Gary Neville pinpointed why Newcastle are on the up, and Manchester United in decline by highlighting the role of Director of Football Dan Ashworth.
Neville’s positive words highlight the strategic, focused rebuilding of Newcastle on and off the field. Recruitment is always key in getting to the top. Not just spending big on a collection of individuals. The players have to be the right fit.
Since the Saudi takeover Newcastle have spent around £380m on new stars. Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Dan Burn and Tino Livramento to name just a few have thrived, improved and kicked Newcastle onwards.
The other “united” from Manchester, have lavished £400m on 16 new arrivals in that period. A staggering £88m on Anthony, £70m on Casemiro and £55m on Lisandro Martinez. Then a combined £180m on Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund.
Similar outlay, but only one club is on the charge upwards - the one on Tyneside, which has an annual turnover ONE THIRD of that at Old Trafford. So Newcastle’s improvement is about more than money. And that’s where ex WBA, England and Brighton guru Ashworth, who took up his role in June last year, comes in.
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Red Devils legend Neville tweeted on Thursday that “on my way up to the gantry last night I bumped into Dan Ashworth. He transformed the FA’s structure, set Brighton up for this incredible period of success and has now built a strong foundation for the new owners at Newcastle.
Dan Ashworth and Eddie Howe (Getty Images)“He’s competent, highly qualified and knows what he’s doing. Will work with his coach , recruitment team and other departments coherently and calmly. In the last two matches Manchester United have played two clubs that have installed proper football departments to support the team on the pitch and off it. The complete opposite of United. We haven’t got a sporting director!“
Some of Ashworth’s principles, which he explained in an executive box at St James’s last year, explain why the two clubs are heading in different directions. Ashworth is big on creating a “culture”, with the personality of the player vital. He asks questions like: what are they like as people? How can we make them better, and improve the team?
Body language is studied before they buy. How do they warm up with team mates. How do they celebrate a goal? In fact in every aspect of their personality: How do they connect with people around them? Newcastle’s signings connect with each other, have open, communicative personalities and are serious about their job and their responsibility to the supporters.
The Newcastle players applaud the 7,000 travelling fans at Old Trafford (Getty Images)Last month local lad Sean Longstaff spoke about his connection with midfield partner Brazilian import Bruno G. “We speak about life, telly, family, normal stuff. That’s the best way to get to know people, and then you gain that trust playing with each other.”
But every transfer is a risk, and Newcastle missed a hidden gambling addiction when spending £55m on Sandro Tonali only for him to be banned three months later for betting breaches in Italy.
Ashworth likes to spot young potential. He nicked Tino Livramento from Southampton, and teenager Lewis Hall whose pathway to the first team seemed blocked at Chelsea.
In the future Newcastle will likely have hundreds of millions more to spend, but this initial rebuild has been done cleverly. Financial Fair Play rules have held back their spending, so deals have had to work. Bar Tonali, all have, and most with a long term outlook and most signings under 23.
Sandro Tonali has been banned from football for 10 months (Getty Images)Panic buying has been the mode of Manchester United. As finger-on-the-pulse Neville observed, the contrast with Newcastle pre-takeover and now is stark: He added: “I used to travel up to Newcastle and feel sorry for their great fans when the energy and enthusiasm had been sapped from them under Mike Ashley. It was painful to see.”
Now it is Red Devils fans he feels sorry for. “Last night we saw the Theatre of Dreams turn into the Theatre of Nothing. Every single United fan bored and flat . On the pitch the players were in shock, the performances woeful and a manager struggling in front of our eyes. We’ve seen it before, we know how it ends and we’ve had enough.”
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Coach Howe is also at the top of his game, combining tactical nous with human empathy to work with, not against his players. He has even drilled forgotten reserve players into winners.
At Old Trafford Newcastle’s centre back pairing of Paul Dummett and Emile Krafth has started one game between them in a year. Clean sheet. Of course Newcastle have won nothing yet. But they have a system, a plan and they’ll be knocking on the door for years to come, always strengthening.
Last season, Ashworth gave north-east reporters a briefing on his ambitions at Newcastle. “I don’t think there is a ceiling. The reason I’m pausing is I know how good some of the other clubs are. If you look at Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and how good their squads are, their infrastructure and what they’ve done over the years – they’re some clubs to catch.
“It’s a really difficult job to catch those but it’s possible. We’ve got a fantastic stadium, 52,000 who want to come and watch us every week. There’s lots of steps that have to be put in place but the support network and size of the club, the potential of the club, is huge.”
But if Manchester United have designs on poaching Ashworth, he usually sticks with a job for six years. He added: “I don't deliberately go in six-year cycles, I haven't deliberately, but sometimes in life an opportunity comes along where you just go, 'Blimey, it's just too good to turn down'.”
Will Newcastle have won something in this six year cycle? “I would like to think so, yes.” he replied.
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