It is now two months to the day since Newcastle United officially confirmed that Dan Ashworth was on gardening leave.
The club stating that the NUFC Sporting Director had asked to leave to take up another job elsewhere.
That club of course Manchester United, though up to now, no indication that Man U and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have accepted they need to pay the required compensation Newcastle United are insisting on, if his contractual gardening leave isn’t going to run until January 2026.
On Thursday, the very reliable David Ornstein of The Athletic reported that Newcastle United were close to appointing their replacement for Dan Ashworth.
Now on Friday, that has been followed with more info from Craig Hope at The Mail.
It was he / they who revealed (see below) last month that high end executive recruitment specialists Odgers Berndtson were heading the search for Ashworth’s replacement, on behalf of the football club.
Now the man from The Mail has given an update, revealing that some candidates have already been interviewed three times and that Newcastle United are now approaching the final phase of interviews.
Euan Frizzell and Simon Cummins are two of the top people at Odgers Berndtson and this new media update states that this duo have led the search for suitable candidates and that interviews have been conducted with representatives from PIF, PCP Capital Partners and club executives.
The Mail report though that the candidates who have made it this far, are still yet to meet with Newcastle United chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and that this will be the final step, with a three-man shortlist set to be decided on for the final interviews.
The Mail adding that ‘…among those spoken to are ex-Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell, Benfica’s Rui Pedro Braz and former Roma chief Tiago Pinto.’
It was always unlikely that Newcastle United would allow anything to happen with Dan Ashworth until they had identified and signed up his replacement. So it will be interesting to see what happens once NUFC do formally announce their new sporting director, will Man U do the professional thing and agree to pay what it takes to land their target and enable him to start work in less than 20 months time, or will Ratcliffe and Man U just continue to moan life is so unfair because Newcastle United aren’t willing to roll over for them and let them dictate what happens?
The Mag report – 8 March 2024:
It is 18 days now since Newcastle United officially confirmed (see below) that Dan Ashworth had chosen to leave St James’ Park.
The (soon to be former) Newcastle United Sporting Director having been in the job only 20 months.
With Dan Ashworth remaining on gardening leave, no public sign as yet of Manchester United doing what needs to be done in terms of agreeing with Newcastle United the compensation they want, that will allow Ashworth to start work at Old Trafford before we get to 2026.
More importantly of course, who will replace Dan Ashworth at Newcastle United?
Well, an exclusive from The Mail on Friday, has revealed that Odgers Berndtson are leading the search for Ashworth’s replacement as Newcastle United Sporting Director.
Just in case (like me before I googled!) you hadn’t heard of Odgers Berndtson, they are a ‘global executive search, interim management, talent assessment and leadership development firm.’
Newcastle United hiring the internationally renowned recruitment specialists to help NUFC find the best possible candidate, plus of course, find out which of them would be interested in the job.
The Mail report that Odgers Berndtson have already been hard at work with the search and the newspaper’s information is that ‘those who would be the top candidates have already been identified. Names mentioned to us include former Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell, Brentford pair Phil Giles and Lee Dykes and ex Roma chief Tiago Pinto, although the list will extend beyond that.’
Newcastle United official announcement – 19 February 2024:
Newcastle United can announce that Dan Ashworth has commenced a period of gardening leave.
Darren Eales, Newcastle United CEO, said: “We are naturally disappointed that Dan has chosen to leave, however our exciting journey doesn’t stop and the process to recruit a new sporting director will begin immediately.
“We thank Dan for his efforts at Newcastle United and we wish him and his family well for the future.”
