rotherham_red
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It's a very positive move by the club and i'm glad they've gone the internal route. I've been saying on here for years that our recruitment team has been marginalized by the managers post Fergie when it came to recruiting players as per several reports from the Manchester press pack. Mourinho according to reports was using his own personal scouts to sign players which frustrated the likes of Murtough and Marcel Bout due to the managers unwillingness to listen to them, which caused a disconnect between the scouts and manager which can never be a good thing for the club if the manager is only interested in the here and now. It seems the appointment of Murtough as the head of football operations gives the club scouts significant power to shape the development of the club in the mid to longterm. The club scouts haven't had such power since Fergie was at the club, when he only had his brother and Jim Lawlor as the only two full-time scouts at the club who were supported by a number of part time scouts which included Jimmy Ryan who was on the coaching staff.
Rangnick, Campos etc have done good jobs in the same field but they've done their work at clubs that provided a stepping stone for young hot prospects who they enticed by the lure of playing first team football. Those players would then be sold on for a tidy profit in the coming years. Does Leipzig have better scouts than United? I would confidently say no, they don't. But their model of luring young players in by offering first team opportunities at a very early age, so they can then sell for a tidy profit in years to come is something we can't compete with, if the player and his family prioritize development above all else.
Also appointing Murtough in a position of power will hopefully better prepare us in the eventuality the head coach is sacked, which will provide stability and continuity, instead of the next manager culling the squad which has been a huge detriment to the club.
For fecks sake, Van der Sar is Ajax's CEO, i.e., Ed Woodward, HE IS NOT THEIR DOF.Woodward promoted his long-time poodle so nobody bothers him anymore asking about DoF appointment. If we were serious club, we'd be getting Edwin van der Sar. The huge gap in quality between VdS and Murtough is the same size of the gap we have from being a well-run major club.
Only insofar as they make money, but mostly - no.
Top? Obviously not. I would have thought it would make sense to report to a board, rather then one individual (unless it was the owner).
As an example, the person in an equivalent job at Chelsea would report to Abramovic, not someone else in between them.
Woodward (non football background) is still going to have the final say on football related decisions. Although you would hope that he is now going to be better informed by this change.
Worked with Michael Owen, Steve McManaman and Glenn Hoddle on BT SportWhat qualifications does Fletcher have, other than 'former player'?
What qualifications does Fletcher have, other than 'former player'?
Worked with Michael Owen, Steve McManaman and Glenn Hoddle on BT Sport
What qualifications does Fletcher have, other than 'former player'?
Part of his job will be selling the club to prospective players, so I think he's pretty well qualified having come through the youth ranks and made it to the first team despite most of the odds being against him.
Yeah I bet that's part of it too. In the Telegraph article it mentioned Woodward getting calls about transfers when he's not involved in that at all until the end and it created a mess. Woodward was having to do Judge's job because people didn't read his announcements that he's not involved. Also, Judge's previous title didn't point out him to be the one people should be talking to.
Great post!It's a very positive move by the club and i'm glad they've gone the internal route. I've been saying on here for years that our recruitment team has been marginalized by the managers post Fergie when it came to recruiting players as per several reports from the Manchester press pack. Mourinho according to reports was using his own personal scouts to sign players which frustrated the likes of Murtough and Marcel Bout due to the managers unwillingness to listen to them, which caused a disconnect between the scouts and manager which can never be a good thing for the club if the manager is only interested in the here and now. It seems the appointment of Murtough as the head of football operations gives the club scouts significant power to shape the development of the club in the mid to longterm. The club scouts haven't had such power since Fergie was at the club, when he only had his brother and Jim Lawlor as the only two full-time scouts at the club who were supported by a number of part time scouts which included Jimmy Ryan who was on the coaching staff.
Rangnick, Campos etc have done good jobs in the same field but they've done their work at clubs that provided a stepping stone for young hot prospects who they enticed by the lure of playing first team football. Those players would then be sold on for a tidy profit in the coming years. Does Leipzig have better scouts than United? I would confidently say no, they don't. But their model of luring young players in by offering first team opportunities at a very early age, so they can then sell for a tidy profit in years to come is something we can't compete with, if the player and his family prioritize development above all else.
Also appointing Murtough in a position of power will hopefully better prepare us in the eventuality the head coach is sacked, which will provide stability and continuity, instead of the next manager culling the squad which has been a huge detriment to the club.
Settle down, no need to yell. If I am the CEO of my small town and am offered the job of being vice-Mayor of London do I consider that a demotion because I am going from a mayor to the second in charge? Unlikely.For fecks sake, Van der Sar is Ajax's CEO, i.e., Ed Woodward, HE IS NOT THEIR DOF.
Of course it's a demotion, Ajax aren't some nobody non-league team.Settle down, no need to yell. If I am the CEO of my local Town and am offered the job of being vice-Mayor of London do I consider that a demotion because it wasn't a mayor? Doesn't matter how much history Ajax has, Man United has more history and is one of the biggest clubs in the world. Let me explain it to you in another way: Edwin van der Sar's salary as CEO at Ajax is about $308,464.00. That is less than a week's salary for some of our players, surely we can pay him more than $1M a year as director of football, and he gets a chance to turn around a huge club, the one he really cares about, too. Sounds a bit more tempting now?
