Time for a Director of Football?

[RAMesses III]

With changes in ownership and manager, is it time for Derby to bring in a Director of Football?

With a director of football it can be easier to continue on a style of play through frequent changes in players and managers with a coherent strategy, this does however limit the managers decision making limiting them to often just coaching the team and matchday squad selections.

Personally I would go for a Director of football who would aim to progress Derby over time in an attacking model without the constant changes in styles of play, players and managers that we have experienced over recent years. My choice would be Ralf Rangnick if we could get him, after that see if we could get Les Reed from the FA.

[Day]

Director of football isn’t all rosey, you’re throwing in another person in between the manager and owner that will have their own ideas and could potentially have a clash of personalities.

A poor director of football isn’t sacked immediately if they have bought the wrong players, recommended the wrong manager, it can be a cushty job passing the blame on to others.

Pros and cons for both the traditional manager and director of football/head coach setups. I can be sold on both really with the right people in charge.

[therealhantsram]

Would not be surprised to see us appoint one. These type is arms length owners tend to need someone in the ground to oversee things. 

[KBB]

Let's see if Wenger fancies building a dynasty.

(Bit early to start drinking I know)

[LeedsCityRam]

1 hour ago, RAMesses III said:

With changes in ownership and manager, is it time for Derby to bring in a Director of Football?

With a director of football it can be easier to continue on a style of play through frequent changes in players and managers with a coherent strategy, this does however limit the managers decision making limiting them to often just coaching the team and matchday squad selections.

Personally I would go for a Director of football who would aim to progress Derby over time in an attacking model without the constant changes in styles of play, players and managers that we have experienced over recent years. My choice would be Ralf Rangnick if we could get him, after that see if we could get Les Reed from the FA.

Lot of merit to this idea.

One of the reasons I believe Cocu was so popular was his stated long term vision for the club as a whole...implementing a style of play & youth progression. For the first time in ages, it seemed as if we were aiming for a particular identity & a long term plan and his removal has seemingly thrown all that hard work in the air.

Therefore if this is the direction we want to take, lets implement it no matter what. A director of football identifies and recruits players who fit into our model & is responsible for all the youth teams & progression. Ideally it'd be someone already familiar with the club..wouldnt be averse to Darren Wassall getting the position.

This of course then limits the scope of a first team coach, which I'd argue would be a good thing. The swing from Clement to Pearson to McClaren to Rowett to Lampard is a key reason for our lack of progress & the total waste of salaries & transfer fees spent. The manager/coach should fit the club, not the other way round.

[DarkFruitsRam7]

Just now, LeedsCityRam said:

Therefore if this is the direction we want to take, lets implement it no matter what. A director of football identifies and recruits players who fit into our model & is responsible for all the youth teams & progression. Ideally it'd be someone already familiar with the club..wouldnt be averse to Darren Wassall getting the position.

As much as I've defended Darren Wassall over the years, I'm not sure he's anywhere near qualified or versatile enough to perform that role. 

[LeedsCityRam]

Just now, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

As much as I've defended Darren Wassall over the years, I'm not sure he's anywhere near qualified or versatile enough to perform that role. 

From a youth development point of view, few better qualified I'd argue.

From a player/manager recruitment point of view, it'd be a step up but his background as an Academy Director (and management/recruitment of coaches, players, scouts) leads me to believe he has the skilksets albeit at a junior level. The senior team decisions are currently taken by owners and taken pretty badly.

[richinspain]

As David has said, it can cause as many problems as it solves. The choice of DOF would need to be even better than the choice of manager. Of the two mentioned, I think that Clough would make an excellent DOF, McClaren would be awful.

  Clough showed that he could pick a player that would fit into the team's structure, both playing and temperamentally. There are doubts about if he could do the same with more money, but he's never had the opportunity to show that he couldn't.

 McClaren for me is a far, far better coach than judge of a footballer. He would worry me with some of his signings.

  I suppose that the two together would be the closest thing to a dream team ?. Then again, if we are about to become the richest club in the world then there are probably other options out there .

[Mostyn6]

not read the replies yet, but not for me, it's just another layer of interference and confusion. Give the manager full responsibility to do his job.

[ThePrisoner]

Didn't Reading's DoF sack their manager and then appoint himself as manager?! Best not give it McClaren.

[Ilsonram12]

Wassall is the natural choice as he has links to the youth and has been here donkeys now, but he's doing OK as academy director. 

Hopefully the new owners have ideas on a different direction 

[AndyinLiverpool]

I don't know what a director of football is supposed to do.

[Millenniumram]

100% yes for me, I’ve been arguing this point for years. Appointing the highest quality, most experienced DOF we can attract should be one of the first priorities of the new owners - though we must make sure that whoever comes in shares the same philosophies as the club. The fit absolutely has to be right, as this would hopefully be a long term appointment.

I see a lot said on here about needing stability - and that tends to be the argument for giving underperforming managers more time. In my opinion, that stability needs to be in the philosophy of how we play, rather than necessarily in keeping a manager long term. And that’s where a director of football comes in.

If you bring the right man in, they can ensure that a consistent philosophy is imbedded within all areas of the club long term. That is exactly what we need if we’re going to be successful, and exactly what we’ve been missing for the past 5 years or so in my view. That way when managers depart, which is inevitable in the modern game, we don’t have to start from scratch. The players brought in will have been chosen to suit a certain style, rather than a certain manager. So when the new man arrives, who shares the same philosophies as the previous incumbent, he can get the best out of the players already at his disposal, rather than having to have a massive rebuild.

