Has he actually worked as a DOF before though?
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
- Thread starter RedMachine03
- Start date
- Status
When we put him in that role during the scouting restructure that had us hire tons of scouts across Europe over the past 3 years.
The last line is simply not true and its been said plenty of times that the handing over of a list isn't actually how it works. The list is developed by the scouting team plus the manager.
This threads name, considering how long ago it started, is the perfect resume for the situation.
Exactly 1 year ago, Mar 29, 2018...Happy birthday?
Exactly 1 year ago, Mar 29, 2018...Happy birthday?
He hasn't been a DOF like Mitchell or VDS who are in the same boat. Bout does seem like someone who could step into the role due to his knowledge of European leagues and I think the club are fully aware of that. An internal appointment could also be very beneficial too.
I dunno, I'd like to see someone come in from the outside who has real experience in the role and who would negotiate some power into their deal in order to not be under Woodward's thumb, rather than someone that is already inside Woodward's vacuum.
1) I never said signings are only based on social media impact, I said that is a significant factor for him. I suspect most CEOs do not do that, do you think LVG called United a business and Bayern a football club just for fun or did it imply something about the priorities at the club.
Most CEOs in football understand that success brings marketability, not tractor sponsorships and social media impact. Woodward on the other hand believes that our performance on the pitch is not strongly linked to our performance off the pitch, which is astonishing to hear from an investment banker. He is effectively saying that the product you are selling doesn't matter.
2) Woodward doesn't have a clue who to buy, he just picks and chooses when to listen to the manager. A CEO that sanctioned signings such as Di Maria, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Zlatan, Mkhi and Sanchez all of a sudden cares about player longevity. I'm sure he was thinking about longevity when approving these transfers
Could Mike step in the DoF position ?!
With the Glaziers in charge I can't see a Monchi or Zorc type DOF coming in sadly..
Gonna be a lapdog for Woodward more or less, with the same people having the final say in transfers (Woodward and board) and the same people negotiating the contracts (Matt Judge). So basically the same as before, but now people will blame the Technical director instead of Woodward/board since they are less likely to turn on OGS than the previous managers.
Lap dogs for the Glazers, Glazers are the route cause of the issues and not Woodward.
That could be a big issue IMO, long term.
A year on and the press are still guessing at this like they do with our transfers.
Should we worry about that? There is no particular merit for someone coming from outside, a club like Lyon is made of insiders from top to bottom and they are well run, someone like Monchi was an insider at Sevilla, Abidal is an insider at Barcelona, what actually matters is to have someone competent. I say that even though I would myself pick Luis Campos.
And to add to this, the academy needed a revamp and the club ultimately gave that mission to Butt after almost a year of thinking and people losing patience, we can all agree on the fact that he is doing a good job.
Actually woodward can do himself a world of favor by appointing someone and be the power broker behind the curtain. That way he can shift the blame. It’s a guess but I think we will get a DoF close to August and woodie will save himself by projecting again.
HIV or Aids, Same issue. Easier to put the blame on Woodward as he was one of the people that orchestrated the takeover. If it is Arnold, Woodward or the Glazers that are weighing in on footballrelated decisions we can't know due to lack of transparency.
If you really want to perform a root cause analysis for why we are in this sh*t, we could trace this back to a disputed ownership over a certain racehorse.
If we were going to get a DoF with responsibility over the football at United, and not a lapdog with no real authority, then Luis Campos would be the one.
Woodward is employed by the Glazers who bought the club to make money. Woodward has done a fantastic job for them regards making money. Don't expect us to operate like Barca, Madrid, City or Bayern under their ownership. It's pointless crying over Woodward when the Glazers call the shots.
It has nothing to do with the dispute over the horse. Try looking into Martin Edwards and how the club was floated on the stock market if you really want to know how we ended up in this predicament.
What do you mean?
I have seen some articles and comments that the Glazers are micromanaging economical decisions related to football, and some that states that Woodward is the making some decisions. I will concide that when taking their ownership over their NFL team into consideration they are the ones most likely to make the big calls. But at the same time, Woodward is the one they are talking with at the club. But with the lack of transparency we can not really know who made what decision and so on.
Never expected us to operate like Barca, Madrid and the likes under this ownership, as they are in it for the trophies while we are in it for the £££ ($$$$). It is not like the Glazers are interested in football, do not think their interest in Eggball is their reason for owning Tampa Buccs either (a team that is not exactly doing well).
Putting the club on the stockmarket predates the racehorse dispute. I must concur, your rootcause predates mine.
Our actual scouts are pants I think you meant to say.
Ole knows this club better than any DoF and I completely trust him with signings.
If he does shite and gets sacked in a couple of years, just make him DoF and get him to hire a better version of himself as manager.
If he does shite and gets sacked in a couple of years, just make him DoF and get him to hire a better version of himself as manager.
Knowing the club better than any DoF doesn't mean he knows the transfer market better.
