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

[ExecutionerWasp001]

And if Ole fails then we'll be in even dipper shit than we are now. It looks like Ole is going to be great for us, but so it looked with Mourinho and Van Gaal at the beginning.

A DoF is a safecheck in the manager. He is desperately needed at United, be it with Ole as manager or with someone else.

The problem was that we appointed 3 managers who were the total antithesis of what the club is about. Moyes was a farce from the beginning. LVG had a short decent spell in his first season but gradually regressed. I don't think we ever looked great under Mourinho. We won a couple of trophies but it was grinding football.

With the money & players at our disposal & an attack minded manager we should be competing for the league most seasons rather than being in scraps for a top 4 place. Ole has little managerial experience but i think most would agree we would have been challenging for the league if he had been appointed at the start of the season.

We don't need a DOF to tell us we've been doing it wrong. The board have now hopefully learnt from their mistakes.

 

[pacifictheme]

Should this just become SAF if it’s not too much work for him?

Our style is the United way. Stick to that from now.

Sounds simpler than it is and i imagine that it probably is. Let the man rest i think.

Ps i love andy cole.

 

[Revan]

The problem was that we appointed 3 managers who were the total antithesis of what the club is about. Moyes was a farce from the beginning. LVG had a short decent spell in his first season but gradually regressed. I don't think we ever looked great under Mourinho. We won a couple of trophies but it was grinding football.

With the money & players at our disposal & an attack minded manager we should be competing for the league most seasons rather than being in scraps for a top 4 place. Ole has little managerial experience but i think most would agree we would have been challenging for the league if he had been appointed at the start of the season.

We don't need a DOF to tell us we've been doing it wrong. The board have now hopefully learnt from their mistakes.

This is speaking with the benefit of hindsight though (bar in Moyes case where everyone knew that he is going to fail). If Ole fails, people will be saying that he was a wrong appointment, cause no experience, got relegated etc.

 

[Nytram Shakes]

I still think we need a director of football in, especially considering Ole car crash recruitment at cardiff.

 

[rotherham_red]

To everyone saying that the DoF isn't coming in, both Barney (Editor of Red News) and Andy Mitten have said in the last couple of months that it isn't a bluff or ploy to get fans off the board's back. The club, in both their words, are deadly serious about bringing someone in and will.

Considering how both publications (especially RN) aren't shy to criticise the board and the Glazers, I think it's safe to assume that this will happen at some point in the coming months.

 

[neilv93]

I still think we need a director of football in, especially considering Ole car crash recruitment at cardiff.

Not saying his recruitment wasn't poor at Cardiff but, at the same time, with our resources and pulling power I can't foresee him trying to bring Magnus Wolff Eikrem back to OT.

 

[Nytram Shakes]

Not saying his recruitment wasn't poor at Cardiff but, at the same time, with our resources and pulling power I can't foresee him trying to bring Magnus Wolff Eikrem back to OT.

no but equally relying on him for recruitment no track record at this level would be a massive gamble. its not like he would be backed by a board who have been doing a full proof job, and not just on signings, which Sanchez aside, havn't been dreadful, but defintly could do with improving, but you look at the contract situation we've go players like De Gea running down a contract while we give Rojo a 5 year contract while not recovered from a career changing Injury.

We need a director of football, to provide a bit of a stable vision in squad building, who can support the manager and take some of the football responsibility away from Woodward and the board.

 

[ROFLUTION]

This probably has been discussed before but does a DoF also need to be a charmer/convincer? Or is he just identifying targets and then lets Ed handle the business part?

A good part of our great signings in the 90s were due to Ferguson came knocking on players door having a chat with them and their families. He was basically a good convincer. Would that also be good to have in a DoF? A well respected face/celebrity?

 

[CheckOne]

The main issue with any Director of Football is their remit, get it right and it works, get it wrong and it creates problems. I would let Ole carry on as is with no DoF in place, we didn't need one under SAF and we don't need one under Ole as he's replicating what SAF did. A DoF is something you wished we have had in hindsight, as United lost its identity through the ill-fated Moyes, LvG and Jose eras - had they bought in an ex-player as a DoF that understood United prior to appointing Moyes then he could have guided the academy, transfer and culture at United and we may have prevailed. The job was simply too big for Moyes and he wilted under the pressure. United should have always looked within for the successor to SAF, or insisted that whoever came in needed to work with the existing coaching set up, that would have maintained the appropriate culture. The Dippers were very successful in the 70's and 80's by using their boot room staff, we should have done similar but we allowed Moyes to dictate who he wanted, and they simply weren't good enough and we've been fighting to get it back since then. Ole has fixed this, as we've gone back in time and rebuilt what successive regimes broke. I'm not convinced a DoF is now a requirement, we have our house in order. Perhaps when Ole is done as manager he moves upstairs to a defined DoF role, or it's handed to another ex-player that understands the club inside and out.

 

[Bill Hartzia]

This probably has been discussed before but does a DoF also need to be a charmer/convincer? Or is he just identifying targets and then lets Ed handle the business part?A good part of our great signings in the 90s were due to Ferguson came knocking on players door having a chat with them and their families. He was basically a good convincer. Would that also be good to have in a DoF? A well respected face/celebrity?

