So what is the point? We don't need another mouthpiece and penpusher, we need direction regarding the team, not where we can get more money from.
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
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The shirt sponsor makes money from us selling shirts. We have had the money already. Yes a superstar player might get more sponsors and keep us in the headlines, but so does playing attractive football, staying in the CL and winning trophies.
With a club the size of United, isn't it likely to be someone with significant DoF experience? I.e. A DoF currently at another (big) club?
442 and the ‘United way’ inbound...
DOFs don't move much and even less when they are in a big club, so in general you get the number two or someone who is doing a great job at a "smaller" club like Antero Henrique, Berta, Monchi and people like that.
Perhaps they will have input in terms of the youth football structure, nature of signings in regards to the long term (age, mentality).
City had their DOF before Pep got there right? He has more power than Pellegrini did for example. The football isn’t the same either. DOF isn’t going to sign players Pep doesn’t want for the first team.
The squad that Fergie left for example had some aging players. Evra, Carrick, Rooney, Rio, Vidic etc. DOF might look to remedy any sort of transitions between squads better. Of course SAF handled the transition between his different squads very well, but the problem came after he left. Mourinho is rebuilding the squad but there has to be continuity regardless of if he is the manager in 2 years or not.
Maybe they are even thinking more along the line of someone who played for United and understands the club. That could lead to clashes with the manager, as what the fans want and Jose is providing is dividing opinion at the moment. Jose doesn't seem to have good relationship with DOF at his former clubs, so if we do get one they are going to need to be careful who they chose, unless as has been mentioned they might be thinking more towards a future manager.
He isn't a failure yet, but when we bought potential in Bailly, we needed a proven CB to pair him with and also guide the rest. Smalling is not good enough to guide them obviously. Lindelof just adds to our set of good/potentially good but inconsistent CBs.
We could have just bought a RB instead.
DoF can sign duds occasionally, but it is not good that one person (the manager) calls all the shots. Two heads are better than one if they can work well together. We need some continuity after Mourinho's tenure.
There's really nothing wrong with this approach in theory. We're not Barcelona, and we're not City who need to basically plagiarise them. We have our own identity and DNA and what ultimately matters is how these come to be expressed on the pitch, for which we need consistent and coherent quality recruitment. I'd truly welcome the arrival of someone competent who understands the type of player and managerial profile that fits our club, it doesn't have to mean 4-4-2 and wingers (which is in any case a caricature of our Fergie sides), it's a more general idea of what is expected at the club.
I think those are some fair points, I understand what you mean.
I like the idea of bringing in a DOF, Woodward doesn't fill me with much confidence with the footballing side of things at the club. I do feel Jose will leave the squad in a much better shape than he found it. But we need that continuity in our transfer dealings going forward, we can't be having a transfer window like we had with LVG again. The amount of money he wasted is enough to bring a tear to your eye. If a DOF will help us to have more clarity and direction in our signings and help us plan for the future I'm all for it.
Pretty sure that's not how it works. Woodward is the CEO - the guy with the actual money in his hands, who signs the cheque off. Nobody is really overuling him apart from the owners.
I agree that we should be recruiting players that fit the history of this club and how it has always played, with adjustments to fit in with the modern game, but what if that does not fit with how Jose sees it? He seems to want hard workers who are physical and fast, while I would like hard workers but who have skill, speed and flair. Probably not that different, but the style of play seems miles apart.
Yes the DOF at City was there for a while but they knew they were getting Pep and he was getting players that suited Pep.
Also why do people have this impression that Woodward draws up the transfer list? It's one of the stupidest myths repeated here.
E.g. we were never seriously linked to him up until Mourinho was about to take charge. Pogba was in fact constantly linked to Chelsea to Mourinhos tenure there, and then when he left and came here we got in the race.
E.g. we were never seriously linked to him up until Mourinho was about to take charge. Pogba was in fact constantly linked to Chelsea to Mourinhos tenure there, and then when he left and came here we got in the race.
Spurs being our feeder club again? Alexander and Britain both came from there? Or worked there before. Small club really.
It'll be interesting to see what exactly this DoF will be doing.
Because he didn't want to work with Valdano for long at all.
"The pair fell out after Valdano queried Mourinho's request for another striker as cover for the injured Gonzalo Higuain earlier in the season."
"Mourinho demanded an autonomy on the sporting side like that which works with English clubs. I think for the sake of the institution that this is a reorganisation that has to be done."
