Paul Mitchell: 'Best in class' Bunce to tackle Newcastle injury issues
James Bunce: Has a stellar CV and worked under Paul Mitchell at AS Monaco
Written by Training Ground Guru — July 21, 2024
Newcastle United Sporting Director Paul Mitchell says new Performance Director James Bunce is “the best in class” and will be crucial in helping the club “move consistently to the next level.”
Bunce will oversee Performance, Medical, Sports Science, Nutrition and Psychology and help "to drive an elite performance culture and cohesive approach across the men's First Team, Academy and Women.” The Englishman will report directly into Mitchell, who was also his boss at AS Monaco.
Newcastle already have a Head of Performance in Dan Hodges, who arrived with manager Eddie Howe in November 2021, but he will focus on the First Team while Bunce will take a more strategic role.
Bunce started his career as an intern at Southampton in 2007, rising to become their Head of Athletic Development, and was then Head of Elite Performance at the Premier League and Director of High Performance for US Soccer. From September 2020 to November 2023 he worked under Mitchell at AS Monaco as Director of Performance.
Newcastle were beset by injuries last season and Mitchell, who joined the Magpies at the start of the month, has made addressing the problem an urgent priority.
“Something that has been well documented is around... the amount of injuries, the amount of minutes participated by the First Team and it is something I think Eddie wanted to address, the organisation and ownership wanted to address and it’s my job to find the best in class,” he said.
“I was fortunate to have worked with James previously, but we came across each other through an unfortunate situation that looked like this one. I had a big injury list when I arrived in Monaco, 20 players injured every weekend, a lack of availability to the coach, and we need to actually put that right.
“If we are going to move consistently to the next level and we are going to perform at that level consistently as well, we need to give our best players accessibility to the coach and vice versa. The way we do that is keeping them fit, keeping them healthy, keeping them keeping them robust, keeping them resilient, so our coach has a better chance of winning on matchday.
“That’s why we hired someone like James, who is an elite specialist in the world of performance.”
Bunce said: "I am proud and excited to join such an historic and ambitious club as its new Performance Director. Newcastle United and the city are going through an exciting time of growth and development and I cannot wait to start contributing to the club's future successes.
"My role will be to ensure that we push in every area of performance and medicine to optimise the health, fitness and wellbeing of players, ultimately ensuring they are available to perform at the highest level, week in week out."
READ MORE: James Bunce - From struggles with the Saints to the top of US Soccer
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