What Dougie Freedman saying no means for Newcastle, Spors and their next sporting director
By Chris Waughand George Caulkin
Newcastle Unitedhave to get this appointment right — and Dougie Freedman’s rejection of the sporting director role is undoubtedly a setback.
Freedman has opted to remain at Crystal Palace, despite having emerged as Newcastle’s preferred choiceto succeed the Manchester United-bound Dan Ashworth, according to sources briefed on the matter who were speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships. Freedman’s Premier Leagueexperience and recruitment expertise ultimately appealed to Newcastle.
Other candidates have not been informed of the outcome and now Freedman has declined the opportunity the process continues.
Johannes Spors, global sporting director of would-be Everton owners 777 Partners Football Group, is the other favoured candidate and he is still awaiting an answer. The 41-year-old German is open to the role and has featured in discussions among Newcastle’s hierarchy in recent days — even if they were set to opt for Freedman.
Other executives with experience across Europe — who Odgers Berndtson, the recruitment firm, identified — are also said to still be in with a chance, though Spors and Freedman have been the frontrunners. It is unclear at this stage whether the latter declining Newcastle’s offer will lead to a rethink, given that, as recently as this week, directors at the St James’ Park club were confident Freedman would join them by the end of June.
With Freedman out of the running, what does it mean for Newcastle? And what are they seeking in a sporting director?
When Newcastle appointed Ashworth two years ago, they were in the market for a builder. Or perhaps an architect.
The club had become a shell under Mike Ashley’s decade-plus of ownership, stripped back to the quick and with staff members locked in what they described as “survival mode”. Ambition was stunted and paranoia was rife.
An audit, performed after the 2021 takeover, illustrated the issues. “We have all the verticals within the football operation side but they seem to be in silos,” Mehrdad Ghodoussi, one of Newcastle’s new co-owners, told The Athletic. In other words, departments like the first team and academy were almost separate entities, rather than working together with a common identity or cause. There was little communication; it was survive rather than thrive.
The sporting director was supposed to be “the person that drives the football operation, who creates the structure,” Ghodoussi said. “It’s like building a house. If you don’t have the right foundations, it will fall down. That’s why the sporting director role is so important. It’s building a very strong academy that goes right across all the other verticals into the first team.”
Newcastle’s requirements are now different.
Ashworth was a manager, someone who specialised in restocking departments and then getting people to talk to each other. Resources were pumped into academy recruitment — youth was a strong point of Ashworth’s — making sure that everybody was on the same page. If intensity was the identity of head coach Eddie Howe’s Newcastle first team, it was vital that should apply everywhere else, too. In this regard, Ashworth’s role has not been negligible. A structure now stands.
Yet Newcastle had expected greater structure and more activity from Ashworth in terms of first-team matters. When Ashworth was placed on gardening leave in February, Howe insisted there had been little impact on his own job, saying: “The day-to-day running, not at all… Business as usual.”
There was also some backhanded praise. “When you’re in a position of power like Dan is, the natural temptation is to change everything, to come in with a big ego and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do’,” Howe said. “The biggest compliment I can pay Dan is that he didn’t.”
While Ashworth was involved in first-team transfers — he travelled to Italy last summer to complete negotiations with AC Milanover Sandro Tonali, for example — forensic knowledge of the market was not his speciality.
The deals for Anthony Gordon, Tino Livramentoand Lewis Hall— players who had been identified by Steve Nickson, the head of recruitment, and Andy Howe, the influential assistant head of first-team recruitment — were led by Amanda Staveley, another of the co-owners, while she and Ghodoussi were instrumental in extending the contracts of key players Bruno Guimaraesand Joelinton.
There was disappointment that Ashworth did not deliver more in terms of selling players — something Newcastle have historically been poor at but has become hugely important in a world governed by the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Any hopes they had of bolstering Howe’s squad in this season’s winter transfer window were crushed without sales.
To go back to Ghodoussi’s house-building analogy, maybe what Newcastle require nowis an expert plumber — a master craftsman when it comes to their specialist brief — and someone who can recommend a decent electrician. What they want is a figure who will put the first team and recruitment first. Not “the centre of the wheel”, as Ashworth styled himself, but someone actually pushing the pedals. They want dynamism.
