Manchester United's Chief Scout and Head of Global Scouting have left the club

Excellent news and long overdue, managers have rightly paid price for their poor performance but ridiculous taken so long for more people involved in recruitment to be held accountable.
 
Why? They have done such a good job since 2013. :drool:
 
According to all the news Ole thought he had the deal in the bag until that idiot Woodward decided not to go ahead with the Harland deal because he had to pay an extra million or so to his agent and there was a release clause. The Dortmund came and brought him. Woodward is the one who has destroyed this club.

That was already too late. Our scouts and Ole should have persisted before the move to Leipzig. I mean we bought Pellistri due to Forlan saying he is good and that was 15 millions. But our chief scout with suggestions from a former legend couldn't persuade the board to buy him for 5 millions? Or even later, in the summer of 2019, our manager and scouts persuaded the board to greenlight Maguire and AWB, but couldn't buy Haaland? I think the truth is that they could not understand how good he was and probably thought that Rashy is a better talent.
 
Yep and I’m beginning to wonder if Rangnick’s mandate as interim as much about assessing the squad and preparing for the rebuild as it was about having any sort of success on the field this season.
I'm not sure why anybody thought anything else.

It was always obvious that Rangnick's signing was designed to prepare for the long-term, and to give the powers-that-be a qualified outside opinion on what changes needed to be made. Both on and off the field, as we've failed badly at both aspects for almost a decade now.

Don't get me wrong, we still would have felt he'd give us a good chance at making the top four so we'd be disappointed it looks like it won't happen. I also did have a small worry that with things not working out on the field perhaps Murtough would second-guess that remit and not listen to Rangnick's advice as much as he should have. That worry was increased with Ralf's recent comments about needing so many changes, as I thought maybe he himself felt he wasn't being listened to enough so had to take it public to try to force action. Hopefully it's the opposite and Ralf's comments are designed to prepare everyone for a significant changes, and this news about Lawlor and Bout happening so quickly afterwards does lean towards that.
 
We could have bought Diaz and Bruno Guiamares for ca 10m more than we spent on Sancho. Jota was 5m more expensive than Donny. Amad another weird signing.

I don't have to mention the transfers of Maguire, AWB and Pogba. 220m wasted.

Our scouts are unbelievable poor.
 
Have they left or got fired?
I would say they probably jumped before they were fired. Maybe tipped off on purpose, so by leaving they dont get the humiliation of being given the sack. Our scouting has been appalling for a while at senior level.
 
People as high up in the pecking order as Lawlor and Bout apparently were aren't just judged on whether individual transfers that they recommend (either to make or to stay away from) end up being correct. So people pointing out individual things like supposedly not wanting Maguire are missing the point. A broken clock is right twice a day.

These guys are in a position where they should be responsible for the scouting network as a whole, so if that is lacking then it comes back to these guys not putting in place the proper system (or at the very least not recommending the changes needed to the people who make the final decision). There's not many people out there better suited to judge whether the scouting network is lacking than Rangnick.
 
Well what's Maguire and James got to do with AWB then?
That window is where we started with all those reboot shit . If you didn't know by now, that was the window where all of our signings ended up as duds despite spending 150m because we had a clueless manager at the helm thinking buying passion and local would take us back to top.

On the contrary, Bruno and Sancho are still our best players.
 
That window is where we started with all those reboot shit . If you didn't know by now, that was the window where all of our signings ended up as duds despite spending 150m because we had a clueless manager at the helm thinking buying passion and local would take us back to top.

On the contrary, Bruno and Sancho are still our best players.

Right, I also recall that Ole bought Sancho and Bruno too... Unless I didn't know there was a different manager during that period.

Also, that is the only window our signings were duds? Dalot, Lindelof, Bailly say hi.
 
No big surprise given how scathing Ralf has been about our player recruitment, and how this has (rightly) become the media narrative.

