Director of football

Originally Posted by marlo

A director of football basically just nudges the manager in the right direction by giving him good options and also vetoing bad suggestions.

they also use their contacts to present players to the manager and they agree on it etc

One of the best in the business sis the dodgy one at spurs. Unearthed some real gems for them even though he is officially “banned” for some stuff he done recently.

For example a director of football would have not sanctioned mount.
Would have questioned Hojlund and had other more reliable options etc

DOF also love to waste agents times and have lots of players on the cusp of deals so for example when we were desperate after Brighton and Brentford a DOF would have presented us with lots of options for attacking players not just go back in for a player we thought was worth 25m and having to pay 83m

Fletcher and murtough have no football connections , no nothing.
We needed a emergency CB loan deal and they probably say evans in the car park picking up his wife from mutv….Been saying for a while we needed a real DOF football , of course dunk disagreed but is now posting the athetic article when we thought our DOF was doing a great job!

Yes.

Originally Posted by marlo

A director of football basically just nudges the manager in the right direction by giving him good options and also vetoing bad suggestions.

they also use their contacts to present players to the manager and they agree on it etc

One of the best in the business sis the dodgy one at spurs. Unearthed some real gems for them even though he is officially “banned” for some stuff he done recently.

For example a director of football would have not sanctioned mount.
Would have questioned Hojlund and had other more reliable options etc

DOF also love to waste agents times and have lots of players on the cusp of deals so for example when we were desperate after Brighton and Brentford a DOF would have presented us with lots of options for attacking players not just go back in for a player we thought was worth 25m and having to pay 83m

Fletcher and murtough have no football connections , no nothing.
We needed a emergency CB loan deal and they probably say evans in the car park picking up his wife from mutv….Been saying for a while we needed a real DOF football , of course dunk disagreed but is now posting the athetic article when we thought our DOF was doing a great job!

So you want an executive director who’s never managed a game in his life, doesn’t take training, isn’t responsible for preparing a squad or performing team talks and in-game alterations to make the final decisions on who we do or don’t buy? Sounds plausible….

…..so long as your ambitions for the next manager don’t rise above Alan Pardew.

Originally Posted by marlo

A director of football basically just nudges the manager in the right direction by giving him good options and also vetoing bad suggestions.

they also use their contacts to present players to the manager and they agree on it etc

One of the best in the business sis the dodgy one at spurs. Unearthed some real gems for them even though he is officially “banned” for some stuff he done recently.

For example a director of football would have not sanctioned mount.
Would have questioned Hojlund and had other more reliable options etc

DOF also love to waste agents times and have lots of players on the cusp of deals so for example when we were desperate after Brighton and Brentford a DOF would have presented us with lots of options for attacking players not just go back in for a player we thought was worth 25m and having to pay 83m

Fletcher and murtough have no football connections , no nothing.
We needed a emergency CB loan deal and they probably say evans in the car park picking up his wife from mutv….Been saying for a while we needed a real DOF football , of course dunk disagreed but is now posting the athetic article when we thought our DOF was doing a great job!

Still posting lies you £#%&!ing @#%&!ole? Suck your mum.

Originally Posted by dunk

Still posting lies you £#%&!ing @#%&!ole? Suck your mum.

See, this is the kind of deep analysis we missed those long weeks you weren’t about.

Originally Posted by dunk

Still posting lies you £#%&!ing @#%&!ole? Suck your mum.

🎶 "...and a Happy New Year!" 🎶

Originally Posted by dunk

Still posting lies you £#%&!ing @#%&!ole? Suck your mum.

Love Dunk tbh

Would happily cover all travel expenses for him to come to my house and call me a Piss midget

who is this Murtough fella and how did he get the job?

Originally Posted by silv

who is this Murtough fella and how did he get the job?

He's a chancer who definitely didn't get the position because of anything to do with being smart, astute or having any idea how a top football club operates.

You could name lots of world class frauds who have stolen a living at United that should've been nowhere near the club.

Originally Posted by silv

who is this Murtough fella and how did he get the job?

Came from Everton as a scout or something and has worked his way up into having a major role within the club.

I think he was here when Van Gaal was manager (perhaps even Moyes).

Originally Posted by dunk

Still posting lies you £#%&!ing @#%&!ole? Suck your mum.

Moyes brought him to the club. He helped Woodward a lot and wormed guys at up the ladder. He doesn't seem to have any utility other than being a yes man and ass licker.

I don't think having a Director of Football is the answer at all. I think the purpose of the Director of Football role is to protect clubs against bad managers and their bad purchases, and even minimise the need for a manager in the first place.

As businesses, clubs would much rather buy players based on data and systemic analysis of that data - something they can understand - than spend their money based on the knowledge and intuition of some expert they don't understand. The accountants want control.

It's football by numbers and I hate it. I want to see teams that are built on managers' ideas and judgement, not the result of a spreadsheet formula. Who are the heroes of Spreadsheet Football? We've already seen there are plenty of villains. The more equipped and empowered incompetents are, the greater their potential to make a mess - and managers get the blame for those messes, which allows them to go on making them. What qualifies someone as a DOF in the first place? Have any of these guys played, coached or managed?

