Director of Football Coming In?

[brownblade]

Vacancies at Bramall Lane

Full time Director of Bladey Football required.

Must have experience of Bladeness. Previous good rapport with the fanbase a must.
Accountancy qualifications are not a prerequisite.

I've made the point about affiliation perhaps linking to longetivity. Then repeated it a few times now. That's the crux of the idea.

As AI told Tom; most stay in post for 2.6yrs average. What that figure's really based on, who knows.

 

[Rudders]

I've made the point about affiliation perhaps linking to longetivity. Then repeated it a few times now. That's the crux of the idea.

As AI told Tom; most stay in post for 2.6yrs average. What that figure's really based on, who knows.

And who’s to say succession planning for a DOF is not a bad idea anyway?! Like managers they probably have a shelf life and need to be moved up or out

Myself and Addison have been banging on about this for years. We are way to lean on staffing particularly on the football side of things. I think we are generally not set up for success and would say we are seriously under resourced on:

• scouting
• transfers
• coaching
• sports science
• player welfare
• press/comms
• corporate/marketing

It all comes from the top. Leadership drives culture which drives performance. Systems need to be in place and then high quality motivated individuals and teams.
If this is anathema to you then being successful at modern professional football is probably not for you. Hallam or Sheffield FC is where you need to be with well meaning volunteers running the pie stand and club shop whilst doing the 50/50 draw.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

I’m personally of the view, rightly or wrongly, that his statement on not having a DoF relates to the situation in March 2024 ie, with Wilder at the helm.

Did he broach the subject while Selles was here or since CW came back? Genuinely can’t recall.

I think he said what I said since Wilder came back. Maybe in that recent forum?

 

[The Fox]

The difference in winners and losers in sport is very often about fine margins . If a player was more alert , better coached , fitter , only slightly quicker he'd have cut out that pass that lead to the winning goal for example.

Its not luck its everything they do every day , the slightest improvement mentally and physically.

Many sports teams and individuals work on the basis of changing 100 things by 1% results in the best they can be individually or in a team.

Its a huge undertaking that requires every part of the coaching , fitness, mentality to be right for every player .

Putting a team around players of all levels of development to monitor , coach , mentor them is complex and challenging.

The person who puts that in place and managers that group and process some call a technical direction or DOF or whatever but its not just recruitment or picking a manager.

 

[S64 Blade]

Lots of clubs have directors of football in these days.

They still fail. And it's just another barrier between fair criticism and the owners/board. Leicester fans blame their woes on their dofs as they slide from champions of the premier league to potentially league one in ten years.

Every club has a manager and most ‘fail’. Whilst a DoF is not a magic wand, it can help set a long term strategic direction for the club that’s far better aligned than with one manager that comes and goes.

 

[Blacksea]

When? A DOF typically means he’d be a head coach, which he wouldn’t want to work as. He wants full rein.

Chris Wilder details his working relationship with Kieran Scott

Chris Wilder and Kieran Scott have been working together on what has been a very busy and exciting transfer window so far

www.gazettelive.co.uk

 

[Danetheblade]

Chris Wilder details his working relationship with Kieran Scott

Chris Wilder and Kieran Scott have been working together on what has been a very busy and exciting transfer window so far

www.gazettelive.co.uk

Pretty sure he didnt play the players he's signed, thus resulting in him getting binned. is this the only time he's worked with a DOF/Sporting director?

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

The reason we haven't established ourselves in the premier league is not down to a lack of director of football but funds. Turning profits in the premier league season because we brought/paid wages cheaply.

DoF isn't some magic wand and I don't really see how they do anything other than something pretty simple that SHOULD be the goal of the board/manager/club regardless.

It's not pretty simple though. And is also beyond the experience and ability this board. It is a board level expert to do what you are wanting the club to do.
Other wise who at the club does that stuff?
It also rides out the issues of changing manager. Eg a much longer term overseer of strategy regardless of current manager.

 

[The Crab]

Lots of clubs have directors of football in these days.

They still fail. And it's just another barrier between fair criticism and the owners/board. Leicester fans blame their woes on their dofs as they slide from champions of the premier league to potentially league one in ten years.

