I never believed he was the right choice to be Newcastle United Sporting Director
When he went on gardening leave in early 2022, over two and a half years ago, I was never convinced that Dan Ashworth was the right man to become the Newcastle United Sporting Director.
This was mainly because Dan Ashworth had championed the unscrupulous Sam Allardyce for the England job back in 2016, whilst he was employed by the FA.
It is now interesting to hear Paul Mitchell claim that Newcastleâs recruitment and transfer policy âwasnât fit for purposeâ during Ashworthâs short tenure at our club.
It is reported Little Dan is now hurt by these revelations. Iâm having none of it.
This is the bloke who I believe ratted on Newcastle United when he went on gardening leave, to push through a switch to Manchester United.
I predicted Ashworth would be off to Mould Trafford before last Christmas when Sir Jim Ratcliffe had just jumped on board with the Glazers.
Some of my mates actually disagreed, said that Dan Ashworth wouldnât leave the project that was being built on Tyneside.
Of course, Man Uâs glory hunting fans love to think that they got one over us when Ashworth eventually jumped ship.
Personally, I donât think that this could be any further from the actual truth.
I was a little sad to see Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi leave Newcastle in July but wasnât in the least bit remotely surprised. Quite rightly, I think they will both be fondly remembered by our supporters for what they helped to achieve, both pre and post-takeover.
One mistake I think they did make though, was to bring Dan Ashworth into Newcastle United. I never thought that Eddie Howe was comfortable with having Ashworth about.
What we have to hope for is that Paul Mitchell can have a good working relationship with Eddie.
I found some of the recent rumours surrounding Mitchellâs position at our club supposedly being in peril, pretty laughable. The bloke has only been here two minutes and Iâm glad now that we didnât pay silly money for Crystal Palaceâs Marc Guehi.
It is also obvious that Newcastle are trying to play in a different style to what we had previously become accustomed to under Eddie Howe.
This may have a lot to do with the thinking of our new Performance Director James Bunce. Lets face it, we cannot afford another injury ravaged campaign.
So, the Toon will be off to Molineux next to take on Garry OâNeillâs Wolverhampton Wanderers, and I reckon the points are there for taking.
What we need to do now is get behind our team, staff and also the new senior appointments to the Newcastle United hierarchy. I include Darren Eales here, even if he has been at Newcastle for a little while longer than Mitchell and Bunce.
Iâm going to finish this article with the words of the great Canned Heat and I hope it stays in your heads all day.
âTogether we stand, divided we fall. Come on now people, lets get on the ball and work together.â
