Having a DoF minimizes the need to revamp the squad everytime the manager leaves (on average 1-3 years). No club has the finances to do a rebuild of the team every 1-3 years as the manager wishes.
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
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It will be that tub of lard Mino Raiola. He can convince Ed to sign anyone he represents, and be in the prime position to offer his snake like services (in fairness he must be great for the people he does actually represent) to younger players.
Then, after his first pile of cash for signing each player, he can wait a couple of years and then tell Ed to sell them as it isn’t working out and get another pile of cash when they go.
Then, after his first pile of cash for signing each player, he can wait a couple of years and then tell Ed to sell them as it isn’t working out and get another pile of cash when they go.
Just because there is a DOF doesn't mean the manager doesn't pick players he wants. It just means those players the manager wants, must fit the profile of the philosophy the DOF has for the club.
I'm all for a DOF if that DOF's philosophy is a consistent approach for attacking football.
Finally - We need to look at the bigger picture and see that we probably wont have one man in charge for more than 2-4 years. One manager can be so different in style from the previous.
We can't just start over again every time we hire a new manager.
We can't just start over again every time we hire a new manager.
What if employing the services of DoF results in bad transfers and ultimately results. Sack the head coach or DoF? Basically, more layers of the blame game to surface.
The DOF needs to understand that our brand of play has always been to play direct-attacking football - entertaining football - since the Busby Babes this was the soul of our football club. But a new DOF also needs to understand that what also made us succesfull under Fergie was that we were able to adapt and play defensive when needed. Fergie was great at taking bits and pieces from other clubs styles to adapt when needed.
So we basically need another Fergie, Not a DoF?
Hallelujah! Look a DOF is not a cure all; they're still going to make bad decisions but it does in theory provide stability and most importantly vision.
Maybe, but I'd argue that right now Ed Woodward is doing a job he knows not much of. He's a business man - and that's also why we've wrongly hired Van Gaal and Moyes. Also a DOF can make a manager focus more on his job.
I'm not sure if it'll gel well with Mourinho though, as his style is just too defensive to what our brand of football historically has been. But I'm sure a manager will get his say too. The good thing is that in the future we probably just hire a manager fitted for our style in the first place.
Step in the right direction but really stupid to do it now and not when the previous season ended 
People are failing to realise why we need a DOF.
The DOF will be there for continuity, when Jose leaves the DOF and the board will appoint a manager with the SAME vision as the club (and DOF) thus the DOF and the manager will work together on transfers. Ed will obviously have a say. HE IS the CEO and certain decision will be given the final stamp by him. Most probably the DOF will be appointed later this year and either Jose sticks by this new guys vision or he will leave nxt year.
Thanks to a DOF when a manager leaves this wont be disastrous as the club will retain a new manager with the same vision but maybe different man management and ideas, thus they will be continuity, we wont have the problem that we just had i.e. appointing 3 completely different managers thus every manager had to change half the team!
The DOF will be there for continuity, when Jose leaves the DOF and the board will appoint a manager with the SAME vision as the club (and DOF) thus the DOF and the manager will work together on transfers. Ed will obviously have a say. HE IS the CEO and certain decision will be given the final stamp by him. Most probably the DOF will be appointed later this year and either Jose sticks by this new guys vision or he will leave nxt year.
Thanks to a DOF when a manager leaves this wont be disastrous as the club will retain a new manager with the same vision but maybe different man management and ideas, thus they will be continuity, we wont have the problem that we just had i.e. appointing 3 completely different managers thus every manager had to change half the team!
So basically the new DOF needs to hire Jardim.
Hopefully with input from his improved army of scouts. If not what are they for?
Who wouldn't want that - but there will never be another Fergie. We need to adjust to a scenario where we probably will change managers 5-10 times over the next 25 years.
if 5 years ago we had a dof and he vetoed those name he will be booed out of old trafford.
Yep. The DOF can more easily be shackled by the board.
I'm not against a DoF.
I'm just questioning the fact that we could employ another dud for DoF and be in the same situation or worse. The DoF and head coach starts blaming each other for the teams' downfall. The coach saying he doesn't have the players he requires and DoF saying he's not good at coaching. Who then gets the sack?
Woodward ran the marketing side from 2007. We were already the richest club then. You can consult this table:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes'_list_of_the_most_valuable_football_clubs
In fact between 2013 and 2016, under his stewardship, we dipped below Real and Barca both in terms of total value as a club and in terms of revenue generated.