It remains the case that the best teams have the best managers. Big clubs will always be in need of great managers. It's hard enough to find one of them even though their work, good or bad, is visible to all. It makes no sense to me to also need a great DOF who will not obstruct or undermine the manager, and whose merits are difficult to discern. That is to give oneself two problems to solve instead of one.

Just get a good manager and back him.

Originally Posted by goldfinger II

I don't think having a Director of Football is the answer at all. I think the purpose of the Director of Football role is to protect clubs against bad managers and their bad purchases, and even minimise the need for a manager in the first place.

As businesses, clubs would much rather buy players based on data and systemic analysis of that data - something they can understand - than spend their money based on the knowledge and intuition of some expert they don't understand. The accountants want control.

It's football by numbers and I hate it. I want to see teams that are built on managers' ideas and judgement, not the result of a spreadsheet formula. Who are the heroes of Spreadsheet Football? We've already seen there are plenty of villains. The more equipped and empowered incompetents are, the greater their potential to make a mess - and managers get the blame for those messes, which allows them to go on making them. What qualifies someone as a DOF in the first place? Have any of these guys played, coached or managed?

It remains the case that the best teams have the best managers. Big clubs will always be in need of great managers. It's hard enough to find one of them even though their work, good or bad, is visible to all. It makes no sense to me to also need a great DOF who will not obstruct or undermine the manager, and whose merits are difficult to discern. That is to give oneself two problems to solve instead of one.

Just get a good manager and back him.

You can’t these days. You need a DOF or organisation that has a successful blueprint and managers come and go but the DOF remains constant.

Madrid have been excellent at this over the years.

A good director of football supports the manager. He puts in place a team of analysts, scouts etc that identify the type of player a manager needs.

For example, we currently need a seasoned striker to relieve Hoijland. But not someone who is going to be at the club for the next 8 years. The manager tells the DoF this and they identify targets with the analysts using the scouting software. They then narrow down a list and work through it with the manager. Top targets are then tracked closely by scouts whilst the DoF uses his connections to sound the players out. The list is narrowed to 2 or 3 and the DoF coordinates negotiations with some of the exec team.

All of that needs a competent DoF. The days of Fergie giving Howard Kendell a call and sorting a transfer over a brew are long gone.

The DoF should also have the vision of how we play as a team. So if the manger gets sacked, we're not left with a squad of misfits from the previous manager. He's oversees the evolution of the team and the manager is left to coach the team, focusing on improving performance and drilling tactics into his players.

The game has become too big for someone to do it like Fergie used to. By the end of his time Fergie was probably more of a DoF than a manager. He rarely took training sessions etc...

Originally Posted by Lok

The DoF should also have the vision of how we play as a team. So if the manger gets sacked, we're not left with a squad of misfits from the previous manager. He's oversees the evolution of the team and the manager is left to coach the team, focusing on improving performance and drilling tactics into his players.
.

This is key for me, and every age group at the club plays with the same ethos and a similar system. It doesn't need to be rocket science.

Originally Posted by dunk

Still posting lies you £#%&!ing @#%&!ole? Suck your mum.

That's some post to come back with, especially on Christmas Day.

Originally Posted by Jack Duckworth

That's some post to come back with, especially on Christmas Day.

Reminded me of the greatest Christmas message ever broadcast on British radio.

Wiley on Christmas Day, 2004.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6Lo5gHqs5vI

Originally Posted by avocado

Thought it was a tasty one myself. If I was a manager I’d wouldn’t want someone else choosing my squad for me.

Neither would I & I could'nt imagine the like's of Fergie, Brian Clough or Tommy Docherty being keen on such a situation back in their era's of Managment that's for sure!

Originally Posted by Lok

A good director of football supports the manager. He puts in place a team of analysts, scouts etc that identify the type of player a manager needs.

For example, we currently need a seasoned striker to relieve Hoijland. But not someone who is going to be at the club for the next 8 years. The manager tells the DoF this and they identify targets with the analysts using the scouting software. They then narrow down a list and work through it with the manager. Top targets are then tracked closely by scouts whilst the DoF uses his connections to sound the players out. The list is narrowed to 2 or 3 and the DoF coordinates negotiations with some of the exec team.

All of that needs a competent DoF. The days of Fergie giving Howard Kendell a call and sorting a transfer over a brew are long gone.

The DoF should also have the vision of how we play as a team. So if the manger gets sacked, we're not left with a squad of misfits from the previous manager. He's oversees the evolution of the team and the manager is left to coach the team, focusing on improving performance and drilling tactics into his players.

The game has become too big for someone to do it like Fergie used to. By the end of his time Fergie was probably more of a DoF than a manager. He rarely took training sessions etc...

Yeah a DOF would make a huge difference for us

Ideally would like to see us appoint TWO of the below as Director of Football and Head of Recruitment

Ashworth
Mitchell
Edwards
Ward
Freedman

Originally Posted by dunk

Still posting lies you £#%&!ing @#%&!ole? Suck your mum.

G2c Dunk channeling his inner Evra and displaying admirable restraint tbh

Sorely missed.