From our ex-players, he is the best choice. The only problem I see with him is that he might tell the coaches how to coach.
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
- Thread starter RedMachine03
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Of course its standard manager speak, that's what all managers do in reality. But at this point in time he can't give definite answers can he? I mean they could well be looking and probably are, but unless we can be certain someone will take the role what's the point in saying yes we want one? It would just be another stick to beat the club with.
The part in bold, two problems with that is you forget that Jose most definitely didn't want a DoF. He has a history of not playing well with others. He himself stated he wanted full autonomy over the squad, ask and get mentality which is not realistic. So we couldn't appoint a DoF with him there. He's only gone 2 months nearly to the day so expecting one already now is impatience.
I'd prefer a slow and steady approach and the right decisions made.
Cooper saying his ubderstanding is one will be appointed before a manager is announced.
Don't know why but i've got this funny feeling that whoever eventually gets the job it'll be somebody that nobody has mentioned previously, and the internet will crash as 10's of millions of United fans simultaneously google "who the feck is ****** ************"
They did look for a potential DoF during Mourinhos reign, but he was against it, and seeing as Woodward is speaking about "continious changes and improvements in the structure/squad" i would assume that this was not something that they suddenly started planning the minute after they sacked JM. A steady, well informed appointmentprocess does not have to be slow or take a season.
The talk about understanding the role/responsibilities are more BS to drag out the process. Saying that they are going to benchmark the best teams in the world suddenly on how they operate? That is something they should always do. On a weekly/monthly basis. Two months is more than enough if they already knew JM would not be here next season, and they knew that they were going to appoint a DoF when Jose left.
If you know that you are going to build a cabin in six months time, you don't wait for 5 months before suddenly starting the planning process and ordering materials.
They didn't necessarily look, I think it was discussed with Jose about him working with a DoF and he disliked the idea. Now that's not to say they didn't have some candidates in mind. Having a candidate in mind is different to having interviewed them and feeling they are right for the job.
Weather any of us like it or not, it is indeed a time consuming process. As mentioned our previous manager was against the idea from all reports, that manager is now gone. Candidate list drawn up, interviews / discussions to take place, offers to be made and finally accepted.
It involves a lengthy process, if you doubt me feel free to see how many years it took Man City to roll out their project for Pep, They acquired staff from Barca over 3-4 seasons and the final piece of course was Pep himself.
Likewise Liverpool's project with Klopp has taken how many years? That number again? He's on his 4th season and reaping the rewards from a stable backroom and scouting network.
Another example is our own Sir Alex, Hired in Nov 86 and didn't win a trophy until 4 season's later, a league took 6 years.
So no, two months is not enough, unless you think this is football manager or the like.
We are not taking about the whole duration of a project. Project management body of knowledge(PMBOK): Project can be divied into 5 main processes where the first 4 are relevant for this "rebuilding/change" we are currently undertaking: Initiating, planning, executing Monitoring/controlling.
We are talking about the two first phases: initiating and planning. Not execution and further on.
Before we start the planning we need to appoint the people involved in the planning --> DoF.
City appointed Sorriano as CEO September 1. 2012.
City appointed Begiristain as DoF October 27. 2012.
Not many days between?
Woodward have been CEO or something along those lines since SAF/Gill left the summer 2013. Assuming the goal of the club is to win trophies, rather than £££, one can assume that he has done his best to continuously improve all governing elements of the club since he was appointed. Thus, he should already know what needs fixing and what works? And since a DoF would be essential in the planning phase, scope of the "project" etc we should appoint one before we have planned/defined the project.
Lets say you(Woodward/Glazers) want to build a house (project), but you do not have any experience/competence in how to build a house... Is it logical to wait or involve the project manager (DoF) as early as possible? Personally, if i did not know how to build a house i would involve competent people as early as possible.
No one is expecting a PL title the first year. As long as we see a considerable improvement(which Klopp and City did) we fans are patient enough to wait for that moment.
I know we are on about the early stages of the plan, as you call it phases 1&2.
Reality is this though, City's Sheikh owners bought City in 2008, the appointments you reference are 4 years later. City like ourselves also faced similar troubles with finding the right manager and set up for their club. It's not anywhere near as black and white as you suggest. The likelihood is Soriano was appointed as part of the plan they were rolling out, in turn Begiristain followed.
