October 2015 Phipps posted a long message on his Farcebook page, following reaction to the Millwall defeat. He said (emphasis is mine)
"Personally, I think we - the board, the management, the players, and the fans - need to step it up, if we are going to get where we want to go this season: automatic promotion. I am not blaming anyone. I am just saying we all can do better," ...
"I start by acknowledging that, as a board, we are far from perfect. The board is, however, committed and continues to operate in a manner that allows the top football professionals at the club (both on the touchline and in the front office) to make the decisions about who wears the strip and how the football resources will be applied. Which positions do we need to strengthen? How quickly can we shrink the squad to a more rational, economical size, given the injury situation? What strength can we draw from our academy to serve the first team? Which players should be recruited and on what terms (loan, permernant, price, etcetera)?
"All such questions are left to our Technical Board (MD (Brannigan), football manager, FD, academy manager etc) to decide, provided they stay within board approved budgets and parameters.
The next bit was an attack on Clough and an acknowledgement of lack of diligence by the Board -
"That said, some of the current problems in the side (its size, for example) are byproducts of our trying as a board to be true to our approach, in circumstances where we allowed the Technical Board process to be thoroughly undermined by a gaffer who was not interested in the process; hence, some of the excesses (recruiting in quantity, signing injured players etc). We should have seen what was happening (the excesses anyway) and responded to them more quickly.
"In appointing a new football manager last summer, we specifically set out to find a gaffer who would help us re-establish a process that would prevent the repetition of the same mistakes. I am very happy with the progress we have made on this particular front and believe the fruits of the Technical Board process will show themselves over time, if we stick to the process.......
"At board level, we love the club. We back that up with substantial resources and an approach that leaves the footballing decisions to our very highly-qualified and carefully-vetted front-office and touchline football professionals. We all want better performances and better results and they will come. Rome, however, wasn't built in a day. We see the problems. The gaffer sees what needs doing. We will do what needs doing and get there."
Brannigan then went and the following joined the Technical Board
" David Green, owner of Renishaw-based Green Piling Ltd, is a previous Chairman and Honorary Vice Chairman. He becomes Vice Chairman with responsibly for Football Operations. His new role will see him chair the Club's Technical Board, which directs football recruitment at all levels......
Carl Shieber, also of Sheffield United Limited, joins the Technical Board as its Player Contract Negotiation Manager. Carl has performed this role for the Club admirably in the past.
plus Adkins, Academy Director. No mention of Chief scout unless he is an etc.
David Green was the FC Chairman when Weir was appointed, Carl Sheiber is a career McCabe man, working under the Scarborough/Sufc umbrella since 2007. i.e McCabe men. There was also some bloke who got an MBA in football as a contract negotiator I seem to recall (Shieber?)- can't remember who. Still no mention of the Chief Scout being on it though.
So reading the above -
the Board sets the parameters (amount of money etc) and
the Technical Board selects and recruits within those parameters.
But it is clear from the above that the Board got paranoid after Clough (not sure how) managed to circumvent the Board and bloat the squad and they are presumably more intransigent about what the parameters are hence Green chairing it as an enforcer I would guess. No-one really knows what those parameters are - ie the Board could have set a budget, maximum transfer fee, wage levels etc that are unrealistic.
Adkins was also clearly appointed with a brief to reduce the squad and to redress the Clough "mistakes".
In normal circumstances following a screw-up of the JTW proportions by the Technical Board the buck should stop at the top (ie Green), but that isn't going to happen with McCabe around.
So its as clear as mud. Up the Blades.
