The difference for me is that Barcelona had the people to look at Guardiola's work on a daily basis and decide there was another there to take a chance on him. Do we really have the people to make a similar judgement on Solskjaer?
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
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The difference for me is that Barcelona had the people to look at Guardiola's work on a daily basis and decide there was another there to take a chance on him. Do we really have the people to make a similar judgement on Solskjaer?
Unfortunately we're are not privy to that information yet. But I hope it's similar to the setup that the RedBull clubs have in Austria and Germany. A Dof working closely with Ole, and a head of recruitment who would have the rest of the scouts reporting to him.
Bout and Murtough are could candidates for the head of recruitment role..
If Edwin van der Sar is interested, it would bring in a hard working football man, also with business skills and lot of experience.
Amazing work in Ajax. Would fit Ole`s style and build a great academy.
Amazing work in Ajax. Would fit Ole`s style and build a great academy.
How do you really know what's going on at Ed's desk?
The difference is, they're run as a FC and we're run as a business by the 6 Glazer siblings. The issue isn't Woodward but the Glazers. If we had a owner who ran the club as an actual football club, we'd have a very comparable football structure to Barcelona.
Being run as a business has very little to do with the structure that we currently have. That's a strange point to make particularly when our structure is typically british and goes against everything that the biggest sport businesses do which are american sport where the structure is extremely specialized. In reality United has the least business like organization that you could imagine and it's obvious when you consider the money wasted on wages for average players, a business would have gutted that team a long time ago.
Just give the job to me FFS.
Exactly.
After months of being interested in a potential DOF/Technical Director, we end up with Phelan getting the gig because he asked for it. Now this may turn out to be a good decision if it happens but with Woodward its more likely that this will also go tits up. It was reported that Jose said no to the idea of a technical director in the summer, well I can be absolutely sure that Phelan wasn't even in the conversation then.
Our football structure has never been similar to clubs like Barcelona and Madrid. Those two clubs we can more than match when it comes to revenue but our actual football structure hasn't been on par with them at all. Why? Because as a PLC even Fergie suffered because he was handicapped in the transfer market because non footballing men were over ruling him. We had a poor structure with a out of date scouting network is the truth. Our structure was in the mind of our great manager and when he retired the cupboard was almost empty.
We're starting to make moves now possibly, but don't hold your breath with the Glazers in charge. Because at elite level clubs which run as football clubs, there's actually alot of opinions that are taken on board to take the club to the very top. At a club run as a business, being commercially successful is of paramount importance.
My biggest fear post SAF was we'd become Liverpool.
Seems this is the path we are on.
Seems this is the path we are on.
Phelan at the helm? Bit of a wierd appointment, by all accounts a good coach but...
Yes because United isn't a continental club, we have a typically british structure. It has nothing to do with being a business.
Nah, feck that. We're becoming City in the 90s.
I'm British born and bred and our structure will have to change if we want to bang with the big boys.
Liverpool was close to winning title few times. We're not even on that level.
I totally agree but you initially said that our structure was the fruit of the club being a business which is wrong, our organization is old school british which in today's game is in my opinion reckless. If the Glazers treated the club as a serious business they would have changed the structure a long time ago and they would be a lot more ruthless particularly when it comes to contract management. Clubs like Arsenal and Tottenham are businesses and they are managed totally differently from a structural standpoint but also in the way finances are controlled.
I personally suspect that the Glazers like smooth sailing and have been reluctant to rock the boat which is why they kept that structure that is very unfamiliar for American sports owners and it's worth remembering that they don't use it for the Bucs, they have the same top heavy structure that you would find in continental or american clubs.
Two second place finishes in twenty years? We've had one in the last two years.
Or Leeds in the 80s. They went through a host of Old Boys as managers.
What descriptions are the club giving? Your assumptions seem baseless to me.
We've actually never had a structure to match the big clubs in Europe. Our structure was so bad that when the great man retired it call came crashing down, because everything was stored in his brain. There was no accountability from the top, was the reason for that, because we were winning and the business was thriving and Gill was sucking up to the Glazers.
Under a different owner who wants to go the extra mile to win the biggest prizes in football, there would be accountability and people would be dismissed.
Currently there seems to be a drive at the bottom to take the club back where it belongs from a footballing perspective. But the same drive and ambition is missing from the top, because our 6 owners are happy as long as we stay top 4. Until we as a club come together as a whole and are on the same wavelength, we won't be challenging every season like we should, under our current owners.
Yeah, if you don't evolve with time you are going to get left behind and that's what exactly is happening now when they failed to get best candidates for the job because of their structure and ambition itself.
I think that Ole, Mike and the coaches know what they want the body of players to do, but the body isn’t responding. The parts are either knackered or incompatible.
Just gotta hope it gets sorted in the summer. A lot of players need to go.
Just gotta hope it gets sorted in the summer. A lot of players need to go.