What I'm trying to say is phase 1 & 2 most likely were discussed, negotiated and closed out over a number of months and in some cases possibly years. The ground work was done, foundations laid and the house was a relatively quick process because of this. Man City changed their boardroom many times prior to these 2 appointments so it would suggest it wasn't a 1-2 month turnaround at all.
You have to remember that a DoF is a completely new role to United, we also have some sentimental and archaic mindsets on our board / work closely with the board (The two Sirs) who might be against it possibly? That's just me suggesting it could be a delay of course. The DoF has to appease not only the football side but the finance side also, so Woodward has to feel he can work with his appointment also and in turn feel they have the managers interests also. So finding that suitable appointment is not easy.
The first real rumours of a DoF arose during the summer, as we've said Jose was against that so perhaps plans were shelved to see how Jose handled the season, as we know that didn't play out well and now its time to discuss it again.
Personally I'm not completely sold this appointment will happen. I'm willing to be patient though and give it til at least May / June and see if there is an appointment in place.
Not sure if this adds anything:
https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/...tor-of-football-search-is-going-nowhere-fast/
https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/...tor-of-football-search-is-going-nowhere-fast/
Anybody else worried about the summer window. Director of Football and the manager would normally be identifying and preparing targets for the summer window now - maybe sounding out agents of players.
We have no DOF and no idea who our manager is, so that leaves Ed or more likely nobody looking ahead to the summer...
We have no DOF and no idea who our manager is, so that leaves Ed or more likely nobody looking ahead to the summer...
So according to Rory Smith, Woodward could take 2 years to decide a DoF...
Classic Woody.
We are already. We just have no set targets just probably making contact with who the scouts have rated as the must buy options until whoever is appointed to pull the trigger.
That article is based on assumptions he can't possibly know.
At this moment, due to how much talk thats proved to be utterly meaningless in the media, either fed to them by Woody himself or not, I'm not believing a single thing about us getting a DOF until it's officially announced.
Whats the point in getting a DoF in May/June when most attainable targets have already decided where they will play next season, and the same with their clubs. If we are to appoint one this season do it soon, if we are not "able" to find a suitable candidate postphone this til early next season and start the process of buying the players we need now!
The lack of transparancy on how the upper echelons of the club operates makes everything we discuss pure speculation and we can both be wrong and completely off the mark.
You should take the guy in Yellow whose name is Leonardo, former PSG sporting director.
The guy who recruited Verratti, Thiago Silva, Ancelotti, Zlatan... and made PSG competitive
Sorry for the picture for educational purposes
The guy who recruited Verratti, Thiago Silva, Ancelotti, Zlatan... and made PSG competitive
Sorry for the picture for educational purposes
Beginning to think Woodward was b#llsh#tting about this. Just a way of deflecting criticism. He has no intention of putting football first when it comes to transfers.
What made PSG competitive was Nassar El Khelafi.You should take the guy in Yellow whose name is Leonardo, former PSG sporting director.
The guy who recruited Verratti, Thiago Silva, Ancelotti, Zlatan... and made PSG competitive
Sorry for the picture for educational purposes
If you compare City/UAE with PSG/QAT and analyse the first years, you would see one club has a brilliant football director and the other one has wasted much much much more money.
That's very true..
One team also has zero competition in their league
Off-topic
Leonardo has recently joined Milan AC anyway
I feel if we’re appointing OGS then a DoF figure is probably more needed than if we got Pochettino. Ideally a DoF who specialises in recruitment.
It’s hard to truly tell what exactly goes on in terms of recruitment and it’s pennies from heaven a lot of the time. Chicharito was basically signed up by the scouting team and all Sir Alex did was give the thumbs up. Maybe Sir Alex is working the recruitment side of things in a small way. He’s arguably the best in picking out players with the right mentality to play for a team.
And he is at most games even though he’s officially retired from the on field affairs. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had a semi active consultant role with the first team where he could pass judgment over potential new players Utd want to buy, or youth academy Utd want to promote. He is undoubtedly a workaholic and I don’t think he can resist not being involved. Warren Buffetts still going at 88 years old after all.
It’s hard to truly tell what exactly goes on in terms of recruitment and it’s pennies from heaven a lot of the time. Chicharito was basically signed up by the scouting team and all Sir Alex did was give the thumbs up. Maybe Sir Alex is working the recruitment side of things in a small way. He’s arguably the best in picking out players with the right mentality to play for a team.
