Brighton and Hove Albion‘s technical director Dan Ashworth has been given permission to speak with Newcastle United over a potential move to Tyneside. The magpies are in the process of making large-scale changes at St James’ Park having become the richest football club in the world after their Saudi-led takeover earlier this year, and should this deal go through, it would represent the forward-thinking nature of their new owners.
Newcastle United Given Permission to Discuss Terms With Director of Football Target Dan Ashworth
Newcastle Trying to Build for the Future
With such a large injection of cash, Newcastle would, no doubt, be tempted to spend much of it on players who can come in and make an immediate impact. The much more sensible option, however, is to build a reliable, high-reputation set of staff who can lead the club to long-term glory.
Last month, Eddie Howe replaced Steve Bruce as the Magpies’ manager, marking the first major appointment under the new regime, but they will want to bring in more top-quality members of staff to create a solid foundation for the future. Signing Ashworth would do exactly this.
The English director of football has had much success during his career. He took West Bromwich Albion from being a good Championship side to one that finished 8th in the Premier League, and then moved to the FA where he spent seven years. There, he played an instrumental part in introducing the England DNA and a large emphasis on coaching. This was rewarded by great success across many of the nation’s age groups. Ashworth then returned to club football at Brighton, where he has driven major changes to prepare the club to be a top-half Premier League team.
Especially of interest to Newcastle will be Ashworth’s approach to his job. Speaking on what exactly he does, the 50-year-old said: “the principle for a Technical Director, in my opinion, is to look after the medium to long term interests of the football club. It’s not about short-term ‘get a result against Liverpool tomorrow’, it’s to try and make sure the club is set up in a way that those other departments supplement and help [the first team manager], but are also there for the longer-term benefits of the club.” As Ashworth gives such great consideration for the future, he appears to be the perfect appointment for Newcastle, who will need to be patient in waiting for their investments to turn into domestic and even continental success.
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