Lawlor seemingly only worked as a scout in South Africa (not even sure what this means, for who?) for one year before joining United and became chief scout in 2014/15. Madness.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jim-lawlor/profil/trainer/7284

Marcel Bout joined the set up around the same time under LVG - he's more experienced in the game but largely in a coaching capacity rather than scouting:
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/marcel-bout/profil/trainer/10093

How on earth do a team like United end up with this kind of set-up? I hope one day someone writes a proper book on how badly run our club has been since Fergie left.
What are you complaining about re: Lawlor? He joined us in 2005 and worked with Fergie all that time. Then when Ferguson and the previous Chief Scout left he then got a promotion. He'd been with the club almost 10 years by then
 
Mark Ogden was the first to call Ten Hag. He knows his onions
Even a broken clock is right twice a day, we've been linked with ten Hag since the second Solskjaer got sacked, hardly sticking his neck on the line. Only journalists regarding United that actually get info from the club are Ducker, Peach and Stone. I'll refer to @Adnan's post as to why that Ogden Nkuku article is a load of shite:

I did watch the YouTube video where Ogden made that claim. And what Ogden said was that he had heard that was the case. And Ogden has said a lot wrong since the sacking of Moyes.

We have two scouts who cover Germany (Thomas Bormann & Andreas Hermann) and Bormann is a very experienced scout. Bormann is the same scout that was appointed at Hoffenheim by Rangnick. And Murtough brought him over to United in 2016. I have no doubt they'll be watching Nkunku because as I've mentioned, scouts like Bormann are top level scouts, and they don't miss tap in opportunities like scouting the excellent emerging talent of Nkunku.

And we also also have Jerome Klein at the club who was part of the PSG academy for 13 years and oversaw the development of Nkunku. So not only will we have information on the players ability but we'll potentially also know what his favourite foods and video games are.
 
People as high up in the pecking order as Lawlor and Bout apparently were aren't just judged on whether individual transfers that they recommend (either to make or to stay away from) end up being correct. So people pointing out individual things like supposedly not wanting Maguire are missing the point. A broken clock is right twice a day.

These guys are in a position where they should be responsible for the scouting network as a whole, so if that is lacking then it comes back to these guys not putting in place the proper system (or at the very least not recommending the changes needed to the people who make the final decision). There's not many people out there better suited to judge whether the scouting network is lacking than Rangnick.

The problem at United and Rangnick actually alluded to it before the Liverpool game is that for some boneheaded reason the manager was the one leading the scouting department among other things. In fact Rangnick confirmed what used to be media talks from admittedly reliable people. When asked about what was his opinion on why United found themselves in that situation he said that the manager can't be the one responsible for everything and that other successful clubs have smart people leading the scouting, medical and recruitment.

We have already had stories about the scouting department being ignored and I could be wrong but we also heard stories about the medical department being overruled, iirc in the case of Smalling and Rashford.
 
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:lol: That's hilarious. Do you have a source for that? I'd love to see it as I've done an interview at United for that team and....yeah....shambolic.
It was discussed on a podcast a year ago about the shambles of our scouting network. Woodward paid alot of money to a company to overhaul it and we ended up with this mess.

I will see if i can find it...
 
Bet they wish they had scribbled something down about Nkunku
It shows how much of a mess the operation is, that Nkunku wasnt even being watched this season until RR recommended him. There was a post about this in the transfer tweets thread. If and its a big IF thats true then what the hell are we paying 58 scouts to do?
 
That was already too late. Our scouts and Ole should have persisted before the move to Leipzig. I mean we bought Pellistri due to Forlan saying he is good and that was 15 millions. But our chief scout with suggestions from a former legend couldn't persuade the board to buy him for 5 millions? Or even later, in the summer of 2019, our manager and scouts persuaded the board to greenlight Maguire and AWB, but couldn't buy Haaland? I think the truth is that they could not understand how good he was and probably thought that Rashy is a better talent.