Who could the possible internal appointment that isn't Phelan be?
Yeah, doesn't really make sense with him doing such a good job at getting the academy in order, I'd rather he continue to develop that
I think it is safe to say that no one in the media has a clue about who is going to be appointed Technical Director, I wouldn't be averse to Phelan getting the job but just worries me that he has only operated at an Australian team and Utd is a totally different level.
And what experience did he have before that role?
Also my understanding was he just on an advisory role at go ahead, on a voluntary basis, so nothing like his role in Ajax, the fact he was a shareholder at the club assisted this role.
The fact remains the parallels with Phelan are there.
Completely right. Many new managers who cant get it right, underlying structural problems - Transfers in all directions, to different kind of squad-types/managers. There should be a lot to be learned from them one would think. Are we at the Dalglish stage now or is Ole better?
I think there is too much focus on who does this role tbh. It’s not that complicated.
Ensure that the club plays a similar style from youth team to first team with a clear pathway.
Identify gaps in the first team squad which a youth team player isn’t able to fill.
Take the advice of the numerous scouts and target those players you think would improve the first team.
Contracts and purchases aren’t actually negotiated by a DOF. That is still handled by lawyers and accountants at every club.
The big problem we’ve had is the huge philosophical swings from manager to manager. Simply having a DOF should ensure consistent progression even if Ole doesn’t work out as the coach.
Ensure that the club plays a similar style from youth team to first team with a clear pathway.
Identify gaps in the first team squad which a youth team player isn’t able to fill.
Take the advice of the numerous scouts and target those players you think would improve the first team.
Contracts and purchases aren’t actually negotiated by a DOF. That is still handled by lawyers and accountants at every club.
The big problem we’ve had is the huge philosophical swings from manager to manager. Simply having a DOF should ensure consistent progression even if Ole doesn’t work out as the coach.
United would have to implement a playing philosophy all over the club, to make it work. We do not have the brains needed to work out such an philosphy. Ed does not even know what this word means...
Why are people here so surprised and upset that they have businessmen running a business as a business? Which is essentially what is happening. In business it is not always sensible to 'speculate to accumulate'.
Money is money, and just because it's not your money and you do not physically see it or spend it, doesn't mean the Glazers should spend even more ridiculous amounts of money because you can't win a metal pot or two without it, which is how they would justifiably see it.
Money is money, and just because it's not your money and you do not physically see it or spend it, doesn't mean the Glazers should spend even more ridiculous amounts of money because you can't win a metal pot or two without it, which is how they would justifiably see it.
No one knows what's going on including Ed it seems. We went to a headhunting firm earlier this season for a DoF and we asked more questions about what a DoF is supposed to do that actually look for one. We didn't even know what we wanted. This was around the time Moaninho was sacked.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/sports/manchester-united-solskjaer.html
And when you're not bothered about even trying to compete for those metal pots, don't be surprised when supporters stop spending ridiculous amounts of money to watch 11 men run around a field on TV or at the stadium every weekend and the revenue for your business starts declining.
The business of Manchester United won't keep making money forever as the football team gets worse and worse. The business exists because of the football, not in spite of it.
Good point
They will not be surprised, but they will not spend disproportionately more either (correctly). They will either cut cloth as a lot of people with a business do, infuriating fans further and/or sell up, for the whole cycle to begin again.
I don't envy club owners, and I do not know why anyone would want to own a large club. Football fans act like it's monopoly money. Absolutely ridiculous.
While I'm at it, having an owner come in, spend huge amounts of money and then be hounded out for someone else when they are no longer willing to do it, is exactly the same as having one owner come in and spend huge amounts of money for many years.
The reality is there are only two types of owners: Sugar daddies and businessmen/women who are in it to make money, which is the point of business. Some truly care about the club and will make allowances to make a little less money, but those are rare. You are deriding the Glazers for being businessmen, which simply means you are after a sugar daddy. Except that is unconscionable for you so you pretend otherwise.
Finally, having an owner bankroll a few huge spending sprees, then being hounded out when no longer willing to do it, so another person/people can do the same, then another person ad infinitum is essentially sugar-daddyism anyway, so if people here want that, you're still no different to City fans.
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They have put absolutely none of their own money into the club and taken huge sums out. You're acting like they're some sort of hard done by victims here.
They obviously aren’t serious about the position we had the perfect candidate walk out to fecking Zenit because he had zero input.
Woodward wants a yes man who he can control, a high profile director won’t stand for that hence they are looking to appoint from within.
Woodward wants a yes man who he can control, a high profile director won’t stand for that hence they are looking to appoint from within.
Why would Ribalta be the perfect candidate?
One of the best chief scouts in Europe who’s worked at high profile clubs (us and Juve). Would have walked straight into the job.
A chief scout isn't a DOF and why Juventus let him go since they decided a year later to let Marotta go and promote their DOF?
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