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

[Keefy18]

Jose reportedly suggested Luis Campos for the role. The club rejected the idea.

That rumor comes directly from Jose's mouth piece Castles who is roundly mocked on here as ill informed.

He was in the news way before that, how he wanted to be only a first team coach than a manager. It's clear who doesn't want a DOF. It's not the manager but the board.

Jose publicly stated towards the end of his time here he didn't know what a manager was in today's current game, basically suggesting that the manager should have complete and utter control over all aspects of the squad and no one else.

Which isn't true of today's current successful sides. Managers work in tandem with a TD / DoF at many of today's best ran clubs.

There are quite a few interviews of him saying this.

I think the biggest idiots are in our board. After Jose was sacked, we clearly briefed the media how we will have a throughout process of finding a DoF and the manager and that it will take until the end of the season. What have we got instead? Complete opposite. We decided it was a brilliant idea to give someone a permanent job based on 2 months and increasing his wage 10x as if he was going somewhere else. It's the most idiotic decision I have seen in a long long time.

What? Worse than SAF appointing Moyes?

Briefing me arse, Jose has been a media whore since he was booted out and is all over Bein sports and his narrative is all over the media since December.

I mean who was having a meltdown over transfers publicly and supposedly not being backed by the board? Jose wasn't it?

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...cal-Director-Ed-Woodward-Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ter-united-manager-next-job-epl-a8689241.html

 

[dove]

What? Worse than SAF appointing Moyes?

Briefing me arse, Jose been a media whore since he walked and is all over Bein sports and his narrative is all over the media since December.

I mean who was having a meltdown over transfers publicly and supposedly not being backed by the board? Jose wasn't it?

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...cal-Director-Ed-Woodward-Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ter-united-manager-next-job-epl-a8689241.html

I actually think that as a decision and the timing of it, it is worse. Moyes was admittedly a terrible choice but we (or rather SAF) seemed to have identified him as a good replacement for SAF (you know, Scottish, did quite well with Everton with a tight budget) but at least I think he was our plan A. With Ole it's a complete clusterfeck. We completely lost any sort of logic and jumped straight into "Ole's at the wheel" bandwagon. As a business decision, it's as bad as it gets. We had absolutely no reason to rush it. And yes, we clearly briefed what I said in my last post. Every journo saying the exact same quotes at the same time is surely it.

 

[Infra-red]

That rumor comes directly from Jose's mouth piece Castles who is roundly mocked on here as ill informed.

Surely if he's Jose's mouthpiece, that makes him exceptionally well-informed. He'll have got it from the man himself.

 

[JPRouve]

Surely if he's Jose's mouthpiece, that makes him exceptionally well-informed. He'll have got it from the man himself.

Luis Campos would be a very strange DOF for Mourinho, he is specialized in low profile players that need lots of coaching. And while he worked with Mourinho as an opposition scout, DOF is a totally different job.

 

[Infra-red]

Luis Campos would be a very strange DOF for Mourinho, he is specialized in low profile players that need lots of coaching. And while he worked with Mourinho as an opposition scout, DOF is a totally different job.

I would assume that Mourinho simply wanted someone he knew and could perhaps trust. Campos would likely have had to make adjustments to his working practices had he joined United anyway - without wishing to be derogatory, Monaco and Lille are different calibres of club.

 

[Keefy18]

Surely if he's Jose's mouthpiece, that makes him exceptionally well-informed. He'll have got it from the man himself.

It'd also make him incredibly biased and he's printing what he's told basically.

He's the same as Custis, another Jose mouth piece and Custis is still bitter about LVG's "fat man" comments. So he posts pro Jose articles time and time again and against the club.

 

[JPRouve]

I would assume that Mourinho simply wanted someone he knew and could perhaps trust. Campos would likely have had to make adjustments to his working practices had he joined United anyway - without wishing to be derogatory, Monaco and Lille are different calibres of club.

Campos doesn't make adjustment, he has network and his vision of football, he is stubborn and has bad temper that's why he left Monaco, he had issues with Jardim who allegedly wanted more balance in recruitment.

He is a very good DOF but to me Mourinho would have been one of the worst fit.

 

[Infra-red]

Campos doesn't make adjustment, he has network and his vision of football, he is stubborn and has bad temper that's why he left Monaco, he had issues with Jardim who allegedly wanted more balance in recruitment.

Which, if true, may well be one of the reasons United rejected Mourinho's suggestion. United will always look for a mixture of young talents and established, commercially attractive, players. Whether Campos would have acquiesced to that, I guess we'll never really know.

