Newcastle United supremo Paul Mitchell wants to shut down any suggestions of tension between himself and Eddie Howe once and for all - insisting the Toon boss is "an elite head coach". Much was made of Mitchell's arrival in the summer when he joined the backroom team along with performance director James Bunce when Howe spoke of "boundaries" at the club. A wide ranging interview from Mitchell, which was more than an hour long, was then centred on one quote about the scouting department being "unfit for purpose".
After the window slammed shut, Howe's relationship with Mitchell was analysed intensely by the media but the ex-Monaco sporting director says he has no intentions of "micromanaging" the Newcastle manager. And made it clear he does not have to speak to him every day. Mitchell, speaking at the We are United fan event, said he felt like he was watching an episode of TV series Big Brother after being shown social media comments: "I was enjoying Eddie and Paul watch in September.
Day one: Have Eddie and Paul spoken to each other! "I thought it was quite good commentary. I am not a big social media fan or a media fan in general. But we work closely.
It is a natural collaboration; he is the head coach and manager of the club, and I am the sporting director. "This notion that we are in each other's pockets and spend every working hour in each other's company is wrong. Eddie is an elite professional and it would be remiss of me or any sporting director to be looking over his s.