Fabio Paratici - Consultant

[the goat]

a DoF only works when the club has an understanding of the direction it is going, the club picks a style of football (not a format just the style) then every manager it picks and player ill fit the style ( not saying that each player will suit the new manager) like Swansea used to do,
Levy is not doing that, we got rid of Poch & got in Jose (totally different football), so now we need players that suit/will work in Jose's style, when jose goes do we go for an front foot manager ? (then maybe 6-8 players don't fit with the new manager)

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yes Batshuyi, that was the one rumoured to be the final straw for Mitchell - as i recall anyway

So he wanted 2 prem players we couldn’t afford due to better wages being offered elsewhere, and a Belgian lad who has been a really poor signing for Chelsea for £33m

i always thought the genius in DOF as mentioned by Campos a few times in some articles I’ve read about him, is scouting the players within your budget for a start ... and of course targeting the unknown players

 

[Bedfordspurs]

a DoF only works when the club has an understanding of the direction it is going, the club picks a style of football (not a format just the style) then every manager it picks and player ill fit the style ( not saying that each player will suit the new manager) like Swansea used to do,
Levy is not doing that, we got rid of Poch & got in Jose (totally different football), so now we need players that suit/will work in Jose's style, when jose goes do we go for an front foot manager ? (then maybe 6-8 players don't fit with the new manager)

The DOF has a big role in deciding that style too though
And the difference currently between Pochs side and Jose’s Is time as much as anything. Poch has the team for 5 1/2 years so it’s 100% in his mould. Jose 6 months including COVID time, and he has to deal with failed purchases and ageing players now Which is what Poch did when he joined too

 

[Finney Is Back]

This is a very big moment for our club IMO. It is also a very big test of Levy’s stewardship.

One of probably the top 5 sporting directors in football has just become available, wants to work in England, has a great relationship with Mourinho 9who has openly praised him) and has two of his old coaching team here.

If we’re not going to be buying the complete finished articles then it is essential that we have a DoF who has a good relationship with lots of clubs and agents, as well as one who has an eye for spotting talent, whether that is scouting or statistics based (or preferably both).

Bring this guy in and we future proof ourselves without alienating our current manager. We also get he massive advantage of moving Levy one step further away from the transfers, which I think would be of benefit to us in the long run.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Batshuayi? Maybe. We went for Janssen over him, no? And Janssen was a total dud.

I remember a Mitchell quote at the time that he liked Janssen because he had overcome hardship, which at the time made me wonder what his criteria for talent spotting was.

That said i would take all of RB Leipzig defenders over ours.

 

[Baleforce]

So he wanted 2 prem players we couldn’t afford due to better wages being offered elsewhere, and a Belgian lad who has been a really poor signing for Chelsea for £33m

i always thought the genius in DOF as mentioned by Campos a few times in some articles I’ve read about him, is scouting the players within your budget for a start ... and of course targeting the unknown players

His recommendations suggest he was on some kind of bonus scheme based on transfer fee and salary.

The same insight could have been gleaned by a kid with a copy of Football Manager.

 

[Baleforce]

This is a very big moment for our club IMO. It is also a very big test of Levy’s stewardship.

One of probably the top 5 sporting directors in football has just become available, wants to work in England, has a great relationship with Mourinho 9who has openly praised him) and has two of his old coaching team here.

If we’re not going to be buying the complete finished articles then it is essential that we have a DoF who has a good relationship with lots of clubs and agents, as well as one who has an eye for spotting talent, whether that is scouting or statistics based (or preferably both).

Bring this guy in and we future proof ourselves without alienating our current manager. We also get he massive advantage of moving Levy one step further away from the transfers, which I think would be of benefit to us in the long run.

I think Levy has been a good part of that system, the squad has improved consistently since ENIC took over.

Increasing Poch’s influence seems to coincide with the downturn, anecdotally an argument could be made that the same happened at Southampton, possibly Espanyol too.

I think this already a done deal, I don’t see why Campos would leave his current job for any other reason than to link up with Jose.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

I use to believe that having a director of football was the right thing to have as I assumed they would provide the link between the chairman and manager, now I'm not so sure.
The most important thing is that the senior people at the club have the same vision. I'm sure they all want success but agreement on how that can be achieved will differ.

The Chairman will be conscious of the financial performance while the manager should be focused on results and development of squad.

We need to do better at recruitment and I imagine that is the area where a DoF would work in but that must be influenced by our financial position and the managers needs, I dont think we've got this right for a long time.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I think Levy has been a good part of that system, the squad has improved consistently since ENIC took over.

Increasing Poch’s influence seems to coincide with the downturn, anecdotally an argument could be made that the same happened at Southampton, possibly Espanyol too.

I think this already a done deal, I don’t see why Campos would leave his current job for any other reason than to link up with Jose.

I think the biggest improvements tended to happen when we had a DoF in the picture.

Man Utd are also openly looking for a DoF. I would expect Campos to play the two teams offers off against each other.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I use to believe that having a director of football was the right thing to have as I assumed they would provide the link between the chairman and manager, now I'm not so sure.
The most important thing is that the senior people at the club have the same vision. I'm sure they all want success but agreement on how that can be achieved will differ.

The Chairman will be conscious of the financial performance while the manager should be focused on results and development of squad.

We need to do better at recruitment and I imagine that is the area where a DoF would work in but that must be influenced by our financial position and the managers needs, I dont think we've got this right for a long time.

