Newcastle United NUFC
Ben Dawson feels his job with Newcastle this week is simply about getting players ready for the arrival of the next manager.
The Magpies are expected to appoint Steve Bruce as their next boss after reports the current Sheffield Wednesday manager tendered his resignation on Monday.
The club are looking for a successor to Rafael Benitez, who left last month.
Dawson, the head of the club’s Academy, and under-23s coach Neil Redfearn are running pre-season training.
“The main aim is to prepare the players for the new manager coming in,” said Dawson at a press conference in China, where the club are playing in the Premier League Asia Trophy.
“(There is) no news at this moment in time. We are waiting to hear along with everybody else.
“All we can do is focus on the job out here. We have good staff and good players. We have worked hard training twice a day. We are preparing the players as we would for any fixture.”
With takeover rumours continuing and players – as well as Benitez – leaving, it has been a turbulent summer for the club.
Winger Matt Ritchie, however, remains positive.
He said: “To see the manager (go) was disappointing. He had a good reign at the club.
“But we now look forward to a new manager and a new season. Ben and Neil’s sessions have been of high quality and good intensity, so we’re not missing anything in that respect.
“The new manager will want to add players but we’re preparing so that when the new manager does come in, we can hit the ground running.”
Newcastle play Wolves in the exhibition tournament in Nanjing on Wednesday.
“The games will be competitive,” Dawson said. “We will try to win against Wolves then on Saturday to take the trophy back home.”
