Why so?
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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Exactly! On paper he’d probably be a good DOF but now we know he’s a total disaster. I don’t trust this club to get this appointment right either. Why would they when they’ve messed up pretty much every important decision post Fergie (apart from backing Jose in the market up to last week, he’s bought in some better players that should prove to be a decent foundation for the next manager)
I doubt we will appoint anyone soon. Woody isnt ready to delegate
I don't believe that's the case. He never had them in the first place. He was always a mad bastard
To be honest, sometimes I do wonder if our Patrice has lost his marbles these days.
Transfer negotiations would take a comical twist
I know I'm going to get pelters for this but he should have retired in 2008 and given us five more years as DOF.
He left at the same time as Gill, with a squad that was absolutely on its deathbed. His experience at rebuilding would have been invaluable.
That said, could he have coped with the escalating fees etc? The evidence of the last few years suggests not.
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We need one badly, with have the worst transfer policy and strategy. Scouting system seems awful aswell, never unearth gems anymore.
If Van der Sar becomes our DoF, I would like him to bring along De Ligt, Neres and Frankie De Jong with him.
De Jong seems to be headed to Barca next year. The other two I can get behind. Won't be cheap though, those days are over.
In hindsight, better him than Pogba :P
Do we know when this will happen or is it just a waiting game?
Knowing how Ed likes to work, I can see us unveiling the new DoF by Christmas even if we decide on someone well before in advance. This may also be the case if we plan on not getting anyone and he needs to appease the fans.
i think many of us here fails to understand properly what's the main function of a dof if this is the things you expect a dof to do. courting other teams board?
tbf to van gaal many would agree with his first year signing. di maria, bfs, morgan, holland poty depay.
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Have the club confirmed this or is it just journo speak at the moment.
Chelsea have been without a DOF for a while now....And Zidane was doing some of the stuff that a DOF/sporting director does,but he was never formally given that role if I”m not mistaken...
I will get killed for this but, that is one of the reasons why Moyes made sense for the board. At the time he was one of the few managers left who was still in charge of everything at his club.
Otherwise a typical Mitten article.
But, it is pretty clear that at Chelsea the manager is not making the transfer decisions.
It's really hard to know who exactly would make a good DoF at United. I would imagine the following qualities are necessary -
1) Good knowledge of football, especially the transfer market and talented players/coaches
2) Good contacts worldwide
3) Business and financial acumen
4) Possibly can speak several languages
5) Strong knowledge of United and clear vision and strategy of where we are going
6) Tough negotiator
7) Can work well with key stakeholders (agents, players, other clubs, Glazers, Woodward and the manager/coach at that time)
8) Progressive, innovator
Marcel Bouts seems very highly regarded as our Head of Global Scouting. Monchi, deservedly, has a good reputation for his work at Sevilla and now Roma. Would Paratici be as good without Marotta? Berta has done well at Atletico but some of their mainstays predated him and he has signed a fair few duds. Luis Campos is a genius, especially at Monaco, but his spell at Lille hasn't quite started as well by the looks of things. Rui Costa and Ralf Ragnick have done well at Benfica and RB Leipzig respectively. Looking more UK based, Dan Ashworth has his head screwed on. For United, possible contenders might be Gary Neville (if he left Salford), Rio Ferdinand (for his business interests and the fact he's a pundit so still invested in the game) and Van Der Sar (though his role at Ajax has been more on the marketing side, I believe).
Looking at the above qualities, here's a really strange shout - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
He's probably too self focused to be a DoF but he's tough, speaks multiple languages, has played in a variety of leagues, knows United, has set up his own charity and manages his own brand well and gets on well with Raiola. I'm joking... well, kind of.
1) Good knowledge of football, especially the transfer market and talented players/coaches
2) Good contacts worldwide
3) Business and financial acumen
4) Possibly can speak several languages
5) Strong knowledge of United and clear vision and strategy of where we are going
6) Tough negotiator
7) Can work well with key stakeholders (agents, players, other clubs, Glazers, Woodward and the manager/coach at that time)
8) Progressive, innovator
Marcel Bouts seems very highly regarded as our Head of Global Scouting. Monchi, deservedly, has a good reputation for his work at Sevilla and now Roma. Would Paratici be as good without Marotta? Berta has done well at Atletico but some of their mainstays predated him and he has signed a fair few duds. Luis Campos is a genius, especially at Monaco, but his spell at Lille hasn't quite started as well by the looks of things. Rui Costa and Ralf Ragnick have done well at Benfica and RB Leipzig respectively. Looking more UK based, Dan Ashworth has his head screwed on. For United, possible contenders might be Gary Neville (if he left Salford), Rio Ferdinand (for his business interests and the fact he's a pundit so still invested in the game) and Van Der Sar (though his role at Ajax has been more on the marketing side, I believe).
