Newcastle United coach confirms departure of Mike Ashley signing amid academy restructure

Newcastle United development coach Ben Dawson has revealed he and fellow coach Neil Winskill will combine dual roles following the departure of Magpies Under-21s coach Elliott Dickman.

The former Sunderland academy coach left his role at the club in late-December after a 14-month spell on Tyneside and Dawson and Winskill have been asked to step into the breach until the club make a decision over a replacement.

The duo were in the dugout for the first time since Dickman’s exit on Monday night as United’s Under-21s fell to a 2-0 defeat against their Aston Villa counterparts at Whitley Park. Speaking after the game, Dawson reflected on the performance of the Magpies youngsters and confirmed he will continue to work as part of the first-team setup at St James Park alongside his temporary duties with the second string for ‘as long as he is told to do so’.

He told NewcastleWorld: “Neil and myself were asked to step in and would we help out in the period until the club made a decision and we have been in a week. We’ve crammed a hell of a lot in, we’ve asked a lot of the players, and like I say, I don’t think we can fault their attitude and endeavour tonight, it was just a bit of quality needed tonight.

“I don’t think anybody did (know Dickman’s departure was coming). The decision was made by the club and they’ve asked Neil and myself to take the reins until they make a decision on what’s going to happen, for however long that may be, whilst still fulfilling the other roles we do.

“Neil is still head of coaching, I’m still development coach up with the first-team so I will be at the game tomorrow night and doing all of those bits as well. I think if we start getting two or three months down the line you may start asking what is happening but as long as Neil and I can manage the workload of doing dual-roles and the players are happy with us working with them we will continue as long as we are told to do so.”

There have been a number of decisions taken on young players within the Magpies setup in recent days, with newly-arrived Australian forward Garang Kuol reportedly closing in on a loan move to Scottish Premier League club Hearts. Dawson confirmed the former Central Coast Mariners prospect had ‘seven or eight options on the table’ as United decided on the best way forward for their most recent arrival.

He said: “I think they explored all of the options and the difficulty in the planning was whether the GB points would be enough to get him in the country or where could he go. There were probably seven or eight options on the table for what was going to be best and I know they’ve sat down since he came into the country and made a final decision.”

Two more of United’s recent ventures into foreign transfer market face uncertain futures over the coming weeks. Mexican forward Santiago Munoz is undergoing tests at parent club Santos Laguna following the culmination of his underwhelming loan spell on Tyneside and Peruvian midfielder Rodrigo Vilca is back in the North East after a temporary spell back in his home country with Universitario.

Assessing the situation with both players, Dawson said: “As far as I know he (Munoz) has (gone back to Santos Laguna), he’s not with us. I think he has enjoyed his time here. As much as we didn’t take the option, he’s had a great experience here and loved his time here, made some great friends, improved as a footballer and as a person, so I think he goes back in a better place.”

“(Vilca is) back at the moment and again, discussions are ongoing as to what’s best between academy management team, loan management team and the first-team staff.”