 

[Keefy18]

I actually think that as a decision and the timing of it, it is worse. Moyes was admittedly a terrible choice but we (or rather SAF) seemed to have identified him as a good replacement for SAF (you know, Scottish, did quite well with Everton with a tight budget) but at least I think he was our plan A. With Ole it's a complete clusterfeck. We completely lost any sort of logic and jumped straight into "Ole's at the wheel" bandwagon. As a business decision, it's as bad as it gets. We had absolutely no reason to rush it. And yes, we clearly briefed what I said in my last post. Every journo saying the exact same quotes at the same time is surely it.

Moyes wasn't our plan A at all, remember the lost in translation dinner between Fergie and Pep? I think he wanted him to take over at the club from him. After that balls up the options were running slimmer then and Klopp said he had no desire to join United. Carlo was tied up to Real, Jose to Chelsea.... leaving whom? Moyes really.

TBH I think Ole will be here to stabalize the ship after the cluster feck that was Jose. He left us in worse shape than LVG and nearly as bad, possibly worse than Moyes did.

Briefed cause journo's are all saying it was a disaster appointment, the same journo's who 2 months previously demanded Ole get the job and it would be nothing short of a disgrace if Ole didn't get it.

 

[JPRouve]

Which, if true, may well be one of the reasons United rejected Mourinho's suggestion. United will always look for a mixture of young talents and established, commercially attractive, players. Whether Campos would have acquiesced to that, I guess we'll never really know.

My guess is that Campos wasn't a Mourinho suggestion at all, if United thought about him it was probably due to the success that Monaco had between 2013-2016. He clearly is a bad fit for Mourinho and United had no intention to sack Mourinho at the time. As for the press, they most likely linked him to Mourinho because they worked together in the past but it was for a different job.

 

[Infra-red]

My guess is that Campos wasn't a Mourinho suggestion at all, if United thought about him it was probably due to the success that Monaco had between 2013-2016. He clearly is a bad fit for Mourinho and United had no intention to sack Mourinho at the time. As for the press, they most likely linked him to Mourinho because they worked together in the past but it was for a different job.

I generally think that when it comes to Mourinho, Duncan Castles is worth listening to. Also, isn't Campos closely-associated with Mendes? We'll never really know, though.

 

[f_to_z]

Why are United always very slow in completing transfers? While many other big teams finish them up quickly.

As if the United staff just start in the summer to find targets while the right thing to do is research your targets during the season then pick them up at summer.

Is the problem from Woodward? Is it that United always try to get the best possible price and thus keep negotiating for a while?

Maybe having a Director of football is necessary to resolve this issue. Have a dedicated staff for transfers alone rather than Woodward joggling everything Club related and being average in them all.

 

[Keefy18]

Why are United always very slow in completing transfers? While many other big teams finish them up quickly.

Transfers were completed VERY quickly in the summer of 2014. Remember when LVG showed up late? We signed Rojo, Blind, ADM & Falcao in ten days. Can't think of many other clubs that managed that.

Similarly, Jose's first summer here all were tied up quickly Pogba which is to be expected considering the size of the deal.

One year later we signed Lindelof & Lukaku by July 10th with Matic done as well by July 30th.

Gotta remember too that much of what is wrote about players and being linked to United is tabloid nonsense. The only real delays we've had was the summer of Moyes dithering around trying to sign the likes of Cesc, Kroos & Bale, Pogba and ADM. The latter of those made sense then when you consider the fact he never wanted to leave Real and of all places he wanted to end up at was United.

 

[Ramshock]

Beckham will be linked heavily the next week or so.

 

[f_to_z]

Transfers were completed VERY quickly in the summer of 2014. Remember when LVG showed up late? We signed Rojo, Blind, ADM & Falcao in ten days. Can't think of many other clubs that managed that.

Similarly, Jose's first summer here all were tied up quickly Pogba which is to be expected considering the size of the deal.

One year later we signed Lindelof & Lukaku by July 10th with Matic done as well by July 30th.

Gotta remember too that much of what is wrote about players and being linked to United is tabloid nonsense. The only real delays we've had was the summer of Moyes dithering around trying to sign the likes of Cesc, Kroos & Bale, Pogba and ADM. The latter of those made sense then when you consider the fact he never wanted to leave Real and of all places he wanted to end up at was United.

I know it does not sound so bad the way you put it. I still think that we could do a much better job than mid July average signings and beginning of August. This is still late for many reasons. I would prefer all transfer done by 1st July and that is also what Solskjaer has recommended to Woodward this season.

There are many reasons this is better. New players will have more time to learn and adapt to manager tactics. Usually as the summer drags along and teams miss out on other players they might show interest to your targets, thus increasing prices. Also, it shows the club is really professional and knows the targets before hand.

