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Franco Baldini to come in as head of recruitment?

Darrkespur

Resident scientist
Jun 8, 2003
2,510
1,998
Article in the normally reliable Goal today about us appointing Capello's England No 2 as our head of recruitment - not quite a director of football, but not far off. I think we did really good business this last window but with Levy's personal considerations quite justifiably not allowing him to spend as much time as he did, and the issues with the Moutinho deal not being finalised, I can see this being a really good thing. Baldini was the guy behind the amazing Roma team at the turn of the millenium with Batistuta, Emerson, etc.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896...ate-to-aid-villas-boas-in?source=breakingnews

Former England No.2 Franco Baldini has emerged as a leading candidate to head a restructure of Tottenham’s recruitment operation, Goal.com can reveal.

Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas is pushing the credentials of Baldini to take on the senior executive role that will be created by the imminent White Hart Lane overhaul.

Chairman Daniel Levy is looking to re-introduce a continental-style set-up to aid Villas-Boas four years after abandoning the director of football model when Damien Comolli was sacked in October 2008.

Club sources insist there are no plans to appoint a director of football but admit they are actively targeting a recruitment specialist to work directly with Levy, the manager and the scouting team on signing players.

Ian Broomfield, who was brought to the club from Portsmouth in 2009 by ex-boss Harry Redknapp, was sacked as chief scout last week, which followed the departure of scout Peter Senior from the academy set-up.

Levy and Villas-Boas, himself a former scout, have begun a review of Spurs’ recruitment department and have not yet decided whether to replace both Broomfield and Senior as they prepare to bring in a big-hitter in a new executive tier.

Baldini has been personally nominated by Villas-Boas and is believed to have already been sounded out for the post but he is not the only name in the frame.

The Italian is currently general manager of Roma and his €600,000 [£480,000]-a-year contract runs until 2014.

However, his powerbase has been noticeably weakened at the Serie A club in recent months and he is believed to have had little input in Roma’s summer transfer strategy, which was overseen by sporting director Walter Sabbatini and authorised by the club's Boston-based owners.

Baldini, who speaks fluent English, still retains close personal links to London and visited the capital during the recent international break.

The 51-year-old is believed to be interested in a senior Premier League post and is a big admirer of Villas-Boas, who, as revealed by Goal.com, held talks with the Roma chief earlier this yearabout succeeding Luis Enrique as manager at the Stadio Olimpico before the appointment of Zdenek Zeman.

Baldini is well known to English audiences for his four years with the England national team working alongside Fabio Capello before his departure last October to return to Roma.

The former midfielder became director of football at Roma in 1999 and, with Capello he helped to bring Walter Samuel, Gabriel Batistuta and Emerson to the club. Baldini resigned in March 2005 and joined Capello at Real Madrid a year later.

The decision to remove Broomfield at White Hart Lane continues the overhaul of Tottenham's recruitment operation. The 61-year-old, who worked with Redknapp at Portsmouth, had been one of the last survivors of the Redknapp-led regime that Levy decided in the summer could take the club no further.
 

yido_number1

He'll always be magic
Jun 8, 2004
8,692
16,889
Interesting I thought Baldini was more of a coach... I take it he didn't join Russia with Capello?
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
I know he was with Capello at England but what's his previous on scouting and recruitment etc? Any success stories?

From Wiiki. Stopped playing 1992.

He became director of football at Associazione Sportiva Roma in 1999, where he remained until his resignation in March 2005.[1] He joined Fabio Capello at Real Madrid in 2006.[1] When Capello took over as the England manager in December 2007, Baldini became assistant manager.[3] His role at the national team of England involved scouting, managing the supporting staff (e.g. the doctors, physiotherapists, masseurs and kit managers) and making the job as easy as possible for his Italian counterpart. He left England after their successful EURO 2012 qualification and joined Roma before the start of 2012, but was assisting the team far before then. Since then, current Roma manager Luis Enrique, director Walter Sabatini and himself have undergone a huge revolution at the club with new owner Thomas Di Benedetto to try and instil a system of running a football club similar to that of FC Barcelona.
 

whitelightwhiteheat

SC Supporter
Jul 21, 2006
6,517
3,195
From Wiiki. Stopped playing 1992.

He became director of football at Associazione Sportiva Roma in 1999, where he remained until his resignation in March 2005.[1] He joined Fabio Capello at Real Madrid in 2006.[1] When Capello took over as the England manager in December 2007, Baldini became assistant manager.[3] His role at the national team of England involved scouting, managing the supporting staff (e.g. the doctors, physiotherapists, masseurs and kit managers) and making the job as easy as possible for his Italian counterpart. He left England after their successful EURO 2012 qualification and joined Roma before the start of 2012, but was assisting the team far before then. Since then, current Roma manager Luis Enrique, director Walter Sabatini and himself have undergone a huge revolution at the club with new owner Thomas Di Benedetto to try and instil a system of running a football club similar to that of FC Barcelona.

