Indications within the industry are that Brailsford has already identified the potential need for both a sporting director and recruitment specialist and informal conversations with possible candidates have been held to this end. Brailsford has known Dan Ashworth, currently at Newcastle United, for several years and some believe he is being lined up for the top job, but sources are adamant there has been no contact on this theme. Paul Mitchell, most recently at Monaco, is another figure familiar to Brailsford — they moved in the same circles in France — and his name has been mentioned for the transfers position.
Atletico Madrid’s Andrea Berta is thought to be another candidate for the sporting director role, while Julian Ward, formerly of Liverpool, and Dougie Freedman, the Crystal Palace executive, have been spoken about as possible facilitators of signings. Freedman, who has a son in United’s academy, has support from Sir Alex Ferguson, his former Wilmslow neighbour.
Meaning there will be 5 under Ashworth as Mitchell and the Director of Negotiations will also fall under him. I think Brailsford will have a more senior oversight role like Chief Operations Officer - Football. He will also be key in revamping things like fitness and performance through appointments of fitness coaches, youth football director etc.looking at Nice structure, it’s seems to be streamlined structure that has very definite definition and probably KPI’s for each role.
I think we will be looking at something like this;
Sir Jim - Part Owner
Sir David Brailsford - Director of Performance
Jean Claude Blanc - CEO
Dan Ashworth - Director of Football
Paul Mitchell - Head of Recruitment
Then we will see at least 3 under Dan Ashworth and 5 under Mitchell.
For example under Ashworth we could see
Youth Performance Director, Mens Performance Director and Women’s Performance Director
Paul Mitchel will have 5 head scouts such as Chief European Scout, Chief American and South American, Chief African Scout, Chief Asian and Oceanic Scout, Chief British Scout.
This whole area of the club will be completely revamped and many scouts will be sacked with a totally new process put in place. I can see a lot more metrics and analytics being used in a brand new hi tec hub being built as part of the carrington refurbishment plan.
Murtough and Fletcher will be asked to re apply for the roles for Men and Youth Performance Director. Neither will probably be successful, maybe Darren Fletcher gets the youth Gig?
Only something as radical as this starts to put the club on the right footing for future success.
This is their sporting holy grail, SJR will spend up to 25% of his reported net work and that's just to get the Glazers out. No way he does this and assign part timers to run his legacy project.The idea that the ineos men will have full time roles is ridiculous. So when they get a new project what? Perfect for the board, with actual football men in football roles, and not just whatever lads the ineos men know.
Good analogy. I was comparing that role before to the equivalent of President of Basketball in NBA, whom often is the boss of General Manager (the equivalent of Director of Football). Yours is also a good analogy, ultimately he is going to be the boss of all football related things, and whoever becomes the DoF is going to report to him (maybe also the head of recruitment reporting to him instead of DoF). Only Blank is going to be higher than him in the hierarchy (obviously Blank can be fired from the shareholders, essentially Ratcliffe and the Glazers).Meaning there will be 5 under Ashworth as Mitchell and the Director of Negotiations will also fall under him. I think Brailsford will have a more senior oversight role like Chief Operations Officer - Football. He will also be key in revamping things like fitness and performance through appointments of fitness coaches, youth football director etc.
I think Fletcher will be retained and given a more defined role because he is a direct link to our successful past and it will be wiser to continue grooming him. If Butt isn't doing anything he should get his old role back, much of the success of the youth team is attributed to him if I remember correctly. A break with the past is good but we should not veer too far away from what made us great, football styles can change but the mentality required will always stay the same.
For a director of football to be truly successful they need total power to make decisions about players/coaches. They also need a complete identity on the football they are trying to create. If Ashworth comes in, does he want the club to play transition football? gegenpressing? possession based?, and then he needs to stick to that. Players will come and go, managers will too, but the director of football needs to maintain that identity.
The best sports directors of recent times have been at their clubs for a long time and never wavered. Txiki has been at City for 12 years, Zorc was at Dortmund for 24 years, Berta at Atletico for 10 years, Overmars was at Ajax for 10 years, Marotta at Juve for 9 years, Monchi at Sevilla for 17 years.
So it is important we find the perfect person, but however that is must be given the time and patience to build something.
I lived in Madrid for 7 months and a lot of my friends were Atleti supporters who were big fans of Berta, and it seems like he is well regarded in "footballing" circles. In Madrid, from what I could gather, he was seen as a transfer guru but more so he will act fast to sign a highly rated player (Rodri from Villareal, Oblak from Benfica, Lemar from Monaco, Griezmann from Real Sociedad), as opposed to identifying players which aren't already on the radar for most teams. Diogo Jota is probably his best find but he never got a chance to play for Atleti.Can anyone who knows more about Berta give me a bit of background on him,so would he be a suitable candidate for the Sporting Director role.
Likewise I would be interested to hear from someone who knows better than myself about Ward/Freedman for the Recruitment role.
I lived in Madrid for 7 months and a lot of my friends were Atleti supporters who were big fans of Berta, and it seems like he is well regarded in "footballing" circles. In Madrid, from what I could gather, he was seen as a transfer guru but more so he will act fast to sign a highly rated player (Rodri from Villareal, Oblak from Benfica, Lemar from Monaco, Griezmann from Real Sociedad), as opposed to identifying players which aren't already on the radar for most teams. Diogo Jota is probably his best find but he never got a chance to play for Atleti.
