Here you go Norbs, works on my phone. You’d better read every word of this 2 mile long article 
The search for a new manager is not the only challenge Liverpool’s owners are dealing with right now.
Fenway Sports Group are also looking for a new sporting director to help guide the club’s football masterplan in the coming years, having been without one since Jorg Schmadtke — a stop-gap appointment last summer — left at the end of January.
So how is the search progressing? And how has the club found itself in this position?
It seems odd that Liverpool are in this situation. How has this happened?
The new sporting director will be the fourth person to hold this title at Liverpool since 2022, when Michael Edwards officially departed the club.
In truth, his assistant Julian Ward had acted as the de facto sporting director since Edwards announced his intention to move on in the autumn of the previous year. After he had negotiated his way through Mohamed Salah’s contract impasse, a few months later Ward decided to leave as well.
Ward led the recruitment of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton & Hove Albion before Schmadtke, a 59-year-old German, took over in mid-summer, helping the club seal deals for Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo.
That Edwards and Ward were able to navigate significant notice periods reflects the understanding the pair had with Liverpool’s ownership group, Fenway Sports Group.
Yet both had arrived at similar conclusions. Whereas decisions around recruitment were consensus-driven before, now Jurgen Klopp’s power was increasing.
Ward was reassured after Edwards left that FSG president Mike Gordon would continue to act as a buffer between himself and the manager. But when Gordon stepped away from his role towards the end of 2022, Ward realised the dynamic between departments that had once serviced Liverpool so well, steering the team towards Champions League and Premier League glory, was eroding.
Temporarily, Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan assumed many of Gordon’s responsibilities before the president returned to the scene around this time last year.
In seeking to replace Ward, Liverpool spoke to several potential candidates, including Monaco’s Paul Mitchell and Markus Krosche from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Some figures at the club felt Mitchell would have worked perfectly with Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter, the two scouts that lead Liverpool’s recruitment team. Krosche, meanwhile, was believed to be more of an FSG figure, someone who would have complemented Gordon.
Ultimately, the appointment of Schmadtke, who shares an agent with Klopp, as a stop-gap confirmed Liverpool as a manager-led operation.
Given Klopp’s achievements as well as the length of time he’s been in charge, perhaps it is inevitable that Liverpool would arrive at a point such as this.
Nevertheless, strategists such as FSG would surely have wanted to avoid such a situation: one where a hugely popular manager leaves, and the owners need to fill the two most important football roles at the club at the same time.
What kind of sporting director are they looking for?
It is the role of the sporting director to protect the medium and long-term strategy of the club, allowing the manager to offer a sharper focus on what is happening in the short term.
This means the role doesn’t just relate to recruitment; there are also responsibilities around staffing.
While Klopp will depart with his inner circle that includes Peter Krawietz, Pep Lijnders and Vitor Matos, he has also been influential in the hiring of key figures in areas that would ordinarily be described as “club staff”.
The futures of fitness specialist Andreas Kornmayer and nutritionist Mona Nemmer are yet to be disclosed in public, for example.
Any sporting director, however, is judged on how successful they are in trading players. Liverpool were one of the first Premier League clubs to embrace data and much of that was because of Edwards and his relationship with Gordon.
A mix of data and old-fashioned scouting contributed towards the signing of Mohamed Salah, who has since become a legendary figure.
Klopp wanted to buy Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2017 but Fallows pushed Edwards to try to convince Klopp that Salah was a better bet, knowing the data supported his instincts.
In the post-Klopp era, the new sporting director’s first responsibility will relate to the hiring of Klopp’s replacement and this should redress some of the balance between the roles.
Who is under consideration?
Schmadtke was living in Ibiza in semi-retirement when he joined Liverpool. His stay at the club was always going to be short.
Before Klopp announced his own departure, consideration was given towards finding someone to replace Schmadtke — working in conjunction with Klopp.
There was some support around this period for Stuart Webber, the soon-to-be departing Norwich City sporting director, whose association with Liverpool dates back to 2009, when he worked in recruitment during the Rafa Benitez regime.
At Huddersfield Town and then Norwich, Webber had worked with David Wagner — Klopp’s close friend — who gave the Welshman glowing reports.
The situation, however, has since moved on, with FSG becoming aware of Klopp’s decision in October.
Frederic Massara, the former director of football at AC Milan, has been under consideration. The Italian, who moved to Milan from Roma in 2019, is on gardening leave and would be available to start the job immediately, which is attractive to Liverpool because of their need to source a manager.
Milan are owned by RedBird Capital, who have a stake in FSG. Another sporting director that FSG likes is Florent Ghisolfi, who holds the same role at Nice, where he has dealt with thorny issues such as managerial appointments.
RedBird own Toulouse in Ligue One and they have been impressed by Ghisolfi, though it is anticipated INEOS, which now has a stake in Manchester United, would fight to keep him there.
His name has not been mentioned concerning any role at United, despite a raft of new appointments being made at Old Trafford since INEOS, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, completed its investment.
FSG, however, would welcome a return for Edwards. The weekend after it was announced that Klopp was leaving, Gordon contacted the club’s former sporting director about coming back in a more senior role.
