Damn.
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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Maybe for the next manager after Ole, I very much doubt it'll happen now, and its utterly pathetic management from the club. Oh well, I can't say I'm surprised, Woody is a bullshitter.
That went well, such a bullshit.
This will not happen. It's become like a dictatorship. An incompetent and lying buffoon in charge. Not caring one bit about the fans. It's like his own vision (with his limited footballing knowledge) of how the club should be.
Does he even know who people like DeLigt, De Jong or other top young players are? He reminds me of one of those uncles who only watch football when a big game or World Cup is on. The one who only knows about the famous stars.
Very dangerous when someone like that has free reign on our club.
Does he even know who people like DeLigt, De Jong or other top young players are? He reminds me of one of those uncles who only watch football when a big game or World Cup is on. The one who only knows about the famous stars.
Very dangerous when someone like that has free reign on our club.
What about Cantona, since he posted that mysterious picture on instagram?
I always thought that the board felt the pressure after Mourinho's failure, and more or less accepted to delegate powers, improve the structures but with certain resignation. But after this spell they feel strong again to keep doing the same they always did.
I simply don't understand the logic behind that, when they would be the ones getting the most of the benefit from a professional, well organized structure with actual football knowledge. Everything would be far easier for everyone involved, and they could focus on the financial and comercial side of things, which they seem really good at. I still leave the door open for this to happen but it seems highly improbable. Hope to be proved wrong.
I simply don't understand the logic behind that, when they would be the ones getting the most of the benefit from a professional, well organized structure with actual football knowledge. Everything would be far easier for everyone involved, and they could focus on the financial and comercial side of things, which they seem really good at. I still leave the door open for this to happen but it seems highly improbable. Hope to be proved wrong.
If Manchester United is to be one of the top teams in the world once again, we absolutely need to appoint a director of football. Woodward has shown that he is not the man for this job, and he has no abilities that indicate that he should be in charge of our recruitment. He should continue to do the economical part of his job, but he should have no saying in the football part. In recent years, we have seen that Woodward and Glazers have been indirectly in charge of our recruitment, since there seems to be a lot of money available only when there are talks about bringing in the biggest names.
Ideally, I would want us to hire an experienced director of football (for instance Paul Mitchell) that will work along with a person that knows the club but lacks experience as director of football (like Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand or Peter Schmeichel). This could allow us to structure the club in the following way:
1) At the top, we have Glazers and Woodward, that controls the economy of the club and appoints the sport management. They control the long-term visions of the club, and hire competent people into our sport management system that share these visions. They delegate money to the sport management, but has no saying in how this money is spent.
2) In the middle, we have our sport management. This would be a sporting director duo (Paul Mitchell and Gary Neville) along with the head of recruitment (this was supposed to be Javier Ribalta, but he left since Woodward and Mourinho made all recruitment decisions anyway) and the head of academy (Nicky Butt). Together, they handle the long-term recruitment plan of the club, buying the correct players in the positions we need and promoting youth players. They also appoint people below them in the system (manager, scouts, coaches, etc.) that fits the visions of the club.
3) At the "bottom" we have Solskjær and his team, that works with players on a day-to-day basis and makes sure that we win games. We also have an extreme amount of scouts and youth team coaches that works on a day-to-day basis and reports to the sport management.
The 3 main parts of the club structure works within their specified areas, and appropriate communication between them makes sure that the vision of the club is maintained throughout the club.
Ideally, I would want us to hire an experienced director of football (for instance Paul Mitchell) that will work along with a person that knows the club but lacks experience as director of football (like Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand or Peter Schmeichel). This could allow us to structure the club in the following way:
1) At the top, we have Glazers and Woodward, that controls the economy of the club and appoints the sport management. They control the long-term visions of the club, and hire competent people into our sport management system that share these visions. They delegate money to the sport management, but has no saying in how this money is spent.
2) In the middle, we have our sport management. This would be a sporting director duo (Paul Mitchell and Gary Neville) along with the head of recruitment (this was supposed to be Javier Ribalta, but he left since Woodward and Mourinho made all recruitment decisions anyway) and the head of academy (Nicky Butt). Together, they handle the long-term recruitment plan of the club, buying the correct players in the positions we need and promoting youth players. They also appoint people below them in the system (manager, scouts, coaches, etc.) that fits the visions of the club.
