It would all depend on what United are looking for in Dof if it's just a ceremonial position then it hardly matters ,Phelan may have all the qualities to become good Dof but it would be first time United are appointing a Dof and that too at a time when we have been going through tough transition after Sir Alex's retirement we won't be appointing anybody without experience it would defeat the very purpose of restructuring , it would most probably be some one who is best in the business or very least someone ready to step up to that role.
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
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The DoF needs to be a experienced person who has dealt with high profile clubs and Agents etc.
Phelan was part of a long series of successful Fergie-era assistant managers, but the best job offer he has got since being sacked by Moyes was caretaker manager at Hull. However, he should come in at a critical time run to United's entire transfer policy?
What is it about Mike Phelan that the Cafe sees that the entire rest of the football world doesn't? I know you can get impression from media interviews that he did all the work while Fergie took the credit... But people don't actually believe that do they?
We won't be restructuring just for the sake of restructuring. There'll be a business plan to it. The board will be looking to retain our strengths and minimise our weaknesses at leadership level..
Our strengths are board-room negotiations and marketing. Our weaknesses are Managerial appointments in keeping with our footballing philosophy and player acquisitions in keeping with our footballing philosophy.
If I were to put my Management Consultancy hat on, I'd recommend keeping Woody so that he can keep doing the things he's good at, ie. all the non-football stuff. And then bring in a man from the Fergie school of football to handle the philosophy/continuity stuff and maintain our identity with the fans. Phelan fits that bill. If a third man needs to be brought in to do the scouting (like Mitchell, for example), fair enough. That's for the board to decide based on their appraisal of Phelan's abilities.
Depends on what kind of DoF they are. Check the Wikipedia link. Phelan would be fine as a 'General Manager' type.
Let's say, hypothetically speaking, there were 10 things that our leadership needs to be able to do. Woody does 5 really well and the rest really poorly. If Phelan can do 4 of those adeptly, bring him in with those specific responsibilities. If another man is needed to fulfill the final thing, so be it. You don't need to have one man to do it all.
Boards make their decisions based on the needs/strengths/weaknesses of their organisation, and will cherry-pick where necessary.
people don't get this. All clubs go through managers until they find the right one. you don't sack your CEO, club owner or whoever because of it.[/QUOTE]
The caf is really making it out to be some really really deep shit. Now you have people claiming they 'don't trust Woodward to hire a DOF'
. SAF/Sir Bobby should find the DOF, what if they go for another honest hardworking Scotsman? Maybe we should hire someone else to hire a DOF who this DOF reports to so he doesn't have to report to Woodward as apparently that is now the problem. Wonder what's going to happen if this mythical DOF comes in and the manager he hires struggles, hire another DOF right?
The caf is really making it out to be some really really deep shit. Now you have people claiming they 'don't trust Woodward to hire a DOF'
. SAF/Sir Bobby should find the DOF, what if they go for another honest hardworking Scotsman? Maybe we should hire someone else to hire a DOF who this DOF reports to so he doesn't have to report to Woodward as apparently that is now the problem. Wonder what's going to happen if this mythical DOF comes in and the manager he hires struggles, hire another DOF right?Madrid and Chelsea are different from us in that they would have sacked Jose and LVG after their first seasons and this is my biggest issue with Ed.
Signing players like fellaini,Mata and shweisteinger because the manager wanted them is called backing your manager is it not? As for renewing Jose's contract yeah that was idiotic.
No one is making excuses for Woody, he's goofed severally and made mistakes and I definitely won't mind seeing someone else running the football side of things but some of the things people blame him for on here is just absurd. He hired two managers who have failed at their jobs,what bloody club hasn't? Unlike us they just sack the fecker and get someone else on time. I don't see what's so special about the running of clubs like Real Madrid and Chelsea except that they have much lesser tolerance and patience than us with failure. That's what I'd like us to imitate. The best you can do with any managerial signing as far as I know is based on what you've seen/know about them currently which gives you absolutely feck all idea if he'll do well here or not . I was very certain Jose would do better than Pep due to already having PL experience, I was wrong. Hire the best available candidate, give him what he needs, and hope for the best. That's pretty much how I see it.
