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The role of Dan Ashworth, Newcastle’s new Sporting Director

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Dan Ashworth Newcastle united

Yesterday, Dan Ashworth officially kick-started his Newcastle career as the new Sporting Director. This comes following previous jobs as technical director at Brighton & Hove Albion, director of elite development at the Football Association (FA) and sporting and technical director at West Bromwich Albion.

 

Ashworth is known for implementing “England’s DNA” to help create winning senior teams in men’s and women’s games.

 

However, the title ‘Sporting Director’ is thrown around a lot in professional football and many don’t quite understand what the main roles and responsibilities are, so, what will Dan Ashworth actually be doing as Newcastle United’s Sporting Director?

 

First of all, as outlined on the club’s official website, “Ashworth will be responsible for the club’s overarching sporting strategy, football development and recruitment at all age levels, and will work closely with head coach Eddie Howe, academy manager Steve Harper and head of recruitment Steve Nickson.” So, this gives us a general idea of how important Ashworth’s role will be and the types of people that he will be working around.

 

When asked about his role at Brighton in an interview with BT Sport two years ago, Ashworth said, “A technical director’s role is always best described as looking after the interests of the club in a medium to long-term.”

 

He continued, “There are six things that come into me, the men’s first team, women’s first team, player recruitment, the academy, medical and sport science and the player loan department.” It is clear that the role of a Sporting Director is one of the most vital when it comes to the progression of any professional football club from the bottom right up to the top.

 

“All of those [six things] are medium to long term such as medical, player loans, the academy, in order to try and make sure that the club is sustainable, we spend our money wisely, we open up pathways for young players to come through the system.”

 

When talking about how much impact Ashworth had on the philosophy side of things when he worked under Graham Potter at Brighton, Ashworth responded, “You hire a coach that matches the philosophy that the club thinks they want to go and the direction of travel they see the club going, my job is to stitch all of that together.” As Ashworth will be working directly with manager Eddie Howe it is almost certain that talks will currently be going on right through the summer on the vision and future of Newcastle United and how they will go about it.

 

“Making sure that the 23s, the 18s and the academy put the right plans around the young players, we get them out on loan at the right places to give them every chance of being able to play for Brighton and play for Graham.” Development and youth are something that looks to be a key part of Ashworth’s work and is definitely something that we will see implemented on a stronger basis at the club. Newcastle United was one of four clubs that didn’t give a single minute to a teenager in the Premier League last season, along with Burnley, Chelsea and Leicester City. I’m sure this is a statistic that Howe and Ashworth will be exploring to try and push more youth players through the system to then go on and play for the first team.

 

“My view is if you keep changing the head coach every 14 months or so which I think is about the average lifespan of a manager unfortunately nowadays and then you go from one philosophy to the other, you’ve got no chance of joining up your loans, your academy, your development program and your player recruitment […] so its about long-term planning in order to get the best out of our resources.” With Graham Potter still in charge at Brighton and doing a fantastic job, it looks like Eddie Howe is here to stay for the long-term and this partnership with Dan Ashworth should get all Newcastle fans very excited for the start of a new era at the club.

 

In a statement on the club’s official website, Dan Ashworth said, “Each time I’ve been to St. James’ Park in the past, I have been reminded of the club’s long history and the unrivalled passion of its fan base. It is a huge football club with great potential, and I am incredibly positive about what we can collectively achieve… I’m excited to start work immediately and look forward to being part of a team that is helping the club to grow and achieve long-term success.”

 

So, what are your thoughts on the appointment of Dan Ashworth and where can you see The Toon finishing in the Premier League next season?

 

Join the conversation on our Facebook page …

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Harvey Barnes Injury worse than thought – Confirmed

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Confirmation has come in this morning that Newcastle United Winger Harvey Barnes has been ruled out until 2024.

