Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
- Thread starter RedMachine03
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We have reports on loads of similarly talented players who didn't progress as they have. Just part of the game. Every youth player is a massive risk.
Expecting a briefing on this shortly to deflect from the clownshow.
Is a technical director the same thing?
Basically yes. They are just job titles though. Mike Phelan could be appointed king of Manchester United, but it depends what powers he is given.
I am now prepared to accept that Phelan may have done a bit more than put out the cones. But DOF? I have considerable doubts
I am not surprised one bit. We let go of Javier Ribalta who knew the scouting market inside out instead of letting him have a go at being a sporting director. Now we are looking at Mike Phelan for the job. I remember reading that the board didn't fancy any of the DoFs out there.
Arsenal got one of Barcelona's directors to ease the post-Wenger transition. It's absolute nonsense that there are no good DoFs out there, we just don't want them because they are too involved in the running of the club. They want someone with limited powers.
Berta was linked to us and many even doubted him, and he's a experienced DoF.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that people will also doubt Phelan. Two of the best technical director's in football are ex players (Monchi/Zorc)at Sevilla and Dortmund. Currently little Ajax who only turn over £79m a year are punching above their weight with ex player Marc Overmars as the DoF.
Instead of losing your minds over the potential Phelan appointment, give him and the club some time, before you jump the gun and start criticizing him and the club.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that people will also doubt Phelan. Two of the best technical director's in football are ex players (Monchi/Zorc)at Sevilla and Dortmund. Currently little Ajax who only turn over £79m a year are punching above their weight with ex player Marc Overmars as the DoF.
Instead of losing your minds over the potential Phelan appointment, give him and the club some time, before you jump the gun and start criticizing him and the club.
You are a shill. Talking about giving the club time when we are 6 years post-SAF. You'll be talking about giving them time 4 years from now when we are still looking for the next SAF 10 years after his departure.
And a completely different environment and level but, he was a sporting director in Australia.
People have waited 26 years never mind 6. Too many of you have been spoiled over the years and have no patience. If it wasn't for patience, then even the great SAF would've been fired by United, because there was plenty like you who lost patience and had plastered 'Fergie out' at the cliffe..
We are not Sevilla or Dortmund. We already wasted years experimenting especially when it comes to transfers. We should have gone for someone with a bit more pedigree in this position. Watch Arsenal or Chelsea sign Mitchell, whilst we sat here being all sentimental because besides his shitty little spell in Australia he has done nothing to deserve this position.
Before someone chimes in saying oh he was Fergies assistant. So was Steve McClaren. I’d say when Phelan replaced Carlos Querioz in 2008 our recruitment took a massive shit. Querioz recommended the likes of Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson and Tevez. He got Fergie to play a more continental style especially away from home in Europe. We signed our first holding midfield under Fergie due to Querioz influence.
It’s just another lazy appointment by us. We going to go out and overspent on overrated English talent most likely. We’d have more players with crap technique alongside Jones, Smalling and Young.
It's the perfect move by Phelan. Very Game of Thrones.
The scrambling clueless board is under pressure, desperate to keep fan favourite Mike Phelan but he's clever, he doesn't want the assistant manager position! How about that DOF? Very cushy job, all of the fun of signing players and none of the responsibility.
And when the eventual failure of OGS comes, he doesn't get sacked along with him.
Well played, Sir Shorts.
The point was, that Monchi and Zorc were inexperienced technical director's and today they're considered amongst the best in the business.
Phelan may or may not be good at the job, I don't know, neither do any of you guys. But at least be patient, because constantly showing displeasure at anything that is a in-house appointment isn't gonna change anything.
And as far as Phelan signing only English players etc is concerned. I think the ones we've been linked to, by the decent sources who follow the club, Sancho, Hudson Odoi, Aaron Wan Bissaka, Declan Rice etc are the players people want at the club. Do you think they aren't technically good enough?
I don’t understand the logic of this club. Let’s appoint a guy who was Assistant to SAF during his last five years, three of which (IMO) we played some of the worst football in his reign, followed by two terrible managerial spells, as the director of football at one of the biggest clubs in world football!?! Just because he’s been around Sir Alex a bit?!?
All the while at Leipzig, we have Paul Mitchell, a guy from Manchester, who has excelled at a role similar to the one we are hiring for, at three different clubs.
All the while at Leipzig, we have Paul Mitchell, a guy from Manchester, who has excelled at a role similar to the one we are hiring for, at three different clubs.
Jury is out on AWB and Rice.
Chelsea won’t sell us Odoi. Sancho will cost a bomb and is the only one who can be world class out the lot and him joining alone won’t solve our problems.
If we sign all four, I don’t see us going suddenly title challengers and we’d still be fighting for top four. We should be looking to sign the best just like Man City did when they came along. They signed Yaya, Aguero and Silva. Three of the best players in their respective positions in Europe and at the right age most importantly. We can’t just experiment. Real Madrid certainly won’t be experimenting this summer.
You seem to think he will only target English players. But he will target foreign players too with the input from Ole and the scouts. He's not gonna just start signing players on his own accord.
We should get Frieza.
He'd scare them.
He'd scare them.
jesus christ
Hopefully it's one of those teasers that Woodward put out there, to gauge the reaction of the fans...we're not happy , you rancid t**t!
Happy with Phelan as Ole's assistant, seemed to work well at the beginning there & SAF certainly seemed to rate him.
As a DOF? Absolutely not. This is a huge job, for me we need some pedigree there to give our already inexperienced managerial team a fighting chance of pulling this off.
Mitchell seems to make far too much sense.
