Newcastle United and a new sense of direction!

Newcastle United look set to finally announce a director of Football when Dan Ashworth finishes doing his garden up. Ahem.’The ex-Brighton and England man has transformed both set-ups and many people see him as the most vital of all the signings we will make in 2022.

Ashworth of course, isn’t the first Director of football in English football, that accolade went to someone we can all relate to.’Step forward the man who took Sunderland into the Third Division ‘ Lawrie McMenemy.

The Gateshead-born hero knew a thing about figures and sorting out tempting contracts.’In July 1985 he rode into Wearside on a white horse and promptly sorted a deal where he was on ‘200,000 a year and got his house, bills and Mercedes paid for all paid for by the then Roker Park club. Kerching!’All this while the Sunderland fans saw season tickets go up 20%.

It obviously didn’t last long and around ten years later the trailblazer got himself a canny little number again back at Southampton as he oversaw such luminaries as Alan Ball, Dave Merrington and Graeme Souness. Presumably he was influential, along with Souness, in being duped by George Weah’s cousin Ali Dia who turned out to be the worst footballer ever seen in the Premier League.

From those hilariously humble beginnings, ‘the Director of Football / Technical Director / Sporting Director has become part of the game to the point where United had looked out of sync for not having a one. Joe Kinnear and Dennis Wise don’t count.

Managers in 2022 are more often than not, left to manage on the training ground. A coach does what it says on the tin. The days of a manager letting his number two coach while he sits in the office like Alex Ferguson are gone. The Director of Football is tasked with identifying players needed , signing them and handling football operations.

Clubs on continental Europe have been comfortable with this arrangement for decades ‘ it’s a large part of what they do.’Clubs are happy to employ a coach rather than a full-blown, warts and all management arrangement.’In 2019 20 Italians were managing across Europe, contrasted with 15 Spaniards, 11 Germans and 7 Englishman. It works for them.

It’s no big deal and other countries saw it strange that we hadn’t cottoned on earlier.

Back in McMenemy’s days you look at the characters managing at that time. Ferguson, Atkinson, Graham, Dalglish, Clough.’Can you imagine a bloke like Ashworth, who had a nominal football career going into Clough’s office and saying he wanted to ”change the DNA‘ at Nottingham Forest?

Arsene Wenger can be credited with a lot of trailblazing changes that turned football inside out in this country in the nineties and early millennium,’But he revealed in 2020 he would never be a Director of Football at Arsenal or anywhere else.’His direct opposition to the role came to a head when he drew the battle lines in a power struggle in his latter days at Arsenal when he pronounced

‘I don’t know what a director of football means. Is it someone who stands in the road and directs play right and left? I don’t understand it and I never did understand what it meant’

Bang goes the lazy theory that the DoF came along with his long over coat.

Newcastle’s previous forays into Director of Football models have been total disasters but the personnel involved meant that it was never going to work. Joe Kinnear? A man noted for the loss of a succession of i-phones who couldn’t switch a lap top on.

Eight months, no permanent signings and the sort of haggling that made Rodney on Only fools and horses look like Rockefeller. Want Cabaye cheaper than he’s worth ? go on then?

Dennis Wise? One of the most hated appointments in Newcastle United’s history would have been pilloried if he had been appointed as groundkeeper or toilet cleaner. To put him in charge of signings above someone like Kevin Keegan was doomed to failure, nay disastrous. Especially when said Director of Football bought players looking at You Tube and never told a manager of Kevin Keegan’s stature. For Ali Dia read Xisco. Favours to South American agents? Chelsea door-men making decisions over-ruling Kevin Keegan?

Times have fortunately moved on from then however and a modern director of football and more importantly, a good one, can transform a football club.’Do you think the likes of Botman just landed in Lille because of the manager or RB Leipzig sign a stunning overseas player every year because of the boss?

Hours of work will be done by the DoF looking if the player will fit the club. This is essential for us as every agent and his aunt will be queuing up with the best offer ever.

Ashworth saw his role at Brighton as a ‘connection from boardroom onto the pitch’ every club has chairman’s or a CEO’ it’s very important we are making sure we are spending the money in the right way’.

See how important he could be?

The thought of these super agents getting let loose in an under strength United bargaining team in January had my brow furrowing but you just know already Ashworth will be no pushover.

We might have an incredible budget but it hasn’t got to be wasted. Ask any Man City fan and they will tell you for every Kompany, you got two Roque Santa Cruz’s and City wasted a lot of money on bad deals.

United are already putting in steps to prevent us having that ‘buy anyone‘ period Manchester City had.

The job is so vague it’s viewed with distrust by the average football fan. 17 out of 20 teams have the role but call it that so many different things and each club has them doing different things. Fans are wedded to the tradition of men like Stein, Shankly, Busby, Clough, Wenger and Ferguson being in total control. But football has completely moved on from a time when those men ruled clubs totally.

It can be a lonely job as well. Take Sunderland for example. Last week Kristjaan Speakman had got in Defoe and Roberts from Manchester City.

He was lauded for his great transfer window. Last night on Radio Newcastle one fan wanted him in the studio so he could grill him for his ‘shortcomings‘.

Speakman spoke when he moved to Sunderland and he said he would have a ‘leading role in transfer policy and oversee the running of the club.. I will have big emphasis on data analytics‘.

Presumably Cheltenham’s data wasn’t looked at enough. For some clubs the DoF are running the show like it or not.’ The shadowy nature of their role adds to the mystery and therefore distrust and some seem to survive when the coach doesn’t.’An example yesterday being the Walsall coach Matt Taylor (ex-Portsmouth) was sacked after 8 defeats in a row, however the Walsall DoF Jamie Fullarton brought a completely new team in which has been disastrous but he stays and Taylor goes. Hmm.

It’s hard to see Howe joining the list of disgruntled managers though. His time was spent at Bournemouth working with Richard Hughes. When Howe was on the verge of joining Celtic, the rumoured sticking point was not sorting out a deal for Hughes.

Howe however plays a major role in any signings and this will be a team effort.

Hopefully this is a marriage made in heaven as the club gets a major overhaul. We need this to work if the first part of our revolution is to happen.

McMenemy may be the trailblazer (don’t laugh), but Ashworth is the very best out there right now and we are getting him.

SCOTT ROBSON