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I think Jesus was born in one.
They'll be back once we announce another NFL match or some brand deal with a high end tie company
Yes Levy has brought in DOF's before and some of them appear to have been very good, but when multiple guys all leave because of him or his set up then at some point we have to think that it is Levy as the problem not each individual.
I prefer the guys mentioned, or bringing in the person in charge of Leicester transfers, or Mitchell back here but most important in bringing someone in of quality.
I don't love Paratici but he does at the very least seem competent, he is clearly a football guy with the necessary background for the role. I just don't get why it took so long for him to come in and am suspicious that his name didn't come up until the Conte links started.
For me the managers that I see us missing out on are the Italian guys, maybe we weren't ever going to be in on them but with Paratici's time being spent their his whole career I would assume that would be where he would be most likely to look. I also wonder if waiting this long has ruled ETH out, along with us flirting with Poch and Conte as well. I am not sure about the Galtier/Nice situation or if he is really a viable option for Levy but he is someone I would at least consider as an option that we may have missed on.
I guess for me Levy has lost any benefit of the doubt for me to hold much hope anymore. The whole Conte deal was handled so terribly and now waiting even more time to announce Paratici and then more to annouce the manager, everything has been handled so poorly and with so little sense.
My biggest complaint has been that we have operated with no plan and so reactive for so long that maybe this is a sign that is changing, but even when we do something that is seemingly right it still is a fuck up and seems like it is done with little planning now or going forward.
It’s precisely the opposite.
In a well run club there is alignment between the manager and the sporting director on the project and the qualities needed in the squad, and the sporting director goes out and signs the players.
Both the coaching side and the scouting and recruitment side have become more labor-intensive jobs over the past 20 years. It’s no longer possible for one person to do both of them well.
One big things the likes of Pep and Klopp appreciate about their jobs is that they have technical staffs at their clubs who they trust to handle the squad management and let them focus on coaching the team.
If you’re doing this right, massive back-page-headline disagreements over transfer business don’t happen because everyone understands and is bought into the overall project and there is harmony and trust between the manager and sporting director, usually because that sporting director hand-selected the manager.
Spurs are a backroom mess, and Poch is a pain in the ass. Both bear some blame for how poorly that side of things went in that era.
If it’s going to work this time, Levy needs to have hired Paratici with a clear long term vision, provide him with the resources necessary to meet that vision, and Paratici needs to bring in a manager who fits the project and believes in it.
All of that said, if the project is “always finish fourth with the sixth most money”, then we’re fucked from the starting line.
This is the guy who made doherty look like a footballer. Nothing short of genius.
Thank God for that.
Always been mate - the Trinity..
Thanks for asking. Yes. I spent 4 months there during the earlier days of the pandemic. The poverty, lack of hygiene etc are a disgrace. Their government is as uncaring as any. Even before the present plague, there were few beds and clean watering holes. Most of my adventures were culinary. I'm not sure you really want the details.
Namaste.
I agree with all you said but in regards to this line, if that is the stated goal and everything is done to focus on that and work towards, I don't think we are fucked. It is not a good place but I would take that over the clusterfuck no plan, fly by the seat of the pants BS that we have now.
At least with a clear direction like that the DOF can focus on the players and manager that can bring us that. It is a shitty framework but it is a framework, especially if Levy lets Paratici do want he wants to fulfill that goal.
It should help with the zero buys for 500+ days as that doesn't help our goal, hopefully helps with us buying GLC, Ndobele, Sessegnon for 120+m and then brining in a manager that wants nothing to do with them and getting barely anything out 2 of them for a full season. We won't waste time talking about Skriniar and then panic buy Rodon to sit on the bench for 80% of the season.
And this last part might be me just hoping, but maybe it allows us to focus on buying talented, skill youth and taking a chance on them developing rather than sticking with crap that we already know is not good enough.