Poch, Zidane or Howe... none of us know how they will turn out if we hire them, they can still not work out here. They are all good managers like Jose and LVG, them being successful here is another thing entirely. And if it doesn't work out for them here it does not matter if they where hired by Woody,SAF,DOF or King Arthur neither would it be their bloody fault either. Right now half the caf including myself is jizzing themselves over Poch,some for Zidane (same way we jizzed over Jose),what the feck does it matter if it's Poch or a DOF that hires him? Why would I blame any of them if they don't work out for us? That's why all this shite about who hired Moyes gets on my tits, SAF thought he'd be good for us,well he was wrong, same way he was wrong about Jones being our greatest player ever, but who cares, sack him and try something else. So who do you 'trust' to hire a DOF? How are you certain he'll get it right?
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The caf is really making it out to be some really really deep shit. Now you have people claiming they 'don't trust Woodward to hire a DOF'
. SAF/Sir Bobby should find the DOF, what if they go for another honest hardworking Scotsman? Maybe we should hire someone else to hire a DOF who this DOF reports to so he doesn't have to report to Woodward as apparently that is now the problem. Wonder what's going to happen if this mythical DOF comes in and the manager he hires struggles, hire another DOF right?[/QUOTE]Right. If it doesn't work, sack the whole chain of command and let the fans choose
Phelan has already said hes only on loan from Central Coast and will return there next season
Not really.....maybe he wasn't clever in that case but the Spiegel story was pretty boring.
I see, I only skimmed the article at the time as I didn’t really care about him!
Who are the realistic candidates for this job?
I mean, experienced Directors of Football with big club experience?
I mean, experienced Directors of Football with big club experience?
From Monchi to Emenalo: the top 10 sporting directors in European football right now
https://www.squawka.com/en/news/fro...rectors-in-european-football-right-now/968453
When do most feel the DOF will be signed? I would guess March or April at the latest, but the choice and approach will be much sooner.
I’ve personally predicted late January-early February when this will be announced. Then again that’s just my estimation.
As mentioned earlier on this thread, this is the big vital one we need to get right.
I'd like to think one footballing director will come in within the next few weeks or so, with one or two more coming in later. We'll need like two or even three footballing directors to carry out work of this tremendous magnitude. One guy can't do everything immaculately.
Been thinking this for a bit. Some people don't see this appointment as vital as I do to stop us falling further into mediocrity, although I think Ole will get us a few good results before the DoF comes in.
Monchi has been a bit poor for Roma according to some Roma fans.(Salah, Allison replaced badly etc.)Though early days.
Allison hasn't been replaced badly, Olsen's doing well, just the rest of the team is hit and miss.
I was told he is a great shot stopper with great reactions but not as commanding as Allison. But you are right, the problem lies elsewhere. Their defence has been quite poor this year.
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Lots of people don't seem to realise this. They seem to think it is some kind of cheer-leading ambassadorial role.
Baffling when people mention random club legends. It's a position that requires experience, knowledge, and expertise. Not Cantona or Evra ffs.
Marotta just took the CEO job at Inter. Paratici would be the target from June, although I doubt he would come.
Woodward was very keen on Bertra from Atletico Madrid so wouldn’t surprise me if it’s him
This needs to be on every page of the thread. We need someone with knowhow and good connections. Knowing the club is nowhere as important as knowing the role. We have plenty ex-player ambassadors for that. We should also want someone with a decent business network in the hottest talent producing regions in the world for an extra recruitment advantage
His replacements takes time to establish themselves. Under is a serious talent. Wouldnt be surprised if he is not with a big club in 2 years
Whoever it may be, first and foremost he must ensure that Man Utd always appoint an attacking manager and play entertaining football.