Yeah, I read that. Previously DOF at Roma. It doesn't really give much away in terms of actual successes, etc.
 

CJMurray

****
Aug 3, 2011
3,565
10,563
if AVB rates him and wants him then get him in. Seems to be quite often that there are disputes between managers and DoF's over targets, so if they're reading off the same sheet then it can only be a good thing.
 

Pat Rice Spurs fan

I'm dynamite and I don't know why
Feb 22, 2007
1,609
1,237
if AVB rates him and wants him then get him in. Seems to be quite often that there are disputes between managers and DoF's over targets, so if they're reading off the same sheet then it can only be a good thing.


I agree.
Santini and Arnesen were put together and didn't really work.
Jol and Arnesen picked each other and worked well together.
Jol and Comolli didn't and didn't.
Ramos and Comolli ..............:poop:
 

King of Otters

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2012
10,751
36,094
The Italian football ideology rarely seems to mix well with the Prem so I'm not really sure about this one.
 

Chezaspur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
318
588
Sounds good to me, hope he would be able stop Levy moving the goalposts in the latter stages of a transfer in order to get a better deal only to leave empty handed
 

Bill_Oddie

Everything in Moderation
Staff
Feb 1, 2005
19,120
6,003
When we were able to secure Broomfield's targets, they worked out really well. He was a good scout.

I think the only question mark here is not so much Baldini's credentials as whether we will be able to secure the players he identifies at a price that we find agreeable. If Balders (looking forward to the first mock-up of AVB and Baldini as Blackadder and Baldrick) understands this and gets along with AVB then it could be a partnership made in heaven.
 

Olympian

Member
Aug 16, 2012
93
108
When we were able to secure Broomfield's targets, they worked out really well. He was a good scout.

I think the only question mark here is not so much Baldini's credentials as whether we will be able to secure the players he identifies at a price that we find agreeable. If Balders (looking forward to the first mock-up of AVB and Baldini as Blackadder and Baldrick) understands this and gets along with AVB then it could be a partnership made in heaven.

I suspect that Baldini would take on the negotiating role, as much as the scouting. A DoF you might even say. Having been a DoF at Roma (and a similar role at Madrid?), he's obviously well-connected in the top circles of world football.

With Broomfield and Senior having just been fired, and Sherwood demoted from the NextGen, the ground is certainly ripe for a Baldini type figure to arrive.
 

C0YS

Just another member
Jul 9, 2007
12,780
13,817
The Italian football ideology rarely seems to mix well with the Prem so I'm not really sure about this one.
What does that even mean? If you mean in how Italian clubs are organised then it is the same for almost every contenential club. It is odd to be critical when it comes to Italian management considering the on going popularity of Italian coaches.

The only real difference of the contenential and british system anyway is that of who is the man in charge of the club. A director who is better able to see the long term needs of the club or a coach who is better able to see the short term needs. Either way the head coach doed not micro manage every detail and is relient on many different staff.
 

StartingPrice

Chief Sardonicus Hyperlip
Feb 13, 2004
32,568
10,280
I suspect that Baldini would take on the negotiating role, as much as the scouting. A DoF you might even say. Having been a DoF at Roma (and a similar role at Madrid?), he's obviously well-connected in the top circles of world football.

With Broomfield and Senior having just been fired, and Sherwood demoted from the NextGen, the ground is certainly ripe for a Baldini type figure to arrive.

Er...Sherwood is very highly thought of - what makes you think he's been demoted?
 

Bill_Oddie

Everything in Moderation
Staff
Feb 1, 2005
19,120
6,003
I suspect that Baldini would take on the negotiating role, as much as the scouting. A DoF you might even say. Having been a DoF at Roma (and a similar role at Madrid?), he's obviously well-connected in the top circles of world football.

With Broomfield and Senior having just been fired, and Sherwood demoted from the NextGen, the ground is certainly ripe for a Baldini type figure to arrive.

I seriously doubt Levy would give him free reign to spend as much as he likes. As long as Levy controls the purse-strings, any scout or DoF will have to accept their hands will be tied.

Not that there's anything "wrong" with that. Levy knows what's good for the club/business. But it's a problem when a chap's job is to scout and locate talent but then his club is unable to secure that talent. Like Damaio and now apparently Isco that Broomfield was working on.
 
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