3) At the "bottom" we have Solskjær and his team, that works with players on a day-to-day basis and makes sure that we win games. We also have an extreme amount of scouts and youth team coaches that works on a day-to-day basis and reports to the sport management.
The 3 main parts of the club structure works within their specified areas, and appropriate communication between them makes sure that the vision of the club is maintained throughout the club.
Seriously now, I know people need to have someone to blame but this is crazy
The noises coming out of OT is that our transfer strategy has changed and we’ll be investing in younger players. We should have the scouting network in place to look for such players to be honest.
Having a DoF isn’t always a good move, I’m sure Ole has expressed his desire to buy his own players.
Having a DoF isn’t always a good move, I’m sure Ole has expressed his desire to buy his own players.
That sounds good, but there is a chance it just means that we won't be investing in top class players, instead taking punts on cheaper kids. You need a mix of youth and experience or we will be stuck forever in the rebuilding stage.
Love removing the "expected before next manager" though. 
Never mind some will still be believing every lie Ed says to the press and some will even go the length of downplaying Dof importance. Nothing surprising.
Never mind some will still be believing every lie Ed says to the press and some will even go the length of downplaying Dof importance. Nothing surprising.
It’s Fergie lads. 
Relax, we all know Woody got this under control. He is simply faultless, never done a mistake during his tenure as CEO for United.Love removing the "expected before next manager" though.
Never mind some will still be believing every lie Ed says to the press and some will even go the length of downplaying Dof importance. Nothing surprising.
We need a DOF just look at what city have done simply from implementing a viable infrastructure top to bottom.
If our manager is sacked and within 10 years we have yet again three different individuals at the helm, they all have their own transfer targets and the squad will be in disarray because the directive will come from the managers as opposed to the club.
With a DOF I believe even the managers will have to be taken into consideration because they will have to fit the ethos and direction the club envisions.
If our manager is sacked and within 10 years we have yet again three different individuals at the helm, they all have their own transfer targets and the squad will be in disarray because the directive will come from the managers as opposed to the club.
With a DOF I believe even the managers will have to be taken into consideration because they will have to fit the ethos and direction the club envisions.
I am just awaiting the news of Woodward appointing himself as the new Director Of Football to complete the full circle .
We let the last 3 managers buy their own players - it's not a good idea as you get a completely different sets of players suited to different systems. There's no continuity in that process.
After defending Woodward for years, I've come to the decision he needs to go. Will open a thread about it later.
We are making the same mistake for the fourth time in a row. I'm done with him.
We are making the same mistake for the fourth time in a row. I'm done with him.
I said this from the start of this thread that we will not get a DOF. Woodie is currently our DOF and the only way he will relinquish that "power" is things go really really bad.
The next time things go bad (but not really really bad), this idea of the DOF will start again. It will take another year or so for as to search for a suitable candidate. When things improve, the rumour of the DOF, will once again, die down.
For the foreseeable future, you all need to accept that Edward Woodward is our DOF. I made peace with this a long time ago.
The next time things go bad (but not really really bad), this idea of the DOF will start again. It will take another year or so for as to search for a suitable candidate. When things improve, the rumour of the DOF, will once again, die down.
For the foreseeable future, you all need to accept that Edward Woodward is our DOF. I made peace with this a long time ago.
May as well lock this thread. Ole never worked under DOF for Molde etc. He'll want to keep it as Is and I bet thats music to Ed's ears. Just have to trust that Ole's got good eye for United players.
Save your energy for something more productive. Woodward's going nowhere any time soon and no amount of public groundswell is going to change that.
As long as Ole and Woodward are on the same page, that's fine.
Fergie didn't need a DOF telling him what to do
Fergie didn't need a DOF telling him what to do
I am sure any manager has a desire to buy his own players. Problem here is with a continuity after the manager is gone. We clearly need someone who understands that, Woodward is clueless in this area. We went from Moyes to LVG to Jose to Ole. All 4 of them are completely different type of managers hence why when a new manager comes, he thinks the squad is shit because it doesn't suit his philosophy (Ole constantly talks how happy he is with the squad although I can bet he thinks otherwise). Part of DoF's responsibility would be to hire suitable managers and propose signing players that suit club's philosophy. Our transfers in recent years have been a complete disaster and I don't see it changing as long as we have Woodward in charge of it. We will probably get another LW in the summer.