The timing of this conversation not only reflects the condition of Edwards’ relationship with Klopp, it shows where Liverpool are in this process.
Edwards, however, is happy in his role at Ludonautics, the sports advisory company founded by Ian Graham, Liverpool’s former director of research, who handed his notice in during the summer of 2022.
Who is leading the search?
Gordon is the key person in all of this. While he communicates his findings to the most senior figures at FSG, John W. Henry and Tom Werner, he will be informed by data from the club’s new director of research, Will Spearman, as well as guidance from FSG’s special advisor Theo Epstein, who is a minority shareholder in FSG.
Since returning to the scene, Gordon has resumed decision-making responsibilities, including this one. Beneath Hogan, Jonathan Bamber, Liverpool’s former solicitor, has become increasingly involved in the day-to-day running of the club following his appointment as director of football administration in 2022.
How does Klopp’s impending exit complicate things?
Given the value FSG has placed on this role in the past and given they also knew about Ward’s departure towards the end of 2022, it seems incredible that they are still waiting to appoint his full-time replacement.
Until Klopp’s exit became a public matter, it would have been difficult for FSG to make much progress in sourcing a new sporting director and therefore, a new manager.
Any conversation with potential candidates for each of the roles would have inevitably revealed one of the biggest sports stories of the year and Liverpool, therefore, would no longer be in control of it.
FSG might reflect it would have been better for the organisation to announce Klopp’s departure sooner. Only over the last few weeks have they started formal conversations with candidates to replace Schmadtke.
There is a risk that without having a sporting director in place quickly, Liverpool will blow the pursuit of any manager they’d prefer to succeed Klopp.
There is now more of a chance that any new sporting director only arrives when the most obvious and suitable choice is off the market. If they want Xabi Alonso, they will have to move quickly.
When does this need to be resolved?
ASAP. Recruitment will be influenced by the new manager’s wishes but Liverpool’s squad is in a healthy enough state and a major overhaul isn’t necessarily the priority here, especially with the much-respected Fallows and Hunter still involved, and Spearman now more settled in his data-analytics role.
More pressing are the contract situations of captain Virgil van Dijk, his deputy Trent Alexander-Arnold and leading scorer Salah are all up in the summer of 2025. These negotiations will form a big part of any sporting director’s in-tray.
Meanwhile, rival clubs are also in the market for similar executives. Dan Ashworth’s impending move from Newcastle United to Manchester United will have a knock-on effect across Europe. Liverpool have a head start but they can’t afford to take their time.
The search for a new manager is not the only challenge Liverpool’s owners are dealing with right now.
Fenway Sports Group are also looking for a new sporting director to help guide the club’s football masterplan in the coming years, having been without one since Jorg Schmadtke — a stop-gap appointment last summer — left at the end of January.
So how is the search progressing? And how has the club found itself in this position?
It seems odd that Liverpool are in this situation. How has this happened?
The new sporting director will be the fourth person to hold this title at Liverpool since 2022, when Michael Edwards officially departed the club.
In truth, his assistant Julian Ward had acted as the de facto sporting director since Edwards announced his intention to move on in the autumn of the previous year. After he had negotiated his way through Mohamed Salah’s contract impasse, a few months later Ward decided to leave as well.
Ward led the recruitment of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton & Hove Albion before Schmadtke, a 59-year-old German, took over in mid-summer, helping the club seal deals for Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo.
That Edwards and Ward were able to navigate significant notice periods reflects the understanding the pair had with Liverpool’s ownership group, Fenway Sports Group.
Yet both had arrived at similar conclusions. Whereas decisions around recruitment were consensus-driven before, now Jurgen Klopp’s power was increasing.
Ward was reassured after Edwards left that FSG president Mike Gordon would continue to act as a buffer between himself and the manager. But when Gordon stepped away from his role towards the end of 2022, Ward realised the dynamic between departments that had once serviced Liverpool so well, steering the team towards Champions League and Premier League glory, was eroding.
Temporarily, Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan assumed many of Gordon’s responsibilities before the president returned to the scene around this time last year.
In seeking to replace Ward, Liverpool spoke to several potential candidates, including Monaco’s Paul Mitchell and Markus Krosche from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Some figures at the club felt Mitchell would have worked perfectly with Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter, the two scouts that lead Liverpool’s recruitment team. Krosche, meanwhile, was believed to be more of an FSG figure, someone who would have complemented Gordon.
Ultimately, the appointment of Schmadtke, who shares an agent with Klopp, as a stop-gap confirmed Liverpool as a manager-led operation.
Given Klopp’s achievements as well as the length of time he’s been in charge, perhaps it is inevitable that Liverpool would arrive at a point such as this.
Nevertheless, strategists such as FSG would surely have wanted to avoid such a situation: one where a hugely popular manager leaves, and the owners need to fill the two most important football roles at the club at the same time.
What kind of sporting director are they looking for?
It is the role of the sporting director to protect the medium and long-term strategy of the club, allowing the manager to offer a sharper focus on what is happening in the short term.
