NEWCASTLE CONFIDENTIAL SPECIAL: Inside new CEO David Hopkinson's 100-day review that will transform the club, what Toon insiders really think of him, the hard-line message he's sent to staff and why he likens Eddie Howe to an American rock star

David Hopkinson is the only employee inside St James’ Park who does not have a job - at least not in the nine-to-five sense. His role is both simpler and harder - to make sure everyone else is doing theirs.

That is why, Newcastle Confidential can reveal, the new chief executive has launched a 100-day review of the club’s workings. At the end of it, his diagnosis will shape how Newcastle United looks, thinks and functions. There will be changes in strategy, personnel and, in time, culture.

It is a bold way to introduce yourself to more than 500 staff newly under your charge, but Hopkinson knows he will learn all he needs from their response. Those who still want to go in their own direction will be shown the door. A fresh wave of appointments are also expected to follow.

Insiders, enthused by the Canadian’s forthright leadership, say he has brought a fresh sense of focus - and just enough fear - to bolt anyone who was on their backside up onto their toes. ‘You’re either with us, or with yourself’ is said to be his mantra.

Hopkinson and new sporting director Ross Wilson are aligned - they want ‘one club’. They have heard the stories, from inside and out, of how the post-takeover Newcastle Re-United began to splinter following the ousting, against their wishes, of co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi 15 months ago.

Training ground, boardroom and academy became separate islands. Tensions grew, lingered and irritated. The job Eddie Howe has done to that backdrop has been remarkable, for a leadership void at executive level left the head coach carrying far more than balls, bibs and cones. He was, at times, the de-facto CEO and sporting director.

For Hopkinson, Howe is the club’s ‘Bruce Springsteen’. He wants The Boss to be thinking about Fulham on Saturday, not clearing debris that is a legacy of the recent past. They speak - not every day - but the less they do, the less there is to fix and the more time Howe has for football. Because for everything Hopkinson is doing and plans to do, there is ultimately only one metric by which to measure success - the number of matches won.

It is six weeks since the former Madison Square Garden chief landed on Tyneside, to work and live in the UK for the first time. Staff say he has shown ‘great curiosity’ in every role, from marketing to commercial to media and ticketing. He asks more questions than he answers. He wants to learn before teaching.

Earlier this week, word reached Confidential of his 100-day review - likened by some to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 100-day review of Manchester United - and so I approached the 54-year-old for comment. Rather than deny, deflect or ask for discretion, he spoke candidly about its intention, albeit off the record, and was happy for that openness to be reflected. There is nothing to hide.

After a full summer, in the Far East and North East, speaking to and being around the club’s hierarchy and owners, and now into autumn with the instalment of Hopkinson and Wilson, it feels clear to me that Newcastle is in a good place. But good is not great, and that is the focus of Hopkinson’s review.

Which parts of the club are satisfied with last season’s Carabao Cup win and a return to the Champions League? Which parts want bigger trophies and more of them? That comes back to culture, the sort of stuff that does not show on a PowerPoint presentation. Hopkinson knows as much and will quickly identify those who are committed to the direction in which he intends to take the club.

That is internally. Externally, he has met with supporters, formally and informally. He was present at the latest Fan Advisory Board meeting and has reached out separately to members of the supporters’ trust. He has met with Alan Shearer, too. The review and the decisions that arise from it are better informed by colouring his blank canvas with as many shades as possible.

He has listened and, in return, he has spoken to many. But Hopkinson knows he will be judged by what he does. To that end, his commercial pedigree - former head of global partnerships at Real Madrid - is his chief quantifiable asset. Look at the job title at Madrid and it is not hard to deduce that global companies, most likely American, will soon be embarking on partnerships with Newcastle. 

A tie-in with Visa was announced earlier this month, for example. What next? Apple? Amazon? Microsoft? Netflix? The correlation between revenue - Newcastle’s will top £400million in next year’s accounts - and success on the pitch, court or rink has always been at the heart of Hopkinson’s career.

For now, though, the dad-of-two wants to make a family of the club he has inherited. Disagreement is fine, division is not. Once he actions the thoughts of his 100-day review - some decisions may sting - Hopkinson wants the collective pulling in the same direction. He, Wilson and Howe have already determined that they will come as a team, and that has not always been the case with some predecessors.

Hopkinson realised within days, from interactions with staff, journalists, waiters and window-cleaners, that the club was crying out for presence, trust and engagement at a senior level. 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund prefer to install an executive team to satisfy those demands, rather than front it themselves. But they have been burnt before, leaving them exposed to criticism and inspection. The challenge for Hopkinson, and Wilson, is to lead and to re-unite.

A lot of folk, inside and outside the club, have asked me for my early impressions of Hopkinson, given little was known of him before. I return the same verdict: ‘He seems like a doer.’ At a club where there remains a lot to do, that is no bad thing.