Newcastle evening headlines: Owners' 'long-term' plan, Trippier update and Tottenham 'pain'

Former Newcastle United transfer consultant Nick Hammond has given his insight into the owners' long-term plans for the club. Elsewhere, January signing Kieran Trippier has provided a fresh update on his recovery from injury.

Here are your Newcastle United headlines for April 6:

Newcastle United's owners have a 'long-term plan' but Nick Hammond has revealed that the hierarchy turned to him because they needed someone who had experience in 'navigating through the complexities' of the January transfer window.

READ MORE: Newcastle owners have already made stadium decision and Friday night may just remind them why

Hammond provided a consultancy service in the run-up to an intense mid-season trading period after being sounded out by the hierarchy, who were keen to tap into the former technical director's experience ahead of their first window in charge. Newcastle, after all, did not have a sporting director at the time - Dan Ashworth remains on gardening leave at Brighton - and Hammond previously provided a consultancy service at Celtic during the summer of 2019.

Among those who backed 'a very good move by the club' at the time was Alan Pardew. Pardew worked with Hammond at West Brom and Reading, and the former Newcastle boss previously told ChronicleLive that the 54-year-old was a 'true, experienced and honest operator'.

It fell to Hammond to do the checks and balances in the background at Newcastle ahead of the window opening and the Londoner also offered his opinion on targets who had already been identified. Newcastle went on to sign Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Matt Targett (on loan), and Hammond relished being involved in the build-up.

Eddie Howe wants Newcastle United to get back to the