Academy under "Root and Branch Review" - Woodward

Pexbo

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So, just on the web chat then, Woodward confirms that McClair wasn't replaced as a top to toe review of the academy is being made and action will be taken on the results of that.

Pexbo said:
This is what I have been saying for a while. I think it's clear that we haven't hired someone because we're planning a top to toe overhaul of the academy to bring us up to date and in-line or ahead of City.

There's no point hiring someone for the role of "Director" if it is as yet undecided what approach the whole academy is going to be looking to take. It's up to the academy director to overlook everything in the academy from scouting to coaching and if the plan is for a complete overhaul it would be daft to employ someone who is then unable to make any sort of changes while he waits for the impending overhaul.


Edit:
Pexbo said:
...or the structuring within the academy has changed and the club felt there was no need for his position to actually exist. Hence why he decided to move on.
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Pexbo said:
That specifically says that the structure needs changing and the job might be too big for one guy. It's also Andy's opinion and while he's well connected, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there has been a reshuffle (of jobs rather than personnel) with no announcement.
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Just wanted to be a twat and gloat. It's not often I'm right.
 
Pexbo said:
So, just on the web chat then, Woodward confirms that McClair wasn't replaced as a top to toe review of the academy is being made and action will be taken on the results of that.



Just wanted to be a twat and gloat. It's not often I'm right.
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Fair play! Will be interesting to see more about this.
 
I believe I heard him say that some announcements may come in the next few days and that the review has been completed and that some of the restructuring is already underway.
 
I thought Woody only wants to chase big name players and is completely clueless about running a football club? :wenger:
 
Very exciting, turns out Woodward isn't the complete bumbling buffoon he's made out to be on here :smirk:
 
MDFC Manager said:
I thought Woody only wants to chase big name players and is completely clueless about running a football club? :wenger:
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Based on the available evidence, the assumption you refer to is at least marginally more valid than simply guessing that he's doing a sterling job.

If this academy business is part of a larger effort to restructure the football side of United, that's a good thing. And Woody may prove himself capable in time - as most hope he does, I should think.
 
Cassidy said:
I believe I heard him say that some announcements may come in the next few days and that the review has been completed and that some of the restructuring is already underway.
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You heard right.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
Based on the available evidence, the assumption you refer to is at least marginally more valid than simply guessing that he's doing a sterling job.

If this academy business is part of a larger effort to restructure the football side of United, that's a good thing. And Woody may prove himself capable in time - as most hope he does, I should think.
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Sure, but isn't the best way of running a wealthy football club, looking at both long and short term fixes? At what point did it appear that Woody has been deviating from that strategy?
 
Pexbo said:
So, just on the web chat then, Woodward confirms that McClair wasn't replaced as a top to toe review of the academy is being made and action will be taken on the results of that.



Just wanted to be a twat and gloat. It's not often I'm right.
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Sunderland-v-Manchester-United-Premier-League.jpg
 
MDFC Manager said:
At what point did it appear that Woody has been deviating from that strategy?
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Do we know what his long term strategy is? Or to what extent his short term moves have been logical and sound in light of the long term strategy?

There's a distinct lack of evidence, you might rightfully say. What we know is that we're not doing great at the moment - other than in the money department. Hiring Moyes was a disaster. Giving the reins to LVG, and keeping him on the job, looks questionable at the moment. Going for an apparent Galactico approach with bringing in Di Maria and Falcao was a sheer fiasco. Those are examples of moves which we can reasonably hold Woody accountable for. On the plus side, he's done...what? Sanctioned the purchases of several players who are undoubtedly good - and that's all I can think of, really.

As far as I'm concerned the onus is very much on him to prove that he's the right man for the job. But I gladly admit that I don't know enough about what he actually does - or to what extent he's been directly responsible for past decisions - to be in a position to declare him useless. A lack of transparency has characterized his tenure, one could say - which works both for and against him, I suppose.
 
Woodward on United’s Academy...

“We took the departure of Brian McClair last summer as the chance to do a root and branch review of the Academy.

“That is now complete and changes are under way, and announcements will follow in the coming days.

“I think in terms of the future, our key competitive advantages are still very strong, and the two I would call out are an unmatched record of player development, compared to any other team, particularly in England, and secondly the runway of first-team opportunities we deliver to those players coming through, again very different to some of our competitors.”
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:lol:

The press really are bitter aren't they.. Found this on the mirror's report on the quarterly results from the club when I was looking for the quotes on the academy. It had a picture of Fellaini below it

Woodward: “Our financial performance from the second quarter was very strong.

“This continued strength will enable us to compete at the highest level.”

So that ‘highest level’ is 5th in the Premier League?

Oh, and don’t forget their exit from the Champions League.

The highest level has decreased somewhat from Fergie’s reign.
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Woodward: “Our financial performance from the second quarter was very strong.

“This continued strength will enable us to compete at the highest level.”

So that ‘highest level’ is 5th in the Premier League?

Oh, and don’t forget their exit from the Champions League.

The highest level has decreased somewhat from Fergie’s reign.
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I expect that kind of snarky shit from the like of F365 but not from proper newspapers. These 'professionals' should go back to blog-writing, or using their Comments sections like the rest of us amateurs, if they want to cram their own views into reportage.
 
Sid234 said:
:lol:

The press really are bitter aren't they.. Found this on the mirror's report on the quarterly results from the club when I was looking for the quotes on the academy. It had a picture of Fellaini below it
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SteveJ said:
I expect that kind of snarky shit from the like of F365 but not from proper newspapers. These 'professionals' should go back to blog-writing, or using their Comments sections like the rest of us amateurs, if they want to cram their own views into reportage.
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:confused:
 
Well, the Mirror used to be a proper newspaper, chiefo. :D
 
Sid234 said:
:lol:

The press really are bitter aren't they.. Found this on the mirror's report on the quarterly results from the club when I was looking for the quotes on the academy. It had a picture of Fellaini below it
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His reading comprehension is woeful.
 
