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Looks like we can Krosche this one off the list.
Steve Hitchen. Last seen wandering around Milan airport still trying to close the Skriniar deal.
Lots of words about nothing. To summarise, he hasn’t got a clue.Tottenham’s new director of football: What exactly are they looking for?
Charlie Eccleshare
In an ideal world, Tottenham Hotspur would have a new director of football in place before bringing in a head coach.
The idea is that the director of football should help set the overall direction of the club, with the head coach aligned with that vision and in agreement over the kind of players that should be brought in and developed.
Hiring a new head coach without a director of football is tricky because one of the first questions a prospective manager will ask is: Who will be running the recruitment side? Who do I speak to if I want a new right-back? Who’s overseeing the strategy? Similarly, it’s harder to bring in a director of football when they don’t know who the head coach will be.
Tottenham are at least getting closer to appointing a director of football to replace the departed Fabio Paratici.
As they do so, many supporters are wondering: What is it that Spurs are looking for? What does the role actually entail? What are the main issues they will be tasked with resolving? And what are the credentials of the candidates?
One of the areas where Spurs would like the new director of football to have expertise is data analytics. Tottenham have invested a lot more in this area over the last couple of years, and want their latest hire in the recruitment department to reflect this.
The candidate will also need to be a strong personality to cope in a department that in the last year alone has been boosted by the arrivals of performance director Gretar Steinsson, chief scout Leonardo Gabbanini and assistant performance director Andy Scoulding. Steinsson is a forthright character and has a wealth of experience at clubs like Everton, while Gabbanini is a demanding workaholic who, as The Athleticreported last month, can rub people up the wrong way (though some have suggested this is more of a language and culture issue). Gabbanini also has a team reporting into him, while Scoulding oversees strategy on youth recruitment and the contract side of things and is the de facto loans manager.
In other words there are a lot of people the new director of football will have to manage — in an environment that is thankfully said to have become a lot calmer since Paratici was running the show. The arrival of Steinsson et al last year also means that the new director of football will be entering a department with a solid structure in place and well-connected, experienced operators who can offer their support and expertise.
On top of maintaining a harmonious department, the new director or football will also have to be adept at managing upwards. He will report into Scott Munn, who will officially start as chief football officer on July 1. And then there’s the relationship with chairman Daniel Levy, who has stepped back from day-to-day football operations but is still heavily involved. It is him for instance who is leading the head coach search in the absence of a director of football, and he is also running the search for Paratici’s replacement. And even when Paratici was in place, it was still Levy who oversaw and executed the appointment of Antonio Conte.
How much autonomy the new man will get is one of the big questions surrounding the appointment.
The expectation is that Munn, a former City Football Group executive, will be the equivalent of CFG’s chief football operations officer Omar Berrada, with the new director of football in the Txiki Begiristain role. That will mean the director of football having responsibility for all player deals with Munn overseeing and optimising all football departments, using his background as a football administrator. As for Levy, the idea is that Munn’s arrival will see him take a further step back from football operations.
Tottenham’s new director of football will report to Scott Munn (Photo: Fred Lee via Getty)
Where Spurs’ director of football will set the direction of travel is over player recruitment. They will be expected to continue the club’s policy of signing predominantly younger players who are ready to play for the first team straight away, as well as some who will need a bit longer. It will be hoped that the new head coach will be more on board with this policy than Conte was.
Either way, the exact nature of Spurs’ recruitment — which markets, if any, are prioritised etc — will depend on the individuals brought in as director of football and head coach. Improving collaboration between the first team and academy after this suffered during the Paratici era is also a priority.
This summer there will also be a big emphasis on departures, with Tottenham desperately needing to slim a bloated squad (especially if they don’t qualify for Europe) in what is a very difficult market to sell, thanks in part to the disparity between the wealth of the Premier League and other European countries. Spurs have found this to their cost in the last few years with players like Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso. And the ability to sell as well as buy efficiently will be important. Though not as important as signing Harry Kane to a new contract — for that to happen the new director of football would need to have a lot of clout in the game, and/or be extremely persuasive.
But the role is not just about buying and selling. Having an overall philosophy and being able to manage big characters, and really understand the players and the club and how it works is seen by Spurs insiders as very important. The relationship with the manager will also be crucial, and again there’s a difficulty in not knowing who that manager will be.
But whoever the head coach is, the new director of football will need to get everyone moving in the same direction. Spurs staff have commented on the fact that even when Spurs were theoretically fighting on three fronts earlier this season the atmosphere was very gloomy.
Part of that was down to Conte, and there is a sense internally that a bit of unity will go a long way to changing things, but lifting that mood and creating the sense of a shared purpose will be critical for the new man.
Who that new man is has yet to be decided. Roma’s general manager Tiago Pinto has been linked with the role, but is thought not to be among the leading contenders. Pinto, 38, joined Roma in 2021 after an impressive few years as director of football with Benfica in his native Portugal. Benfica are known for how well they nurture young talent, and during this period they brought in Darwin Nunez (later sold to Liverpool at a huge profit for a fee rising to £85million), and sold homegrown players like Joao Felix (£113million to Atletico Madrid) and Ruben Dias (£65million to Manchester City) for vast sums. He is seen as a key part of a hugely successful period for Benfica.
He has done well at Roma too, albeit with a mixed record in the transfer market, and has been credited for successfully navigating the club’s politics and innovating effectively.
He is not though seen as a leading candidate.
