Reply With QuoteHave I got any money ?Originally Posted by Dembe
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Starting today.
What do you do?
Have I got any money ?
I don't know the financial situation at the club sorry Sludge.
I am just curious to see what others would do, would they have a fire sale, promote youth, keep the structure as it is etc etc.
I don't think the financial situation at the club is great is it? So I don't expect any £10m signings but you're in charge do as you'd do..
And lets try not to mock others If you don't agree with what they're doinglets try and have one nice thread on here this week
If we are assuming the financial situation is fairly tight I would probably keep the manager or bring in a replacement due to a lot of the fanbase not being happy with him
If I was running the club and had financial backing I would get a director of football in to look at the club and keep or sack the manager based on what he or she said
I'd appoint a director of football with a brief to build a sustainable club. I'd want a consistent approach to the style of play across the board with a clear pathway from youth to the first team.
I'd want a succession plan for key players and coaching staff.
First, I'd make it known there's someone in charge. Then, if I'm the new Ken Choo, I'd focus on pushing the new range of Daimlers. Then I'd get a new sporting director to draw up a list of new managers and then we'd choose one. Maintain and grow the youth academy which looks in good shape but one should trust the new manager with bringing through youth, I don't think that's something you can demand.
Actually, there doesn't seem to be much; just sort out the decision makers, and seeing as I'd be one of them now, all the decisions would be brilliant.
Assuming that finances are fairly tight, and Bulut can be paid off. I would say split the approach into short term, and longer term actions:
SHORT TERM
———————-
Four key appointments to be made, to bring ourselves in line with top clubs in the country in terms of structure. Get the right people in, then the details flow from that expertise
1. Appoint a Director of Football with
a/ A working knowledge of modern analytics and proven process on shortlisting and selecting coaches, who can work with a Head of Recruitment and Head of Analytics
b/ Strong contacts book and good working relationships in the field of up and coming managers in the UK / Europe
c/ Strong contacts book and good working relationships with UK and European agents, with a track record of good value, impactful, and profitable recruitment
Immediate priorities of Director of Football:
Ask Bulut if he believes he can implement a better brand of football, and re-assess if he has done this in the past.
a/ If the conclusion is yes, ask him to produce a plan and scrutinise it as to how he will attack it, and asses if it is feasible
b/ If it is not possible or feasible, replace ASAP (now, as we are safe) with a coach who can improve the style of football, but more importantly, one with a track record who can do it within the given budget and existing resources. That is key.
2. Appoint a Head of Recruitment
This person looks at recruitment processes details and works with the Director of Football, Director of Academy and Head of Analytics on recruitment priorities. Directs the scouts based on conclusions
3. Appoint a Head of Analytics
Has a working knowledge of latest analytics software, how to exploit it and with staff will support the above senior roles and coaches in in analysing existing players and targets
4. Appoint a new Director of Academy
This person will be tasked with delivering a consistent player profile and playing style and systems that matches the club vision of the Director of Football and First team Head Coach.
*. Liverpool, West Brom,Barcelona, Arsenal, Brighton, Swansea, Brentford are examples where players are recruited or developed through academies with consistent profiles. You will know if the club are doing this well when player sales from academy is more profitable or transitioned to first team in greater volume and success
MEDIUM AND LONG TERM
—————————————-
1. Director of Academy objectives:
Implement from the top down, starting with U21s:
- Recruitment of coaches with track records of playing styles consistent with vision, and track record
- Hard targets of amount of players to come through age grades of certain profiles
- Annual hard targets from U21 to seniors to focus the minds of academy youth coaches
id tell bulut that we are drafting up a contact right now.
then at the end of the season explain to him that the contract was for a new brand of coffee to be used at the stalls and then get security to escort him out of the stadium
Assuming I have no information as to what's wrong with the club (and why would I) I would set about speaking to as many as people as possible from all sections of the organisation in order to understand what is important to them including the fan base and I would work backwards from there
In parallel I would get an understanding of the budget available and begin developing a recruitment plan with the recruitment team and manager with them taking the lead
It's not hard, is it?
How can Tan and so many other owners make such an utter mess of it?
Hmm. It is an easy structure to implement, but I suspect harder to find the right people. Then again, neither Tan, Choo nor Dalman know the UK football market well and that explains why they keep making mistakes on coaches, players and performance.
At first I would probably appoint a short term but expensive contract to attract the finest football advisor in the land / Europe. 200-300k finders fee and temporary package for someone to hire a top DoF (Director of Football). Pay a third in advance, two thirds on completion of all appointments as a motivator.
