You suspect Dan Ashworth would rather keep a low profile at this time of year, but Newcastle United's sporting director was present at the Sports Data Forum earlier this week. Ashworth took part in a virtual discussion at the conference on data in football and made a comment that was all the more striking with the transfer window in full swing.
"Show me a man that's never made a mistake, I'll show you a man who's never made a decision," he said on Monday. "We make decisions all the time. You get some right, some wrong. You have to get more right than wrong, ultimately, if you want to stay in it."
As obvious as it sounds, those words are at the heart of Newcastle's transfer strategy, where every million counts, and Ashworth was speaking after finalising a £55m move for Sandro Tonali in Milan. It is a deal that has those working behind the scenes at Newcastle excited.