Never ever again the history of last 6 years of negative football be repeated at the club.
Never ever again the history of last 6 years of negative football be repeated at the club.
Cadena Ser reported last month that United had told Berta that they'd bring him in once Mourinho leaves..
I think he looks like the guy we'll turn to considering all the reliable outlets like Cadena Ser, Di Marzio etc have reported our interest in him.
Sports Witness shed light on claims by Cadena Ser Journalist Pedro Morata that Andrea Berta has been told by United he will be be offered the DoF role once Mourinho leaves. The article is from the 25th of November and Di Marzio along with many others have also reported our interest in Berta.
http://sportwitness.co.uk/latest-spain-andrea-berta-manchester-united-approach-dof-claimed/
http://sportwitness.co.uk/latest-spain-andrea-berta-manchester-united-approach-dof-claimed/
How is United setup at the upper level?
Is there a split between administration and operations level?
Perhaps a setup along these lines would best suit the club but the Glazers run things that benefit them first and foremost.
Ownership -> 1a) Administration, 1b) Football -- each has a Director; Woodward for Admin side, and whomever for Football.
Football -> 1a) Operations, 1b) Player Personnel, 1c) Scouting, 1d) Youth
Operations - oversees coaching, medical, travel, analytics & philosophy, etc.
Player Personnel - tasked with contracts, recruitment, transfers, loans, etc.
Scouting - obvious to include matchday scouting
Youth - obvious
Correct me if I'm wrong above/missing key areas but it's how I would see a proper setup to split admin and ops.
Hire a DoF, then appoint a new manager, then decide on a philosophy and build from there.
Perhaps Berta as DoF as some have mentioned, then (ideally IMO) hire Mitchell as DoPP and also tag him as the assistant/deputy DoF.
Is there a split between administration and operations level?
Perhaps a setup along these lines would best suit the club but the Glazers run things that benefit them first and foremost.
Ownership -> 1a) Administration, 1b) Football -- each has a Director; Woodward for Admin side, and whomever for Football.
Football -> 1a) Operations, 1b) Player Personnel, 1c) Scouting, 1d) Youth
Operations - oversees coaching, medical, travel, analytics & philosophy, etc.
Player Personnel - tasked with contracts, recruitment, transfers, loans, etc.
Scouting - obvious to include matchday scouting
Youth - obvious
Correct me if I'm wrong above/missing key areas but it's how I would see a proper setup to split admin and ops.
Hire a DoF, then appoint a new manager, then decide on a philosophy and build from there.
Perhaps Berta as DoF as some have mentioned, then (ideally IMO) hire Mitchell as DoPP and also tag him as the assistant/deputy DoF.
Currently there is a split between administrative (commercial and general operational) and football operations. Richard Arnold leads adminstrative and the manager leads football operations.
I imagine the planned structure is Ownership -> CEO (Woodward) -> 1a) Administration (Richard Arnold and folks), 1b) Football (DoF). Who knows what other directors the DoF and Woodward would bring in on the football operations side but I would imagine one guarantee is a head of recruitment role (which is where I think Mitchell fits in much better).
We need to bring in the RB Leipzeg duo of Mitchell and Ralph Rangknick. You will get everything that United are about with these two in place. Unfortunately, getting Rangknick would prove difficult.
If Mitchell is hired then it lays the foundations for Poch.
Hopefully this appointment will be made early next year so we can get this show on the road.
It depends at which level. If we're talking about Mitchell as the DoF, then yes it probably does. If we're talking about Mitchell as the head of recruitment, then not necessarily IMO. I think Mitchell would be a good head of recruitment candidate for a club of our size regardless of the ties to Pochettino.
DoF as this is thread about us hiring one.
I'm curious, can we hire Daniel Levy as DoF?
We may not get an official announcement till the summer. Usually, if we’re poaching someone of this position elsewhere, they may need to serve a 6 months notice or gardening period!
Well they need to be in place long before the summer or we’ll be in trouble yet again.
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