Ross Wilson is being 'scapegoated' at Newcastle as he 'fights for his job'
Newcastle United's sporting director Ross Wilson should not be made into a "scapegoat' after a difficult summer transfer window.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Magpies' transfer chief has been dealt a bad hand by the club's Saudi owners PIF.
This comes after Football Insider revealed earlier in August that Wilson is "fighting for his job" amid a frustrating transfer window at St James' Park.
However, Wyness believes that it would be extremely harsh if Wilson were to be shown the door, and feels that the North East outfit have lacked "clear direction" from the top of the club.
The Scottish businessman made it clear that Wilson was unlikely to have known the true scale of the "revamp" that Newcastle's squad needed this summer.
They have lost the trio of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes in recent months, while also dealing with a change of manager.
Ross Wilson's treatment at Newcastle 'unfair'
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that it is "unfair" on Wilson if he is ultimately shown the door at St James'.
He is clear in his stance that the former Nottingham Forest and Rangers man has been operating under challenging circumstances since moving to Tyneside last October.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained why he sees the off-field uncertainty as more of an issue for Newcastle than Wilson's work.
"It seems that almost yesterday we were talking about Ross Wilson coming into Newcastle, and to say he's under pressure, I think it's a bit unfair to be honest. I think there's been a lot of churn above him," he said.
"Again, I'll keep flogging my part about having clear direction from the top of the club. And this is a case where there hasn't been again. We only just heard about the training ground. We still don't know about the stadium.
"I feel sorry for Ross Wilson in this sense because they've lost some of their top players, Gordon, Guimaraes, all the rest of it; we know that. But is he to blame for that?
"Did he really know what type of squad he was trying to put forward when, at the top of the club, they don't retain their top players? Was he being told to plan for a complete revamp of the squad that they've got to do now? I doubt it.
"There can be a scapegoat, and I don't think he should be the scapegoat. If it comes to fruition, I think it's very tough on Ross Wilson."
Man City could block Newcastle signing Fernandez-Pardo
Football Insider revealed on Saturday that Manchester City's £86million move to sign Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi could potentially block Newcastle from landing his former teammate Matias Fernandez-Pardo.
The French side are understood to be under no pressure whatsoever to sell the Belgian after their coffers received a huge boost from the Bouaddi money.
Sources say that the Ligue 1 outfit would only consider selling the 21-year-old ahead of the deadline for "another huge fee," which is set to make life more difficult for Newcastle.
The Magpies remain keen to add the attacking midfielder to their squad, after he notched eight goals and five assists in the French top flight last term.