Next manager

[RicoS321]

8 minutes ago, Slim said:

Statement went up on the website last night.

We appointed a German management consultancy company and seemingly their conclusion is that we need to appoint a Technical Director to support the Director of Football. No really.

If the outcome of every management consulting process in the history of the world is anything to go by, we can expect this Technical Director to be affiliated with this consulting company in some way. Steve Gunn better start brushing up on his German.

Aye, but Germans ken aboot fitba.

I've been calling for more support for the manager for several years now, so can't really complain about a technical director coming in. In truth, I've no idea the separation of technical and football director roles and why it requires more than one individual, so I guess we just have to believe that there's enough competence and challenge at the club to validate this decision. I've also worked in plenty of organisations where the answer to a failing manager/director was to get another manager in just above them that acts as a buffer between them and the board. I've rarely seen that approach work, you simply end up with a slightly demoted employee who is either suitably demotivated that they leave, or recognises that it's really just a job and they can continue to take a decent pay packet whilst having a large amount of their responsibility removed. In fact, I can think of at least seven companies that I've worked for that have taken this approach, and none were improved because of it. However, perhaps technical and football departments are separate entities at Pittodrie, and require separate oversight. I imagine that this new technical guy will need some new employees too, which he'll bravely eschew in favour of using a consulting company, as you suggest. It'll be interesting to see the increase in the cost of the non-playing side over the coming years, Cormack strikes me as the type who could be seriously milked by a well-placed Powerpoint.

[RicoS321]

1 hour ago, RicoS321 said:

Aye, but Germans ken aboot fitba.

I've been calling for more support for the manager for several years now, so can't really complain about a technical director coming in. In truth, I've no idea the separation of technical and football director roles and why it requires more than one individual, so I guess we just have to believe that there's enough competence and challenge at the club to validate this decision. I've also worked in plenty of organisations where the answer to a failing manager/director was to get another manager in just above them that acts as a buffer between them and the board. I've rarely seen that approach work, you simply end up with a slightly demoted employee who is either suitably demotivated that they leave, or recognises that it's really just a job and they can continue to take a decent pay packet whilst having a large amount of their responsibility removed. In fact, I can think of at least seven companies that I've worked for that have taken this approach, and none were improved because of it. However, perhaps technical and football departments are separate entities at Pittodrie, and require separate oversight. I imagine that this new technical guy will need some new employees too, which he'll bravely eschew in favour of using a consulting company, as you suggest. It'll be interesting to see the increase in the cost of the non-playing side over the coming years, Cormack strikes me as the type who could be seriously milked by a well-placed Powerpoint.

I should add, I'm slightly concerned by the timings once again, and I know that it's difficult with the current managerless position. When Cormack first came in (properly), it was clear that McInnes was on his way out and that Cormack was keen to change the structure of the club. I thought that was definitely the right move (not necessarily to get rid of McInnes*). We had almost an entire season with McInnes in which we could have got things right off the park (many of us mentioned it multiple times!). That was the time to appoint the new director of football, the recruitment team etc etc (and get any review done). We ended up appointing Glass with none of the other components in place, and eventually promoted Gunn to director of football, despite him being what appears to be an admin-focused guy. This left Glass high and dry, with zero support, and we subsequently hired two further inexperienced guys without the obviously required (or inept) support from above.

We've now been given the opportunity to undergo a review and take our time to get the off-pitch side of things right before hiring a manager. However, we're appointing the manager first and then the Technical Director? This immediately creates conflict where it doesn't need to be. The new manager comes in, sets up his working system, before a technical director comes in and holds it to account and perhaps asks for changes in line with a bigger strategy at the club. It might not be an issue, of course, but the world of football management is an ego-heavy environment. Far better, it would be, to have a technical director in place who had outlined his ideas for the club, before he/she and the other directors go and sell the role to a new manager who knows exactly what is being mapped out for him. I genuinely thought Cormack would be up on this sort of corporate shite. I was quite excited when Cormack came in, because he talked in a way that made sense, like he had a plan. It's things like this (and the other disasters) that make you doubt him completely. This is something he should have completely nailed on, this is his bag - it's his vocabulary. I realise that there are time constraints in fitba that probably don't exist elsewhere, but I don't think that's an excuse. This review could have occurred in the summer, or November, with a Technical director already in place ready for the new manager (or he might even have been able to help Robson not be so shite).

 

*one of the good reasons for getting rid of McInnes was the fortune he was - allegedly - getting paid. I suspect we are away to spunk a fortune on a new manager too, blowing that reason out of the water.

Edited March 11 by RicoS321

[Panda]

2 hours ago, RicoS321 said:

In fact, I can think of at least seven companies that I've worked for that

Seven companies "at least". I thought you worked as a butler for Camilla?

You think you know someone and then..

[Panda]

So Warnock did quit, because the criticism he was getting was too much.

Well, I'm not going to criticise him for that. As someone who generally gets universal praise in my job, I can't relate, but I imagine being slaughtered in the press at the age of 75 is not pleasant.

