk away from the club.
We aren't sure that's how Howe will roll, although there is another job offer out there - he is still a firm favourite for the England job and that could be looking tempting for him now.
Former Palace owner Simon Jordan also believes that Howe could be reassessing things, but also believes that the club could be too, telling the William Hill Three Up Front podcast (via The Chronicle) he doesn't see Howe being at Newcastle next season if things don't go right during this campaign.
“If Newcastle were to have another season like their last, Eddie Howe will not be there at the start of next year. They desperately need to bounce back this season.
"The expectations have been raised of the players and the manager. - last year was very disappointing. For a club that has that financial might behind it with very ambitious owners, they will expect Champions League football again.”
There's no doubt that Champions League is the aim again, although given the summer we've had, any form of European qualification would seem like a win this season.
Jordan completely ignored the mitigating factors behind last season's disappointment which was largely dictated by a terrible run of injuries, but also a small squad that wasn't equipped for the extra strain a Champions League campaign brings. That squad issue has still not been addressed, but with no European football this season, it shouldn't be as much of a problem.
However, it's Jordan's disingenuous mention of Newcastle's financial might that's the real problem here. He knows full well that the club are unable to flex that strength because they've been shackled by PSR. We are "the richest club" in the league in title only. Our owners are by far the wealthiest, but the club itself is a long way off, and the rules hastily put in place after our takeover serve to keep it that way.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
7 | 11 | 18 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
7 | 9 | 17 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
7 | 9 | 17 |
4 |
Chelsea
|
7 | 8 | 14 |
5 |
Aston Villa
|
7 | 3 | 14 |
6 |
Brighton
|
7 | 3 | 12 |
7 |
Newcastle United
|
7 | 1 | 12 |
8 |
Fulham
|
7 | 2 | 11 |
9 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
7 | 6 | 10 |
10 |
Nottingham Forest
|
7 | 1 | 10 |
11 |
Brentford
|
7 | 0 | 10 |
12 |
West Ham United
|
7 | -1 | 8 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
7 | -2 | 8 |
14 |
Manchester United
|
7 | -3 | 8 |
15 |
Leicester
|
7 | -3 | 6 |
16 |
Everton
|
7 | -8 | 5 |
17 |
Ipswich
|
7 | -8 | 4 |
18 |
Crystal Palace
|
7 | -5 | 3 |
19 |
Southampton
|
7 | -11 | 1 |
20 |
Wolves
|
7 | -12 | 1 |