His job will be to handle the shortlist and appointments of the above. That would be the best money ever spent. Once the DoF is in, he can appoint the rest.
Why so many clubs get it wrong? Hard to tell. But many clubs are run by former salespeople or loan sharks. People not concerned with leadership structures, processes or detail. Most of these types are short termists in character. It is notable that some owners are private equity investors. I normally reserve my wrath for these viz a viz public companies, but in football they do quite well.
Southampton and Bournemouth are examples of PE-owned clubs. Some PE owned companies in the public space are rinsed with loans or asset stripped. But some PE buy-outs also look at poor business models, systems, leadership structures, inefficiencies and business processes as a focus, rather than financial modelling. It is more analytical than financial. Oddly, football as you say, is often runs by goons so PE owners can find easy low hanging fruit.
So for private equity owners, or analytical types, the football space is a great opportunity to implement better analytics, leadership structures, recruitment process, and talent development in the academies. The guy at Brighton is a class example. Man United are the latest example with Jim Ratcliffe (private equity) on this. Watch the story carefully. I am, as I am interested in corporate turnaround and performance management. The Glazers were the “financial engineers” types that asset stripped and loan-rinsed Man Utd for dividends. Ratcliffe is taking a different tack / just making a slew of appointments around analytics, performance analysis, commercial operations, academy and recruitment, and is considering a change of head coach.
Cardiff City, although different in many ways, present the same opportunity for someone to get the above right. We may not have United’s finances, stadium nor brand. But we do suffer from poor leadership, poor performance, poor processes, weak analytics, inconsitent recruitment, wrong people in the wrong places, and an underpeforming team. If Dalman, Choo and Tan looked at this closer they would see it.
I am not saying it is easy. But it needs people in the corridors if power to:
1. See the issue and cause of issue
2. Create the structure
3. Create the budget for appointments and departments
4. Appoint the right people in the structure / departments .
Every step is an improvement in the right direction even if they don’t get it all done before season start. But it seems to me that they are not even at step 1., so how can we expect them to fix it?
Get rid of that silly dragon on the badge , it's pathetic
Forensically go through the finances to understand what the reality is.
Assuming that the obvious as stated by Keyzer is in place, then I'd go for the following:
Create an identity and a way of playing that happens across all the age ranges and the first team, so each side play the same sort of football. This would be done with the DoF and they would oversee the implementation of this. That way, players making the move from one age range to another, particularly from the under 23s to the first team, can slot in far more easily as the type of football would be virtually the same. Same formations and style of play, with allowances for changing things if needed depending on the opposition, but there would be a general similarity.
If the club is to progress up the table and to the Premier League, having players who are comfortable on the ball and can pass accurately is a must. The idea is that a side would be created that could adapt to the Premier League. Swansea, Brighton and Brentford are all sides that, to me at least, have had promoted sides that didn't look out of place in the top division. Players who aren't comfortable on the ball are sold/released. Data experts at the club target players who fit relevant criteria. Young players are given decent opportunities and I'd have some stability in the starting line-up, not chopping and changing 3-4 players every game. Players need to learn each others' games.
I'd expect the first season to be a struggle. Some fans would be impatient with a different style of football, which I would base on keeping possession but being quick and direct in the final third. If we have the ball, the other team can't score. Players would need to get forward, crosses and cut backs put into dangerous areas where I'd expect players to be. Having spells of possession can act as a breather as there would be a big onus on midfielders to get into the box to support strikers. In training we'd have a rule of if we lose possession, 5 seconds to get it back.
We might not be near promotion after 2 seasons but we'd have a blueprint for good, attacking football and battling to win back the ball, not sitting deep and inviting pressure. That blueprint, with those Keyzer has suggested, should set the club up for an eventual promotion where we look ok and survive in the PL, but we still keep the plan.
I'd bin the Academy and think of some other way of developing young players, go down the Cuckoo route, although other clubs to develop players and then get them in if they're released. I think that Brentford work that way. I have no idea how i would implement that idea though, not a clue.
I’d sell the club to a property developer, and put a lot of posters on here out of their misery once and for all.
😂
Fair play
If in charge means I can behave like a dictator, I'd tell Vincent Tan to stand aside and if it meant the club's financial problems intensified, then so be it. If I could not be a dictator, I would try my best to persuade Vincent Tan to sell his interest in the club while making it clear he wouldn't get back all of the money he's ploughed in.
I'd also try to hurry things along as far as the Emiliano Sala case is concerned because it seems like the club is in a state of limbo while it's still dragging on.
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