The other benefit, of course, is we should see an improvement in our recruitment generally. It’s been shocking for years, probably the biggest reason behind the clubs decline, and we really need a total restructuring of that department. Having a dedicated head of recruitment, who focuses solely on finding the best players available both here and abroad, will surely see some more imaginative and higher quality purchases. That sort of thing is so important, so I hope the Sheikh has given it some thought.

[Rab a dab doo]

May work but more often than not leads to a blurring of responsibilities and duties as they overlap in some cases.

They can also lead to internal friction if said the parties have different or opposing views on different matters. 

 

[neil62uk]

Not for me ....   but if the club went down that route 

What would they be paying him to do ....?

[Ghost of Clough]

18 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

100% yes for me, I’ve been arguing this point for years. Appointing the highest quality, most experienced DOF we can attract should be one of the first priorities of the new owners - though we must make sure that whoever comes in shares the same philosophies as the club. The fit absolutely has to be right, as this would hopefully be a long term appointment.

I see a lot said on here about needing stability - and that tends to be the argument for giving underperforming managers more time. In my opinion, that stability needs to be in the philosophy of how we play, rather than necessarily in keeping a manager long term. And that’s where a director of football comes in.

If you bring the right man in, they can ensure that a consistent philosophy is imbedded within all areas of the club long term. That is exactly what we need if we’re going to be successful, and exactly what we’ve been missing for the past 5 years or so in my view. That way when managers depart, which is inevitable in the modern game, we don’t have to start from scratch. The players brought in will have been chosen to suit a certain style, rather than a certain manager. So when the new man arrives, who shares the same philosophies as the previous incumbent, he can get the best out of the players already at his disposal, rather than having to have a massive rebuild.

I doubt the new owner will be as hands on as Mel was, so someone in a role similar to Sam Rush's will be a certainty - this'll pretty much be a DoF. The guy who hires/fires/manages those immediately below him in the club hierarchy - the heads of each department. The manager should always have a say on signings, and not simply dumped with a new unexpected signing

18 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

The other benefit, of course, is we should see an improvement in our recruitment generally. It’s been shocking for years, probably the biggest reason behind the clubs decline, and we really need a total restructuring of that department. Having a dedicated head of recruitment, who focuses solely on finding the best players available both here and abroad, will surely see some more imaginative and higher quality purchases. That sort of thing is so important, so I hope the Sheikh has given it some thought.

We already have one - Joe McClaren. With the signings of Jozwiak and te Wierik, the strong link to Dursun, I'm guessing we're developing that sort of area of our recruitment already.

[BaaLocks]

If we wanted a DoF we have just fired the perfect one - Cocu is made for this role. If that was the path we wanted to go down we could have moved Cocu 'upstairs' and given Rosenoir (not Rooney) responsibility for the day to day management of the first XI. I'd have gone for that as a proposal.

[cannable]

23 hours ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Lot of merit to this idea.

One of the reasons I believe Cocu was so popular was his stated long term vision for the club as a whole...implementing a style of play & youth progression. For the first time in ages, it seemed as if we were aiming for a particular identity & a long term plan and his removal has seemingly thrown all that hard work in the air.

Therefore if this is the direction we want to take, lets implement it no matter what. A director of football identifies and recruits players who fit into our model & is responsible for all the youth teams & progression. Ideally it'd be someone already familiar with the club..wouldnt be averse to Darren Wassall getting the position.

This of course then limits the scope of a first team coach, which I'd argue would be a good thing. The swing from Clement to Pearson to McClaren to Rowett to Lampard is a key reason for our lack of progress & the total waste of salaries & transfer fees spent. The manager/coach should fit the club, not the other way round.

Scream this from the rooftops and to anybody who says that Mel’s appointments only look bad in hindsight 

[i-Ram]

20 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

100% yes for me, I’ve been arguing this point for years. Appointing the highest quality, most experienced DOF we can attract should be one of the first priorities of the new owners - though we must make sure that whoever comes in shares the same philosophies as the club. The fit absolutely has to be right, as this would hopefully be a long term appointment.

I see a lot said on here about needing stability - and that tends to be the argument for giving underperforming managers more time. In my opinion, that stability needs to be in the philosophy of how we play, rather than necessarily in keeping a manager long term. And that’s where a director of football comes in.

If you bring the right man in, they can ensure that a consistent philosophy is imbedded within all areas of the club long term. That is exactly what we need if we’re going to be successful, and exactly what we’ve been missing for the past 5 years or so in my view. That way when managers depart, which is inevitable in the modern game, we don’t have to start from scratch. The players brought in will have been chosen to suit a certain style, rather than a certain manager. So when the new man arrives, who shares the same philosophies as the previous incumbent, he can get the best out of the players already at his disposal, rather than having to have a massive rebuild.

The other benefit, of course, is we should see an improvement in our recruitment generally. It’s been shocking for years, probably the biggest reason behind the clubs decline, and we really need a total restructuring of that department. Having a dedicated head of recruitment, who focuses solely on finding the best players available both here and abroad, will surely see some more imaginative and higher quality purchases. That sort of thing is so important, so I hope the Sheikh has given it some thought.

You make some really good points.  Is this all your own work?

[Ted McMinn Football Genius]

18 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

If we wanted a DoF we have just fired the perfect one - Cocu is made for this role. If that was the path we wanted to go down we could have moved Cocu 'upstairs' and given Rosenoir (not Rooney) responsibility for the day to day management of the first XI. I'd have gone for that as a proposal. 

Agreed, I think Cocu as DoF could’ve worked, but the Rosenior idea not so much. 
I think given more time under a more experienced and proven manager then Rosenior would be a better fit, more accomplished and nearer the finished article.