DoF needs to be all of the above, then able to wheel out the Manager if/when needed (i.e. to get a signing over the line).

Key thing is, he (she?) needs to be able to leave the way clear for the Manager to Manage (Coach to Coach) and keep Woodward as far away from the football sice of things as possible.

 

[JJ12]

The Glazers and Woodward aren't going to want a Director putting pressure on them for recruiting. Wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen now considering there's no further news.

Maybe it was Jose who wanted a DoF?

 

[Inigo Montoya]

The Glazers and Woodward aren't going to want a Director putting pressure on them for recruiting. Wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen now considering there's no further news.

Maybe it was Jose who wanted a DoF?

So he could tell him what a shit job he was doing and undermine his self confidence?

Yeah I could see that

 

[JJ12]

So he could tell him what a shit job he was doing and undermine his self confidence?

Yeah I could see that

Hes the one who's been saying he wants to join a club with the correct structure and he clearly wasn't happy with our recruitment.

So yeah it does make sense.

 

[BluesJr]

Hes the one who's been saying he wants to join a club with the correct structure and he clearly wasn't happy with our recruitment.

So yeah it does make sense.

There were several stories suggesting Jose was pushing back on our plans to implement a DoF.

Don’t buy into the Jose propaganda, people fall for it every single time.

 

[MrPooni]

The Glazers and Woodward aren't going to want a Director putting pressure on them for recruiting. Wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen now considering there's no further news.

Maybe it was Jose who wanted a DoF?

We've pissed away over £700m on questionable transfers since and blew our wage structure out the window just to beat City to Sanchez since Fergie retired so this moronic narrative that the Glazers and Woodward aren't willing to recruit needs to die a painful death.

 

[JJ12]

There were several stories suggesting Jose was pushing back on our plans to implement a DoF.

Don’t buy into the Jose propaganda, people fall for it every single time.

He's just saying he wants to join a club with real structure. Hardly propaganda. If he's taking shots at our lack of structure then he's absolutely right.

 

[JJ12]

We've pissed away over £700m on questionable transfers since and blew our wage structure out the window just to beat City to Sanchez since Fergie retired so this moronic narrative that the Glazers and Woodward aren't willing to recruit needs to die a painful death.

Who said they haven't been willing to invest? You've gone with the 'moronic' narrative yourself to be fair.

Woodward has been in control of recruiting - can't see him wanting to just give that up.

 

[MrPooni]

Who said they haven't been willing to invest? You've gone there yourself to be fair.

Woodward has been in control of recruiting - can't see him wanting to just give that up.

What else could you have meant by your comment considering how notoriously hands off the Glazers have been in terms of footballing decisions? They deferred to Fergie and Sir Bobby for the Moyes appointment and clearly gave Woody, Van Gaal and Jose free rein after that – the fact that the latter ended up effectively arguing amongst themselves about our recruitment strategy is neither here nor there. One could argue it would only strengthen their desire to see a DoF given how much of the clubs money has been wasted on questionable transfers.

 

[JJ12]

What else could you have meant by your comment considering how notoriously hands off the Glazers have been in terms of footballing decisions? They deferred to Fergie and Sir Bobby for the Moyes appointment and clearly gave Woody, Van Gaal and Jose free rein after that.

Why would they hire somebody new for recruitment when the they've always trusted Woodward? Especially when they are hands off. Why would Woodward relinquish that role?

Literally said nothing about them not buying players. Although last summer was poor.

 

[JPRouve]

Who said they haven't been willing to invest? You've gone with the 'moronic' narrative yourself to be fair.

Woodward has been in control of recruiting - can't see him wanting to just give that up.

He hasn't, Mourinho himself said that he was the one providing the list, he also mentioned that Matthew Judge was the one negotiating.

 

[MrPooni]

Why would they hire somebody new for recruitment when the they've always trusted Woodward? Especially when there are hands off. Why would Woodward relinquish that role?

Literally said nothing about them not buying players. Although last summer was poor.

Circling back to my original point, because that strategy has clearly been shown to be a massive waste of resources. Whether Woodward wants to relinquish the role is another story, I mean what is he going to do if they decide they want to appoint someone? Lock himself in his office in protest? You're basically pulling a narrative out of your arse based on nothing but conjecture.

 

[JJ12]

Circling back to my original point, because that strategy has clearly been shown to be a massive waste of resources. Whether Woodward wants to relinquish the role is another story, I mean what is he going to do if they decide they want to appoint someone? Lock himself in his office in protest? You're basically pulling a narrative out of your arse based on nothing but conjecture.

And what are you basing Glazers wanting a DoF on then mate? Wheres the reports on us being any closer to appointing one?

 

[JJ12]

He hasn't, Mourinho himself said that he was the one providing the list, he also mentioned that Matthew Judge was the one negotiating.

So Woodward has no role in recruiting?

Mourinho is to blame for us only getting Dalot and Fred last year? Or Matthew Judge failed with further targets?

