If they make it official then we are set.
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
- Thread starter RedMachine03
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If they make it official then we are set.
Berta's name has been mentioned by good sources many times since last year. Di Marzio mentioned him as someone we wanted. Dawson who is normally decent has now mentioned him and Cadena Ser have reported in the past that we want him too, when Mourinho departs.
Becareful with your wording. Overlooks the signing of players - definitely yes. Overlook the signing of manager? Do you mean the Football manager reports to DOF, or the DOF advise the Board when they interview candidate of the manager post? Likewise, when your DOF is vacant, your current Manager will also give advice to the Board when they try to recruit a DOF. Advice is 1 thing, decision is made by the Board, as Manager reports to the Board/MD/Chairman, not the DOF.
I would also like to see a new DOF sooner, such that player contract situation can be finalised sooner instead of waiting till summer, particularly on who should keep and who can go.
What you stated is crucial.
Ed thinks he is being shrewd but is getting taken for a mug by agents.
I understand it is hard sign players for decent fees these but these agents must have a field day when they know we are interested in the player as they know they will get a massive fee and then get their player a bumper contract. We pay some of the best wages about and until our decent recent form since we sacked Jose we haven't had a lot to show for it.
The DoF will need to be a skilled negotiator as I think we fecked ourselves by paying Sanchez so much as any player who we sign who thinks that they are of the same level are going to ask for similar or higher wages and I think this could hurt us in the future.
Generally the head coach reports to the DOF, he doesn't have direct access to the board.
Nah wouldn´t be a good role for him. Greatest manager but to overlook signings of players would be a risk. "There is no value in the market" was the most used phrase between 2009-2013.
Should we not be all over the guy who's leaving Arsenal? Seems like a talented guy who is looking for a Sporting Director role
Mislintat would be an interesting fit for us, but the rumours suggest it’s Munich and not Manchester he’s heading too... Apparently off the back of Arsenal having very little to spend transfer wise.
Would certainly be interesting if the Bayern link is smoke and mirrors, speculation etc and he does come here though. The timing of the reports for him supposedly leaving and Utd supposedly undergoing a restructuring within the past month correlate but we’ll see whether it’s just coincidental.
Would certainly be interesting if the Bayern link is smoke and mirrors, speculation etc and he does come here though. The timing of the reports for him supposedly leaving and Utd supposedly undergoing a restructuring within the past month correlate but we’ll see whether it’s just coincidental.
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He has never worked as a director of football. I think we will go with someone that has some experience in this job.
Someone please enlightens me, what if a DOF disagree with the manager on hiring a certain players? A DOF signing a player that the manager won't use, or have to be forced to use. Wouldn't it be detrimental to the manager tactics?
That’s the key pitfall with a DOF. You need to make sure manager and DOF think enough alike to make it work, which isn’t always possible.
Yes and no. A comparison to this is the NFL system: Ower > General Manager (GM) > Head Coach (HC). The GM is heavily involved in player recruitment, and basically runs the scouting department. He also identifies coaching candidates that fit the style and profile the team needs, and when they are in place, he has to help the coach imprint the agreed identity on the team with appropriate draft picks and free agent signings. He also has a financial role in that he has to manage the salary cap for the team. The difference with the Premier League is that, NFL teams are not shy about sacking coaches. If the GM and HC clash over style, tactics/playcalling, one of them usually has to leave because that relationship is basically unworkable (usually the coach). Usually teams hire someone who has been working as a scout under another GM, that fits the style of football they want to play, has shown skill at drafting/free agency, and has the intelligence to manage a very complicated salary cap situation. This job is not just for any old guy.
For United, we have the complexity of having a board; of which Woodward is the Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive/whatever else. There's nothing wrong with them hiring someone to sit between them and the coach though. Like: Board > DOF/Technical Director > Head Coach. The reason why this is hard to do at United is because there are too many people with their hands in the situation, and whether they will be big enough to relinquish control is yet to be seen. Also, there aren't enough people flying around who have experience in this role and have the pedigree to work for a club like United.
The board also seem to be tilted heavily towards a finance/commercial ops background.
Looks nailed on to be Berta if he accepts our offer.
His names been mentioned by the likes of Di Marzio etc.
I’m not that much clued on which director of football we should go for and the ideal appointment to really restructure the footballing operations at this club. I hope he is the man.
He's been mentioned by a host of decent outlets now. It looks as if he will be the DoF at United, assuming he accepts our offer.
As mentioned, I ain’t that much clued on which DoF we should go for as a lot of folk on here were wanting Mitchell (scout that worked with Poch at Southampton & Spurs) from Leipzig.
Do you think Berta is the ideal candidate for the role obviously assuming he accepts our offer? Or should we have gone for someone else? It’s the one appointment we need to get spot on as failing to do so is going to set us back even further.
Berta coming in wouldn't rule out the possibility of Paul Mitchell being recruited as well. I'm assuming they could both work together based on what I've read previously. I really hope he decides to join us, it'll be fantastic to finally have a similar footballing structure to other top European clubs. These appointments are just as important as our managerial decision (Maybe Olé can be given the reins, now that we're hopefully going to have a stellar footballing hierarchy above the coach to assist him)
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I think he seems to be a very good candidate for the job and the club have been on his trail for well over a year if you believe reports from the usually reliable Gianluca Di Marzio. Which have been backed up by Cadena Ser in Spain who are also a reliable outlet.
Atletico have punched above their weight against two much bigger clubs in Spain, so he must be doing some very special things to keep Atletico competitive amongst two huge clubs.
