Manchester United name John Murtough as Football Director and Darren Fletcher as Technical Director

UnitedSofa

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Who the hell is this and does he even have football knowledge ?

Who is he?

His name is Matt Hargreaves and he’s an Adidas executive

I do wonder how CAF works in the real world. Transferable skills are literally non existent.:lol::lol::lol:
 

SouthMancRed

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I expect people at that level will have little problem in the employment world but I'm still surprised at folk joining United in senior positions at the moment when they could be out the door in a few months after the takeover.
 

El Jefe

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Who is he?

His name is Matt Hargreaves and he’s an Adidas executive

I do wonder how CAF works in the real world. Transferable skills are literally non existent.:lol::lol::lol:
I've never heard his name before so he must be shit even though I have no knowledge of the talent pool in this area. That pretty much sums up most of the complainers :lol:
 

UnitedSofa

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I expect people at that level will have little problem in the employment world but I'm still surprised at folk joining United in senior positions at the moment when they could be out the door in a few months after the takeover.
The CAF lives in fantasy world
 

philnguyen1994

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Who the hell is this and does he even have football knowledge ?

According to his LinkedIn:
- He's been based in Amsterdam since 2013. Maybe Ten Hag already knows him. Ajax wears Adidas kits, no?
- Already worked with us briefly in the legal department all the way back in 2008. He's a lawyer by education.
 

elmo

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I expect people at that level will have little problem in the employment world but I'm still surprised at folk joining United in senior positions at the moment when they could be out the door in a few months after the takeover.
They’ll easily get another job and the severance pay if they’re asked to leave would allow them to take a year off.
 

Greck

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The CAF lives in fantasy world
It's not totally wrong. Unless concrete assurances we aren't privy to have been exchanged with incoming owners, joining on the eve of a regime change is often a risky career move. Not just football, but anything in general eg politics, corporate, business, name it. On the other hand it's high risk, high reward.

The guy Ralf brought from the US ended up being retained by ETH so fortune favours the brave sometimes. Med I'd still ask for massive safety clauses in my contract to prevent being screwed royally.
 

Suedesi

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United bolster backroom staff with Adidas executive
Matt Hargreaves to replace United’s director of football negotiations
By Mike McGrath

Manchester United have appointed Adidas executive Matt Hargreaves to one of their most key positions in player recruitment for Erik ten Hag, with the new arrival at Old Trafford negotiating deals for the club.

Hargreaves replaces Matt Judge, who worked as United’s director of football negotiations beside Ed Woodward before leaving United last year. It is understood that Hargreaves has accepted terms with United and will start before the next transfer window when Ten Hag will look to build on the progress of his first season in the Premier League.

United also have an important summer of negotiations with existing players, with David de Gea out of contract. Telegraph Sport revealed earlier this season that United wavered on triggering his one-year extension and could look at trying to agree a new deal on a salary reduction. Marcus Rashford, United’s best player this season, will also have just one year left on his deal this summer.

United had a pre-existing relationship with Hargreaves, with Adidas returning as their kit supplier from the 2015-16 campaign. Hargreaves was a marketing director at the sportswear giants and focused on players and scouting.

He has been based in the north-west and will work out of United’s training base at Carrington, marking a shift from the Woodward era where he and Judge worked in London. United’s football operation is headed by director of football John Murtough, who has also recently appointed Andy O’Boyle as a deputy and David Harrison from Everton to oversee operations.

While the Glazer family are assessing a sale of the club, the restructuring of the recruitment department has still been a focus as United look to build on a successful summer window when they landed Casemiro, Antony, Lisandro Martínez, Christian Eriksen and Tyrell Malacia.

Judge was a point of contact for agents on football matters and negotiated transfers when United moved in the market. His departure was amicable, according to club sources, and United had been looking for a replacement since.
Sounds positive
 

Adnan

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Looks a good move on the face of it. He seems to have a legal back ground spanning two decades, and also sporting experience in his previous role where he was a sports marketing director at Adidas and his focus was on players and scouting, per the telegraph article above, kindly shared by Suedesi.

Sheikh Mansour at City, turned to Nike staff in 2008/2009 to develop their football structure.
 

romufc

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I expect people at that level will have little problem in the employment world but I'm still surprised at folk joining United in senior positions at the moment when they could be out the door in a few months after the takeover.
The new owners are not just going to come get rid of every senior staff member at the club, we have seen reports today suggesting they will review the current and make additions.

We got rid of judge and we are coming into the transfer market where we need a negotiator.

Do you want the new owners to do what Chelsea did and the owner to be the negotiator?
 

friendlytramp

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I was at school with Matt. Haven’t seen him for twenty years but he was an incredibly intelligent but down to earth guy. Massive United fan (as you can see from his LinkedIn and Facebook) and I expect his whole career has been geared towards this move. His success to date suggests he’s excellent at his job- which has been focused around contracts and negotiating with football agents from across the globe- and his commitment to the club can only be a good thing. Looking forward to seeing how he gets on.
 