Woodward is credited with almost tripling the club's commercial revenue from 2007, when he took over his commercial role, to 2012. Which is true and he did a good job, but he didn't do a better job than his peers from what I can see. Football went global and penetrated emerging markets in this last decade, which is where all the growth came from. We were riding a wave and we took a slice of the pie commensurate to our status as club when the wave started.
Again, I'm not saying he did a bad job or that he's not good in the commercial side of business. I'm just putting some perspective into this "commercial genius" saga. A lot hedge fun portfolio managers and CEOs tend to be indiscriminately branded geniuses for generating large profits when they just ride the high waves of their respective markets without delivering a return higher than the next guy in the same position as them. That's not to say that they aren't knowledgeable in their field and don't deserve their jobs, but genius is stretching it.
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He has not been a failure at all, firstly the business side of things are going great better than they have ever been. Your if and buts are irrelevant, he is making the club a lot of money, on that no one can deny that no matter how much you dislike him. As for player acquisition, he has got the managers the players they want, which seems to be what people are moaning about. As for his judgement about the players, you don't need a ton of football knowledge to know good deals from ones that are not worth it. Also, it never helps to moan about players openly, the selling clubs know they can fleece us because of it. I am not bothered about this whole thing, we have a very good squad, time to get them playing some good stuff.
A DoF wouldn't just veto players though, he would sign others. He would have a strategy for which positions need strengthening, most likely built with the input of the manager, and pursue that. He wouldn't just receive a list from the manager, like Woody does, and just knock it back and go: "Nope, nope, nope on this one too. We're signing no one, feck it".
The DoF would be judged on the signings he brought in. Not the ones he vetoed.
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So that's what Ibra was talking about. Ibra as DoF confirmed
Every top flight club's business has been going better than it has ever been. Tottenham Hotspur are one of the 10 biggest clubs (financially) in the world now. Wolves have just spent 100m in the transfer market. I guess all those bosses have all been doing amazing jobs then. Alright.
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Board will have to sign all the players zlatan days then. We know who wins in a conversation with him.So that's what Ibra was talking about. Ibra as DoF confirmed
This discussion has been done for years and for most part people who are against it kind of seem to live in a bubble and don't know that football (and sports in general) seem to exist outside of United.
There was no offer made for Alderweireld, Godin played cat and mouse with us to get a contract renewal and rise. Boateng never wanted to come to us and we would not pay the money for Maguire. What Pogba has come out with is another matter and will continue until one or the other is reprimanded.
I do believe that all monies are being kept for a new manager, as the club and players are fed up with Mourinho's antics, and this is harming the good name of Manchester United. I can see a new manager appointed before Christmas. Yes a DOF is a good idea, but who.
I do believe that all monies are being kept for a new manager, as the club and players are fed up with Mourinho's antics, and this is harming the good name of Manchester United. I can see a new manager appointed before Christmas. Yes a DOF is a good idea, but who.
I'd argue it's quite obvious to tell when a coach isn't getting the best out of a set of great players, or what should be a great team.
I mean, look at us now. Do you think our tactics help or hinder our players?
I'm assuming Woodward signed the players Mourinho wanted over the last few seasons. This due to the fact Jose has not moaned previously about our transfer policy to this extent. What has changed this summer for Woodward to disagree with Mourinho, if that is the case?
I'm keen on the idea of a DoF but in the end, the guy with the chequebook (or contactless card in this day and age) always get the final say. No matter how many layers of complexity you want to add to your management structure.
I don't believe for a second that Fergie got 100% of the transfers he asked for.
I don't believe for a second that Fergie got 100% of the transfers he asked for.
I'm afraid, it will be Poch, too similar to United's old day of attacking, attacking from wings/flank and have English cores and adapt to tactically such as defensively when needed. Only the difference is Jardim play the same system as Fergie in 4-4-2.
Do you think this squad is deserving of a higher place than 2nd? If not, how is the coach or the tactics hindering the players?
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I guess this is where we fundamentally disagree. I believe that the club should have a vision of what it wants to be, and hire managers to suit this vision, not change the whole clubs vision to what a manager wishes. In my view the only time a manager deserves that level of control is when they’re a Fergie like figure at the club. Every Moyes, Vangle and Mourinho doesn’t deserve to “fulfil their vision”.
This is why I’ve always disagreed with posters who claim that a new manager should be allowed to “bring in his own team” before he is judged. In none of the other biggest clubs in the world is this a thing. Managers are brought in, and first and foremost have to work with the players they have, together with what transfers they and the club agree on. You can’t wait until a whole starting 11 is new players before you assess a managers performance, that it ridiculous.