 

The winger doesn’t need surgery however the  foot injury will keep him out for 3 months. Eddie  Howe has spoken about the injury: “It’s come at a shocking time for him — he was just finding his rhythm & getting to know what is expected of him.”

 Eddie Howe on Injuries:

“We think he’s going to be out for around three months. No surgery required which is good news but his foot is now in a boot. It’s an injury underneath his toe.

He’s now started his recovery and he’s got to rest to let it recover then we can build him back up again.”

On Callum Wilson and Sven Botman:

“We’re going to see today. Callum has very minor hamstring tightness.

We’ll give him every chance of being available. Same with Sven – we’ll make a late check on him.”

On Emil Krafth:

“Emil will play for the U21s tonight. It’s really, really good to see him come back and hopefully do well today.”

In an exclusive Interview with the North East Update You Tube channel -Wor Flags – Champions League Plans Revealed!

We met with Wor Flags – a follow up interview from our video with them last year where they reveal their Champions League plans, discuss the Newcastle United Documentary, their Andrew Cushin song and appeal for your help, you can see the video below….

 

Wor Flags Donation link – https://worflags.org.uk/donate/

 

You can see some of our other North East Update Youtube videos below..

 

 

 

 

 

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4 left out as Newcastle submit official Champions League squad

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Newcastle United Season Prediction

Newcastle United have submitted their official squad to UEFA for the 2023/24 Champions League group stage.

 

‘List A’ includes 23 senior players, while ‘List B’ will include two homegrown youngsters in Elliot Anderson and Lewis Miley; who’ll both be eligible to feature.

Four senior players have been left out which may not be a suprise to many NUFC fans, with Matt Ritchie, Javier Manquillo, Emil Krafth and Mark Gillespie all missing out of Eddie Howe’s squad.

Here’s the full ‘List A’ squad that’s been sent over to UEFA ahead of our group stages games against PSG, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan:

  1. Miguel Almirón
  2. Harvey Barnes
  3. Sven Botman
  4. Dan Burn
  5. Martin Dúbravka (GK)
  6. Paul Dummett
  7. Anthony Gordon
  8. Bruno Guimarães
  9. Lewis Hall
  10. Alexander Isak
  11. Joelinton
  12. Loris Karius (GK)
  13. Jamaal Lascelles
  14. Tino Livramento
  15. Sean Longstaff
  16. Jacob Murphy
  17. Nick Pope (GK)
  18. Fabian Schär
  19. Matt Targett
  20. Sandro Tonali
  21. Kieran Trippier
  22. Joe Willock
  23. Callum Wilson

Newcastle champions league fixtures were recently confirmed, see below..

  • Matchday 1: AC Milan v Newcastle United – 19th September, 5.45m
  • Matchday 2: Newcastle United v Paris Saint-Germain – 4th October, 8pm
  • Matchday 3: Newcastle United v Borussia Dortmund – 25th October, 8pm
  • Matchday 4: Borussia Dortmund v Newcastle United – 7th November, 5.45pm
  • Matchday 5: Paris Saint-Germain v Newcastle United – 28th November, 8pm
  • Matchday 6: Newcastle United v AC Milan – 13th December, 8pm

 

How far can NUFC go in the competition?

 

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Watch Yankuba Minteh score first goal for Feyenoord in 5-1 win on Sunday

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Newcastle United loanee Yankuba Minteh has scored his first competitive goal for Feyenoord, scoring in Sunday’s 5-1 win over FC Utrecht.

After starting in their 6-1 win over Almere City last weekend, the Gambian teenager came off the bench and scored in stoppage time, rounding the goalkeeper and finishing calmly to seal another convincing victory for the Dutch champions.

This rounds off a positive few weeks for the 19-year-old winger, who was our first summer signing after sealing a £6m move from Danish side Odense.

Last month he helped spark a comeback draw away to local rivals Sparta Rotterdam, before starting his first Eredivisie game against Almere. Now, he’s come off the bench and bagged his first goal for the club.

See the goal here

 

 

 

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