You are 'old man shouts at cloud'. Woodward is the Glazers most trusted consultant. He is going nowhere as long as the money is rolling in.
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Woodward has probably realised that if ole doesn't work out then he is getting sacked. Also that if he hires a director and things go well under ole then the director will take some of the praise away from himself. Ego as always.
Different era with Fergie really as DOF weren't common at all then, seems different these days with the clubs that are well run. Plus we had Gill who seemed to know a lot more about how to run a club from a football perspective than Woodie does.
Woodward is safe up until the money dries up...
Don't think even that one is accurate.
I get what you're saying but at some point, the Galzers will start to look at Ed if Ole fails. It will happen eventually.
The figure of a DoF is needed mainly to give that constant factor in behind while managers come and go. The 'manager formula' made sense when they tended to last more, but in the modern game you can't rely everything on the coach, your style and the kind of squad you have because changing and re-shaping after a pair of seasons depending on the coach style is such a hard task, a big loss of money and time even more in the current crazy market.
If we had at least certain continuity on bringing similar managers those transition periods would be shorter and much less complicated, but our last appointments after Ferguson have nothing in common between them which shows a clear lack of strategy and long term plan. Now that United will be moulded by Ole we can be sure that we'll have a very enthusiastic and offensive team in the coming years, with pace, risky play and everything most of us asked for in recent times. But it's almost certain that in the future (hopefully after sooo many years) we'll try to persuade the most famous or succesful manager available instead of being loyal to certain style or principles, so it's a lotery after all.
For a club of this size, resources and history I find this pretty amateurish. Good luck to Ole and let's hope the club supports him at least with a good scouting structure and money to bring good players. Surely we'll be fine while he's here, with or without a Dof, but from a club perspective I don't think it's very professional the way we're organized and the lack of structures inside. Expecting to replace a master figure like Ferguson in the past just with another coach and throwing money in the market shows how clueless they are. It's 2019 already and still with maybes and we'll see.
If we had at least certain continuity on bringing similar managers those transition periods would be shorter and much less complicated, but our last appointments after Ferguson have nothing in common between them which shows a clear lack of strategy and long term plan. Now that United will be moulded by Ole we can be sure that we'll have a very enthusiastic and offensive team in the coming years, with pace, risky play and everything most of us asked for in recent times. But it's almost certain that in the future (hopefully after sooo many years) we'll try to persuade the most famous or succesful manager available instead of being loyal to certain style or principles, so it's a lotery after all.
For a club of this size, resources and history I find this pretty amateurish. Good luck to Ole and let's hope the club supports him at least with a good scouting structure and money to bring good players. Surely we'll be fine while he's here, with or without a Dof, but from a club perspective I don't think it's very professional the way we're organized and the lack of structures inside. Expecting to replace a master figure like Ferguson in the past just with another coach and throwing money in the market shows how clueless they are. It's 2019 already and still with maybes and we'll see.
Same. Was thinking how we needed a "Man Utd NOT set to appoint a DoF" thread or similar. Delighted Ole got the job but have no confidence in the people behind the scenes making the big decisions.
There is no guarantee Ole is successful. If we sack in in 2021, what happens to the team...another rebuilding job? Feck Woodward.
Glazers success criterias are not related to pitchperformance. Woody is evaluated on economical factors and off field growth.
We will see how well those grow if we continue failing.
Starting to look that way, doesn't it?
Maybe Woodward has used the change in form under Ole as a motivation why we don't need a DoF - wanting the control. I hope it's not the case and we're simply just waiting for the right candidate to come alone - or the current candidate is finishing the season elsewhere/under contract elsewhere.
But surely we'd have had leaks by now.
Definitely not happening now. They just stripped half of his job from him by making an appointment already.
Paul Hirst the most reliable amongst with Simon Stone saying that we are looking towards an internal appointment.
If it's one of our more experienced scouts it wouldn't be so bad.. Fear it's just some Woodward yes man.
Marcel Bout or John Mourtagh the names mentioned.
Won't be a bad option. Liverpool dof was an internal appointment too.
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