This means the role doesn’t just relate to recruitment; there are also responsibilities around staffing.
While Klopp will depart with his inner circle that includes Peter Krawietz, Pep Lijnders and Vitor Matos, he has also been influential in the hiring of key figures in areas that would ordinarily be described as “club staff”.
The futures of fitness specialist Andreas Kornmayer and nutritionist Mona Nemmer are yet to be disclosed in public, for example.
Any sporting director, however, is judged on how successful they are in trading players. Liverpool were one of the first Premier League clubs to embrace data and much of that was because of Edwards and his relationship with Gordon.
A mix of data and old-fashioned scouting contributed towards the signing of Mohamed Salah, who has since become a legendary figure.
Klopp wanted to buy Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2017 but Fallows pushed Edwards to try to convince Klopp that Salah was a better bet, knowing the data supported his instincts.
In the post-Klopp era, the new sporting director’s first responsibility will relate to the hiring of Klopp’s replacement and this should redress some of the balance between the roles.
Who is under consideration?
Schmadtke was living in Ibiza in semi-retirement when he joined Liverpool. His stay at the club was always going to be short.
Before Klopp announced his own departure, consideration was given towards finding someone to replace Schmadtke — working in conjunction with Klopp.
There was some support around this period for Stuart Webber, the soon-to-be departing Norwich City sporting director, whose association with Liverpool dates back to 2009, when he worked in recruitment during the Rafa Benitez regime.
At Huddersfield Town and then Norwich, Webber had worked with David Wagner — Klopp’s close friend — who gave the Welshman glowing reports.
The situation, however, has since moved on, with FSG becoming aware of Klopp’s decision in October.
Frederic Massara, the former director of football at AC Milan, has been under consideration. The Italian, who moved to Milan from Roma in 2019, is on gardening leave and would be available to start the job immediately, which is attractive to Liverpool because of their need to source a manager.
Milan are owned by RedBird Capital, who have a stake in FSG. Another sporting director that FSG likes is Florent Ghisolfi, who holds the same role at Nice, where he has dealt with thorny issues such as managerial appointments.
RedBird own Toulouse in Ligue One and they have been impressed by Ghisolfi, though it is anticipated INEOS, which now has a stake in Manchester United, would fight to keep him there.
His name has not been mentioned concerning any role at United, despite a raft of new appointments being made at Old Trafford since INEOS, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, completed its investment.
FSG, however, would welcome a return for Edwards. The weekend after it was announced that Klopp was leaving, Gordon contacted the club’s former sporting director about coming back in a more senior role.
The timing of this conversation not only reflects the condition of Edwards’ relationship with Klopp, it shows where Liverpool are in this process.
Edwards, however, is happy in his role at Ludonautics, the sports advisory company founded by Ian Graham, Liverpool’s former director of research, who handed his notice in during the summer of 2022.
Who is leading the search?
Gordon is the key person in all of this. While he communicates his findings to the most senior figures at FSG, John W. Henry and Tom Werner, he will be informed by data from the club’s new director of research, Will Spearman, as well as guidance from FSG’s special advisor Theo Epstein, who is a minority shareholder in FSG.
Since returning to the scene, Gordon has resumed decision-making responsibilities, including this one. Beneath Hogan, Jonathan Bamber, Liverpool’s former solicitor, has become increasingly involved in the day-to-day running of the club following his appointment as director of football administration in 2022.
How does Klopp’s impending exit complicate things?
Given the value FSG has placed on this role in the past and given they also knew about Ward’s departure towards the end of 2022, it seems incredible that they are still waiting to appoint his full-time replacement.
Until Klopp’s exit became a public matter, it would have been difficult for FSG to make much progress in sourcing a new sporting director and therefore, a new manager.
Any conversation with potential candidates for each of the roles would have inevitably revealed one of the biggest sports stories of the year and Liverpool, therefore, would no longer be in control of it.
FSG might reflect it would have been better for the organisation to announce Klopp’s departure sooner. Only over the last few weeks have they started formal conversations with candidates to replace Schmadtke.
There is a risk that without having a sporting director in place quickly, Liverpool will blow the pursuit of any manager they’d prefer to succeed Klopp.
There is now more of a chance that any new sporting director only arrives when the most obvious and suitable choice is off the market. If they want Xabi Alonso, they will have to move quickly.
When does this need to be resolved?
ASAP. Recruitment will be influenced by the new manager’s wishes but Liverpool’s squad is in a healthy enough state and a major overhaul isn’t necessarily the priority here, especially with the much-respected Fallows and Hunter still involved, and Spearman now more settled in his data-analytics role.
More pressing are the contract situations of captain Virgil van Dijk, his deputy Trent Alexander-Arnold and leading scorer Salah are all up in the summer of 2025. These negotiations will form a big part of any sporting director’s in-tray.
Meanwhile, rival clubs are also in the market for similar executives. Dan Ashworth’s impending move from Newcastle United to Manchester United will have a knock-on effect across Europe. Liverpool have a head start but they can’t afford to take their time.
But since about a few weeks ago I didn't know he was managing anywhere. 
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