But, it shows what a shambles of a decision it was to hire him in the first place.

Edited March 11 by Panda

[Elgindon]

What about us,the fans? Look at it from Warnock's view.His first game,there was as hostile an atmosphere as I've ever heard at a game against our own players. Morris,we could all see he was having a mare,as did the manager,hence he came off. What was the rage against him every time he touched the ball meant to achieve? Same with Roos having the audacity to kick a stray ball out v StJs. Did he do it intentionally? Does booing him improve his kicking? I wouldn't be surprised if we were part of why he quit.

  

[RicoS321]

19 minutes ago, Elgindon said:

What about us,the fans? Look at it from Warnock's view.His first game,there was as hostile an atmosphere as I've ever heard at a game against our own players. Morris,we could all see he was having a mare,as did the manager,hence he came off. What was the rage against him every time he touched the ball meant to achieve? Same with Roos having the audacity to kick a stray ball out v StJs. Did he do it intentionally? Does booing him improve his kicking? I wouldn't be surprised if we were part of why he quit.

Yep, I think you're right. I tend not to boo (pretty much just at the ref), and I felt sorry for Morris. However, the Morris situation lies squarely at the door of Warnock. Watch back any videos of our previous performances, ask anyone at the club, and you'd know that Morris can't, and should never, play wing back (and McGrath, very obviously). He just didn't do any research work before and after arriving at the club (because I don't believe he's a terrible manager), that would have avoided these scenarios. The manager basically hung Morris out to dry with his atrocious team selection. He had played him the week before, against Bonnyrigg (his actual first game at Pittodrie), in a role as a winger, which is a legitmate way to play Morris that compliments any abilities that he does have. A good manager should just know this. If he'd played Morris with Devlin covering behind him against Motherwell, we'd probably have been going in level at halftime and Morris could have gone off in 60 minutes or whatever having been ineffective, but without the dog's abuse. Compare our performance with that in the Tims game prior to Warnock's arrival and it was night and day. The players were on edge in the first half, but we kept the formation and approach simple, worked hard, and a calm talking to from Leven at half time settled the players into the game and gave us a solid performance. Incidentally, the exact same setup and approach was taken for the Killie game at the weekend - the weeks of dicking about by Warnock culminated in us going back to exactly what worked before he arrived. I don't like being hostile to a manager, but Warnock brought most of it on himself (St Mirren aside).

In terms of the booing of Roos, and previously Lewis for the terrible kicking, I think it has a direct negative effect on a goalkeeper and serves only to make their kicking even worse. We have to accept that goalkeepers are going to be less confident with the ball at their feet. We also have to factor in that for large parts of the year in this country the pitch will not be a perfectly flat surface and that the wind has a big effect on the ball's movement. Combined with the fact that the vast majority of kicks a keeper makes involve taking big swings at the ball, the chance of error is far higher than that of an outfield player. Adding anxiety to a keeper's game with booing is fairly stupid, and it has noticeably effected Roos, and Lewis previously and spread to the rest of their game, notably effecting their decision to come for crosses (at their peak, both Roos and Lewis had no problems coming for balls in crowded areas, latterly both just decided to stay on their lines). I find it strange that our fans were simultaneously booing Roos for poor kick outs and jeering at Denis in the Killie goal at the weekend, without working out that maybe there are more factors at play to cause many of the goalies that come to Pittodrie every week to produce crap kickouts. 

[redordead]

Ex Hoffenheim manager mentioned by a friend of mine today Nagelsmann.

 

Know nothing about him but apparently in the process

[Slim]

The manager of the German national team? Very kind of you to befriend the village idiot.

[RedTube]

24 minutes ago, redordead said:

Ex Hoffenheim manager mentioned by a friend of mine today Nagelsmann.

 

Know nothing about him but apparently in the process

Ex Bayern Munich manager. Yeah I think we definitely stand a chance there. 

[redordead]

2 hours ago, Slim said:

The manager of the German national team? Very kind of you to befriend the village idiot.

I need to watch more German football

[OrlandoDon]

1 hour ago, redordead said:

I need to watch more German football

Pretty sure Berti Vogts is available. Although he may be older than Warnock by now….

[wokinginashearerwonderland]

I think we are getting hugely above our station in the footballing world because everyone is spending too much time looking at what goes down in England.  There are certainly more add ons to running our club now than in years gone by but at the same time, we are not Real Madrid or Man Utd.  We play (usually) one game a week and if things are being done properly we need to recruit maybe half a dozen players each season.  This begs the question what on earth would a technical director, a director of football and a recruitment director do for 40 hours a week? 

It might sound simplistic but if you have a competent Chief Executive which I am assuming Burrows is, a few decent scouts plus the manager and his assistant then surely that is enough to identify who we want to sign, to complete the transfer process and to put a team out on the park at the weekend.

I would be pretty confident that you could fire the director of football, the head of recruitment, get rid of the sports science and employ a steady Eddie old school type manager who knows the Scottish game and we would be higher up the league than we are at the moment.  I just don't think you need all these people.

