Newcastle United new CEO Darren Eales has already delivered verdict on PIF, fans and Mike Ashley

Newcastle United’s incoming chief executive officer Darren Eales will be looking to help a club he has previously branded ‘a sleeping giant’, wake up and fulfil its potential.
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Last week, Newcastle confirmed that Eales has been appointed as the club’s new CEO following a successful eight-year spell with Major League Soccer team Atlanta United.

The 49-year-old helped build Atlanta as a new franchise from the ground up to winning the MLS Cup in just four years. The club also provided a platform for Miguel Almiron to secure a club record transfer to Newcastle in 2019.

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Eales will remain with Atlanta until August 8 and Newcastle will have to wait until August 22 for him to officially join the club as its new CEO.

Darren Eales with the Champions League trophy (Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)Darren Eales with the Champions League trophy (Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
Darren Eales with the Champions League trophy (Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

The former Tottenham Hotspur Director of Football Administration will work alongside Newcastle’s new sporting director Dan Ashworth for the second time in his career. The pair previously worked together at West Bromwich Albion.

Following his appointment, Eales said: “Newcastle United is both a giant of a club – and the heartbeat of its community. Every time I have visited St James’s Park, I’ve been overwhelmed by the passion of the fans.

“This is a club with an amazingly rich heritage, and I am delighted to be joining for this new chapter in its long history. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and look forward to working with the rest of the team to help this storied club fulfil its potential.”

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There are also some interesting comments Eales has previously made regarding Newcastle following its £300million takeover led by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund last October.

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On the day of the takeover, Eales told talkSPORT: “[Newcastle] is a great club, Newcastle, with a great history.

“I feel for the fan base. They deserve something like this where they've got ownership coming in that are going to spend money. I think they've been a bit of a sleeping giant in that respect.

“Of course, there's a knock-on effect if you've got the wealth of Saudi Arabia behind you. All of a sudden those clubs that are perhaps on the fringes of that top four are thinking ‘oh, dear, what does this mean for us?’

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“It’s just another competitor. I think of my old club Spurs as a club that has always tried to run with a pay structure. Another club coming in that’s basically going to spend what it takes to have success just makes it all that more difficult.”

Eales went on to discuss how the club would operate on a day-to-day basis and deal with the fallout of Mike Ashley’s ownership. Little did he know at the time, that person would be him.

“About Mike, I mean, he's run [Newcastle] with a philosophy so, whether you like it or not, he had a philosophy and stuck to it,” he added.

“I think now the interesting thing is going to be in terms of who's going to be running the club. We've seen it when new ownership comes in, there's sometimes a period where it takes them time to get up to speed and they get [their] trousers pulled down a few times.

"Who they're going to bring in to actually run the club on the day-to-day is going to have a big impact.”