Ultimately, Ashworth was not that type of sporting director. Internally, Newcastle have asked the question about the processes that led to their pursuit of him and they are satisfied that, at the time, he was the outstanding candidate; his CV at previous club Brighton & Hove Albion demonstrates that. Yet the fit was not right; why else, Newcastle say, would he have opted to jump ship so early in what should have been a long-term project?
This time, they need to find their ideal profile.
The attraction to Freedman was obvious, given the core skill Newcastle are seeking is player recruitment — a definite shift from Ashworth.
With the refinement of transfer procedures deemed essential, Freedman’s sustained success at Palace was appealing. The 49-year-old former Scotland international’s focus on data — player identification processes are initially entirely metrics-led at Selhurst Park, with 29 number-specific questions applied to transfer targets before they are whittled down to a shortlist and in-person scouting takes precedence — was valued. There is a desire not only to make Newcastle’s transfer processes more scientific now, but also for them to continue to evolve.
Freedman has earned a reputation for spotting up-and-coming talent and convincing them to join Palace ahead of other more established clubs, including Marc Guehifrom Chelsea, Adam Whartonfrom Blackburn Roversand Michael Olisefrom Reading.
What’s more, Palace’s budget has regularly been the lowest among established Premier League clubs, meaning Freedman has focused on recruiting young players on the rise whose values will increase. That ability to lure players before they hit their expensive peaks matches Newcastle’s blueprint.
Many of the players Freedman signed for Palace, or looked to take to Selhurst Park, have also been tracked by Newcastle. Conor Gallagherspent a season on loan there from Chelsea, while Olise, Guehi and Joachim Andersenare admired. Newcastle did significant due diligence on Wharton while he was at Blackburn before his February move to the south London club.
Crucially, Freedman has an in-depth knowledge of the English game, having also been a player and a manager in it since the 1990s, and it was felt that would help him make an immediate impact, even if the focus is beyond this summer, with Newcastle confident they have a blueprint that can be enacted during the upcoming window regardless.
Whether Newcastle now pivot to Spors, their other shortlisted candidate, remains to be seen, as he offers a subtly different skill set to Freedman.
The German is the global sporting director of 777 Partners, which is attempting to buy Evertonand already owns clubs across the world, including Italy’s Genoa, Vasco da Gama in Brazil and Hertha Berlin in his homeland.
Spors holds a strong reputation as the architect at the centre of 777’s football operations, which he has overhauled.
He is a proponent of a combination of eye-test, in-stadium scouting, video analysis and data when it comes to signing players. At Genoa, the respected data site StatsBomb was brought in on a consultancy basis while 777 built up the analysis department.
Although Spors’ lack of Premier League experience counted against him, his connections across Europe are beneficial. Spors believes a club’s primary transfer market should be within the country where they play, something which Howe largely agrees with.
Spors also had a record at Germany’s RB Leipzigand Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem of lowering the average age of teams, reducing wage bills and increasing squad value. Given PSR constraints, that appeals to Newcastle.
Albert Gudmundssonand Morten Frendrup were brought in under Spors’ watch at Genoa, while last summer’s arrivals Mateo Retegui, Josep Martinez and Koni De Winterwere identified using the processes he put in place.
Radu Dragusin, meanwhile, joined Tottenhamin January for £25million ($31.9m at the current exchange rate), representing a five-fold profit for Geona within a year. Genoa are also expected to enjoy significant markups on Gudmundsson et al, if/when they depart, and improving Newcastle’s sales record is deemed crucial.
His multi-club model experience could prove invaluable should Newcastle’s ownership group expand their portfolio beyond the Premier League, as it has been looking to do.
All of this makes Spors an attractive option, but he is not a replica of Freedman. Newcastle must determine whether the German can deliver precisely what they want, or whether they must reconsider alternative options.