 

[MrPooni]

And what are you basing Glazers wanting a DoF on then mate? Wheres the reports on us being any closer to appointing one?

The club literally briefed the press about our desire to appoint a "head of football" as part of the PR campaign around Mourinho's sacking. Christ.

 

[JJ12]

The club literally briefed the press about our desire to appoint a "head of football" as part of the PR campaign around Mourinho's sacking. Christ.

So you believe everything the club has to say? Okay.

It doesn't appear we are any closer to a DoF and I don't think we will appoint one. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

So Woodward has no role in recruiting?

Mourinho is to blame for us only getting Dalot and Fred last year? Or Matthew Judge failed with further targets?

So maybe we need a better negotiator. Because a kid and someone even his teammates were amazed we signed is not a great summer. We need top class players signed in certain positions and maybe a couple of up and coming kids. I worry Ole might just be blinkered into signing the latter. I want Ole as manager but he might need advise regarding signing the best. He isn't signing players for Molde or Cardiff now.

 

[JPRouve]

So Woodward has no role in recruiting?

Mourinho is to blame for us only getting Dalot and Fred last year? Or Matthew Judge failed with further targets?

As the chair of the board he has a role in everything but recruiting isn't HIS role, it's shared between mainly Judge and the managers, probably based on reports from the scouting department and the board general strategy. The distinction is important because Woodward isn't actually doing things alone or himself, a lot of decisions are collegial while more specific things are delegated to people that we know about like Judge and at the time Mourinho.

 

[Volumiza]

He isn't signing players for Molde or Cardiff now.

I'm pretty sure if we can work that out, Ole is capable of doing the same. Ole will want to win, however he achieves it, it's in his DNA.

 

[MrPooni]

So you believe everything the club has to say? Okay.

It doesn't appear we are any closer to a DoF and I don't think we will appoint one. I hope I'm wrong.

Do I pay attention to briefs from the club when weighing up decisions about the clubs direction? Of course – this isn't some grand conspiracy mate. What's the alternative? Wading through The Sun and Daily Sport every other day? Listening to random blokes like you?

 

[roonster09]

So you believe everything the club has to say? Okay.

It doesn't appear we are any closer to a DoF and I don't think we will appoint one. I hope I'm wrong.

Didn't you believe Jose's words about structure and all that, man who is a liar and bullshitter.

 

[JJ12]

Do I pay attention to briefs from the club when weighing up decisions about the clubs direction? Of course – this isn't some grand conspiracy mate. What's the alternative? Wading through The Sun and Daily Sport every other day? Listening to random blokes like you?

Pay attention by all means. Take it as 100% fact? It's not as if business people lie for their own benefits.

Hopefully we hire one like I say. I wouldn't count on it just because the club has said that at a time of crisis to get fans back onboard.

 

[JJ12]

Didn't you believe Jose's words about structure and all that, man who is a liar and bullshitter.

He said he wants to join a club with real structure for his next job - if he's lying then cool, but what's he gaining.

 

[roonster09]

He said he wants to join a club with real structure for his next job - if he's lying then cool, but what's he gaining.

Reputation and not taking any responsibilities for his failures.

 

[JPRouve]

He said he wants to join a club with real structure for his next job - if he's lying then cool, but what's he gaining.

He is protecting himself. By making that point he is basically saying that it wasn't his failures, that it was down to the club not matching his abilities.

 

[JJ12]

Reputation and not taking any responsibilities for his failures.

@JPRouve
Probably a bit of that - he's right though isn't he? We don't appear to have the appropriate structure, hence the majority of us wanting a DoF.

 

[Catt]

He said he wants to join a club with real structure for his next job - if he's lying then cool, but what's he gaining.

His last six months was a massive failure. He's basically saying he wouldn't have failed if everything was in place and he was backed. He's talking nonsense.

 

[JJ12]

His last six months was a massive failure. He's basically saying he wouldn't have failed if everything was in place and he was backed. He's talking shite.

But he's also right that we don't have the correct structure - which is the point

 

[JPRouve]

@JPRouve
Probably a bit of that - he's right though isn't he? We don't appear to have the appropriate structure, hence the majority of us wanting a DoF.

He is right and wrong at the same time. You don't need to have an overly involved DOF to have success if your manager can actually manage a club. The issue with Mourinho is that he is a head coach that pretends to be otherwise and that's why we needed a structure that would compensate for his weaknesses. Now the issue is that Mourinho isn't special, this is something that you can say about most potential managers, they can't actually do the full job and that's where United, the club, failed.

So Mourinho is wrong in blaming the club while the club should blame itself.

 

[roonster09]

@JPRouve
Probably a bit of that - he's right though isn't he? We don't appear to have the appropriate structure, hence the majority of us wanting a DoF.

Since Ole took over, press isn't talking about structure. Everything is related to results. Win = everything is fine. Lose = Structure is bad, club is rotten.

 

[JJ12]

Since Ole took over, press isn't talking about structure. Everything is related to results. Win = everything is fine. Lose = Structure is bad, club is rotten.

Correct and I believe the club are happy with that and won't hire anybody. Thats just my opinion which could very well be wrong.