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sglowrider

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I was at school with Matt. Haven’t seen him for twenty years but he was an incredibly intelligent but down to earth guy. Massive United fan (as you can see from his LinkedIn and Facebook) and I expect his whole career has been geared towards this move. His success to date suggests he’s excellent at his job- which has been focused around contracts and negotiating with football agents from across the globe- and his commitment to the club can only be a good thing. Looking forward to seeing how he gets on.
Lucky duck. He's living the life. Working & contributing to the club he loves.

How many here wouldn't give their left testicle for something similar?
 

El Jefe

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He's getting away with so much blame for this season.

He was an internal appointment and got the job in March 2021. It was said he didn't actually begin his work until Woodward left at the end of 2021.

My point is he had more than enough lead time ahead of the PL season for us to make the buys that we did. It seemed like other than Casemiro he just bought whoever EtH recommended which completely goes against what you want from a DoF. We were a twitter meltdown away from adding Arnautovic to the list of Ten Hag signings. January came around and it was Weghorst we decided to add, what an insane decision.

I fear we have another weak person at the helm who is all too happy to defer his responsibilities to the manager. This summer we'll go for obvious big name signings with no strategy and we'll be back in the same position.

Our new owners need to get rid of him first.
 

Tiber

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A top class director of football should be the first priority of any new owner.
 

Roboc7

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He's getting away with so much blame for this season.

He was an internal appointment and got the job in March 2021. It was said he didn't actually begin his work until Woodward left at the end of 2021.

My point is he had more than enough lead time ahead of the PL season for us to make the buys that we did. It seemed like other than Casemiro he just bought whoever EtH recommended which completely goes against what you want from a DoF. We were a twitter meltdown away from adding Arnautovic to the list of Ten Hag signings. January came around and it was Weghorst we decided to add, what an insane decision.

I fear we have another weak person at the helm who is all too happy to defer his responsibilities to the manager. This summer we'll go for obvious big name signings with no strategy and we'll be back in the same position.

Our new owners need to get rid of him first.
I’d be amazed if he is kept in this current role by new owners, will have to be moved into different one or got rid of.
 

Skills

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He's too weak. I can't imagine him having any sort of authority over a manager - let alone a Manchester United manager, who often have an inflated sense of self worth because of the constant dick-riding by the fanbase.

We need a strong authoritarian figure to keep the manager under wrap.
 

I’m loving my life

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The losers mentality comes from the top. The one thing he’s done right is hire Ten Hag rather than Pochetino but even a broken clock is right twice a day
 

UnitedSofa

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He's getting away with so much blame for this season.

He was an internal appointment and got the job in March 2021. It was said he didn't actually begin his work until Woodward left at the end of 2021.

My point is he had more than enough lead time ahead of the PL season for us to make the buys that we did. It seemed like other than Casemiro he just bought whoever EtH recommended which completely goes against what you want from a DoF. We were a twitter meltdown away from adding Arnautovic to the list of Ten Hag signings. January came around and it was Weghorst we decided to add, what an insane decision.

I fear we have another weak person at the helm who is all too happy to defer his responsibilities to the manager. This summer we'll go for obvious big name signings with no strategy and we'll be back in the same position.

Our new owners need to get rid of him first.
The actual structure has only just been put in place. The scouting system. If you want to judge judge him on this summer.
He's too weak. I can't imagine him having any sort of authority over a manager - let alone a Manchester United manager, who often have an inflated sense of self worth because of the constant dick-riding by the fanbase.

We need a strong authoritarian figure to keep the manager under wrap.
So what do you guys want an authoritarian manager who has what he says goes or do you want a DOF who rules the roost and has the manager at his beck and call because it seems like you CAF guys want to blame everyone but the players.
It’s a fecking joke. Everytime we lose it’s the same story, blame everyone.
 

Skills

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The actual structure has only just been put in place. The scouting system. If you want to judge judge him on this summer.

So what do you guys want an authoritarian manager who has what he says goes or do you want a DOF who rules the roost and has the manager at his beck and call because it seems like you CAF guys want to blame everyone but the players.
It’s a fecking joke. Everytime we lose it’s the same story, blame everyone.
The latter. The DOF needs to rule to roost, and the manager needs to be his bitch.
 

spiriticon

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For once, PLEASE I BEG, can we get the transfers done early and then concentrate on football and selling players for the rest of the summer??

If we want a player but the club doesn't want to sell or the player doesn't want to come, stop beating a dead horse and just forget it.
 
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Woziak

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The latter. The DOF needs to rule to roost, and the manager needs to be his bitch.
Exactly this, the manager needs to be involved but also told too many of them do not do due diligence on expensive transfers
 

Zed is not dead

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Ah, the good old « let’s blame whoever even though we have absolutely zero idea how the footballing side of a club works but DOF and data and analytics and [insert latest buzzword] »

I swear if people could have a go at United’s bus driver, they would.

Never change Caf, never change…
 

UnitedSofa

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This whole knee jerk reaction on this forum is absolutely incredible to see. Each and every time.

If we'd had won, this thread would NOT have been resurrected.
 

Big Ben Foster

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This whole knee jerk reaction on this forum is absolutely incredible to see. Each and every time.

If we'd had won, this thread would NOT have been resurrected.
Okay then gatekeeper, when is the appropriate time to discuss the DOF's performance?