EDDIE HOWE launched a passionate defence of his Newcastle signings after Paul Mitchell claimed there was “no clear strategy” regarding transfers previously.
The Magpies boss also set alarm bells ringing by revealing the Toon chiefs have not spoken since last week’s bombshell interview as he addressed the internal “civil war” talk.
New sporting director Mitchell came in for fierce criticism after failing to deliver Marc Guehi or any other top outfield reinforcements in the summer after replacing Dan Ashworth.
However, he pointed the finger of blame at Newcastle’s previous regime for their struggles in the last window and claimed the recruitment set-up he inherited was “not fit for purpose”.
But Howe, who played a pivotal role in transforming the squad since taking over in November 2021, hit back and said: “I’m very, very proud of every single player that we signed in that period.
“It’s easy to look back on any transfer window and make a judgement on the players that you signed three years down the line.
“But, actually, you have to go back to the situation that we were in at those moments and when you’re in the relegation zone and trying to recruit players, that’s not an easy thing to do.
“You are also recruiting for the long-term and not just the short-term and I think when you look then that work was good.
“Our objective was to stay in the league, and I’m not going to critique every signing, but I’m proud of the body of work that we did and the players that we have now from the legacy of those transfers. I think everybody can hold their heads up very high.”
As well as convincing Kieran Trippier to leave Atletico Madrid to help Toon fight relegation in his first season, Howe has also brought in a host of young and hungry talents such as Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes.
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And all of them will now be worth considerably more than they were signed for.
Howe continued: “I’m very, very proud of those signings and I’ve said all along – and I don’t want to make it about old and new structure – but those signings I played a huge part in.
“I took ownership of all those signings, whether they were good, bad, I’ll take ownership of that as ultimately I was the final decision maker on those signings.
“I was very proud to sign those players and I think they’ve been brilliant signings for where we were and the very long-term future of the club and I really believed in them and still do. I’d certainly like to find a few more of them.
“We were in a relegation battle so some of those signings were more short-term in that moment because you needed instant results, relegation wasn’t something we could contemplate.
“But, always in the back of my mind with every signing I make, it is always about can they impact the team now and impact the team in the right way in the future.
“The key thing now is the future and I’m sure we can get future transfer windows right as ultimately that is the most important thing at any club because to be successful you have to recruit well.”
Mitchell also claimed that Howe had played more of a supporting role over the past window than the leading one he had previous, to which the Newcastle boss responded: “I don’t think it’s right for me to make individual comments in reply to Paul’s.
“I don’t think that will help our current situation and for me I’m just focusing on the future.”
Mitchell also said he and Howe spoke for “an hour on the phone” each night, but the latter revealed that the pair have not had any contact since the former’s interview.
“I’ve had no contact from Paul,” said Howe. “But I don’t think that is unusual. We’ve got different jobs to do, I’m focusing on the football and the team and he’s focusing on his role.”
When pressed on why Mitchell went public with his “not fit for purpose” remarks, Howe replied: “That’s for Paul to answer, I don’t think I can answer for him.
“The scouting structure was there, and whatever you think about the structures, the results were very good.”
Howe was given the opportunity to respond directly and publicly to the criticism, but stated that “it wasn’t the time or place” to do that.
As for rumours regarding internal problems between him and Mitchell, Howe said: “As for civil war stuff, absolutely not in my experience.
“But I’m cocooned in my work and absolutely focused on the players and the training and that is what I do every single day that I’m here.
“I don’t involve myself in politics. For me, this job is very much about the players that we do have and trying to make the supporters proud every time that we play.
“Everything else around that I try not to get involved in.”
When asked to rate his “bromance” with Mitchell, Howe said: “I don’t really understand the fascination with our bromance and I don’t think that it has to be that way.
“I think it has to be a collaboration and sometimes there are moments – I fall out with Jason [Tindall] a lot and that’s probably the closest bromance I have at the club.
“We have healthy debate and argument and that’s never been a problem as long as it’s respectful and for the greater cause, which is always the football club and to try and get results.
“There is no issue with that but I think that the collaboration part is the most important thing and it’s got to be teamwork for the ultimate aim.”