I'm in Woodward side but this also means that the club didn't anticipated that overhaul and therefore left a void, that's not good management, the overall was needed a long time ago and the plan should have been ready.
 
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SteveJ said:
I expect that kind of snarky shit from the like of F365 but not from proper newspapers.
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You could argue that the Mirror ain't a proper newspaper, I suppose. But then again I'm pretty sure I caught someone using the word "nope" in one of the old broadsheets the other day. Bloggers - that's pretty much what they are. Or rather, they think they have to compete with bloggers and whatnot in order to stay relevant - whereas the reality is that trying too hard to play along with the Zeitgeist has watered down their trade. If you're dying, there's some grotesque logic to digging your own grave, I suppose - but it's not the sort of logic they should embrace.
 
JPRouve said:
I'm in Woodward side but this also means that the club didn't anticipated that overall and therefore left a void, that's not good management, the overall was needed a long time ago and the plan should have been ready.
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I'm guessing Woodward who only joined in Summer '13 couldn't have had an overhaul in place unless Gill passed one onto him?

Otherwise Ed would have had to start from scratch, analyse everything himself and the set about improving it.
 
Woodward looks like Toby Jones.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
A lack of transparency has characterized his tenure, one could say - which works both for and against him, I suppose.
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It's just fairly typical of our times that people are quicker to assume he's doing a shit job than a good one. People really like the idea of a world gone wrong.
 
Thisistheone said:
I'm guessing Woodward who only joined in Summer '13 couldn't have had an overhaul in place unless Gill passed one onto him?

Otherwise Ed would have had to start from scratch, analyse everything himself and the set about improving it.
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And that's the problem, why Gill didn't planned that overhaul, or if he did, why Woodward needs at least three years to start it? I'm probably missing informations but something is wrong here.
 
Maagge said:
It's just fairly typical of our times that people are quicker to assume he's doing a shit job than a good one. People really like the idea of a world gone wrong.
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Yeah, there's that.

But what some people seem to wilfully ignore in the current discussions on here - whether it's about Woodward or LVG - is that we aren't exactly performing swimmingly on the football side of things, and haven't done so since Fergie (and Gill) stepped down.

That's the background, if you will. It isn't random doom mongering based on nothing - it's actually based on a conspicuous decline in what we, as fans, see on the pitch.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
Yeah, there's that.

But what some people seem to wilfully ignore in the current discussions on here - whether it's about Woodward or LVG - is that we aren't exactly performing swimmingly on the football side of things, and haven't done so since Fergie (and Gill) stepped down.

That's the background, if you will. It isn't random doom mongering based on nothing - it's actually based on a conspicuous decline in what we, as fans, see on the pitch.
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I don't think it's really relevant to bring in our performances on the pitch when discussing stuff like whether Woodward is doing a good job or not. Especially not in relation to all this academy stuff.
Most of the stuff regarding his performance is speculative at best (and if you're already inclined to doom mongering then you're only ever gonna speculate one way).
 
Did he say new academy structure/staff would be announced in the "coming days" or "sometime soon"

I have seen both quoted
 
JPRouve said:
And that's the problem, why Gill didn't planned that overhaul, or if he did, why Woodward needs at least three years to start it? I'm probably missing informations but something is wrong here.
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It's not the CEOs job of conducting a review of the academy. That would be left to the football side and then he's notified of what needs doing.
 
I find Woodward's public utterances consistently disappointing. So unexciting and unchallenging. I miss Gill, who made you feel like he was spokesman for biggest club in the world... Woodward is so undynamic.
 
JPRouve said:
Useless, It was an invitation for suggestions.
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Non of us really has a whole lot of information on the inner workings of the club and what's going on at present. People can speculate all they want but I think the most likely outcome is paranoia amongst the fans (because we're a fairly negative bunch apparently). That's worse than useless.
 
JPRouve said:
And that's the problem, why Gill didn't planned that overhaul, or if he did, why Woodward needs at least three years to start it? I'm probably missing informations but something is wrong here.
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For sure. Either way it doesn't reflect well on the club, but also it might not be all down to Ed. We probably will never know.

At least something is finally beginning to happen though and hopefully things start improving on the pitch.
 
Thisistheone said:
For sure. Either way it doesn't reflect well on the club, but also it might not be all down to Ed. We probably will never know.

At least something is finally beginning to happen though and hopefully things start improving on the pitch.
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And I'm not blaming Ed, I'm just wondering what could be the reason behind that decision and that timeframe, because I find the question interesting.
 
Maagge said:
I don't think it's really relevant to bring in our performances on the pitch when discussing stuff like whether Woodward is doing a good job or not. Especially not in relation to all this academy stuff.
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Well, you're entitled to your opinion. I think that's pretty much a copout myself: He's in charge of the football, formally, as well as the money side. Hiring managers, sanctioning (and negotiating) transfers, overseeing the general direction of the club - that's supposed to be his responsibility. The only indication we can possibly point to when trying to assess his performance has to be what the team deliver on the pitch - what else is there?

We can just decide that we don't know what he's actually doing - and treat his presence as that of an inscrutable deity - but that seems somewhat extreme.

The academy stuff is fresh news. People have been speculating about it for months, not knowing anything beyond the fact that McClair was never replaced. He may very well be on the right track regarding the academy - nothing better if it's the case. But we don't know the details there either (a common theme, it would seem).
 
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