Looking at the above qualities, here's a really strange shout - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
He's probably too self focused to be a DoF but he's tough, speaks multiple languages, has played in a variety of leagues, knows United, has set up his own charity and manages his own brand well and gets on well with Raiola. I'm joking... well, kind of.We were linked heavily with Monchi when he was still at Sevilla - would be interesting to see if he might move to us now... Otherwise, I could maybe see Neville being OK, a bit more like the Bayern model of having a real former-player spine to the club's running.
The problem is, we've got the Glazers, and Ed, and the Glazers want someone who will maximise commercial opportunities so whoever we get they're going to be working under Woodward
The problem is, we've got the Glazers, and Ed, and the Glazers want someone who will maximise commercial opportunities so whoever we get they're going to be working under Woodward
Bayern have the luxury of being able to plug in former players as Sporting Directors in a long-standing structure overseen by Rummenigge and Hoeness. Right now, we have no such structure and Woodward...so, it's probably not feasible to follow the Bayern model right now
. We'll be far better off just hiring the absolute best and most qualified candidate we can without paying much attention to whether or not they've played for the club. Let that person re-build the football operations framework and maybe bring back ex-players as people underneath the new director.Can we get someone with a blueprint for attacking football and a consistent united style in mind please.
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Assuming that Gaz is a prime choice for doing the job Monchi excels at, is a bit like assuming Wayne Rooney could replace David Gill.
United are not in the market for a technical director as far as I know, which is what you referring to. This new DoF, whoever that may be, will have little to no influence on the tactical side of the game - at least not while Jose remains in charge. His role will be to act as a go-between for the manager and the board, take responsibility for the clubs wage and transfer budget and generally take care of business outside of coaching and tactics. Allowing the manager to become less of a manager and more a first-team coach. I think this would suit Jose down to the ground personally.
Why not?
Well yeah, but we don't have Monchi. I'm not suggesting we replace one with the other - I'm saying that I'd like us to start building a club management that involves formers players (like Bayern). But as liamp said, we don't have the structure in place to really allow that to be successful. We need rid of the Glazers, we need rid of Woodward, and we need rid of Mourinho.
All of which means massive upheaval and another 3-5 years of rebuilding...
Would love to see Edwin get the role. Oozes class, and has a good reputation.
Someone like him would be ideal, especially since the fantasy picks like Monchi won't happen.
It needs to be someone experienced, no point taking a punt on someone just because they are associated with the club. This is a high level position that must be respected by the manager, other directors, potential signings, agents etc. Experience is key.
Why? For all of Woodward's faults, he has invested a lot of funds in the squad. The problem is that it has been invested poorly with no long term plan.
Hopefully that is what a Director of Football will fix.
Done a cracking job at Ajax. Knows Utd as a club and is well respected in the game. Ticks all the boxes for me.
What exactly did VDS do at Ajax? People keep mentioning his name, but he isn't their DOF.
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We probably should speak to him...
Long history with Mou doesnt have to be good.
Perfect person to play diplomat between the different factions in the club. Plus his work at Monaco was stellar.
Just saw some tweet about how Monaco bought 41 million worth of players and sold them for cca 310 millions profit. So I thought this guy at Monaco could be good for us. Maybe. Not to sell of course! No idea what his name is. To lazy to look for it.
Given the scattergun recruitment since the supremely successful manager-chief executive axis of Sir Alex and David Gill ended six years ago, the decision to create an extra layer of football expertise is timely. Although Mourinho (or any incumbent) may wonder if authority over transfers will wane, a correct appointment should actually prove a boost. If both manager and director of football (DOF) are on the same page regarding identification of targets, then the case to be presented jointly to Woodward for him to sign off the finance should be bolstered. The plan is for the DOF to be in place once the restructuring of staff and expansion of the AON Training Complex for the women’s team is complete. It could, then, occur in time for the winter window and be of benefit if United remain in the championship race and Mourinho wishes to strengthen for a second-half-of-the-season push.
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