How do sporting directors prove their worth?

Are Newcastle United coming to a crossroads under their ownership in terms of moving power away from Howe and splitting it across departments? Richard Hughes swapped Bournemouth for Liverpool this summer, while Manchester United’s pursuit of Dan Ashworth seen him move to Old Trafford. Newcastle replaced him with Paul Mitchell, who has got off to a tricky start to life in the North-East. So, when a transfer window doesn’t go to plan, is the sporting director to blame? Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s Newcastle United writer and Pod On The Tyne regular Chris Waugh, The Athletic FC newsletter lead writer Phil Hay and senior football writer Simon Hughes to discuss. 00:00 Intro 00:59 Newcastle in the Premier League 03:12 Eddie Howe & Newcastle 05:18 PSR, Marc Guehi & transfers 08:22 Is there a dynamic shift? 12:20 Paul Mitchell as sporting director 15:03 The role of sporting directors 23:46 New football models 31:51 Newcastle & Liverpool admirations 34:14 Outro The Athletic Football Podcast is your essential guide to football's biggest stories, five times a week this season... Listen on Apple and Spotify: https://theathletic.lnk.to/tafcpodYT Subscribe to The Athletic Football Podcast channel 👉 http://bit.ly/athleticuk | 🔔Make sure to enable all push notifications!🔔 The Athletic is currently offering a special price subscription of £2/$2 a month for the first 12 months. To redeem that limited-time-only offer go to 👉 https://theathletic.com/footballpod Follow The Athletic FC: Website 👉 https://theathletic.com Twitter 👉   / theathleticfc   Instagram 👉   / theathleticfc   Facebook 👉   / theathleticfc   Follow Tifo Football: Website 👉 http://tifofootball.com Twitter 👉   / tifofootball_   Facebook 👉   / tifofootball   Instagram 👉   / tifofootball_   Subscribe to Tifo Football 👉 http://bit.ly/TifoFootball Thumbnail: George Wood / Stringer via Getty Images #newcastle #premierleague #eddiehowe