Paul Mitchell - Sporting Director

captaincantona

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This ties in with the other thread “what makes pep and Klopp super sexy” or whatever it’s called.

my view is that as well as being top top managers of course, they were also given the perfect environment in which to maximise their abilities. Looks like we are finally looking to do that - RR advising, ETH on the bench, Mitchell recruiting...and not a job for boys in sight. (Sorry Fletch!)
 

L1nk

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That tweet seems a little presumptious, this tweet is more accurate is it not?
 

I Am Zlatan

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This is the moment we have been waiting for fellas, Ed is gone, and now we are hiring football people.. I hope they get the freedom to operate how they see fit, and not much involvement from the glazer or Arnold on football related issues.
 

Leonzo1

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He sound great on paper, a proper footballing figure. On the other hand I'm getting a bit worried about all the upper management recruitment we are doing. Sounds like getting in a bunch of guys to take the fall so the glazers can say they brought in "footbal" people.

Glazers
Richard arnold
john murtough
Sir Alex
Ralf Rangnick
Darren Fletcher
Paul Mitchell
Erik Ten Hag

Who is doing what exactly? Seems to me like a classic too many ship captains situation. Everyone is going to have their own opinions and agenda.
 

Nick7

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Romano says he's set for the technical director role, that's Fletcher's job.
I think the job titles are confusing as the description of what Fletcher does would appear to have only limited overlap with Paul Mitchell's known strengths. Fletcher is essentially meant to monitor the pathway from the youth system to the first team so that involves an overview of all of the coaches in the youth setup with an emphasis on making sure there is consistency in training methods and tactics throughout the age groups so we are turning out players that fit the playing philosophy of the club. Mitchell is known for recruitment which is not intended to be a part of Fletcher's long term role even if he has been involved in some of those discussions during the interim period. I do think once ETH is here we will no longer see Fletcher in the dugout and he will fade from view somewhat and I don't see him being in competition with Mitchell should we hire him.
yeah that’s what I thought. Forgot Fletch’s job title was technical director though.
 

flameinthesun

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He sound great on paper, a proper footballing figure. On the other hand I'm getting a bit worried about all the upper management recruitment we are doing. Sounds like getting in a bunch of guys to take the fall so the glazers can say they brought in "footbal" people.

Glazers
Richard arnold
john murtough
Sir Alex
Ralf Rangnick
Darren Fletcher
Paul Mitchell
Erik Ten Hag

Who is doing what exactly? Seems to me like a classic too many ship captains situation. Everyone is going to have their own opinions and agenda.
To come to this conclusion would require knowing what everyone does and their roles and responsibilities, which clearly we as a fan base don't know. Regarding the theory of the glazers appointing football men just so they could say they appointed football men, which would mean we end up with football men, which would actually mean the glazers made a good choice in appointing football men....is as silly as it sounds. Why don't everyone just settle down see where the chips fall, so far it looks positive, time will tell whether it is.
 

Cheimoon

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He sound great on paper, a proper footballing figure. On the other hand I'm getting a bit worried about all the upper management recruitment we are doing. Sounds like getting in a bunch of guys to take the fall so the glazers can say they brought in "footbal" people.

Glazers
Richard arnold
john murtough
Sir Alex
Ralf Rangnick
Darren Fletcher
Paul Mitchell
Erik Ten Hag

Who is doing what exactly? Seems to me like a classic too many ship captains situation. Everyone is going to have their own opinions and agenda.
The only issue in that list is Fletcher/Mitchell. The Glazers are the owners, Arnold is the CEO, Murtough Director of Football, Ten Hag the coach. All those are common, well-defined and separate roles. Ferguson and Rangnick don't really belong in the list, as they are consultants, they don't have fixed roles in the hierarchy.

That leaves Fletcher and Mitchell, but here we are in the dark, as it's not entirely clear what Fletcher does in his role as Technical Director (at least not to me), and Mitchell hasn't even been hired yet. If he becomes United's Head of Recruitment (replacing Judge), then that's another common, well-defined, separate role, and it's really just Fletcher we're less certain about.