More quotes have emerged from Paul Mitchell’s 90-minute chat with North-East journalists at St James’ Park last week, where our sporting director discusses his relationship with Eddie Howe and the sort of players they are keen to sign.
Mitchell believes that he and Howe are both ‘frustrated’ former players who were forced to call time on their playing days quite early, feeling this has given them a hunger and drive to succeed in their current roles.
The 43-year-old then discusses their common ground in recruitment terms, feeling they like to see an “aggressive” brand of football which leads us to pursue “very physical” and “dynamic” players who also offer quality on the ball, suggesting we plan to retain that high-intensity style while adding a certain level of skill and technical ability to the group.
Discussing Howe, their relationship and some of their similarities, Mitchell said: “We have a lot of commonality. We did our apprenticeships at Bournemouth and Southampton. We were both quite young when we retired. We started this journey quite young and didn’t finish big successful careers.
“We were chatting the other day when Burnley were here for the behind closed doors game. Jay Rodriguez was playing. Eddie had him at Burnley and I signed him for Southampton. Similar with Adam Smith at Bournemouth.
“There is commonality in terms of our vision for the team and our philosophy. That helps build relationships. If someone’s philosophy is at A and mine is at Z, you’re going to struggle to find that blend and common ground.
“I don’t see that being a factor with us. The way we see the game, we’re very aggressive, especially here, that’s the way I like the team to play as well. The types of signings – very physical, dynamic but must be able to use the ball to a certain level. We’ve had some really good conversations. We’ve got that dee-lying, frustrated ex-footballer that never had a career in us both as…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/09/10/paul-mitchell-reveals-the-sort-of-signing-he-and-eddie-howe-want-at-newcastle-united/
Author : Olly Hawkins
Publish date : 2024-09-10 16:05:54
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