Director Of Football

[Napper]

I was watching am episode of 'A View From The Terrace'.. And they had on the guy (I forget his name) who is DOF at Ayr.. apparently he had also done a stint at Hibs. He explained the role of DOF. Basically, have an agreed view on how the club will progress on the park. An agreed footballing philosophy and how the club will achieve that. Which leads to appointing a manager/head coach who will fulfil that plan and try and provide players who will fit into that way ahead. Now, some people may say, this doesn't work, or suit Scottish football's set p and budgets. I found it interesting because I had a vague notion of what a DOF did. It seems to me, if you get the right DOF in place and have a coherent plan of how the club will achieve its' football aims, this is such a logical way forward. Instead of, every time you get a new boss, resulting in ripping it up and starting again, you have a continuity and a core of a squad. 

Is this one of the many reasons DFC is going nowhere on the park? At the beginning of the season its was mooted that Gordon Strachan would step up to be a "sort of" DOF. Since then, he has been conspicuous, by his absence. I know the club don't do communication, but since Nelms has taken over, the vision for the future has gone from clear..young upward trajectory ambitious manager, when Hartley got the gig.. to just cross your fingers and hope manager/mate/pundit number umpteen, somehow gets it right. I imagine Nelms is holed up somewhere at the (rented)training facility poring over a lego model of the Campy Nou making brrr, brrr noises as he pushes around dinky cars into the crem car park totally having lost interest in the football side of things.

I know they will never tell us, but what is Strachan's role? If he's happy just running the youth set ups, that's fine. Let him get on with it. But, if that is the case. Surely appointing a DOF with a vision of how to progress the playing side is the sensible way forward?

 

 

 

 

[Jimmy McNulty]

It was Graeme Mathie.

He was 2 years in the role of Sporting Director at Hibs having previously been 5 and a half years at the club as Head of Player Identification and Recruitment.

[Ludo*1]

Bizarrely, this is the role that Gary Bowyer would be absolutely ideal for as he has a degree based on that type of role and when he was down South, he's previously said that's ultimately what he wants to do after management.

[Reverend Lovejoy]

1 hour ago, Napper said:

I was watching am episode of 'A View From The Terrace'.. And they had on the guy (I forget his name) who is DOF at Ayr.. apparently he had also done a stint at Hibs. He explained the role of DOF. Basically, have an agreed view on how the club will progress on the park. An agreed footballing philosophy and how the club will achieve that. Which leads to appointing a manager/head coach who will fulfil that plan and try and provide players who will fit into that way ahead. Now, some people may say, this doesn't work, or suit Scottish football's set p and budgets. I found it interesting because I had a vague notion of what a DOF did. It seems to me, if you get the right DOF in place and have a coherent plan of how the club will achieve its' football aims, this is such a logical way forward. Instead of, every time you get a new boss, resulting in ripping it up and starting again, you have a continuity and a core of a squad. 

Is this one of the many reasons DFC is going nowhere on the park? At the beginning of the season its was mooted that Gordon Strachan would step up to be a "sort of" DOF. Since then, he has been conspicuous, by his absence. I know the club don't do communication, but since Nelms has taken over, the vision for the future has gone from clear..young upward trajectory ambitious manager, when Hartley got the gig.. to just cross your fingers and hope manager/mate/pundit number umpteen, somehow gets it right. I imagine Nelms is holed up somewhere at the (rented)training facility poring over a lego model of the Campy Nou making brrr, brrr noises as he pushes around dinky cars into the crem car park totally having lost interest in the football side of things.

I know they will never tell us, but what is Strachan's role? If he's happy just running the youth set ups, that's fine. Let him get on with it. But, if that is the case. Surely appointing a DOF with a vision of how to progress the playing side is the sensible way forward?

 

 

 

 

Very good post.

[GordonDarkBlue]

Strachan is effectively the role of DOF now without necessarily changing his job title. He is at Dundee full time now. 

[QuesoGrande]

My understanding of DoF was as a sort of bullshit detector for the Board. Any prospective manager could come in with a fancy presentation and say we will do this and this and win the prem in 5 years and a business-type board member (Nelms) would be taken in but with a DoF there is someone who can ask the right questions and see if it fits with what the club wants to be. 
On that basis I’d expect to see a Football Plan in the same way as the other board members would have a Business Plan. Business Plan usually is a 5 year cycle of processes and goals and gets judged at the end of the cycle by Chairman or shareholders. If it’s being done properly, Keyes or Nelms should be asking for a football plan from Strachan. 

[TheDarkBlues]

44 minutes ago, GordonDarkBlue said:

Strachan is effectively the role of DOF now without necessarily changing his job title. He is at Dundee full time now. 

I'm very dubious over his role at the club or the fact that this might be nothing more than publicity stun to keep the fans happy.

I'm not sure what has changed with his position at the club.

[ShoutoutfromtheDerry]

2 hours ago, GordonDarkBlue said:

Strachan is effectively the role of DOF now without necessarily changing his job title. He is at Dundee full time now. 

Spends more time at Parkhead than Dens . 

[GordonDarkBlue]

27 minutes ago, TheDarkBlues said:

I'm very dubious over his role at the club or the fact that this might be nothing more than publicity stun to keep the fans happy.

I'm not sure what has changed with his position at the club.

The difference in his role is he now oversees all football operations whereas before he only oversaw the youth setup. Strachan and his wife have also moved up to Dundee now. 

[TheDarkBlues]

20 minutes ago, GordonDarkBlue said:

The difference in his role is he now oversees all football operations whereas before he only oversaw the youth setup. Strachan and his wife have also moved up to Dundee now. 

Your surname doesn't happen to be Strachan by any chance?

[TheDarkBlues]

40 minutes ago, GordonDarkBlue said:

The difference in his role is he now oversees all football operations whereas before he only oversaw the youth setup. Strachan and his wife have also moved up to Dundee now. 

Hopefully, he can start changing things around over aspects of football in the near future.

I don't think that one person can change many years of mismanagement.

[Davedee77]

Strachan would have helped appoint his mate McGhee