The hope had been for an appointment in June, but that timeframe may now be in question, too, as Newcastle have to get it right this time, no matter how long it takes.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5511665/2024/05/23/freedman-spors-newcastle-sporting-director/
What Dougie Freedman saying no means for Newcastle, Spors and their next sporting director
By Chris Waughand George Caulkin
Newcastle Unitedhave to get this appointment right — and Dougie Freedman’s rejection of the sporting director role is undoubtedly a setback.
Freedman has opted to remain at Crystal Palace, despite having emerged as Newcastle’s preferred choiceto succeed the Manchester United-bound Dan Ashworth, according to sources briefed on the matter who were speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships. Freedman’s Premier Leagueexperience and recruitment expertise ultimately appealed to Newcastle.
Other candidates have not been informed of the outcome and now Freedman has declined the opportunity the process continues.
Johannes Spors, global sporting director of would-be Everton owners 777 Partners Football Group, is the other favoured candidate and he is still awaiting an answer. The 41-year-old German is open to the role and has featured in discussions among Newcastle’s hierarchy in recent days — even if they were set to opt for Freedman.
Other executives with experience across Europe — who Odgers Berndtson, the recruitment firm, identified — are also said to still be in with a chance, though Spors and Freedman have been the frontrunners. It is unclear at this stage whether the latter declining Newcastle’s offer will lead to a rethink, given that, as recently as this week, directors at the St James’ Park club were confident Freedman would join them by the end of June.
With Freedman out of the running, what does it mean for Newcastle? And what are they seeking in a sporting director?
When Newcastle appointed Ashworth two years ago, they were in the market for a builder. Or perhaps an architect.
The club had become a shell under Mike Ashley’s decade-plus of ownership, stripped back to the quick and with staff members locked in what they described as “survival mode”. Ambition was stunted and paranoia was rife.
An audit, performed after the 2021 takeover, illustrated the issues. “We have all the verticals within the football operation side but they seem to be in silos,” Mehrdad Ghodoussi, one of Newcastle’s new co-owners, told The Athletic. In other words, departments like the first team and academy were almost separate entities, rather than working together with a common identity or cause. There was little communication; it was survive rather than thrive.
The sporting director was supposed to be “the person that drives the football operation, who creates the structure,” Ghodoussi said. “It’s like building a house. If you don’t have the right foundations, it will fall down. That’s why the sporting director role is so important. It’s building a very strong academy that goes right across all the other verticals into the first team.”
Newcastle’s requirements are now different.
Ashworth was a manager, someone who specialised in restocking departments and then getting people to talk to each other. Resources were pumped into academy recruitment — youth was a strong point of Ashworth’s — making sure that everybody was on the same page. If intensity was the identity of head coach Eddie Howe’s Newcastle first team, it was vital that should apply everywhere else, too. In this regard, Ashworth’s role has not been negligible. A structure now stands.
Yet Newcastle had expected greater structure and more activity from Ashworth in terms of first-team matters. When Ashworth was placed on gardening leave in February, Howe insisted there had been little impact on his own job, saying: “The day-to-day running, not at all… Business as usual.”
There was also some backhanded praise. “When you’re in a position of power like Dan is, the natural temptation is to change everything, to come in with a big ego and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do’,” Howe said. “The biggest compliment I can pay Dan is that he didn’t.”
While Ashworth was involved in first-team transfers — he travelled to Italy last summer to complete negotiations with AC Milanover Sandro Tonali, for example — forensic knowledge of the market was not his speciality.
The deals for Anthony Gordon, Tino Livramentoand Lewis Hall— players who had been identified by Steve Nickson, the head of recruitment, and Andy Howe, the influential assistant head of first-team recruitment — were led by Amanda Staveley, another of the co-owners, while she and Ghodoussi were instrumental in extending the contracts of key players Bruno Guimaraesand Joelinton.
There was disappointment that Ashworth did not deliver more in terms of selling players — something Newcastle have historically been poor at but has become hugely important in a world governed by the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Any hopes they had of bolstering Howe’s squad in this season’s winter transfer window were crushed without sales.
To go back to Ghodoussi’s house-building analogy, maybe what Newcastle require nowis an expert plumber — a master craftsman when it comes to their specialist brief — and someone who can recommend a decent electrician. What they want is a figure who will put the first team and recruitment first. Not “the centre of the wheel”, as Ashworth styled himself, but someone actually pushing the pedals. They want dynamism.