It’s not a silver bullet, but it seems to me the current way of doing things isn’t working either

Anyway, said I’d stop having an opinion about this as it’s an exercise in futility and I’ve got bigger things to worry about than being right (or mostly wrong) on the internet

 

[Blacksea]

Does anyone know if theres ever been an internal review with the owners,senior management and off field staff to look into the reasons why last summers debacle happened and who the people responsible for it were?
We know the owners admitted their part,but that was only the half of it with recruitment, fitness,scouting and god knows what else all dis functional,so it needed to be got to the bottom off and protocols,plans, systems, whatever you want to call them put in place so that there is an actual hymn sheet for everyone to sing off,and a good one at that,or was everything just swept under the carpet and left to chance whether it happens again or not.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

It's not pretty simple though. And is also beyond the experience and ability this board. It is a board level expert to do what you are wanting the club to do.
Other wise who at the club does that stuff?
It also rides out the issues of changing manager. Eg a much longer term overseer of strategy regardless of current manager.

The spurs newest director of footballs previous experience is doing player contracts. We have people with that experience. I am convinced it's mostly corporate jargon. Sounds impressive but essentially it's far less important than reality.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...t-who-is-carlos-raphael-moersen-b1262791.html

 

[SB_90]

Lots of clubs have directors of football in these days.

They still fail. And it's just another barrier between fair criticism and the owners/board. Leicester fans blame their woes on their dofs as they slide from champions of the premier league to potentially league one in ten years.

i know a bristol city fan who blames them sacking stuber on there incompetent director of football

 

[Bladeloyal]

I’m personally of the view, rightly or wrongly, that his statement on not having a DoF relates to the situation in March 2024 ie, with Wilder at the helm.

Did he broach the subject while Selles was here or since CW came back? Genuinely can’t recall.

He made it clear at the fans forum 2 months ago

 

[Sean Thornton]

He made it clear at the fans forum 2 months ago

The FAB one?

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

The spurs newest director of footballs previous experience is doing player contracts. We have people with that experience. I am convinced it's mostly corporate jargon. Sounds impressive but essentially it's far less important than reality.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...t-who-is-carlos-raphael-moersen-b1262791.html

Premier League sporting directors: who are they, and how much power do they all have?

A guide to each club’s setups, from Chelsea’s multi-headed structure to Brentford’s smooth planning and Manchester United’s muddles

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bladeloyal]

The FAB one?

Yes he said they thought the title of dof was just a pay rise for the head of recruitment

 

[jt64]

The average lifespan (tenure) of a Sporting Director or Director of Football in European "Big Five" leagues is approximately 2.6 years.

Just another scapegoat then.

Well that's probably about two years more than the average manager, so many times better at having the long term interests of the club at heart

 

[Carlton Blade]

Lots of clubs have directors of football in these days.

They still fail. And it's just another barrier between fair criticism and the owners/board. Leicester fans blame their woes on their dofs as they slide from champions of the premier league to potentially league one in ten years.

You're arguing to have less talented and knowledgeable people involved in decision making because not every team wins every season.

Plus, what constitutes failure? It's a competition and by it's definition the majority failure every season. The point if having proper structure is to get the most out of the resources you have as often as possible. Having one person in charge for winning the next match and planning for 5 years from now is untenable.

 

[The Fox]

Always Intresting to look at similar positions in other sports .

This is the tech Director of Mercedes F1 team ..sound familiar


“When the teams were smaller, they tended to be run in a very autocratic style by someone with an extremely strong personality – which is the polite way of saying a horrendous bully. Teams would labour under the whip of one person whose vision would be stamped on every part of the car.

“A good team would have an autocrat who made good decisions and a bad team would have a similarly autocratic figure who made bad decisions – but that model simply doesn’t work anymore. Once you scale the team up above a certain size, however much bandwidth a person has, they can’t cover that much ground. The organisation gets logjammed by the inability to make decisions – because the apex predator just can’t make enough of them quickly enough.”

What he's saying is that the tech directors role isn't to replace one autocratic decision maker with another , its to manage the team of people responsible for performance.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

You're arguing to have less talented and knowledgeable people involved in decision making because not every team wins every season.

