Alan Shearer gives verdict on Newcastle row involving Eddie Howe and transfer chief

Newcastle United suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season against Fulham on Saturday and former striker Alan Shearer has weighed in on the club’s predicamnte

Alan Shearer fears the transfer dispute between Newcastle manager Eddie Howe and transfer chief Paul Mitchell is impacting the team’s on-field displays.

Newcastle lost for the first time in the league on Saturday, falling to a 3-1 defeat at Fulham. Their performances haven’t been the most convincing, though, even in victory.

New sporting director Mitchell joined from Monaco in July, but his first transfer window was a challenging one. Newcastle failed to land top target Marc Guehi, while popular academy graduate Elliot Anderson was sold in an effort to comply with profit and sustainability rules, and Howe has hit back at Mitchell’s comments over previous signings.

Howe’s team face their biggest test of the season so far on Saturday when they welcome league leaders Manchester City to St James’ Park. And Shearer is desperate for the club to put off-field matters to one side in an effort to improve performances.

“What’s going on off the pitch [is an issue],” Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast, after suggesting Newcastle have looked heavy-legged at times this season. “We’ve said it before about the sporting director and Eddie.

“Unless that gets sorted out somehow, it will affect performances on the pitch… It always does. Whatever happens off the pitch in terms of the boardroom or whatever, it eventually comes down and that needs to be sorted out.”

Newcastle were 2-0 down midway through the first half against Fulham, with Raul Jimenez and Emile Smith Rowe on target. Harvey Barnes pulled one back early in the second half, but it wasn’t enough, and Reiss Nelson’s late third for the hosts ended all doubt.

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“They were rotten for the first half, they were dreadful,” he said, “I know they’ve had the results, three wins and a draw before [Saturday’s] game, but it was a bit of a reality check.

“They hadn’t played well, really all season. They were getting through games and we were saying about their team spirit. That has be a good sign, once they start playing well then things will click.

“They didn’t deserve anything [against Fulham] and were really poor. They changed it up second half and there was a little bit of an improvement, but Fulham were miles better and deserved to beat Newcastle.”

With no European football this season, Newcastle will hope they can take advantage of the quieter schedule and produce results, though they will need to wait to continue their Carabao Cup journey after their match against Wimbledon was postponed.

Saturday’s match against Manchester City also kicks off a tricky run of games for Howe’s team. Four of their next five matches are against teams currently in the top sevem, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton all in store between now and early November.

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