Newcastle United must play the waiting game before giving incoming director of football Dan Ashworth the green light to get to work at St James' Park.
Ashworth resigned as Brighton & Hove Albion's technical director on Monday but was told he can't walk away from his current contract and must first go on gardening leave.
The Seagulls were left bitterly disappointed by Ashworth's exit and sources at the Amex Stadium have suggested he will be on gardening leave at least until his long-term successor is found, and potentially longer still as Brighton play hardball.
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However, the situation is still very raw for all concerned on the South Coast and while Ashworth can't deal with anything directly at St James' Park until he escapes the legal wrangles of his deal, he at least has a clear mind to start planning for the future on Tyneside.
When Ashworth arrived at Brighton he did so on the back of transforming the image of the England national team and is credited for laying the foundations for Gareth Southgate's side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018.
The 50-year-old then moved on to the Amex Stadium and helped change fortunes at a club renowned as relegation candidates into the ninth-placed team they are the day after he departs.
When he eventually arrives at Newcastle he will be tasked with improving the in-house operations and the suggestions are he will be involved in most departments.
The last time the Magpies had a director of football was the 2013/14 season when Mike Ashley, Derek Llambias, Graham Carr and Lee Charnley had a pub lunch in Totteridge and decided Joe Kinnear was the man to shake things up on Tyneside.
It was an appointment that left Alan Pardew flabbergasted and Carr extremely surprised, not to mention the fresh surge of public anger directed at the Sports Direct magnate.
But - and to no surprise to the fans - it was short-lived, Kinnear left months later after almost blowing a deal to sell Yohan Cabaye to PSG.
And since then Newcastle have limped along with Charnley taking up a role of managing director but facing difficulties to get decisions from Ashley and head of recruitment Steve Nickson, promoted after Carr's departure during the Rafa Benitez regime, trying to make ends meet in terms of transfer talks.
Charnley left last autumn and Nickson, with support from Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, has done a good job to bring in five players in January.
Ashworth arrives with assurances from Newcastle but will take a look at everything from recruitment, the Academy, the club's loan system and even the medical department.
When speaking about his role at Brighton, Ashworth said: "This project (at Brighton) was fantastic for me, because it was a proper technical director job.
"Some are just head of recruitment, some are more on the operations and business side.
"This was all-encompassing.
"It had the Academy, loans, medical and was heavily involved with the first team and player recruitment, which was more of a continental approach.
"To work in a great place, with great facilities and great people that’s why I took the job."
Perhaps the biggest frustration for Ashworth now is he can only watch and wait and hope with Newcastle's divisional status still unknown for the 2022/23 season.
But he won't stop there, and after the Ripon financier and Ghodoussi have already touched base with the Newcastle's Women's team, Ashworth will continue that work.
In summing up his role, Ashworth said: "There are six things that come into me - men’s first team, women’s first team, player recruitment, the Academy, medical and sports science, and the player loan department."
Newcastle may face a wait for Ashworth to start work, but if he can take United up a level in any of those departments in his first 12 months, that wait will have been worth it.