Theres still a couple lingering saying things like , "you dont know whats going on behind the scenes, stop criticizing because levys working really hard behind the scenes"
My frustration is that there was an excellent example right on front of Levy about how he needed to restructure the club, and he's been just so poor in taking those steps. We've got the best infrastructure of possibly any club in Europe. Apparently we have a lot of very cutting edge resources for a coaching team to work with. But we don't have the decision-makers taking the next steps that were so obvious.
Look at the Brentford model. They have operated at a very restrained financial model, especially compared to other Championship clubs. That's no different from us. But what they did differently was use the high tech tools to support their coaches as coaches. They didn't let the coaches get too involved in the transfers, they built up a team specifically to do that well. And the owner stepped back and let them do their jobs. They then took at look at the way football was going, and bought a club in another, smaller country where they could send players and staff to develop properly, and to try out new ideas before bringing what worked back to the main club. Now, they can lose managers, sell key players, have staff leave, and keep going, because they built the whole thing into a process. The people might change, the process doesn't and that's the edge.
We could've done all of that. We even sort of kicked the ideas around, including working with a Dutch club as a farm club, but never followed through and committed to a plan.
That's the thing we need. We don't need a fuckton of money, we don't need the biggest name manager, we need a plan. And then to stick to it. Regardless of how much the press might hate it, or particular fans might whine, stick to the plan. And it will fucking work. But Levy seems to have run out of plans after the stadium finished. There was a clear plan until that moment. After that, we've been aimless.
It seems like the plan was:
1) Run the club sustainably while we get the stadium done
2) Build an amazing stadium
3) ???????
4) Profit
Step 3) needed to be doubling down on step 1).
Look at the Brentford model. They have operated at a very restrained financial model, especially compared to other Championship clubs. That's no different from us. But what they did differently was use the high tech tools to support their coaches as coaches. They didn't let the coaches get too involved in the transfers, they built up a team specifically to do that well. And the owner stepped back and let them do their jobs. They then took at look at the way football was going, and bought a club in another, smaller country where they could send players and staff to develop properly, and to try out new ideas before bringing what worked back to the main club. Now, they can lose managers, sell key players, have staff leave, and keep going, because they built the whole thing into a process. The people might change, the process doesn't and that's the edge.
We could've done all of that. We even sort of kicked the ideas around, including working with a Dutch club as a farm club, but never followed through and committed to a plan.
That's the thing we need. We don't need a fuckton of money, we don't need the biggest name manager, we need a plan. And then to stick to it. Regardless of how much the press might hate it, or particular fans might whine, stick to the plan. And it will fucking work. But Levy seems to have run out of plans after the stadium finished. There was a clear plan until that moment. After that, we've been aimless.
It seems like the plan was:
1) Run the club sustainably while we get the stadium done
2) Build an amazing stadium
3) ???????
4) Profit
Step 3) needed to be doubling down on step 1).
I don't doubt that he is. But at this point, I think he needs a lot more help with his work than he is willing to ask for.
We had one once. His name was Poch, he turned water into wine but was cast out by an evil emperor.
black grapes etc
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In that case Pep, Conti, Jose, Ancelloti and few others have been doing it wrong.
Maybe I have misunderstood but majority of their players, are purchased to fit their idea. The sporting director does all the "dirty work" but they say, "......is who I want. Make it happen".
For example, Harry Kane, Pep has said he want him. He didn't ask for a sticker and get Vinnicius. He said what he wants and that's what he gets.
Esher Stairs FC
But they already live in London so they can work from home.
Paratici would have to quarantine in a hotel.
It's a hell of a lot easier to look like geniuses when your competition is Birmingham City rather than Manchester City.
The fact of the matter is, the PL is currently probably the strongest league in the history of the sport. The teams in front of us are both very rich and besides United very smart. And there are numerous other clubs with very well funded and smart projects.
Levy's whole schtick in football is that he's Mr. Business Guy and he can outsmart everyone. There was some real truth to that in 2001 when he bought the club. It's gone. We're dumb money now, and even if we start acting like our competition that only brings us level and money will tell the tale.