I've spoken about my reasons for wanting a DoF in place before. I think it is important to have separation between the person that controls the overall finances of the club and the person responsible for buying and selling players. My perception is that Levy's main motivation is always to make/save as much money as possible, of course that is natural, expected and commendable with Levy's position at the club. However I think that can sometimes result in us not always making the right decisions in terms of purchases and sales, where occasionally value is already evident and doing a deal quickly, perhaps for a little more/less on the buy/sale is actually the right thing to do instead of trying to get even better financial terms. IMO the ideal model has the CEO giving the DoF a budget for salaries (base and bonuses) and fees payable (transfer and agents combined) along with how those fees can be spread over the next 2, 3, 4 years. The DoF and manager then work within that budget as they see fit. Both will be judged directly on how they make use of that budget. Ideally I would love to see two separate budgets, one for the first team squad and a much smaller one for young players, with the DoF given even more autonomy in spending the young player budget.

 

[milo]

I use to believe that having a director of football was the right thing to have as I assumed they would provide the link between the chairman and manager, now I'm not so sure.
The most important thing is that the senior people at the club have the same vision. I'm sure they all want success but agreement on how that can be achieved will differ.

The Chairman will be conscious of the financial performance while the manager should be focused on results and development of squad.

We need to do better at recruitment and I imagine that is the area where a DoF would work in but that must be influenced by our financial position and the managers needs, I dont think we've got this right for a long time.

When we first had a DoF, we were unusual in English football for having that structure, now we are unusual for not having one.

 

[JerusalemMan]

His recommendations suggest he was on some kind of bonus scheme based on transfer fee and salary.

The same insight could have been gleaned by a kid with a copy of Football Manager.

Hmm, and yet it's hard to believe that Mane and Wijnaldum would not have made us better and could have made the crucial difference in some matches/seasons.
As for Batshuyai - not making it at Chelsea is hardly a yardstick with which to beat him. Indeed, not making it at any team is typically not the whole story. That's just one of those we'll-never-knows

 

[Baleforce]

Hmm, and yet it's hard to believe that Mane and Wijnaldum would not have made us better and could have made the crucial difference in some matches/seasons.
As for Batshuyai - not making it at Chelsea is hardly a yardstick with which to beat him. Indeed, not making it at any team is typically not the whole story. That's just one of those we'll-never-knows

I could name loads of players that could improve us who happen to play for teams that pay 4/5 times the wages we do. A good scout finds value in the market.

Mane is obviously very quick and has scored a lot of goals, but personally I wouldn't swap Wijnaldum for Sissoko, I don't think thats a miss at all.

 

[JerusalemMan]

I could name loads of players that could improve us who happen to play for teams that pay 4/5 times the wages we do. A good scout finds value in the market.

Mane is obviously very quick and has scored a lot of goals, but personally I wouldn't swap Wijnaldum for Sissoko, I don't think thats a miss at all.

Sometimes an obvious answer is also the right answer.

 

[Baleforce]

Sometimes an obvious answer is also the right answer.

yeah, but at that salary level clearly none of them were for us at that time

 

[parklane1]

So he wanted 2 prem players we couldn’t afford due to better wages being offered elsewhere, and a Belgian lad who has been a really poor signing for Chelsea for £33m

i always thought the genius in DOF as mentioned by Campos a few times in some articles I’ve read about him, is scouting the players within your budget for a start ... and of course targeting the unknown players

This without a doubt.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Hmm, and yet it's hard to believe that Mane and Wijnaldum would not have made us better and could have made the crucial difference in some matches/seasons.
As for Batshuyai - not making it at Chelsea is hardly a yardstick with which to beat him. Indeed, not making it at any team is typically not the whole story. That's just one of those we'll-never-knows

Possibly
Or maybe he isn’t good enough for the money they wanted and he is really a £10m player, which is why we went elsewhere
people always sight the ones that got away, especially the ones we couldn’t actually afford the wages for.
Anyone making a call on signings has to do so within the context of our budget at that point in time and fans forget that quote quickly.. a few M more here or there can quickly be many many more £M if you do that over a few players

 

[Finney Is Back]

Hmm, and yet it's hard to believe that Mane and Wijnaldum would not have made us better and could have made the crucial difference in some matches/seasons.
As for Batshuyai - not making it at Chelsea is hardly a yardstick with which to beat him. Indeed, not making it at any team is typically not the whole story. That's just one of those we'll-never-knows

I would imagine the numbers for Batshuayi may well end up being better than the numbers for Jansen (in terms of money lost on the deal).

 

[Finney Is Back]

I could name loads of players that could improve us who happen to play for teams that pay 4/5 times the wages we do. A good scout finds value in the market.

Mane is obviously very quick and has scored a lot of goals, but personally I wouldn't swap Wijnaldum for Sissoko, I don't think thats a miss at all.

Neither Mane or Wijnaldum went to Liverpool on 4/5 times the wages that we pay. I'm not even sure that the money they were paid by Liverpool at the time they signed was as much as our top earner was getting.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Possibly
Or maybe he isn’t good enough for the money they wanted and he is really a £10m player, which is why we went elsewhere
people always sight the ones that got away, especially the ones we couldn’t actually afford the wages for.
Anyone making a call on signings has to do so within the context of our budget at that point in time and fans forget that quote quickly.. a few M more here or there can quickly be many many more £M if you do that over a few players

That is why there needs to be separation between the manager and the chairman in the form of a DoF. The DoF has the budget and works with the manager to identify what positions to strengthen. The DoF and manager can then make a decision on whether it is prudent to blow the entire budget on (e.g.) only two proven players or whether better to buy 4 unproven players. They can also decide whether selling an existing player or two for a bit less than their perceived market value makes sense if it would allow the signing of a third key player and things like that. The great thing is that they then live and die by those decisions as opposed to be able to say - 'well the chairman didn't get me the players I wanted'