Mitchell and Berta could work together if the club decide to adopt the RB Leipzig model which I quite like personally.
Using your description. Arsenal has a structure like
Position Name
Chairman Sir Chips Keswick
Managing Director Vinai Venkatesham
Head of Football Raul Sanllehi
Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat
Head Coach Unai Emery
Do you mean Emery reports to Sanllehi or Mislinstat?
Berta has worked under a regime that plays a style that we as a club don't want to be associated with moving forward though. Would he be able to adapt to the different transfer expectations?
Whoever we appoint should know what ManUtd is all about. We shouldn't again go for defensive managers, they should get it, how ManUtd are expected to play.
To be fair how Atletico play is purely down to Simeone.
He reports to the head of football.
What you described may be also true for Man City. But would you say the same structure under Dortmund - Favre reporting to Zorc; Barcelona Valverde reporting to Mestre?
Yes, it's true almost everywhere. The exceptions are generally due to the fact that the DOF's superiors bypass him, El Khelaifi at PSG or Perez at Madrid are examples but it's not always true, Leonardo sacked Kombouaré and brought his man in Ancelotti.
Also it's part of the DOF's job to evaluate the head coach.
I don't think he'd have any problems adapting to a different approach in transfer expectations. The style of play will be dictated by who the head coach is.
Berta's job will be to work closely with the head of recruitment and headcoach to oversee the football side at the club. Van Gaal once complained the squad was unbalanced, so a DoF will make sure we don't get into a similar pickle.
Ole as the Head Coach, Marcel Bout as the head of recruitment could work alongside Berta..
Yes. If that happens then the club backs DoF and sacks the manager, unless we are talking for a very top manager in which case the DoF gets sacked.
However it is quite unlikely for it to happen, considering that DoF is the guy who appoints the manager (or has a very big decision on it). But yep, in theory, DoF is higher in chain than the manager.
As I remember, Berta got regularly mooted to come in as a DoF figure with Mourinho when we were in the process of hiring Mourinho. It wouldn’t surprise me if Jose vetoed the idea and convinced the board to do things his way, especially in the light that Berta will supposedly now consider us upon him leaving a month ago.
I dunno what I've said about it before but I've had another think about it now. As far as I understand it, the club struggled to move on after Busby left because he still retained so much influence. In my opinion, it would therefore be better long term to put a structure in place where we don't become overly reliant on any one individual at a club. I therefore do not understand the clamour for SAF coming back into the picture because I think he will have too much influence. It may be too great a burden for a manager to go against Fergie's wishes and we may end up with a yes man. This isn't a problem per se because he has given us so much success. But, given his age, sadly we can't expect him to be around for another thirty years as a DoF and so we would then have to replace him all over again - we already know how difficult that has been. It might be even more difficult in the future because of inflated fees for both managers and players.
He also said the reason for his retirement was to spend more time with his wife. So I am not sure how he can balance the demands of being a DoF, given his health, and this commitment to his wife. Therefore he may not even want the role.
He also said the reason for his retirement was to spend more time with his wife. So I am not sure how he can balance the demands of being a DoF, given his health, and this commitment to his wife. Therefore he may not even want the role.
Its more likely this one will never happen. All talk just recycling over and over with add bits about considering Ole as manager.
That can still happen without a director of football as we saw with Jose and our board. The important part is you hire a DOF and a manager with the same outlook, even then I'm sure there will be still be some differences. Where a DOF helps us is it takes some of the pressure of the manager. Ole and even Poch to a lesser degree aren't experienced in the big transfers we'd be potentially looking at. It lets them concentrate on managing with one less thing to worry about.
Personally, I don't see it happening anytime soon, as Woodward (who wants to be in charge of everything to do with the club) will not want to relinquish any control.
He hired Jose, because he knew Jose is a serial winner and is a highly qualified manager. When Jose gave him a list of names (players to buy), he overruled these and said, "no".
If he did this to Jose, he'll do it to pretty much any manager.
Woodie wants absolute control and given that MUFC is growing under his watch, the Glazers are not going to argue against this. They're happy with the way things are progressing.
He hired Jose, because he knew Jose is a serial winner and is a highly qualified manager. When Jose gave him a list of names (players to buy), he overruled these and said, "no".
If he did this to Jose, he'll do it to pretty much any manager.
Woodie wants absolute control and given that MUFC is growing under his watch, the Glazers are not going to argue against this. They're happy with the way things are progressing.
Woody also said yes to plenty of players Jose wanted.
Personally, I don't believe that Ed Woodward would be opposed to hiring a Director of Football. In fact, I think he would embrace the notion, assuming the owners allow him to do it. It's really a no lose situation for him. If a Director of Football comes on board and does a great job, then Woodward will take credit. If results aren't good, then Woodard has a sacrificial lamb he can dispose of while preserving his own position. In essence, a Director of Football provides him with an added layer of security. It takes his own neck off the chopping block.
We are 9 months down the line from the first post in this thread saying we were interested in hiring a DOF. It's obviously a hell of a recruitment campaign going on!
Woody's neck won't ever be on the chopping block as long as we're still making money and he can still line up sponsors. He's one of the Glazers top men, his job is very secure.
Jesus Christ, there is so much speculation and guess work in this post.
Hiring a DOF does not remove any power from Ed Woodward. Did Daniel Levy gain any power when he sacked Damien Camoli? Ed Woodward is the boss of the club regardless of a DoF.
There is no manager or DoF that gets his way all the time. It's not as if the players we've signed were without Mourinho's permission.
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