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Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)

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VP89

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Anyone know anything about either of these guys?

EDIT - turns out it was in the article itself. Quite like the sound of Mitchell:

"Formerly with Spurs and Southampton, Paul Mitchell, a Mancunian by birth, secured the signatures of Sadio Mane, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne while at St Mary's, before selling on for huge profits.

At Spurs, he set up a recruitment system which brought in Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld, Heung-Min Son and Kieran Trippier."
 

Marcus

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So the Everton DoF seems to be talking a lot on signings to the media and not the manager. Is this the type of DoF model we are going for?
 

L1nk

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Marcus said:
So the Everton DoF seems to be talking a lot on signings to the media and not the manager. Is this the type of DoF model we are going for?
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Just because the DoF is talking about the signings, doesn't mean the manager didn't suggest them or that he played no part in it though, every manager with a DoF will
 

Sky1981

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AlexUTD said:
If they go for a DoF who embraces what Manchester United is all about. Attacking football with a mix of exciting youth and world class players who have a winning mentality then yeah welcome to that person.
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Every body knows what united wants. Whethere such person exists is another.

It sounds so simple : play attacking football with youth and world class player.

In reality there's only several periods and a few manager that can deliver that. Even barcelona la massia doesnt produce world class players every decade let alone every year.

United way sounds great on paper but without the star aligning in us getting ferguson and the class of 92 we'd be just another england team.
 

Greck

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Get someone with good network in France's grassroots. Believe they will produce many more Pogbas and Mbappes.
 

We need an rvn

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sunama said:
You nailed it!
IMO, what we are seeing is a news story to take away from the fact that our club are happy being a top 4 side and that winning the title is not on their agenda. If you think about it, this is major news, but virtually nobody is talking about it. Our club have essentially given up on winning the title before the season even started - this is perhaps the first time in decades that this has happened.

Jose needed one last (financial) push to take us from 1st to 2nd and the board said, "NO".
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Take it you mean 2nd to 1st ;)
 

Marcus

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L1nk said:
Just because the DoF is talking about the signings, doesn't mean the manager didn't suggest them or that he played no part in it though, every manager with a DoF will
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Oh what I meant was a high profile DoF (who talks to the press about signings more than the manager), rather than a behind the scenes guy. I would expect that the manager would always tell the DoF which player he would like to sign. Jose might very well be happy to say to the press, let's talk about football and matches. On transfers please pose these sort of questions to the DoF.
 

Acole9

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Greck said:
Get someone with good network in France's grassroots. Believe they will produce many more Pogbas and Mbappes.
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I believe the club have already identified the need for a top scout in France, what with all the players we've missed out on.
 

tonnas

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Seems like it is a race between 5 till now:
Dan Ashworth,
Paul Mitchell,
Van Der Sar,
Monchi,
Fabio Paratici
 

AltiUn

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ash_86 said:
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Can understand why they'd be feeling that way now, a DoF does make sense when you think about it. I do wonder if Woodward spoke to Mourinho about this. Looking around all the top clubs in Europe right now, how many don't have a DoF?
 

deafepl

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AltiUn said:
Can understand why they'd be feeling that way now, a DoF does make sense when you think about it. I do wonder if Woodward spoke to Mourinho about this. Looking around all the top clubs in Europe right now, how many don't have a DoF?
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Woodward probably gets tired of Mourinho's short-term targets, still keep with same targets over the last few seasons. I think Woodward wants to build a long-term for the future.
 

luke511

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If we are after changing our transfer philosophy and aiming to buy players with potential and then build them into top players, rather than aiming for players at the peak of their value.. I think Woodward should be saluted for not paying well over the odds on players that will only go down in price. Alderweireld would've been a quality signing but for the price Tottenham were demanding and the contract situation, we'll have been truly ripped off in terms of value. Maguire has just come off a few good performances in the world cup and his value has doubled, very bad time to buy him. Chelsea were rejecting huge figures from Barcelona for Willian so that was never going to happen. None of these work with the club's supposed new philosophy so Woodward did right not giving into the pressure. The lack of options was the problem and you'd have thought Mourinho would've been in charge of the football side and Woodward in charge of the business, so I'm leaning more towards Mourinho for the frustrating summer we've just had. That being said we got Fred and Dalot who fit into two positions we really needed replacements in so it wasn't the worst.
 

