He’s not been burnt yet. I heard a club made a very good offer, circa £5m for Ryan Flynn during our cup run. Clough wasn’t keen on selling him at that point so the offer was turned down. Similarly, a lot of people were hoping we’d benefit from Diego’s talents and then sell him on for a big fee. So KM got a bit jaded. He employed the wrong managers who let him down and wasn’t the same afterwards. He could also remember the players we got good money for who never progressed after they left us. Sometimes selling is the correct decision.
And that’s what being a football person is about. The accepted definition is someone who is knowledgeable enough and capable enough to earn a living in football, who is either able to properly appraise footballers’ technical abilities and suitability to play at a defined level and/or has a working knowledge of market wage rates, contract clauses etc so that clubs don’t overpay or lose out because they’re chasing the wrong players. They’ll also usually have a large network of contacts they can call on for insider information on potential players, coaches managers. If you don’t have one at a club at executive level, you’re heavily reliant on getting the right manager in (which is also more difficult without a football person advising you).