Misunderstood Director of Football
Delving into forums, as is my want every now and then, I came across talk of Franco Baldini and Daniel Levy. It took just a couple of lines to see that the role of Director of Football is rather misunderstood by many a fan who still hanker for the good old days.
Very few managers run football clubs now, even in the Premier League and a Director of Football is not just a chairman's fall guy. They do not do the scouting and decide which player they want then negotiate deals to bring them to the club, as it seems some supporters think.
Liverpool finished second to Manchester City last year, both have someone doing a Director of Football role, so do Chelsea, Manchester United, their managers do exactly the same as at Tottenham. Managers/coaches do not have time to scout and negotiate deals while a club is playing twice a week and having to prepare the side for each game? How exactly are Portsmouth doing now after Harry Redknapp was in the negotiating chair?
All clubs now have an analytical department which has several roles. One role is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and what each opposition player is likely to do in certain situations. Those finding and the recommendations that arise from them are given to the manager/coach. He then formulates his plan how he is going to approach each game, how he is going to set his team up and the tactics he is going to use. That is imparted to the coaches and work on the training ground preparing the team begun.
The manager/coach knows what roles he wants filled in his side so the analytic department and scouts seek out players who can fulfil that role. The department may ask a scout to go and look at a player or the scout may recommend a player to the department that they have seen. The Director of Football may ask his contacts for the identity of such players and recommend them to the analytic department.
In order to survive clubs have to make money so there has to be criteria involved that allows for the increase in value of a player as well as him being able to perform the role the manager/coach requires. Alternatively you find an experienced short-term loan or free transfer, in other words a player whose contract is ending. If you are a club with huge resources then you can just go and buy the finished article but Tottenham don't have those resources to pay those wages.
The analytic department then make those recommendations to the manager/coach to say yes or no to. The manager/coach then puts these players in order, meaning we'll have him first, but if we can't agree a deal, then him, then him and so on depending upon how many there are on the list. That happens for each role that the manager/coach wants filled.
At Tottenham Pochettino also has his say in valuing a player, both our own and a prospective purchase. He agrees a figure we will not go above to buy, as was the case with Morgan Schneiderlin.
Only at this point does the Director of Football become heavily involved. It is his role to negotiate any deal within the financial boundaries the clubs hierarchy deem the balance sheet allows. It is also his role to sell all the players the manager/coach does not want, or is willing to let go to get one of his targets in. Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice to get what you want.
The Director of Football does not, as some fans seem to think, determine who the club should buy, go out and buy them before presenting them to the manager/coach. He is a negotiator, he knows football yes, but his primary role is to sell and negotiate deals.
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Even these deals are not simple though because, certainly at a club like Tottenham, you can't buy a player until you have also agreed the sale of another player. You don't have two sets of wages on the books for no return and you can only have a maximum of 17 non-home grown players over 21 in the Premier League squad. Thus we are in the realms of deals in principle until, like a house sale, a chain of buys and sales can be agreed between a series of clubs.
Remember if we buy a player from another club they have to replace that player so a third club is involved. If we are also selling a player to make room in the squad then that is a fourth club who also have to sell a player to make way for their purchase so that is a fifth club. Some deals can be simple with a small chain some can be difficult with lengthy chains.
It is not a case of we want that player so pay whatever the other club suggest to get them, that's the way to send your club into ruin. Apart from the fact you'd have no money left in future transfer windows, every club would simply hold you to ransom and slap millions on the price of a player, just like Southampton did slapping an extra £9 million on Morgan Schneiderlin after the World Cup.
Any player purchased has been agreed by the manager/coach, the team are still his players and success or failure is still his responsibility.
The Director of Football is just an easy figure to blame for people who don't understand the modern game and hanker for the good old days when managers did it all.
Very few managers run football clubs now, even in the Premier League and a Director of Football is not just a chairman's fall guy. They do not do the scouting and decide which player they want then negotiate deals to bring them to the club, as it seems some supporters think.
Liverpool finished second to Manchester City last year, both have someone doing a Director of Football role, so do Chelsea, Manchester United, their managers do exactly the same as at Tottenham. Managers/coaches do not have time to scout and negotiate deals while a club is playing twice a week and having to prepare the side for each game? How exactly are Portsmouth doing now after Harry Redknapp was in the negotiating chair?
All clubs now have an analytical department which has several roles. One role is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and what each opposition player is likely to do in certain situations. Those finding and the recommendations that arise from them are given to the manager/coach. He then formulates his plan how he is going to approach each game, how he is going to set his team up and the tactics he is going to use. That is imparted to the coaches and work on the training ground preparing the team begun.
The manager/coach knows what roles he wants filled in his side so the analytic department and scouts seek out players who can fulfil that role. The department may ask a scout to go and look at a player or the scout may recommend a player to the department that they have seen. The Director of Football may ask his contacts for the identity of such players and recommend them to the analytic department.
In order to survive clubs have to make money so there has to be criteria involved that allows for the increase in value of a player as well as him being able to perform the role the manager/coach requires. Alternatively you find an experienced short-term loan or free transfer, in other words a player whose contract is ending. If you are a club with huge resources then you can just go and buy the finished article but Tottenham don't have those resources to pay those wages.
The analytic department then make those recommendations to the manager/coach to say yes or no to. The manager/coach then puts these players in order, meaning we'll have him first, but if we can't agree a deal, then him, then him and so on depending upon how many there are on the list. That happens for each role that the manager/coach wants filled.
At Tottenham Pochettino also has his say in valuing a player, both our own and a prospective purchase. He agrees a figure we will not go above to buy, as was the case with Morgan Schneiderlin.
Only at this point does the Director of Football become heavily involved. It is his role to negotiate any deal within the financial boundaries the clubs hierarchy deem the balance sheet allows. It is also his role to sell all the players the manager/coach does not want, or is willing to let go to get one of his targets in. Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice to get what you want.
The Director of Football does not, as some fans seem to think, determine who the club should buy, go out and buy them before presenting them to the manager/coach. He is a negotiator, he knows football yes, but his primary role is to sell and negotiate deals.
Recent Articles:
2 new centre-backs in January
Spurs face tougher task now
Who to keep, who to sell?
Tortoise Tottenham Toppled
Leadership by consent - or by force
Spurs improvement hindered by a resistance to change
A 10 minute subs appearance can tell us a lot
Even these deals are not simple though because, certainly at a club like Tottenham, you can't buy a player until you have also agreed the sale of another player. You don't have two sets of wages on the books for no return and you can only have a maximum of 17 non-home grown players over 21 in the Premier League squad. Thus we are in the realms of deals in principle until, like a house sale, a chain of buys and sales can be agreed between a series of clubs.
Remember if we buy a player from another club they have to replace that player so a third club is involved. If we are also selling a player to make room in the squad then that is a fourth club who also have to sell a player to make way for their purchase so that is a fifth club. Some deals can be simple with a small chain some can be difficult with lengthy chains.
It is not a case of we want that player so pay whatever the other club suggest to get them, that's the way to send your club into ruin. Apart from the fact you'd have no money left in future transfer windows, every club would simply hold you to ransom and slap millions on the price of a player, just like Southampton did slapping an extra £9 million on Morgan Schneiderlin after the World Cup.
Any player purchased has been agreed by the manager/coach, the team are still his players and success or failure is still his responsibility.
The Director of Football is just an easy figure to blame for people who don't understand the modern game and hanker for the good old days when managers did it all.
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