Again I blame that of not having a strong "transfers" structure at the club. Thus needing a Director of Football sooner than later.

P.S. I feel Woodward has lost confidence in his abilities now that he keeps hiring managers and firing them. That is why its taking longer than normal to decide on a Director of Football.

 

[Amir]

I know it does not sound so bad the way you put it. I still think that we could do a much better job than mid July average signings and beginning of August. This is still late for many reasons. I would prefer all transfer done by 1st July and that is also what Solskjaer has recommended to Woodward this season.

It takes two to tango and it takes two clubs to agree a deal. Quiet often the selling club is quite happy to let a saga go on in hope they earn some extra money. Only way to prevent them is offer more, and then people will be unhappy because we paid too much. You can never win.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

"United hope to appoint a technical director soon – Rio Ferdinand is of interest – and he will also have input into prospective transfers, with the recruitment department and manager retaining a veto to ensure no player can be imposed on the other. Matt Judge, United’s head of corporate affairs, will remain responsible for negotiations."

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...l-james-ole-gunnar-solskjaer?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Why are United always very slow in completing transfers? While many other big teams finish them up quickly.

As if the United staff just start in the summer to find targets while the right thing to do is research your targets during the season then pick them up at summer.

Is the problem from Woodward? Is it that United always try to get the best possible price and thus keep negotiating for a while?

Maybe having a Director of football is necessary to resolve this issue. Have a dedicated staff for transfers alone rather than Woodward joggling everything Club related and being average in them all.

It’s worse than that. A few targets haven’t been identified until July/August, Martial for example

 

[Damien]

It’s worse than that. A few targets haven’t been identified until July/August, Martial for example

Wasn't it the case with Martial that us along with a few clubs were interested, but Monaco weren't willing to sell until after they were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers? They were knocked out on the 25th August then we wrapped it up in the last week of the window. LVG said at the time that we had been following him for a while.

 

[GDaly95]

I can confirm via my mates ex that Rio is currently on a beach in Portugal. If that has any relevancy whatsoever.

I want someone who is an actual DOF or Technical Director. It'd be cool to get the lad from Norwich in, but surely an important aspect of being a DOF is having contacts at the highest clubs and being in contact with the biggest agents. Norwich wouldn't have been operating on that level. Still can't believe we've not just gone and gotten Mitchell.

 

[Ian Reus]

Rio is currently on a beach in Portugal

To the Felix thread. >>>>

 

[Water Melon]

I can confirm via my mates ex that Rio is currently on a beach in Portugal. If that has any relevancy whatsoever.

• I want someone who is an actual DOF or Technical Director. It'd be cool to get the lad from Norwich in, but surely an important aspect of being a DOF is having contacts at the highest clubs and being in contact with the biggest agents. Norwich wouldn't have been operating on that level. Still can't believe we've not just gone and gotten Mitchell.

Has he been employed by some other club yet or is he still available?

 

[JPRouve]

Wasn't it the case with Martial that us along with a few clubs were interested, but Monaco weren't willing to sell until after they were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers? They were knocked out on the 25th August then we wrapped it up in the last week of the window. LVG said at the time that we had been following him for a while.

Yes, Martial was identified and United came for him early but Monaco weren't interested. United came back thinking that the new context could change things, iirc the deal was done before Monaco were even out of CL but it was the condition for it to happen.

 

[Class of 63]

To the Felix thread. >>>>

Tiss rumoured that Rio Ferdinand is a guest of Mr & Mrs van Gaal in Portugal

To the Was LvG a better Manager than Mike Bassett? thread. >>>>

 

[kundalini]

Just reading about this guy and it seems he has been brilliant for Norwich. Obviously different things to do well at United or Norwich.

https://trainingground.guru/articles/stuart-webber-climb-of-the-canaries

Decent interview here.

I've listened/watched 63 mins of the interview so far; he is very impressive yet almost everything he says is common sense. It was interesting that he mentioned a couple of young players, one when he was at Huddersfield and one at Norwich, who he struggled to find a club willing to take them on loan.

 

[Jacckk1985]

Leonardo left Ac Milan - would be the dream!

 

[NWRed]

I've listened/watched 63 mins of the interview so far; he is very impressive yet almost everything he says is common sense. It was interesting that he mentioned a couple of young players, one when he was at Huddersfield and one at Norwich, who he struggled to find a club willing to take them on loan.

After watching that I'm completely sold on the guy to be honest, his philosophy is perfect for us. I doubt we'll get him though after listening to what he said about interference, I can't see Woodward giving up enough control to allow him or someone like him to do their job properly.

 

[Cassidy]

Leonardo left Ac Milan - would be the dream!

