Mark Douglas believes that there could be a lot of changes coming to Newcastle United following Dan Ashworth’s appointment.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion man has finally been able to take up the role of sporting director after Newcastle and the Seagulls managed to reach an agreement to allow Ashworth to end his gardening leave earlier than expected.
Newcastle confirmed yesterday that Ashworth would be taking up the role on Tyneside with immediate effect, which could change the direction of the club and how they look to go about their business and making improvements off the field.
Douglas, who appears on Everything is Black and White podcast, was clearly excited by the appointment as he tweeted out what Newcastle fans could potentially expect from Ashworth, saying: “Someone in the club said it was the ‘Big Bang’ moment for #nufc. Certainly feels like the start of wholesale changes. Interesting/exciting times.”
TIF Thoughts on Ashworth joining Newcastle…
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The last person to hold such a role on Tyneside was managing director Lee Charnley, who was handed a whole load of tasks by previous owner Mike Ashley. However, he had no previous experience in such a role – compared to Ashworth, who has already worked for Brighton, West Bromwich Albion and the FA, so will bring a boatload of experience to the club.
It had been claimed that this appointment was crucial for the club to move forward and progress under PIF, as more recently, it had been manager Eddie Howe doing a lot of the groundwork on transfers and preparations behind the scenes, which obviously couldn’t continue without the manager ending up getting burned out.