  

[redordead]

McCabe would be my choice with a couple of years to bed his philosophy in however glass had a philosophy and got hounded from day one for being Dave's mate in on the cheap.

This meant that he didn't get much goodwill when the team floundered.

Sadly I think McCabe would also be seen as a cheap option and suffer a similar fate at Aberdeen. I'm sure he will go on to do well in future but I don't think he'll get the chance with us.

[RicoS321]

3 hours ago, wokinginashearerwonderland said:

I think we are getting hugely above our station in the footballing world because everyone is spending too much time looking at what goes down in England.  There are certainly more add ons to running our club now than in years gone by but at the same time, we are not Real Madrid or Man Utd.  We play (usually) one game a week and if things are being done properly we need to recruit maybe half a dozen players each season.  This begs the question what on earth would a technical director, a director of football and a recruitment director do for 40 hours a week? 

It might sound simplistic but if you have a competent Chief Executive which I am assuming Burrows is, a few decent scouts plus the manager and his assistant then surely that is enough to identify who we want to sign, to complete the transfer process and to put a team out on the park at the weekend.

I would be pretty confident that you could fire the director of football, the head of recruitment, get rid of the sports science and employ a steady Eddie old school type manager who knows the Scottish game and we would be higher up the league than we are at the moment.  I just don't think you need all these people.

  

Exactly. Davie Martindale does all that and paints the stands, and shovels snow off the pitch.

[RicoS321]

2 hours ago, redordead said:

McCabe would be my choice with a couple of years to bed his philosophy in however glass had a philosophy and got hounded from day one for being Dave's mate in on the cheap.

This meant that he didn't get much goodwill when the team floundered.

Sadly I think McCabe would also be seen as a cheap option and suffer a similar fate at Aberdeen. I'm sure he will go on to do well in future but I don't think he'll get the chance with us.

If we'd set the club up properly I'm time for Glass arriving then we'd know if that was a workable option, but we didn't. For me, the idea behind having the various football departments is so that you can have young managers come through our system and retain a solid background structure ready for the next guy. You give them a bit of time and you sell them on just like you would a good player. Cormack has made too many mistakes already to try someone like McCabe unfortunately and, ironically, we'll get an experienced manager just at the point we finally sort out our backroom staff.

[SeeBass]

Back in 2002 when I used to report on Coldstream East of Scotland side for Berwickshire News they played a friendly at home to Celtic and lost 6-0.

Guess who was on the bench that night?

None other than Mark Fotheringham!

He played with a guy called Kevin Franck who was on loan from Real Madrid at time.  Ex-Aberdeen striker Bryan Prunty too!  

Scotland internationals Stephen McManus and John Kennedy plus future Scottish Cup winner outside of Old Firm St.Johnstone's Chris Millar also.  David Van Zanten had a decent career with Hibernian and St.Mirren no?  Legendary Parkhead player Stephanne Bonnes made an appearance.

Surely this is evidence he's good enough for the Pitttodrie hot seat!!

 

P.S. Yes that is the original team sheet I was given for the game. 

 

 

Edited March 13 by SeeBass
Grammar error.

[Kowalski]

What stupid cunt is going to want this job?

[Kowalski]

Pinches of salt at the ready…

 

”Apparently Stewart Milne told a guy I do work for at a corporate golf day yesterday McInnes is coming back as manager but wants to wait till the international break to do it. Interviews this week are a smoke screen just sorting a compensation package”

[Jute]

1 hour ago, Kowalski said:

Pinches of salt at the ready…

 

”Apparently Stewart Milne told a guy I do work for at a corporate golf day yesterday McInnes is coming back as manager but wants to wait till the international break to do it. Interviews this week are a smoke screen just sorting a compensation package”

While I don’t think it will be McInnes himself I can see it being a McInnes style manger that comes in. 

[STFU_Donny]

12 hours ago, Kowalski said:

What stupid cunt is going to want this job?

Neil Lennon. 

[tlg1903]

5 hours ago, Kowalski said:

Pinches of salt at the ready…

 

”Apparently Stewart Milne told a guy I do work for at a corporate golf day yesterday McInnes is coming back as manager but wants to wait till the international break to do it. Interviews this week are a smoke screen just sorting a compensation package”

I would snap your hand off for Mcinnes back right now

[Panda]

 

Stop pissing about and go get him.

[STFU_Donny]

1 hour ago, Panda said:

 

Stop pissing about and go get him.

This is just trying to deflect from last night. Who in their right mind would come in to our basket case club at the moment.

[Panda]

2 hours ago, STFU_Donny said:

This is just trying to deflect from last night. Who in their right mind would come in to our basket case club at the moment.

Well the guy was reportedly interviewed last year when we were also a basket case of a club.

[STFU_Donny]

1 hour ago, Panda said:

Well the guy was reportedly interviewed last year when we were also a basket case of a club.

And the FMB deemed Robson the better candidate.