Ultimately, Ashworth was not that type of sporting director. Internally, Newcastle have asked the question about the processes that led to their pursuit of him and they are satisfied that, at the time, he was the outstanding candidate; his CV at previous club Brighton & Hove Albion demonstrates that. Yet the fit was not right; why else, Newcastle say, would he have opted to jump ship so early in what should have been a long-term project?
This time, they need to find their ideal profile.
The attraction to Freedman was obvious, given the core skill Newcastle are seeking is player recruitment — a definite shift from Ashworth.
With the refinement of transfer procedures deemed essential, Freedman’s sustained success at Palace was appealing. The 49-year-old former Scotland international’s focus on data — player identification processes are initially entirely metrics-led at Selhurst Park, with 29 number-specific questions applied to transfer targets before they are whittled down to a shortlist and in-person scouting takes precedence — was valued. There is a desire not only to make Newcastle’s transfer processes more scientific now, but also for them to continue to evolve.
Freedman has earned a reputation for spotting up-and-coming talent and convincing them to join Palace ahead of other more established clubs, including Marc Guehifrom Chelsea, Adam Whartonfrom Blackburn Roversand Michael Olisefrom Reading.
What’s more, Palace’s budget has regularly been the lowest among established Premier League clubs, meaning Freedman has focused on recruiting young players on the rise whose values will increase. That ability to lure players before they hit their expensive peaks matches Newcastle’s blueprint.
Many of the players Freedman signed for Palace, or looked to take to Selhurst Park, have also been tracked by Newcastle. Conor Gallagherspent a season on loan there from Chelsea, while Olise, Guehi and Joachim Andersenare admired. Newcastle did significant due diligence on Wharton while he was at Blackburn before his February move to the south London club.
Crucially, Freedman has an in-depth knowledge of the English game, having also been a player and a manager in it since the 1990s, and it was felt that would help him make an immediate impact, even if the focus is beyond this summer, with Newcastle confident they have a blueprint that can be enacted during the upcoming window regardless.
Whether Newcastle now pivot to Spors, their other shortlisted candidate, remains to be seen, as he offers a subtly different skill set to Freedman.
The German is the global sporting director of 777 Partners, which is attempting to buy Evertonand already owns clubs across the world, including Italy’s Genoa, Vasco da Gama in Brazil and Hertha Berlin in his homeland.
Spors holds a strong reputation as the architect at the centre of 777’s football operations, which he has overhauled.
He is a proponent of a combination of eye-test, in-stadium scouting, video analysis and data when it comes to signing players. At Genoa, the respected data site StatsBomb was brought in on a consultancy basis while 777 built up the analysis department.
Although Spors’ lack of Premier League experience counted against him, his connections across Europe are beneficial. Spors believes a club’s primary transfer market should be within the country where they play, something which Howe largely agrees with.
Spors also had a record at Germany’s RB Leipzigand Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem of lowering the average age of teams, reducing wage bills and increasing squad value. Given PSR constraints, that appeals to Newcastle.
Albert Gudmundssonand Morten Frendrup were brought in under Spors’ watch at Genoa, while last summer’s arrivals Mateo Retegui, Josep Martinez and Koni De Winterwere identified using the processes he put in place.
Radu Dragusin, meanwhile, joined Tottenhamin January for £25million ($31.9m at the current exchange rate), representing a five-fold profit for Geona within a year. Genoa are also expected to enjoy significant markups on Gudmundsson et al, if/when they depart, and improving Newcastle’s sales record is deemed crucial.
His multi-club model experience could prove invaluable should Newcastle’s ownership group expand their portfolio beyond the Premier League, as it has been looking to do.
All of this makes Spors an attractive option, but he is not a replica of Freedman. Newcastle must determine whether the German can deliver precisely what they want, or whether they must reconsider alternative options.
The hope had been for an appointment in June, but that timeframe may now be in question, too, as Newcastle have to get it right this time, no matter how long it takes.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5511665/2024/05/23/freedman-spors-newcastle-sporting-director/
