Anyone seen our sporting director???

[Darkon]

During this whole affair with Hicks slating Rick Parry and earlier episodes about his involvment in transfer deals (or the lack of same) has got me thinking...

Since Parry is under a lot of critique from the fans, half the owners, Rafa apperently and some media outlets, howcome he is in charge of both the generel running of the club and the sporting affairs?? Could it be that he simply has to many responsibilities and has to little experience as a footballer to hold the sporting role?

If you look at some of the best clubs in the world as of now, they have a sporting director which are in charge of signing new players, talents and give advice to the board on footballing matters. This is also to keep continuity when managers change... The CEO is in charge of overall finances and the daily runnings of the club, but not concerned with the transfers as such (just signing the checks)...

Sporting Directors at major clubs (to illustrate)

Real: Predrag Mijatovic
Barca Berguistan
Man utd: Bobby Charlton
Chelski: Frank Arnesen
Leverkusen: Rudi Voeller
Juventus: Alessio Secco
Milan: Braida
Bayern: Uli Hoeness

The list could perhaps go on. I know Rafa wants total control in this area, but sporting directors are mainly there to keep communication between the manager and the board and give advice. They usually negotiate fees for the manager as well as wages etc...

Howcome we don't have one. It takes the pressure of the CEO so he can keep track of businees and the manager can concentrate on his side, and leave the negotiations to one competent person...

It has just struck me as odd that a huge club like ours are without...

[Neil Young]

Like you say, Rafa wants total control.

For the record, Bobby Charlton is a big bald bollock.

[Craig_H]

Like you say, Rafa wants total control.

For the record, Bobby Charlton is a big bald bollock.

[dww]

I seriously doubt the afore mentioned big bald bollock has any active role. I don't really see what advantage a sporting director is unless you have or expect a high manager turnover.

I think that a CEO and manager who have each others confidence like Dein and Wenger is the best combination a sporting director smacks of interference from board level in what the manager is doing. If we bring in another member of staff to influence Rafas footballing decisions they should come in as his assistant IMO.

[Matt]

I seriously doubt the afore mentioned big bald bollock has any active role. I don't really see what advantage a sporting director is unless you have or expect a high manager turnover.

I think that a CEO and manager who have each others confidence like Dein and Wenger is the best combination a sporting director smacks of interference from board level in what the manager is doing. If we bring in another member of staff to influence Rafas footballing decisions they should come in as his assistant IMO.

[Darkon]

I seriously doubt the afore mentioned big bald bollock has any active role. I don't really see what advantage a sporting director is unless you have or expect a high manager turnover.

I think that a CEO and manager who have each others confidence like Dein and Wenger is the best combination a sporting director smacks of interference from board level in what the manager is doing. If we bring in another member of staff to influence Rafas footballing decisions they should come in as his assistant IMO.

I disagree with that as the point of having a sporting director is that you will have a competent person in charge of the sporting side, i.e. youth academy, transfers etc.

This basically means you can have a CEO that can concentrate on generating revenue for the club and run secure finances. The CEO only has to be a good general manager of a business, not a knowledgeable footballer. At the same time you have a person that is an expert on the footballing matter, which means in the longer run you can achieve greater things through the youth side.

A sporting director is in place at basically all succesfull clubs, so that each director has less responsibility, which makes them more usefull. Perhaps parry would have avoided the ticket scandal in not dealing with transfers, youth teams etc. as well. Perhaps someone else would have done better on the transfer side leaving Rafa less pissed than he was a year ago.

I think it would be of great benefit if we had a former footballer in a directors role. Both for our finances, youth setup as well as transfer dealings. Leaves more time for others involved to do their primary task...

[dww]

I disagree with that as the point of having a sporting director is that you will have a competent person in charge of the sporting side, i.e. youth academy, transfers etc.

This basically means you can have a CEO that can concentrate on generating revenue for the club and run secure finances. The CEO only has to be a good general manager of a business, not a knowledgeable footballer. At the same time you have a person that is an expert on the footballing matter, which means in the longer run you can achieve greater things through the youth side.

A sporting director is in place at basically all succesfull clubs, so that each director has less responsibility, which makes them more usefull. Perhaps parry would have avoided the ticket scandal in not dealing with transfers, youth teams etc. as well. Perhaps someone else would have done better on the transfer side leaving Rafa less pissed than he was a year ago.

I think it would be of great benefit if we had a former footballer in a directors role. Both for our finances, youth setup as well as transfer dealings. Leaves more time for others involved to do their primary task...

I still don't see why - we have an academy manager who deals with the youth related issues. I agree that the CEO should basically deal with finances and give a budget to the manager to sign cheques with due accounting. I don't see why appointing someone with great power as an intermediary is desirable to be honest.

I bet Parry does sod all connected to the Academy under the new management structure other than sort out the finances with that department. From my point of view transfers are best conducted with as few people in the loop as possible. Obviously you need someone with financial and sporting knowledge involved but seeing as the financial angle will be one of the more substantial parts of our budget each year I think it entirely sensible that the CEO would be the financial person.

Surely the CEO should only have a general overview of areas such as youth recruitment and marketing anyway. He has people below him or should do that handle the day to day tasks and implement his high level strategies. Maybe overhauling such things takes more effort but then he should appoint a deputy or hire someone with the relevant skills that he can trust.

[-V-]

I disagree with that as the point of having a sporting director is that you will have a competent person in charge of the sporting side, i.e. youth academy, transfers etc.

