David Hopkinson installs 'Newcastle United Code' after 100-day review

When David Hopkinson took over as Newcastle United's CEO following Darren Eales stepping down due to health reasons, it became clear that the Canadian felt he'd inherited a mess.

Hopkinson announced he was going to undertake a 100-day review of the club while laying down the law that if anyone wasn't seen to be pulling their weight, they'd be given the chop.

We saw a few high-profile exits, including chief commercial officer Peter Silverstone. While that was reported as Silverstone taking up an opportunity elsewhere, the timing suggests he was jumping before he was pushed.

Craig Hope has reported in his Newcastle Confidential column on Thursday that as part of Hopkinson's review, he's now installing The 'Newcastle United Code.'

Hopkinson introduces new

If you've ever worked for a big company, you'll probably be very aware of the type of 'blue sky thinking' Hopkinson has 'circled back to'.

In a snippet from Hope's latest piece for The Mail, details of our CEO's new strategy are revealed in a bid to 'shift the mindset' in and around the football club.

"The Code comprises core values of ‘One Club. Excellence. Relentless. Accountable and Integrity’, and Hopkinson believes that a shift in mindset is key to accelerating progress.

"He presented his transformation plan to the board in December and was given unanimous approval."

As cringe as it is, it is good to see that there are plans being put in place to get everyone 'singing from the same hymn sheet'.

'The Code' can only be a good thing?

Hope went on to say that part of this process is to streamline decision-making, as the previous processes were simply too slow. Too much required sign-off from the PIF, which would drastically slow things down.

Our performance in the transfer market seems like the shining example of what Hopkinson is hoping to fix with his new processes.

If the PIF can entrust someone at club-level to make these decisions, we might actually make signings in the early stages of the window and have time to actually work with our new players before the season starts.