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/13553663
Because he didn't want to work with Valdano for long at all.
"The pair fell out after Valdano queried Mourinho's request for another striker as cover for the injured Gonzalo Higuain earlier in the season."
"Mourinho demanded an autonomy on the sporting side like that which works with English clubs. I think for the sake of the institution that this is a reorganisation that has to be done."
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/13553663
Are DOF and DoFo the same roles?
DoFo sounds like a bad MoFo
DoFo sounds like a bad MoFo
Maybe this is why they want to take a closer look at things. The extraordinary wages is an instance, and this can upset the dressing room. Sanchez only came to us because of the wages we were willing to pay him.
Another fact is, We did not really need him so who sanctioned it. All this could be controlled by a DOF if his job credentials and duties were all agreed to, by all concerned. That includes Manager's CEO and whoever else is involved.
The DOF should mean for whole club, Academy, Under 23's, and the direction for the future.
Look, I'm not totally against a DoF structure - but you can't have someone who can overrule Woodward. He's the chief executive of the club and answers only to the Glazer family - that's pretty obvious.
Sounds like a bit of a waste of time really. Just a fancy title. So if we fail it is all down to Jose.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ll-news/man-utd-director-of-football-14471751
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ll-news/man-utd-director-of-football-14471751
Gaz would be perfect. It has to be someone who knows the club to preserve the traditional thinking of the club at the same time I think he is very smart and knows what is needed. He's been critical of United and that means he wants us to do much better than now. For me DoF is the most needed when a new manager is hired and I think he would really make his homework and made us sign someone progressive/young wouldn't be against signing Pochettino for instance.. Think he would appoint Carrick as a U23 coach or someone fresh and younger than Scabria to match well with McKenna and the first team, influenced the growth of our own players, pushed for scouting and also signing the best young players in the country too. He seems like a man who has a big insight and knows what's going on in our country and beyond with football, if only he wanted to do the job and we would offer to him
From the article I posted above, sound like it will just be someone to book the coaches and train tickets.
We were supposed to get like three of them already in the past few years and it never materializes.
That's Bolingbroke's former role, there is something fishy about these reports.
We might just have to wait for an appointment and the club to define what their role is. I hope as I said it is not just a misleading name being given to a existing job.
Actually, scratch that - that wasn't the article. What I was thinking of was a piece that Mitten wrote exclusively for the scandi supporter's club before Christmas.
The article was in Norwegian, so I'll translate the most important parts. I doubt I'm allowed to translate and post the entire article.
Sorry for the quick work, I didn't want to spend too much time on it. Anyway, there we go!
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LVG’s coming back.
If the rules wern't so strict I would post the gif of LvG partying at the Amsterdam Gay Pride
If what Mitten says is true, we clearly aren't hiring a DOF in any normal sense of the word. In fact, it seems odd enough that he'd use that term at all (which he does, both in the ESPN piece and in the translated piece above).
The three-way split of Alexander's old role makes sense, and is probably a good thing in itself, but – again – we're not talking about a DOF here.
Mourinho doesn't want one – that has been stated several times – and hiring even a “DOF light” of some kind, who could take on a more hands-on role after Mourinho leaves, doesn't seem very likely unless the club is actively trying to piss off the manager.
The three-way split of Alexander's old role makes sense, and is probably a good thing in itself, but – again – we're not talking about a DOF here.
Mourinho doesn't want one – that has been stated several times – and hiring even a “DOF light” of some kind, who could take on a more hands-on role after Mourinho leaves, doesn't seem very likely unless the club is actively trying to piss off the manager.
Get managers who can continue the work of their predecessors, instead of opting for managers with opposite ideologies.
Tbf, Jose has signed players who are pretty versatile tactically. The only question mark would be over Lukaku, and even he has improved his link up play significantly Sine joining.
It really isn’t that different. Someone like Perisic for example is more of a traditional winger. Is that any different from SAF signing Valencia?
Great news!
Well yeah, that's the point I'm making about hiring a DoF. That would be part of their job. That's something we've lacked since fergie left.
What does football manager has to do with my 4 word post? Do you know how clueless it is to suggest a person as DOF simply because he speaks well on Sky and knows how to tap on an IPAD?
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Good decision but the impact of it will depend on who are we getting for that position and how he'll work. Just getting a DOF won't solve everything. We need someone who proved success at another club even if it's a smaller one and has good eyes for talents and what the team needs.
1st step to giving Mourinho the boot....
I suggest you read post #108.
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