Bottomline, nobody knows if he would take the job except for him, but it is far from a crazy idea and he was top candidate for many when Director of Football position for United was suggested, not something I came up with.
And according to Ducker, Fletcher will take a part on communicating to the players during these negotiations.
Other clubs the CEO/ DoF does the negotiations. That's not the case at Man Utd. So your point falls flat.Yeah, I'm kind of struggling to believe that any business in the world will solve this communication problem by changing the title of a senior management member to something that is somewhat belittling.
Since no other club has a director of negotiations, I wonder how we ever manage to find the right people to talk to. Maybe it actually explains some of our transfer dealings!
Ole's assistants are an uninspiring bunch on paper, no clue how the players feel about them. Surely he could use a top notch assistant ala Queiroz to SAF. Would certainly help Ole preparing for and adjustments within matches I'd wager. Might also help round him into a better manager. Believe SAF praised the tactical knowledge Queiroz brought.
Prior to joining Utd Queirozs "top notch" experience was managing NY/NJ MetroStars, Nagoya Grampus Eight, United Arab Emirates & South AfricaOle's assistants are an uninspiring bunch on paper, no clue how the players feel about them. Surely he could use a top notch assistant ala Queiroz to SAF. Would certainly help Ole preparing for and adjustments within matches I'd wager. Might also help round him into a better manager. Believe SAF praised the tactical knowledge Queiroz brought.
It’s got that Zidane feel about it. Well know around the World Darren Fletcher, trying to sell our club to players who have never heard of him.
Assistant to the regional managerI find it interesting that they call him "football director" and not "director of football". Kind of like being "assistant to the trailer park supervisor" and not "assistant trailer park supervisor"...
Prior to joining Utd Queirozs "top notch" experience was managing NY/NJ MetroStars, Nagoya Grampus Eight, United Arab Emirates & South Africa :confused;
Yep. Solskjaer seems keen to do things the Fergie way - hiring a top first team coach to handle training, is one aspect of SAF's approach that I wish Ole would actually copy.
Seems like the Athletic just forgot McKenna on their first draft of that hierarchy:
SAF rated him enough to bring him aboard with other assistants already in the fold. He was highly rated around Europe in the 90s from what I've read. Should have been given the US job in 1998 after Sampson resigned but USSF went with an American flavor, per usual. Nonetheless, he proved himself top notch and I don't see where I mentioned he was top notch before arriving. SAF must have rated though, shrugs.
I see you left out his stints with Portugal and Sporting CP but carry on.
Prior to this, Matt Judge was reporting directly to Woodward and what's Ed's remit? Finance. So that means a transfer was judged on the prism of financial/bottom-line.
Now that Judge is reporting to a footballing guy, a transfer will be judge from the prism of a footballing perspective. How the player fits into the team and his importance. I think this actually makes Matt Judge's role and hopefully success easier
So we didn't actually hire anybody new or bring new ideas or new experience to club, we shuffled staff that were already here.
They were, what? 10 years prior to him coming to Utd?, so given the path he took afterwards they don't really seem relevant.
Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions League with Chelsea 10 years ago, should we hire him?
So we didn't actually hire anybody new or bring new ideas or new experience to club, we shuffled staff that were already here.
It wasn't really though was it, I mean, you literally referred to Michael Carrick and Mike Phelan... who'd both won multiple titles as players/coaches at Utd.... as "uninspiring" when compared to Carlos Queiroz, who'd won the square root of feck all before he joined Utd.... you seem a bit lost.Lighten up, Francis. It was just a passioned opinion on adding more quality to the coaching ranks. It was not a slight on Ole.
Could you give us any example of big clubs that hires 'specialist' DOF and become very successful? The only two I remember in recent times are Arsenal that hired Mislintat and Roma that hired Monchi and don't think those two are success stories
So you think promoting someone who have successfully revamped our scouting network and academy to higher position in the club is not actual change we needed?
Positive news. The more football people the better. Let Woody handle the business side as much as possible.
Pedantic and not actually very interestingI find it interesting that they call him "football director" and not "director of football". Kind of like being "assistant to the trailer park supervisor" and not "assistant trailer park supervisor"...
What gives you this impression? Isn't DoF always below the CEO/President at every football club? They don't actually run the entire club you do realize?So not a real DOF, huh? Just Ed proxy for when things get out of control.
So we didn't actually hire anybody new or bring new ideas or new experience to club, we shuffled staff that were already here.
It wasn't really though was it, I mean, you literally referred to Michael Carrick and Mike Phelan... who'd both won multiple titles as players/coaches at Utd.... as "uninspiring" when compared to Carlos Queiroz, who'd won the square root of feck all before he joined Utd.... you seem a bit lost.