The fallout between Eddie Howe and Paul Mitchell at Newcastle United has dominated headlines this season.
Losing Dan Ashworth to Manchester United in the summer was a blow, but the hierarchy moved on quickly and replaced him with the highly-rated Paul Mitchell as sporting director.
However, while Newcastle’s transfer business was expected to ramp up after Paul Mitchell‘s arrival, the opposite happened and the club endured a miserable end to the window having missed out on several top targets.
It had already dampened the mood around St James’ Park heading into the new season, but Mitchell made matters worse with comments complaining the previous structure was not “fit for purpose.
Mitchell and Howe recently held talks to settle their differences after the disappointing summer appeared to cause a rift between the two Newcastle figureheads.
Chris Sutton on Eddie Howe and Paul Mitchell
It is frustrating that the Eddie Howe and Mitchell rift has dominated headlines this season as the noise around the club has seemingly affected on-pitch performances.
Chris Sutton has now given his verdict on the matter and he insists “something has to give”.
Speaking on the It’s All Kicking Off! podcast, Sutton said: “There clearly seems to be a breakdown in relationship between Eddie Howe and Paul Mitchell.
“If that is not healed and until that is healed it’s a problem.
“But my gut feeling is when issues drag on as they have done, something has to give.
“Eddie Howe has to give or Paul Mitchell has to give and that will happen in the near future, I am pretty sure of that.”
Newcastle must squash Eddie Howe issues ASAP
The positivity and ambition around Newcastle has disintegrated in recent weeks after several disappointing performances and off-pitch tension.
Howe is expected to qualify for Europe this season, but his job is being made increasingly difficult by the Mitchell stories as well as managerial links to the England job.
To get things back on track, the hierarchy at St James’ Park needs to try and squash the rumours and let Howe and Mitchell focus on their jobs.
They will have an opportunity to flip things on their head in the January transfer market with Newcastle expected to splash £70m on new signings.
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