Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell brought James Bunce to the club and the performance director has played his part in the Magpies’ improved injury record
06:00, 31 May 2025Updated 08:29, 31 May 2025
Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell
Newcastle United have had one of the best injury records in the Premier League this season following a dramatic turnaround.
According to data from Premier Injuries, Newcastle lost 779 days to injury, which works out as the fourth-best return in the top-flight. Only five sides had fewer lay-offs than the Magpies (24).
In contrast, last season, Newcastle had the worst record in the Premier League after a whopping 1,950 days were lost to injury. For context, only Manchester United and Chelsea suffered more injuries than the black-and-whites (41).
It got to the stage where player availability at Newcastle dropped to 55% and an entire XI worth of talent were sidelined at one point in the winter.
Newcastle benefited from a clearer schedule this time around without European football – even if Eddie Howe’s side only played three games fewer in 2024/25.
Newcastle have also been working smarter and Howe was the first to acknowledge that the club had ‘managed certain situations better’.
James Bunce has certainly played his part. In fact, Howe said the ‘excellent’ performance director had made a ‘really positive difference’ following his appointment last summer.
While Newcastle face a challenge to handle the intensity of the Premier League and the Champions League next season, Bunce could yet prove the most significant addition outgoing sporting director Paul Mitchell makes during his brief spell at the club.
“A lack of squad availability definitely impacts every coach,” Mitchell previously explained after working closely with Bunce at Monaco. “If you don’t have your best players, you’re not going to be at your optimum.
“That was an area there that I think everyone from Eddie to ownership to Darren [Eales] thought we need to get better in this context because when we arrive in a three-game schedule week again, we need to make sure our players are resilient athletes that can perform every couple of days.
“So, I think there was definitely an aligned view that this is crucial to make sure we learn lessons from the past, to make sure we don’t have that again.”
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