As a DOF? Absolutely not. This is a huge job, for me we need some pedigree there to give our already inexperienced managerial team a fighting chance of pulling this off.
Mitchell seems to make far too much sense.
Another baffling decision by the board if true. Really seems like they wanted to save money hire people from the inside. Oh well..
Where is your patience for Mourinho then?
You know, the guy who led us to second place? Shouldn't you wait 26 years for him to come good?
We need to hire someone who is going to come in with a clean slate to make their own decisions, one of which might be the hiring of a new manager. I don't see Phelan as that person.
Has Phelan failed like Mourinho did? Did Phelan have the biggest club in England with a minus goal difference like Mourinho?
I had a lot of patience for a cnut like Mourinho, even after seeing the shit on a stick type of football he had us playing. I was patient with that shitty football for 2 years.
Phelan hasn't even got started yet and the knives are out. I take it you think he isn't the correct appointment? Who would you prefer?
Our club failed for over 6 years. Woodward has failed for over 6 years. Your patience for them is astounding, and you were screaming for Mourinho to be out well before 2 years.
I never wanted Mourinho here, my posts from 2016 will attest to that. Phelan is a United man and deserves some patience because a technical director's role isn't about getting results straight away. It's about the long term strategy.
Who would you have over Phelan?
So you didn't back our club's manager appointment since day one, and insisted on getting rid of what turned out to be our best manager since Fergie on hindsight immediately.
And now you want to demand patience for some rando appointment with no clout and preaching long term strategy? What a laugh. The irony.
Who would we have over Mike Phelan? For Technical Director? Do you want people to just start naming every successful Sporting Director/Director of Football in world football today?
This club will be the death of me. It’s as if we want to be shit. Can’t believe how we are still going backwards.There's a difference between a manager and DoF. The manager in the modern game has very little time in comparison to a technical director. The technical director sets out a long term vision for the club which involves the youth team and style of play which goes all the way down to the youth team(s). So yes, patience is required for such a role to see it bear fruit.
Mourinho had over two years and failed after being backed to the tune of £400m? I never wanted him, because I had a good idea it was gonna be a disaster.
If Phelan after two seasons isn't showing signs of improvement then his position will also come under scruitiny. But to start crying before he's even been appointed is silly, because we don't know how capable he is of doing the job. But I guess the people within the set up have a good idea..
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First, I don't think anyone's crying over this. I can't speak for others, but at this point if this rumor comes to fruition I'd just sigh deeply and mark this down as another sign of an organization that doesn't know what the feck they're doing.
The bolded point I do want to address though. The reason people have a problem with this rumor is precisely because of your bolded statement. We don't have a clue how capable he is because he has basically no relevant experience performing this job, lest anyone bring up a 5 month tenure at fecking Central Coast Mariners. For a job of this importance, for which we've never had a dedicated employee, I would be just a little more comforted as a supporter of the club if we hired someone who has proven they're capable of doing the job...preferably at a high level and not at the worst team in the Australian League.
If people want to reserve judgment in order to hold out hope that Phelan is actually some sort of savant that becomes part of the solution to our woes, that's fine. I just don't have the faith in this club's leadership to be able to do that myself.
People in this thread have already been calling for the club to appoint Paul Mitchell and Edwin Van Der Sar as technical directors. Both chaps have never been technical directors. Mitchell is basically a scout who has been promoted as the head of recruitment. And Van Der Sar is the marketing man at Ajax, whilst Marc Overmars is the DoF.
Murtough and Bout can do the job of Mitchell. And Van der Sar isn't someone we need to market the club.
Sure. I and many others have made the same points about Mitchell and literally the same point about VDS, although he hasn't been in marketing for going on 3 years now. The guy's the Chairman of Ajax. Neither one is the greatest fit for the role but I'd much rather have both over Phelan. VDS has overseen a modernized Footballing Operations organization at Ajax and, if you carry out the hypothetical, I could see him trying to emulate that here. Mitchell is both well-connected and very well-regarded in the scouting world. They both bring direct experience at elements of the job even if they haven't done the job itself like a Paratici or Berta. Phelan does not.
As far as Murtough and Bout being able to do the job of Mitchell, let me ask, who's the head of first-team recruitment currently? Like, who is the primary guy that Woodward, Judge and now OGS would talk to? Is it Murtough, Bout, Jim Lawlor, Steve Brown? Can you answer that question confidently? I ask because I have no idea who our current head of first-team recruitment even is. I also don't know if Murtough or Bout can do the job of Mitchell, but based on everything I've read and seen with Mitchell, I'd rather have him in place and heading that department.
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Alot of Ajax's success is down to their DoF Overmars according to a Dutch friend of mine who is a big Ajax fan.
A head of recruitment will be put in place once we appoint the DoF. We don't need Mitchell because like I said in my previous post, Murtough and Bout are more than capable of doing his role. Murtough has a fantastic track record and Bout's expertise in scouting is well respected in clubs like Bayern and even with in the Dutch setup.
Either one is more than capable of being the head of recruitment. That's if we do go with that setup.
We need help from the outside. This doesn't look good
Yes this is a very good point . I can't believe we are being held at ransom by Mike Phelan . The worst part is that the board might cave in and give him the job considering how incompetent they are . I would much rather get Carlos Querioz as sporting director since he always had an eye for talent and a proper footballing plan whenever he was with us .
So none of the more experienced ones out there did impress but Phelan do? He might be a genius in that position for all we know but it seems extremely underwhelming at first glance.
Phelan.
The buffoonery at this club knows no end.
The buffoonery at this club knows no end.
Will Phelan do contract negotiations in his shorts?
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