Ross Wilson locked into Newcastle 'politics' after 'behind-the-scenes settlement'

Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson has seen the “politics” at the club turn in his favour in recent weeks.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that harmony has been restored behind the scenes at St James’ Park.

This comes after reports have suggested that Wilson will be tasked with rebuilding the Magpies’ recruitment department after Andy Howe’s recent departure from the scouting team.

Wyness believes that a successful start to Matthias Jaissle’s tenure on the pitch has helped to restore a “happy house” on Tyneside.

This comes after Football Insider revealed back in August that Wilson was fighting for his job at St James’ Park, after what was seen as a difficult summer transfer window at the time.

However, his fortunes now appear to have turned a corner dramatically of late, and things are moving in the right direction for him.

Newcastle reach new ‘settlement’

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 there will have been a “settlement” reached in terms of Wilson’s future at Newcastle.

The club are clearly now happy with the former Nottingham Forest and Rangers chief, given that they are trusting him with the recruitment rebuild.

Speaking on Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained the recent turnaround at St James’.

“Probably one of the most dangerous things inside a football club is politics. But it does seem that he (Wilson) has got the support to go on,” he said.

“The manager seems to have started off well. Things are reasonably rosy in terms of their good start, and it does seem that therefore there's a happy house.

“Ross Wilson is going to take advantage of that, and they obviously believe that his plans going forward are the right ones. If he was a big hand in getting this manager, then he will have reaped that reward as well. But yes, look, he's consolidated his power, certainly.

“So it does seem as though there's a bit of politics at play there. It seems there has been a  behind-the-scenes settlement on the football side at Newcastle, and I'd expect Ross to be able to now operate in that environment, but he's now got to make sure the right decisions go forward.”

Ross Wilson ‘scapegoated’ for Newcastle issues

Wyness previously told Football Insider at the end of August that he felt Wilson was being “scapegoated” for a number of issues behind the scenes at Newcastle.

The recruitment chief had been under pressure after a summer that saw the club lose several of its key players, but results have since been promising.

Wyness believes that the lack of investment from PIF was largely to blame for the big-name departures, rather than anything Wilson could or couldn’t have done.

He also pointed towards the “churn” of personnel at the top of the club hindering Wilson’s working environment, and that has continued in recent weeks.