And he is at most games even though he’s officially retired from the on field affairs. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had a semi active consultant role with the first team where he could pass judgment over potential new players Utd want to buy, or youth academy Utd want to promote. He is undoubtedly a workaholic and I don’t think he can resist not being involved. Warren Buffetts still going at 88 years old after all.
I don't think we need a DOF!
The appointed manager should tell the board what kind of players he needs. Then the scouts, board and manager should look at the available options! I don't see why a DOF should be involved, I like the way Sir Alex managed the team and new players. Personal contact between manager and player in interest and see if it's the right one for the club
The appointed manager should tell the board what kind of players he needs. Then the scouts, board and manager should look at the available options! I don't see why a DOF should be involved, I like the way Sir Alex managed the team and new players. Personal contact between manager and player in interest and see if it's the right one for the club
That's not really true at all, players change their minds often and also depending on the player / clubs involved they can be complex and dragged out.
Sorry but rushing the appointment makes no sense, I've no problem giving it til May / June to appointment someone. Too many folks are over eager and expect instant gratification. Whenever, if at all a DoF is appointed we are still looking at a minimum of 2 years to be back realistically challenging for a league.
There's no quick fixes here really but I do agree about the lack of transparency. This has been a problem for a long, long time at United. I've supported for approx 30 years and can't recall it ever being any different.
I don't think we need a DOF!
The appointed manager should tell the board what kind of players he needs. Then the scouts, board and manager should look at the available options! I don't see why a DOF should be involved, I like the way Sir Alex managed the team and new players. Personal contact between manager and player in interest and see if it's the right one for the club
With Fergie you had continuity because you knew he was going to be in the job for the long term and he could man manage his way out of tricky situations, he also got it right more often than not. These days, managers at the top level seldom stay more than 3-4 seasons, having a manager build a team based on his philosophy is good until he leaves/gets sacked and then you need to rebuild the team. A DOF will give us continuity to some extent and gives us an identity something which we've had a crisis with in recent years.
It might go tits up for Ole next season, do we really need another transitional period?
I don't think we need a DOF!
The appointed manager should tell the board what kind of players he needs. Then the scouts, board and manager should look at the available options! I don't see why a DOF should be involved, I like the way Sir Alex managed the team and new players. Personal contact between manager and player in interest and see if it's the right one for the club
Only works if the manager is there for a very long time. Also if you have someone who picks managers with similar needs (like a DOF would do)
We absolutely need a director of football, Woodward and the Glazer's have been the only consistent figures making the decisions at the club the past few years and we've been dreadful, well below par.
We know Ole is going to get the manager job so they can take their time finding the right director of football.
We know Ole is going to get the manager job so they can take their time finding the right director of football.
We might be taking a DoF from another club, in which case you would expect it to be done very quietly, or even wait until the season is finished. I'm not surprised by the lack of news, though with Woodward / Glazers I'm not confident it will be done successfully.
No DoF means investment banker and accountant Ed Woodward has much of the authority a DoF would have. Not a good arrangement for a big club like Manchester United. Get a football expert in charge of football operations and let the bean counter be in charge of counting beans.
Well said. Hopefully they already have someone lined up anyway and perhaps have to wait until the season is finished.
Yeah sure and thank feck Ed Woodward blocked Jose desires to sell Martial, Sell Pogba, buy Perisic for 70mill, buy Willian for 70-80mill, buy Maguire for 70mill. These players simply are not good enough for Man Utd and Woodward must have some football guys advising him otherwise we would of signed these donuts. Crazy huh?
1. And surely only Woodward would be the only "DoF" in the World that would have made those decisions?
2. We do not know for certain what players we wanted and what really happens behind the curtain.
3. Fred.
4. Sanchez.
5. Renewing the previous manager's contract then not backing him.
6. Size of some of the contracts handed out; Fellaini, Rojo, Fred, Sanchez, Shaw, Smalling, Lukaku (Matt Judge might be the one responsible for this)
I think for us to be competitive again, Ed has to go. The failure post- SAF is on him as much as it was on the managers.
People blaming Ed for Sanchez now, really ?
With the form he was in, everyone of us was in favor of it especially with Mikhi going thay way.
With the form he was in, everyone of us was in favor of it especially with Mikhi going thay way.
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