Kostov

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I think Woodward is modelling his transfer strategy on Real Madrid's. They pay/overpay big sums only for genuine world class players or young and upcoming superstars. I mean look at their transfer dealings, maybe I'm missing something but I don't remember them going into transfer sagas for players like Willian/Perisic/Alderweireld, they did it for players like Bale/Modric/Ronaldo, and bought the others either young and with everything to prove or cheap like Kroos. Now again with Courtois, and watch them do the same with Hazard.
 

sam147

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deafepl said:
Woodward probably gets tired of Mourinho's short-term targets, still keep with same targets over the last few seasons. I think Woodward wants to build a long-term for the future.
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Its not only about long term. The way it was phrased it seems they are trying to buy younger cheaper players. If thats the case then dont expect many trophies because they need developing and it will be a 'process'. I think Jose's signings so far have had the perfect blend of youth as well as experience. Clearly the Glazers want to suck the club dry before they leave.
 

theriddler

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A strange thing which seems to be going on at a lot of football clubs - there are CEO's who have fantastic commercial acumen, good education and are very strong from a financial growth standpoint, but are so far disconnected from the average fan, its shocking.

I've worked in an Investment bank previously for 2 years - the issue is while these people are incredibly hard working, and many are highly intelligent, most aren't very creative, and its not really great training in running a business.

Someone who advises you on an acquisition, or an M&A deal isn't necessarily going to be the right guy to lead a behemoth like Manchester United. We've seen this issue in recent history at Liverpool, too.

Sometimes I wonder how someone goes from Investment Banking ---> top football club. You need people with a feel for the game along with the commercial acumen - making spreadsheets and advising pharmaceutical companies on acquisitions of other companies isn't exactly the ideal preperation. There needs to be a combination of football acumen along with the commercial/leadership aspects.

I think its an issue with a lot of organizations - just because a dude was at JP Morgan and advised you on syndicated loans for a buyout doesn't mean he's going to be a good leader for an organization.
 

Foxbatt

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I do not think Ed would make these decisions on his own. United have Gill and also SAF on the board and I think he will also get their advice too or some other people too. Is Toby actually better than what we have?
 

dave1956

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Gill and Sir Alex are not on either of the two boards.
There is a Directors Board which comprises the elder Glazer brothers as Co Chairmen, Woodward as Vice Chairman, plus a financial director, plus a number of the Glazer family members as directors and a number of independent directors.
Then there is the Management Board which effectively runs the club and this comprises of 4 directors, the two Co-Chairmen, Woodward and the financial director, so looking at the make up of the Management Board, I would surmise that Woodward has a great deal to say on transfers and general financing of the club,and the daily running of the club, as Vice Chairman he is the most senior member of the board residing in the U.K.
 

SER19

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Everybody else glad this prick decided only varane would improve us?

Two goals 2 central defender mistakes but hey, mourinho was wrong to want alderweireld
 

Amir

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SER19 said:
Everybody else glad this prick decided only varane would improve us?

Two goals 2 central defender mistakes but hey, mourinho was wrong to want alderweireld
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Doesn't matter who you buy if instead of a team you have 11 individuals who for the most part don't play as well as they can.
 

Water Melon

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SER19 said:
Everybody else glad this prick decided only varane would improve us?

Two goals 2 central defender mistakes but hey, mourinho was wrong to want alderweireld
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Lindelof, Mou's buy cost us these goals. Why trust the fecker. Bought both Bailly and Lindelof both are playing CBs both are shite. Feck Mou. He is a rich mans Wenger.
 

Kapardin

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A CEO's job is not just to veto signings, but ensure a structure is in place to recommend viable alternatives. Woodward shares the blame. Salah was apparently Klopp's second choice and was recommended to him (assuming the source was true).
 

AndyJ1985

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SER19 said:
Everybody else glad this prick decided only varane would improve us?

Two goals 2 central defender mistakes but hey, mourinho was wrong to want alderweireld
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No he wasn't wrong. But when so much of our team is broken a CB wouldn't have made a great deal of difference anyway.
 

Minimalist

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SER19 said:
Everybody else glad this prick decided only varane would improve us?

Two goals 2 central defender mistakes but hey, mourinho was wrong to want alderweireld
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He's playing his two centre-back buys isn't he?
 

Dumbat12

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We're not winning anything with that defense and top 4 is highly in question. I've defended him since he was appointed and still think he wasn't at fault, but this time he seriously dropped the ball. If he cares about the brand, as reported, trophies is the thing that enhances that brand most, not some random names. And as far as resale value is concerned, if a player is good for us then we should have no reason to sell him.

I have no idea why he didn't go for Alderweireld. It was simply a no brainer.
 

JK-27

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Great transfer strategy Woodward. Finish 19 points off the title race, City strengthen their squad, and you feel Jose list of players wanted isn't as good as your list of players so end up doing feck all.

3-1 down at half time to Brighton, do you still think you're doing a good job?
 
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