Nor is Tim Steidten, 44, who left Bayer Leverkusen earlier this year, and has also been mentioned in reports. Well-placed sources have denied Spurs holding an interest, however. Some have questioned whether Steidten, who left Leverkusen having not been made sporting director when there was a reshuffle last summer and was later interviewed by Chelsea, would be ready for the job.
There’s no doubting Leverkusen’s recruitment of young talent has been excellent in the last few years. Jeremie Frimpong, Edmond Tapsoba, Odilon Kossounou and Piero Hincapie all arrived on Steidten’s watch, and the latter has been a target for Spurs previously and is expected to be again this summer. But Steidten’s biggest job at Leverkusen was as the kaderplaner, which is the equivalent of head of recruitment or technical director. He played an important role in the club’s transfer business, but rather than leading it he was reporting into Simon Rolfes, who was promoted last summer from sporting director to managing director of sport.
Brentford’s technical director Lee Dykes meanwhile is well thought of at Spurs but is not in the running. It’s believed that any club attempting to prise him from Brentford would find it extremely difficult.
Other candidates remain on the shortlist in consideration, and whoever ultimately gets the job will have a big task leading a Spurs recruitment operation that has lurched in many different directions over the last few years.
Additional reporting: Jack Pitt-Brooke
(Photo: Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)
What Spurs want from a new director of football
What is it that Spurs are looking for? What does the role actually entail? And what are the main issues they will be tasked with resolving?theathletic.com
To Dare Means No Hair
Fair point, but compare that with Paratici’s mission statement when he arrived:
“I want our team to show a lack of intensity, weak mentality and passively bend over for any cunt that gets a bit lively”
Why tf would someone choose to stay at Barca and pass up the opportunity to work at Aston Villa and live in Birmingham???
No Hair Is To Do
Tottenham Hotspur have held talks with Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto over their director of football vacancy, i understands.
Spurs hold talks with Tiago Pinto as search intensifies for sporting director and new manager
'World class' operator who has forged close ties with Jose Mourinho in Italian capital is in contention to replace Fabio Paratici at Hotspur Wayinews.co.uk
Brentford’s Lee Dykes, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Markus Krösche and Marseille’s Javier Ribalta have also been linked with the vacancy.
Really? A DOF that sacked Fonseca and hired Mourinho?
That signed Smalling and Matic?
It’s a no from me.
Some people in Germany simply can't believe what Daniel Levy is trying to do at Spurs
They're shocked...tbrfootball.com
Some people in Germany simply can't believe what Daniel Levy is trying to do at Spurs
5 hours ago
Tim Steidten looks to be in the running to become Tottenham’s new Sporting Director, and some in Germany can not believe that he could be getting this job.
According to The Telegraph, the links between Steidten and Tottenham have been greeted with shock in Steidten’s home country, with many German sources stating that they can not believe he could get this job.
Indeed, it’s stated that the feeling around the German footballing community is that Steidten is much more suited to a Technical Director role rather than a Sporting Director role, working on administration rather than on-the-pitch issues.
As we know, Tottenham have just hired Scott Munn to take on a lot of the responsibilities you would usually associate with a Technical Director, and Steidten would be coming in as a like-for-like replacement for Fabio Paratici.
These noises from Germany seem to suggest that Steidten is not well-suited to this role, but when has that ever stopped Daniel Levy from making a decision at Tottenham before?
Of course, every great Sporting Director has to start somewhere, Ralf Rangnick was, for a long time, seen as the best around in that role, but he started as a manager, so perhaps there is room for Steidten to grow and become more comfortable in this role.
Hiring Steidten to take on a role that he has never done before would be a big gamble from Tottenham, but after such a poor period under Paratici that was meant to be a sure-fire success, perhaps Spurs are best off rolling the dice and doing something slightly different here.
Tottenham’s search for a new manager is grabbing all of the headlines at the moment, but their search for a new Sporting Director mustn’t be forgotten about either.
Setting aside all the sensationalism about Germany being in "shock".........I don't understand this take tbh......
A bloke that has been a relatively successful head scout and a reputable technical director..... What's the missing ingredient as far as being a DOF is concerned?
You have a spelling mistake in line 235
As you know, I believe the calibre of individuals (coaches, players, staff) is more important than management structures.
The Paratici - Nuno/Conte DoF experiment has provided zero continuity, leaving us properly clusterfucked.
One of the reasons I'm sceptical of many potential DoF appointments is that I just don't see what qualities & expertise the suggested names bring that would qualify them to overrule an experienced head coach.
Ralf Rangnick is an exception. He clearly has a wealth of football knowledge and has been a successful DoF. He has also worked with Nagelsmann before, so hopefully there is a mutual respect.
So the Rangnick-Nagelsmann scenario seems as good as we could possibly hope for. And it's now a case of hoping Levy can get it done.
I also hope any deal involves setting out our footballing philosophy at first team & academy level, and Levy then properly hands over that side of the club to RR & JN.
Levy can be the new Head of Go Karting, whilst negotiating deals for naming rights & NFL matches.
I buy this for the simple reason Conte's behaviour is the most unprofessional gutless stunt I've ever seen, even in the pappy show that is football. He is a gutless wanker. I don't want to hear any shit about his bereavements either. I know a nurse that lost her mum and brother through Covid and did not miss a shift.
I loath Jose and I'm telling you he is worth ten of Cunte. Contrast his behaviour with the much maligned Serge Aurier who played to help us through injury when his BROTHER was MURDERED.
I don’t know why we don’t just promote Gabbanini. He’s done a pretty good job so far
Dominic Rabb