He always appeared to be sought after in the game so Newcastle must’ve been delighted when they acquired the services of Dan Ashworth as their Sporting Director.
Like so many professional clubs these days, it isn’t just about what the players do on the pitch or the manager and his assistants do in training.
The Sporting Director needs to be aligned with the wants and needs of both club and manager, and look to carry out that balancing act to the best of their ability.
Whether it be contract negotiations, pinpointing transfer targets or otherwise, it’s a role that’s clearly important.
Ashworth has also made one big difference since he came to the Magpies.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, journalist Jacque Talbot spoke at length concerning the club’s transfer targets.
He addressed the fact that Ashworth, some would say using his common sense, has put in place a situation where agents have to sign confidentiality agreements so that transfer news isn’t placed in the public domain before the club themselves want it there.
“I would say that with that I feel like Newcastle, since Dan Ashworth came in, I heard before the last window that he made agents sign non-disclosure agreements or something. I didn’t report it, but he doesn’t want news getting out,” he said.
In this day and age, it would be completely unprofessional for any elite club not to adopt such a policy.
Whilst it’s ostensibly true that there will still be leaks to the press, having a confidentiality agreement in place certainly cuts down on them and gives a club every chance of securing their main targets.
Now we have a club where everyone is pulling in the same direction
Apart from Ryan Fraser 🤣