David Ornstein has been speaking on the latest edition of Ask Ornstein about all things Newcastle after their 0-0 draw away to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
Talking about what is going on behind closed doors, Ornstein claimed a lot of people within the club have suggested to him they need to appoint a technical director.
Currently, Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley are the two main men at the club from the business point of view for Newcastle, however, they do not have someone who could have dealt with the internal turmoil which was seen through last week’s bust-up.
Steve Bruce was at the centre of controversy last week as it was reported a bust-up between the 60-year-old and Matt Ritchie occurred at the training ground following their draw with Wolves.
He said: “I’ve spoken to quite a few people at and around Newcastle who say this is a club crying out for a technical director/head of football operations, call it what you like.”
“Many of the other clubs do have this role; at Newcastle, it’s sort of Mike Ashley, the board, Lee Charnley, and he does the contract transfer negotiations. There is a head of recruitment in Steve Nixon.
“I, as an outsider, have just been watching Newcastle go through crisis after crisis, pretty much since the sort of the period where Kevin Keegan’s side challenged Manchester United for the Premier League title.
“Someone to pull all of this together, the recruitment, all these issues on the training ground, the dressing room, the accusations about too many days off – all of this sort of nonsense, for want of a better word, should really fall under the responsibility of a sporting director, director of football/technical director.”
Should NUFC appoint a director of football?
Yes
No
The Magpies find themselves in the middle of a relegation battle as they sit in 16th place and just one point ahead of 18th-placed Fulham.
With only 11 games remaining this season, the Magpies host Aston Villa on Friday night as they look to earn what would be three vital points.
TIF Thoughts on Ornstein’s comments…
Newcastle have been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, whether that be their poor results or the bust-up behind closed doors which happened last week. Like Ornstein said, it feels like the club needs someone to be in charge of it all and bring some level of order to the club which is dangerously close to the relegation zone.
However, with Ashley actively looking to sell the club, it is not known whether he would be willing to put that type of money into the club.