£7 million was actual fee paid for Pellistri (in 2 instalments) rest is add-ons/bonuses which only happen with certain achievements

Just like Amad Diallo (19 million) people and papers always quote united transfer fees including add-ons/bonuses
 
I’m always reminded of what happened with Hakimi - you know, the Man United fan and all round up-and-coming-best-right-back-in-Europe Hakimi - who got himself a meeting with Richard Arnold only to be asked who the feck he was.
Allegedly this was Matt Judge and not Richard Arnold. Arnold seems (and that's the operative word) more competent so far.
Also, Arnold had no say in the football side of the club before this year. Why would he be in a meeting with a footballer?
 
This is why I said a few times, ten Hag will only be a success if working in tandem with Rangnick.

Rangnick has built a club up from the bottom to top in the modern era, he knows how things should be behind the scenes. Relying solely on Murtough whilst having Rangnick only as a consultant will be a massive mistake, Rangnick should be given a permanent role.

Murtough saying he'll lean on the expertise of Rangnick is him basically saying he'll learn on the job, which isn't good enough, in fact Murtough should be the Deputy DoF with Rangnick being DoF. We're now in the position where we need experts in their correct roles, none of this learning on the job shit, that's how we've landed in this giant rut.
That will never happen. Which person do you know will willingly demote themselves?
 
The problem at United and Rangnick actually alluded to it before the Liverpool game is that for some boneheaded reason the manager was the one leading the scouting department among other things. In fact Rangnick confirmed what used to be media talks from admittedly reliable people. When asked about what was his opinion on why United found themselves in that situation is said that the manager can't be the one responsible for everything and that other successful clubs have smart people leading the scouting, medical and recruitment.

We have already had stories about the scouting department being ignored and I could be wrong but we also heard stories about the medical department being overruled, iirc in the case of Smalling and Rashford.
You'd have to hope against hope that he's told the club that this sort of archaic structure can't continue. For the faults he's been responsible for as manager, he seems to know exactly what the issues facing the club are.
 
They are to blame, in part, for all the shortcomings. The fact that we still need to sign 6,7,8,9 or 10 players (like Ralf said), means that we wasted hundreds of millions signing the wrong players. Scouts have to pay the price too. Hope we get better replacement
 
Couple of issues here. 1. Arnold and or Murtough would know what went on behind the scenes with the scouting department. Whether they were on the ball or not? Looks like they were not on the ball and when Ralf made out the call, their position became untenable. If they were on the ball and if the successive managers were ignoring their advice, then they would not have left.
 
If they've scouted Harry they should have left with their head on a spike.

Agreed. At this point, we need to resurrect Stalin and have him enact a Purge. Or a Spanish Inquisition. Or a witch hunt. Or a Roman style decimation.

Or all of the above.
 
How on earth do a team like United end up with this kind of set-up? I hope one day someone writes a proper book on how badly run our club has been since Fergie left.
Nepotism and a lack of meritocracy, quite honestly. Pick only coaches and scouts that did the business on the pitch or ten years ago, their sons and brothers, and fail to hire anyone based on their competency and you're dead.

It's the exact same problem many big companies have. Stagnation and safety at high levels leads to complacency and a lack of new modern ideas at lower levels. Pretty soon you're the blockbuster video of the football world.

Rangnick is doing us a big favour here. It's about time we joined the 21st century.
 
You'd have to hope against hope that he's told the club that this sort of archaic structure can't continue. For the faults he's been responsible for as manager, he seems to know exactly what the issues facing the club are.

While it's nice to have Rangnick helping behind the scene, we started the transition before he arrived with the appointment of Murtough. The problem was that from what I understand until Ole left we were still in an hybrid mode, with the manager having more power influence on the first team, hopefully we will never see that kind of setup ever again.

As Rangnick said, with that kind of setup it almost doesn't matter how good the manager is, it's too much responsibilities for one person. The thing that the likes of Wenger and SAF were great at was delegating to the right people and evaluating the work of these people. People like Mourinho and LVG never did that in their career while Ole wasn't a good enough coach for Manchester United. And I don't blame them, it was the responsibility of the CEO to understand that specialization and teamwork were a lot better for everyone involved.