ITK: General info

[Dan Ashcroft]

Given what Ramos has said about Modric, I wouldn't see him as a 'Comolli signing', but as a player Ramos told Comolli he would very much like to have on board. Dan, do you know if Ramos is specifying players for Comolli to go for rather than listing positions, as seems to have been the case with Jol?

Given what Jol said about Kaboul and Taarabt, I find it highly unlikely that he didn't want them.

An incredible amount of rubbish has been talked about the topic of nutrition. I doubt the fare on offer at our canteen was any worse than that at most other EPL clubs—Malouda and Arteta have both expressed surprise at what their team-mates eat. And in any case, I would have thought it was part of Comolli's brief rather than Jol's.

Bit of both, but not different to Jol.

 

[stemark44]

Yes, but can you recall an instance of Jol not singing from the hymnsheet in public?

My impression was always that he understood and accepted the Director of Football structure and attempted to work within it. If he said he wanted a new leftback and the club gave him Assou-Ekottu, Assou-Ekottu would begin the season as first choice; if he said he wanted a new third choice centreback and he got Kaboul, Kaboul would go into the pecking order ahead of Gardner or Rocha. And if a youngster like Taarabt was signed on the promise of first team football, he dutifully gave him some substitute appearances in games that did not matter. If he had any reservations, before or after the signing, he kept them to himself and said all the right things to the press. Much as in the spirit of collective responsibility a Cabinet Minister will enthusiastically endorse Government policy regardless of whether he actually supports it.

And before this gets messy, I am neither praising or criticising Jol for this, just putting forward an explanation of events, that to me seems credible.

A managers job depends on results,these results are achieved by his team,his team depends on the quality of his signings.If he does'nt have the final say on the players brought in then he is not the manager!

 

[eddiebailey]

A managers job depends on results,these results are achieved by his team,his team depends on the quality of his signings.If he does'nt have the final say on the players brought in then he is not the manager!

But under the original model Jol was not given the title of manager, he was the head coach. The original concept of the DoF model was that the coach was not responsible for signings, only for making the best use of the players at his disposal. The expressed intetion being that a change of coach would not result in a change of a playing staff.

Jol did take the title of manager during the interregnum between Arnesen and Comolli, and I do believe from that point he had more say. Certainly he had a veto over signings, but I suspect he is not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to scouting, which after all was not his responsibility, so if Comolli said a player was up to the job he had little choice but to take it on trust and make the best of it.

 

[yanno]

Given what Ramos has said about Modric, I wouldn't see him as a 'Comolli signing', but as a player Ramos told Comolli he would very much like to have on board. Dan, do you know if Ramos is specifying players for Comolli to go for rather than listing positions, as seems to have been the case with Jol?

Remember this is how Ramos said it worked with Sevilla DoF Monchi:

Q: How does your relationship with sporting director Monchi work? What roles do you have when it comes to choosing players?
Ramos: "There's a clear consensus. I tell Monchi the player or type of player I want: fast, tall, left-footed, right- footed, good in the air…and, based on his work and expertise, he says to me: “Look, we have this guy, or this guy.” Between us, we identify the player, or players, who can fit that. But it's not always like that. For example, Freddie Kanoute was a player no one here really knew and I recommended him because I had seen him for Tottenham and West Ham."

http://www.worldsoccer.com/interviews/sevilla_coach_juande_ramos_interview_107105.html