Thats why it’s important for us to get a footballing person to work with Woody long term, to figure out what the long term vision of the club is. A DOF is a specialist position, a proper one isn’t just someone plucked from the accounting department, it’s meant to be people who know football, transfers, how to negotiate etc.
Stylistically, I'd agree this group of players can entertain us more. Not sure about the results. City and Liverpool reaching the Champions League final made us look like mugs.
I think it makes sense from a structural and planning point of view. The job of a traditional football manager - responsible for the coaching, tactics, scouting and recruitment - just became far too big for one person to do.
I also agree with the idea that a DoF should, in theory, be able to lay out a longer term vision for the club, which guides player and manager recruitment. However, that is based on the assumption that DoFs will stay in their role much longer than managers - it remains to be seen whether this is the case in a world where good DoFs are in high demand.
I also agree with the idea that a DoF should, in theory, be able to lay out a longer term vision for the club, which guides player and manager recruitment. However, that is based on the assumption that DoFs will stay in their role much longer than managers - it remains to be seen whether this is the case in a world where good DoFs are in high demand.
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The director of football is answerable to the board and also there to assist the manager. He's experienced in football and there to help the board members who don't have that experience...to help them understand footballing terms like PARK THE BUS or TIKI TAKA etc...
This news seems to only confirm that surely this must be Mourinho's last season at United, considering that he was originally against the appointment of a DoF. I think the need for one is clear, especially in the wake of LVG's signings and Moyes' first disasterous window.
I actually really like all of Mourinho's signings, all of them are more along the lines of the type of player that should be playing for United. However, it just seems that we are tying to fill gaps with the best players available at the time, rather than build a balanced squad that complements each other. Mhkytarian was a great player but just wasn't a Mourinho type player, and neither is Pogba to a certain extent as to the type of football that needs to be played for him to flourish.
We really need a DoF to bring some continuity and a general vision to the club as a whole. We didnt need it with SAF as he always seemed to be on the same page as Gill/Edwards in terms of where the club should be going, but times have changed and managers generally aren't brought in to create a legacy anymore.
I can see Mourinho going this summer and I would put money on Zidane to take over the hotseat. But what if he spends 300m in two seasons and doesn't get it right and is sacked. United can't keep hiring managers who come in, say "Give me 300m and 2 transfer windows, and then judge me when I have my own squad." It's not viable or sustainable and a DoF is needed to address this.
I actually really like all of Mourinho's signings, all of them are more along the lines of the type of player that should be playing for United. However, it just seems that we are tying to fill gaps with the best players available at the time, rather than build a balanced squad that complements each other. Mhkytarian was a great player but just wasn't a Mourinho type player, and neither is Pogba to a certain extent as to the type of football that needs to be played for him to flourish.
We really need a DoF to bring some continuity and a general vision to the club as a whole. We didnt need it with SAF as he always seemed to be on the same page as Gill/Edwards in terms of where the club should be going, but times have changed and managers generally aren't brought in to create a legacy anymore.
I can see Mourinho going this summer and I would put money on Zidane to take over the hotseat. But what if he spends 300m in two seasons and doesn't get it right and is sacked. United can't keep hiring managers who come in, say "Give me 300m and 2 transfer windows, and then judge me when I have my own squad." It's not viable or sustainable and a DoF is needed to address this.
Hmm. The whole “expertise designed to maintain United’s style and ethos” part sounds nice.
It says Woodward is still involved (who apparently vetoed all of Mourinho's summer targets)
Throw in a DoF who wants the same thing (targets of around 21-25) and Mourinho's power goes even more
I don't mind what the club supposedly want to do, but you can't strip all the power away from the manager
Throw in a DoF who wants the same thing (targets of around 21-25) and Mourinho's power goes even more
I don't mind what the club supposedly want to do, but you can't strip all the power away from the manager
This is a good place to start
Interesting that we let Ribalta go if we are signing DOF. Maybe he didn't want to wait or maybe he was deemed too inexperienced.
Maybe he didnt know
Quicker Manager turnover makes this seem inevitable in my eyes. Keeps the Team pointing in the right direction (one which I think most of us expect; more attacking style) regardless of who the “Head Coach” is at that time, who will in turn bring in more subtle specific tactics. They just need to get the DOF decision correct now. I for one have no idea who would be suitable though.
I know it’s not what they’ve stated, but sooner rather than later would be better and I do wonder what the means for Jose ?
I know it’s not what they’ve stated, but sooner rather than later would be better and I do wonder what the means for Jose ?
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