Plus, what constitutes failure? It's a competition and by it's definition the majority failure every season. The point if having proper structure is to get the most out of the resources you have as often as possible. Having one person in charge for winning the next match and planning for 5 years from now is untenable.

Look at the backgrounds of plenty of football directors. They aren't "football men" it's essentially a rebrand for pen pushers we already have.

I think most people agree a set plan is needed long term with no wild swings from one style of play to another meaning recruitment needs ripping up and starting again. Quite why that needs another guy to come in and do that I am not sure.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Look at the backgrounds of plenty of football directors. They aren't "football men" it's essentially a rebrand for pen pushers we already have.

I think most people agree a set plan is needed long term with no wild swings from one style of play to another meaning recruitment needs ripping up and starting again. Quite why that needs another guy to come in and do that I am not sure.

If you don't see that the person whose job security is tied to the short term shouldn't be the long term decision maker then you won't think there's a problem.

Also "some people are bad at their jobs" is not a real argument for not improving the structure of the club.

 

[Gin&Juice]

We could stick with what we have and sign older, unfit and injured players.

Who also reside in an S, DE, LS, or DN postcode?

 

[Berkshire Blade]

If you don't see that the person whose job security is tied to the short term shouldn't be the long term decision maker then you won't think there's a problem.

Also "some people are bad at their jobs" is not a real argument for not improving the structure of the club.

I don't see the logic for a middle man between the board and the manager. The set up itself is far more important than a manager for the manager (s)

We are probably not going to agree but it doesn't seem like the club think it's going to happen either.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Look at the backgrounds of plenty of football directors. They aren't "football men" it's essentially a rebrand for pen pushers we already have.

I think most people agree a set plan is needed long term with no wild swings from one style of play to another meaning recruitment needs ripping up and starting again. Quite why that needs another guy to come in and do that I am not sure.

In our instance what person would establish and see out that plan?

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

I don't see the logic for a middle man between the board and the manager. The set up itself is far more important than a manager for the manager (s)

We are probably not going to agree but it doesn't seem like the club think it's going to happen either.

It's like at most reasonable sized companies, would have a finance director, technical director, etc etc then managers below them.
Team manager going direct to Reve Rosen doesn't make sense, and Bettis describes himself as a finance guy.

 

[Blade56]

…..which is the polite way of saying a horrendous bully

Anyone like that at the Lane

 

[Berkshire Blade]

In our instance what person would establish and see out that plan?

Dont know exactly what everyone does but the Carl sheibers of the world seemingly do the talking between clubs stuff. We don't need another guy to set up a ethos for the board do we? So what exactly is it needed?

Bettis has been here for years now and was running as a yo yo championship to premier league side. That isnt a terrible thing.

 

[Tom Bott]

It also rides out the issues of changing manager. Eg a much longer term overseer of strategy regardless of current manager.

How has a DOF helped Spurs/Wolves/Leicester all who have had 3/4 managers this season?

Who 'is to blame' as is the current popular outrage, for their plight, the DOF or the various shorter lived managers?

I don't see any longer term planning or strategy there, just an extra body to fund and an additional scapegoat.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

How has a DOF helped Spurs/Wolves/Leicester all who have had 3/4 managers this season?

Who 'is to blame' as is the current popular outrage, for their plight, the DOF or the various shorter lived managers?

I don't see any longer term planning or strategy there, just an extra body to fund and an additional scapegoat.

Or how have they helped all the clubs who have head great success?

We have owners who don't have any football history, knowledge or experience. It seems bonkers to expect them to know how to handle things. And they have received tins of stick for this eg Selles appointment.
A DoF bridges that gap. Yes it's another wage, but I'd that brings more success in the pitch then great Plus overall I imagine it could end up being cosy neutral if things are explained better / less daft decisions.

 

[Tom Bott]

Or how have they helped all the clubs who have head great success?

Jon Rudkin at Leicester is a perfect example, played for their youth team,

Micky Adams, Leicester's manager at the time, suggested that Rudkin was a good choice to become Academy Manager in 2003, rather than recruit from outside the club.

promoted to DOF in 2014 and has seen the good, the bad and now potentially the ugly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Rudkin