Managing Director Football: Fabio Paratici

[daryl hannah]

Which English clubs have managed to implement the DoF role successfully?

I love the concept but you have issues of a power struggle with the manager (whoever that is), there is a culture of having managers, not head coaches. Adding a DoF reduces the influence of the 'Manager', will top names put up with that?

City have Txiri Bergirstan or whatever his name is...

 

[DFF]

Which English clubs have managed to implement the DoF role successfully?

I love the concept but you have issues of a power struggle with the manager (whoever that is), there is a culture of having managers, not head coaches. Adding a DoF reduces the influence of the 'Manager', will top names put up with that?

Liverpool and Man City to name two.
Klopp and Pep don’t seem to mind.

Chelsea. Leicester.

In fact the only “top” English teams that don’t have some type of one are us and Man U. That speaks for itself quite frankly.

 

[NEVILLEB]

It’s Pochettino who doesn’t want a DoF. Our history pre-Poch suggests that Levy is fully on board with having one. There've been multiple stories in recent years that Levy has conceded this requirement to Poch in order to keep him happy and keep him here.

Mauricio Pochettino halts Tottenham search for head of recruitment

Mauricio Pochettino has vetoed Tottenham Hotspurs’ proposal to appoint a new sporting director with the manager eager to retain a significant influence over transfers. The club are understood to have assembled a shortlist of potential candidates to replace the former head of recruitment, Paul Mitche

www.thetimes.co.uk

Daniel Levy will tell Mauricio Pochettino he would not get same level of control away from Tottenham

Daniel Levy will step up his bid to bring outside investment into Tottenham Hotspur and will tell Mauricio Pochettino he will not get the same level of control at any other club as he fights to keep the Argentine.

www.telegraph.co.uk

if that were true then why is Pochettino saying he’s not in control of transfers?

 

[fletch82]

Just get Tim Sherwood in he spotted most of today's talent before they left the womb.

 

[spursfan77]

Liverpool and Man City to name two.
Klopp and Pep don’t seem to mind.

Chelsea. Leicester.

In fact the only “top” English teams that don’t have some type of one are us and Man U. That speaks for itself quite frankly.

There was a good article on the Atlantic about Liverpool’s model. It all seems perfectly reasonable as well.

Running a football club is too big for a manager now, maybe Poch has one of his mates, sorry team, doing some of the sporting director’s job, I’ve no idea. I’ve always been a fan of one though.

 

[SpunkyBackpack]

if that were true then why is Pochettino saying he’s not in control of transfers?

Because contradicting himself in press conferences is kind of his thing.

 

[Windwarden]

City have Txiri Bergirstan or whatever his name is...

the arsenal guy Ex Barca I think managed to take a couple from under our noses, and get Pepe on bloody finance.

 

[thekneaf]

You need one in the modern game. End of. Ferguson era of top to bottom management doesn't work. It's not managing a team anymore, it managing a corporation and you need different experts for different roles.

 

[Metalhead]

We certainly need to improve our transfer policy. This summer was a big improvement. While we may not spend the huge salaries of some the signing of Ndombele suggests our wages are going up to attract a certain quality.

To improve we don't need to spend ridiculous funds. Plenty of players have been bought in recent signs by our competitors that would improve us and not cost the earth.

Would that mean better scouting or having a DoF?

 

[Trix]

A dof would be absolutely pointless as long as Poch and Levy are at the club. They are BOTH far too stubborn to use one properly.

 

[Trix]

if that were true then why is Pochettino saying he’s not in control of transfers?

He's not in control of negotiating them but he's 100% in charge of who comes in or out.

 

[dontcallme]

Would that mean better scouting or having a DoF?

Either, our recent transfer policy hasn’t been great though the summer signings were an improvement.

 

[Metalhead]

Either, our recent transfer policy hasn’t been great though the summer signings were an improvement.

Obviously we have stole a march on our rivals in the past in terms of unearthing gems or bargain signings but many will concur with your previous assertion that other clubs seem to have signed good players that we could have afforded and it does seem like the list of targets often appears pretty restricted when even if Poch is very particular, there is a whole globe full of players out there that could be identified for Poch.

 

[Hakkz]

Liverpool and Man City to name two.
Klopp and Pep don’t seem to mind.

Chelsea. Leicester.

In fact the only “top” English teams that don’t have some type of one are us and Man U. That speaks for itself quite frankly.

Coincidentally the same 2 clubs that have chairman who have shown that they aren't good at taking care of the sporting side.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

He's not in control of negotiating them but he's 100% in charge of who comes in or out.

Interesting as his media comments don’t seem to suggest that is the case. If so then he cannot complain too much if he’s making the call on who to sign or not.

There were rumours on Twitter that previous managers haven’t had a say on who’s in or out like jol and redknapp, I wonder if levy actually trusts poch so let’s him decide who comes in or if levy has always let the manager have final say on who’s bought and who’s not and if so then levy is being unfairly portrayed in the media as to how he runs the transfer dealings. I have some contacts at other clubs closer to transfers and in my experience it’s very rare that a manager doesn’t actually have the say in who is brought in. Usually players are highlighted by the scouting team who they think are a good fit and could be affordable etc and then those players are offered as choices to the manager who ultimately says yes or no as to whether said player is brought in or not so a DOF just aids the process really it can work with or without one depending on how good the scouting and ‘transfer comittee’ is.

 

[Trix]

Interesting as his media comments don’t seem to suggest that is the case. If so then he cannot complain too much if he’s making the call on who to sign or not.

There were rumours on Twitter that previous managers haven’t had a say on who’s in or out like jol and redknapp, I wonder if levy actually trusts poch so let’s him decide who comes in or if levy has always let the manager have final say on who’s bought and who’s not and if so then levy is being unfairly portrayed in the media as to how he runs the transfer dealings. I have some contacts at other clubs closer to transfers and in my experience it’s very rare that a manager doesn’t actually have the say in who is brought in. Usually players are highlighted by the scouting team who they think are a good fit and could be affordable etc and then those players are offered as choices to the manager who ultimately says yes or no as to whether said player is brought in or not so a DOF just aids the process really it can work with or without one depending on how good the scouting and ‘transfer comittee’ is.

All 3 in the summer were pochs choices. We had to wait a year for 2 of them.

 

[JayB]

He's not in control of negotiating them but he's 100% in charge of who comes in or out.

This has proven to be a major problem though, Poch's judgment has been suspect to say the least. Surely his stubbornness with regard to specific targets was a massive part of the reason we went two windows without signing a player, which seems to have had major long-term ramifications.

I cannot imagine that the scouting setup has not produced a list of DMs or right backs in recent years, yet we've not been seriously linked with bringing any in despite the weakness of those areas having been incredibly obvious for a long time now. That can only be down to Poch's choice, which just shows the downside of vesting the entire decision-making power in one individual.

I take your point that Poch and Levy are too stubborn for it to work, but the approach they've taken to recruitment has been a disaster and the whole setup needs shaking up.

 

[Goobers]

A dof would be absolutely pointless as long as Poch and Levy are at the club. They are BOTH far too stubborn to use one properly.

I thin to have a dedicated system and structure around a DOF you need everyone invested in it and as you say niether of the bosses would work well with one then why pursue one. It is just about making the structure you have work.

 

[bceej]

All 3 in the summer were pochs choices. We had to wait a year for 2 of them.

All seem inspired choices. Need someone to start greasing the wheels to speed up the process. Baldini definitely managed that. Hitchen, now, seems to be the one with his ear to the ground. He seems more pivotal than his role might suggest to me.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

100% behind getting a DOF now, we've got ourselves into a right mess.