This basically means you can have a CEO that can concentrate on generating revenue for the club and run secure finances. The CEO only has to be a good general manager of a business, not a knowledgeable footballer. At the same time you have a person that is an expert on the footballing matter, which means in the longer run you can achieve greater things through the youth side.

A sporting director is in place at basically all succesfull clubs, so that each director has less responsibility, which makes them more usefull. Perhaps parry would have avoided the ticket scandal in not dealing with transfers, youth teams etc. as well. Perhaps someone else would have done better on the transfer side leaving Rafa less pissed than he was a year ago.

I think it would be of great benefit if we had a former footballer in a directors role. Both for our finances, youth setup as well as transfer dealings. Leaves more time for others involved to do their primary task...

We dont need a sporting director because Rafa needs full control over all football matters. He runs the first team, he delegates control of reserve and youth team to other coaches but you can see from the youth signings we have made that Rafa is completely in control.

Parry jobs is Chief Executive and he has plenty of experience in administrative matters as he was previous the head of the English Premier League. He does not have any influence in who we sign, that is Rafa's job. Parry's only role in transfers is to deal with the financial side of things and tie up deals instructed by Rafa.

We do not need a sporting director. Real Madrid have proven that it is not workable, the Madrid manager rarely gets a say in signings because he only ever lasts 12 months in the job. Which is a pathetic way to run a club

Spurs have Commoli. What a plonker he is. Some of his signings have been laughable and he has done damage there. Martin Jol asked for a defensive midfielder and Commoli bought him Donkey Zakora. They will be sorted now that Juande Ramos is there because he wont take any **** from the sporting director, he will make his own decisions

Rafa has full control over football matters and rightly so. He wants more power to tie up transfers personally and i cant blame him

[peekay]

If we have a sporting director, it should be some one Rafa appoints, who reports directly to Rafa and his job should be relieve Rafa of many administrative responsibilities. Kinda like Brady and Wenger.

[Darkon]

We dont need a sporting director because Rafa needs full control over all football matters. He runs the first team, he delegates control of reserve and youth team to other coaches but you can see from the youth signings we have made that Rafa is completely in control.

Parry jobs is Chief Executive and he has plenty of experience in administrative matters as he was previous the head of the English Premier League. He does not have any influence in who we sign, that is Rafa's job. Parry's only role in transfers is to deal with the financial side of things and tie up deals instructed by Rafa.

We do not need a sporting director. Real Madrid have proven that it is not workable, the Madrid manager rarely gets a say in signings because he only ever lasts 12 months in the job. Which is a pathetic way to run a club

Spurs have Commoli. What a plonker he is. Some of his signings have been laughable and he has done damage there. Martin Jol asked for a defensive midfielder and Commoli bought him Donkey Zakora. They will be sorted now that Juande Ramos is there because he wont take any **** from the sporting director, he will make his own decisions

Rafa has full control over football matters and rightly so. He wants more power to tie up transfers personally and i cant blame him

I agree that reals way of running a club is a bit odd, eventhough they have a lot of succes... And it is not Mijatovic that decides the managers fate in Real it is the directors, don't get that confused.

However I still think that there is a very good reason why almost all major clubs have a sporting director. It is simply to differentiate the running of the club in to more people. I can't help but feel that we would be better off if Parry (or another CEO) diden't handle transfers as well as running the day to day basis of the club. It is simply to big a task for the size of our club.

I am not suggesting that Rafa should not have the final say in transfers, of course the manager should always point out players that are wanted and not wanted. I am however suggesting it would be better to have a person employed to take care of negotiations, be the link to other clubs (ie networking), as well as creating continuity througout the sporting section of the club.

It will leave the manager with the focus of training, tactics etc., and not negotiating fees, wages etc. on the day to day basis. The CEO can concentrate on generating revenue etc., which in turn will give a longer term benefit for the club.

It is hardly by coincidence that all major clubs have choosen this structure...

[Darkon]

If we have a sporting director, it should be some one Rafa appoints, who reports directly to Rafa and his job should be relieve Rafa of many administrative responsibilities. Kinda like Brady and Wenger.

I agree with the idea of having the sporting director in place, but think he should be appointed by the board and manager, so that he has a good working relationship with both

[Rashid]

If Rafa left because we have a Sporting Director where would he go for total control? The answer is nowhere. We need a sporting director, simple as that. Otherwise we have to spent £200m each time we change managers. The club should buy players omn recommendation from a committee and manager not just one man.

[peekay]

I agree with the idea of having the sporting director in place, but think he should be appointed by the board and manager, so that he has a good working relationship with both

Agreed. But it will be very difficult to get such a person. Most top quality managers are paranoid, egotistical and control freaks. Rafa will never tolerate the fact that there is another person in the club whose opinion on football matters of the first team may count. Look at the deterioration of the relationship between Mourinho and the Abramovich after Arnesen was appointed.

I think the best thing we can do is the Sevilla model where there is a youth team director (Monchi) and a first team manager. Everything related to the first team is handled by the manager and the youth team team director takes care of all of youth team related scouting and coaching. I think that is the model Rafa prefers with the appointment of Piet Hamburg.

[El Jefecito]

If Rafa left because we have a Sporting Director where would he go for total control? The answer is nowhere. We need a sporting director, simple as that. Otherwise we have to spent £200m each time we change managers. The club should buy players omn recommendation from a committee and manager not just one man.

So because someone else buys the players they will automatically fit into the new managers tactics?

If you don't change managers every 2 years it becomes a non-issue.

[Johnny]

This thread is a non issue