If he got sacked, it would be partially down to wrong signings. Why would you trust him to hire a better version of himself and the right signings going forward?
Your post doesn't make sense!
I am sorry but you have got it totally wrong. #1 #2 related to Mission Statement of a Club, which you only need to do it once at Board level. Job of DOF or whoever, is to ensure this is vigorously executed. Even when you hire a new Coach every 2 years, you only need to screen the candidates once every 2 years. If the rumour is true that Woody is hiring a Technical Dir instead of a DOF, most likely this task will be handled by him instead of the new TD.
#3 is his job.
I believe #4 potential transfer list is not obtained from manager, but the other way round. Coach identify areas of reinforcement, scouts provides a long list, DOF shorter it down to a dozen and discuss with the Coach. You can argue DOF has more influence on this matters because he filter the list first, but I believe the Coach should have the final say on the last few names, provided they are affordable.
DOF/TD should be responsible on negotiation. Unless Woody thinks he is a good negotiator so he might do the work himself and using TD as his advisor. Don't know how complicated is the negotiation business, so can't say whether Woody is the best man for the task if adequately assisted. After all any decision needs to go back to Woody for financial implication.
#9 #10 must be a joint decision between Coach, TD, Woody. For argument sake, if the new Coach wants a keeper that can dribble, what to do with DDG? May be such discussion should be made during Coach recruitment process... Sanchez case is easier to handle, if Woody wants to keep Sanchez because no chance of getting rid of him, Ole has no choice but to keep him on the bench. Only implication is financial but since you can't get rid of him anyway so no true impact.
Phelan already has a Sporting Director role in Australia, so he has a little experience of the role already. A potential candidate, but do we want to lose him as a coach? Depends on how much the coaching is done by McKenna and Carrick now. I mean, just what exactly does Mike Phelan do??Could Mike step in the DoF position ?!
This isn’t happening. And it’s abundantly clear it isn’t happening now. Just listen to Ole’s interviews. Says it all. He’s being given full license. He isn’t used to working with a DoF, and we’re foolish enough to give him all that responsibility.
I’m not kicking up a strop here. I’m not trying to be negative for no reason. I’m actually furious. We’re setting Ole up for failure. The fourth manager on the trot. It’s time for proper protests.
I’m not kicking up a strop here. I’m not trying to be negative for no reason. I’m actually furious. We’re setting Ole up for failure. The fourth manager on the trot. It’s time for proper protests.
I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon
It’s called humour mate. Calm down.
That being said. How does a DoF know the market better than a manager, head coach or CEO?
How do you know if Ole got sacked it would be partially due to the wrong signings?
How does a DoF from Seville know a United player better than Ole?
How do you judge the quality of a DoF signings when they’re then immediately placed in the hands of the manager?
And if Ole was made DoF he’d then suddenly know more about the market, by your logic.
It’s like everything else, it’s about having the right people making the right decisions. Not about structure.
This Cult of DoF is getting beyond ridiculous now.
Last edited:
Sorry mate! My sarcasm sensor were off
Is this the worst thread ever? Probably.
Sorry mate! My sarcasm sensor were off
See edit though. Wasn’t entirely being sarcastic so the debate could continue.
I would rather it be an ex player.
Having no DOF has been our achilles heel since SAF retired. The powers that be who have refused to acknowledge and act upon this has ultimately cost our club dearly and i fear it will continue to do so in the future until it's been addressed.. The stark reality is that in the grand scheme of things, for what would be a relative small outlay to employ a DOF, the payoff could be massive if the right man is employed. My vote would be for Paul Mitchell who is a local lad with the required knowledge & experience that has been gained here at home and along in Germany with great success.
Last edited by a moderator:
You hit the nail on the head there.
Interesting read here if true, but cant see it myself.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...-United-news-Ed-Woodward-Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...-United-news-Ed-Woodward-Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer
It is based on the article by Mitten, wouldn't be surprised if it is true.
It is a frankly stupid article for two reasons, first Woodward is the CEO,c he is the one signing the checks and Mourinho said himself that he was the one providing the list of targets.
It would be the right way forward for Utd without a DOF, although giving one man all the power could be negative as well. I would prefer a DOF with view overall of how the club runs now and in 5 years and 10 years time. A manager (any manager not specifically Ole) who is on a short term contract will mainly concentrate on the now, to protect his job and this could be detrimental to the longevity of the club going forward.
For me, there are three reasons.
1) It's another respected opinion that isn't too close to the players. Ole and the scouts can bounce ideas off him.
2) He takes a longer term view while managers generally want instant success. (Ole is different, but what if he is sacked?)
3) Delegation. Mid season Ole spends most of his time managing. A DoF would spend most of his time on other aspects. Not enough time in the day for one person to do everything, and quality would suffer. Football is moving towards 'specialising' like most of the world.
Extremely underwhelming if true
- Status