Director of Football?

All About Walsall
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I bang on about lack of strategy and blueprint-particularly with regards recruitment, where it’s seemingly a revolving door of loans and short term deals, intermingled with random offerings of 3 year contracts where there seems little evidence to support this.

Although much maligned (possibly because of recruitment in his final season) Paul Taylor was responsible for overseeing arguably the most/one of the most successful periods in the Clubs history.

There were rarely wholesale changes - even when Managers departed - it gave us consistency. With the Manager more of a Head Coach (arguably) who didn’t get involved too much in logistics.

Just wondered what the consensus was for a return to this “model” of operating?

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Looking back, Taylor was probably an early version of what a Director of Football or Sporting Director is today.

I would love to see us go down that route, but with DC as Manager I can’t see it happening as, from the outside, he doesn’t seem the type who would relinquish any power.

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This was spoken about on an other thread

There are some people who can’t see the value of having someone in this role and just asked

Where’s the money coming from
Either playing budget or business budget is the answer

To just say “We can’t afford it” or “Isn’t going to happen” is lazy

Our structure in this sense is non league. What’s set us a side from your Wrexham’s Stockport, Torquay’s, Hartlepools is that we’ve always been a bit savvy on and off the pitch.

We are not to big to be non league Pomlett needs to get us off the slippery slope.

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The Role should be part of the Business Structure, same as Mole, Gamble et all.

You can make the argument that any cost to the Club has to be justified but for myself it’s a priority and money well spent.

Completely agree that the “savvy” advantages off the pitch we once had, are long gone.

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The club needs a desperate restructure its time to get rid of the deadwood.

I could be way off the Mark with this one, but Darren Wrack speaks very intelligently about the game. I’m also sure he’s held similar Positions. He always impresses me with his knowledge.

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I can’t get my head around the fact we employ 4/5/6 people to manage the varying aspects of conferencing and banqueting

But leave player recruitment to Clarke

No wonder the football side of things is such a disorganised mess

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Yep chief scout, and now working as a Football agent.

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A Director of Football means your manager isn’t doing the job well enough and you don’t trust him too. There’s another solution to that problem.

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It might do but there are other reasons too. The manager may have personal motives for buying/selling players or types of players. Also the case that when a manager is sacked or leaves the next guy repeats the same process of reshaping the team.
If the club has a philosophy and a long term strategy then the head coach is just another cog in that wheel, albeit a very important one, rather than the supremo calling all the shots, as was always the case.
I would certainly support such a move.

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Well when we find this football genius that can map out a long term strategy that will definitely work I suggest we make him manager rather than Director of Football.

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We did have one but he left.

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Some of those came in after Pomlett became owner with the view of revitalising and modernising the catering/banqueting side to make more revenue long term. More revenue to then go towards the football side.

Of course this pandemic has put the skids on that for the time being.

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I’d prefer a full time dedicated chief scout rather than a director of football.

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By the way I’m not disagreeing about the football side of things. It definitely needs looking at.

But just saying the off the field side shouldn’t be discounted as it contributes to the incoming money.

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I know it’s a long commute, but I believe @Worsul4eva is prepared to throw his hat in the ring if it becomes available!

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Can see it now, 10 strikers and a keeper.

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Who needs keepers…waste of a salary…well it is in Roberts case!

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Rush goalie then?

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Yeah I’d take that!

Always been a believer in the Buckley style of Management, ‘score more than the opposition’ doesn’t always work, but my god we had exciting times and lots of goals!

We DO need to add a scouting system to our club, the number of local lads snapped up by other EFL teams is an embarrassment.

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Recall the topic of DoF being mentioned at a Fan Forum some while back during the Whitney era. I’m sure it was mentioned that John Ward took some of those duties at the time.