Why, he was terrible there

 

[Jacckk1985]

Why, he was terrible there

He did great work with funds they had. You are very mistaken.

 

[NWRed]

https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/canaries-stuart-webber-manchester-united-links-1-6080296

looks like the links to Webber were false, shame, seems like he'd do a good job.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/canaries-stuart-webber-manchester-united-links-1-6080296

looks like the links to Webber were false, shame, seems like he'd do a good job.

Wouldn’t have stood a chance though. He’s not ‘high profile’ enough. Could hear the whines in Gt Yarmouth

 

[NWRed]

Wouldn’t have stood a chance though. He’s not ‘high profile’ enough. Could hear the whines in Gt Yarmouth

I also doubt Woodward would give someone like him the freedom to do his job, I still think he'd be a great choice though.

I watched the 90 minute interview with him from the link in the post below a few days ago and he really impressed me, has exactly the right philosphy for us.

Just reading about this guy and it seems he has been brilliant for Norwich. Obviously different things to do well at United or Norwich.

https://trainingground.guru/articles/stuart-webber-climb-of-the-canaries

Decent interview here.

 

[Tincanalley]

"United hope to appoint a technical director soon – Rio Ferdinand is of interest – and he will also have input into prospective transfers, with the recruitment department and manager retaining a veto to ensure no player can be imposed on the other. Matt Judge, United’s head of corporate affairs, will remain responsible for negotiations."

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...l-james-ole-gunnar-solskjaer?CMP=share_btn_tw

Woody is worried.

 

[Roboc7]

Don’t think club really know what they want, might not even get a DOF or Sporting Director this summer just a committee member.

It will have to happen eventually but might take few years and multiple attempts and recruiting players and manager is going to continue being a struggle without a proper plan and structure.

 

[Keefy18]

I know it does not sound so bad the way you put it. I still think that we could do a much better job than mid July average signings and beginning of August. This is still late for many reasons. I would prefer all transfer done by 1st July and that is also what Solskjaer has recommended to Woodward this season.

There are many reasons this is better. New players will have more time to learn and adapt to manager tactics. Usually as the summer drags along and teams miss out on other players they might show interest to your targets, thus increasing prices. Also, it shows the club is really professional and knows the targets before hand.

Again I blame that of not having a strong "transfers" structure at the club. Thus needing a Director of Football sooner than later.

P.S. I feel Woodward has lost confidence in his abilities now that he keeps hiring managers and firing them. That is why its taking longer than normal to decide on a Director of Football.

How many clubs have their business done by July 1st? Man City's last 10 big signings are basically 60/40 with regards being there prior to pre season. The ones in red arrived during or post summer tours.

Mahrez - July 10th
Ederson - June 1st
Silva - May 26th
Walker - July 14th
Danilo - July 23rd
Mendy - July 24th
Gundogan - June 2nd
Sane - Aug 2nd
Jesus - Aug 3rd
Stones - Aug 9th

Liverpool: Fabinho (May 28th), Keita (28th Aug, didn't arrive until 1 year later), Allison (July 18th), Shaqiri (July 13th), Salah (June 22nd), Robertson (July 22nd), Oxlade Chamberlain (Aug 31st), Mane (June 28th), Widjnaldum (July 22nd), Firmino (June 23rd),

Similar story with Liverpool.

They are probably the best club in the league currently though for getting business tied up early, Edwards has done brilliant for them.

 

[Grylte]

I can confirm via my mates ex that Rio is currently on a beach in Portugal. If that has any relevancy whatsoever.

I want someone who is an actual DOF or Technical Director. It'd be cool to get the lad from Norwich in, but surely an important aspect of being a DOF is having contacts at the highest clubs and being in contact with the biggest agents. Norwich wouldn't have been operating on that level. Still can't believe we've not just gone and gotten Mitchell.

What does your mate think about you and his ex chatting while (s)he is on vacation?

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Anyone else get the feeling this is just another of our mighty Ed’s ideas that just ends up dragging so long that it eventually gets forgotten?

Like adding ‘football club’ back into the crest

 

[Adisa]

Anyone else get the feeling this is just another of our mighty Ed’s ideas that just ends up dragging so long that it eventually gets forgotten?

Like adding ‘football club’ back into the crest

With every season that ends in failure, people remember. So I don't think he's that foolish.

 

[LonelyFire]

Anyone else get the feeling this is just another of our mighty Ed’s ideas that just ends up dragging so long that it eventually gets forgotten?

Like adding ‘football club’ back into the crest

Surprised as many believed we were going to do it in first place. I’ve said all along, the problem is power - this won’t be the typical technical role. Decisions will still be made by Woodward and the Glazers. Hence, nobody reputable will take the job.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

What the feck is taking so long?