A lot of people want to sign a director of football that will help instill a playing identity, I believe that Berta is not our man if this is what we want.
Mateu Alemany would be my choice. He has all the tools to succeed and after helping manage Barcelona's woes post-Messi, he has the experience in high pressure situations. Aston Villa chased him hard in the summer, and they were literally days away from getting him but he rejected them in the end. So it looks like he is keen on coming to England.Thanks for the interesting feedback on Berta
So who could we appoint that can help instill an identity if we can't get Ashworth?
Is he any good? There's a reddit comment about him leaking information.Marco Neppe Leaving Bayern with immediate effect, would suggest he’s already got another job lined up, wouldn’t of thought anything of it until the CEO story breaking out of nowhere…
I have no idea, like Berrada, I hadn’t heard of him up until about an hour ago. His record of transfers at Bayern is pretty impressive but Bayern have a unique position, in that they can cherry pick the best German talent from other clubs without much resistance.Is he any good? There's a reddit comment about him leaking information.
Be careful about which position we are talking. Neppe joined Bayern as a scout (later became their chief scout) and in that position he was involved in quite a few very good transfers. As technical director he was Salihamidzic' right hand, so not responsible for actually doing the transfers. He only did that as an interim after Salihamidzic was sacked last summer, but was already pushed aside during that transfer window.I have no idea, like Berrada, I hadn’t heard of him up until about an hour ago. His record of transfers at Bayern is pretty impressive but Bayern have a unique position, in that they can cherry pick the best German talent from other clubs without much resistance.
Ah ok. Well like I said I hadn’t heard of him up until tonight so don’t claim to be any sort of expert on him, I just read he was involved in Kane, Kim min Jae, Musiala and others.Be careful about which position we are talking. Neppe joined Bayern as a scout (later became their chief scout) and in that position he was involved in quite a few very good transfers. As technical director he was Salihamidzic' right hand, so not responsible for actually doing the transfers. He only did that as an interim after Salihamidzic was sacked last summer, but was already pushed aside during that transfer window.
Him going was coming since he apparently failed to step up to that level of responsibility, and now that Max Eberl is coming into the club he is finally pushed aside.
So if he comes in as a scout that's probably good, but other positions don't seem to be his strength.
Ah ok. Well like I said I hadn’t heard of him up until tonight so don’t claim to be any sort of expert on him, I just read he was involved in Kane, Kim min Jae, Musiala and others.
He’d be in the Fletcher role at United. Which is a spot we definitely can upgrade on.I have no idea, like Berrada, I hadn’t heard of him up until about an hour ago. His record of transfers at Bayern is pretty impressive but Bayern have a unique position, in that they can cherry pick the best German talent from other clubs without much resistance.
From what I’ve read his role at Bayern was nothing like Fletchers at United, other than the name.He’d be in the Fletcher role at United. Which is a spot we definitely can upgrade on.
However, I’d like us to get a DoF first and then a potential replacement for Fletcher. They would work closely together and you’d want some input from Ashworth or whoever else is in that role.
If he was so good why did he end up in Russia and not a better job?Rangnick would've been perfect in that role, and his replacements at Red Bull, with Freund being highly rated but taking over the job at Bayern, and the new Salzburg director, Bernhard Seonbuchner, looks like he will be in the game a long time and I can see him ending up at a big German club soon.
I'd love him here just because he's one of my favourite ever players.Still think Maldini would be an appointment who has serious pull,however not a clue in what role we could utilise him
I would take Ashworth and Freedman off of that list.
Freedman has found real quality at good prices with Palace, Olise, Eze, Guehi and now Adam Wharton are players that I think would improve us right now and he has done well to keep them in Palace's budget. He understands the landscape of the British market and isn't afraid to use it.
Thanks. Haven't got the chance to read the article yet. Added to the original post.UtdReport haven't reported that entirely accurately.
The article says;
"Dan Ashworth, Newcastle’s director of football, Julian Ward, the former Liverpool sporting director, Crystal Palace’s Dougie Freedman and Paul Mitchell, formerly head of recruitment at Tottenham who went on to a similar role at Monaco, are thought to be among those whose credentials have been discussed.
On the continent, the likes of Atletico Madrid’s Andrea Berta, Cristiano Giuntoli from Juventus, Lee Congerton at Atalanta and Ricky Masara and Paolo Maldini, who left AC Milan last year, have also been linked."
Pinto didn't seem to do very well at Roma, seems an odd one.Apparently Sporting Director is between
Christoph Freund or Tiago Pinto
Why should Freund leave Bayern, where he just arrived?Apparently Sporting Director is between
Christoph Freund or Tiago Pinto
Apparently Sporting Director is between
Christoph Freund or Tiago Pinto
I'd hope he was never on the list to begin withPochetino off the Ten Hag replacement list then? I like the man but always thought Ten Hag is a better future minded manager, if somewhat unproven.
I'm sure we could give him a job cooking chickenPochetino off the Ten Hag replacement list then? I like the man but always thought Ten Hag is a better future minded manager, if somewhat unproven.
You’re supposed to cook chicken?!I'm sure we could give him a job cooking chicken
You have to for the snowflakesYou’re supposed to cook chicken?!
Worlds gone madYou have to for the snowflakes
For what it's worth I reckon whoever it is that takes the DOF role is currently in a job. Mitchell's name gets thrown around a lot but if he was their first choice they would have got him by now.
