Accountability

[Derek Hardballs]

As the blame game to our inevitable relegation gathers pace the problem of accountability is brought into sharp focus. Lots of ‘itk’ rumours abound who brought which player to the club, who let which player go etc. 

The Director of Football system inevitably leads to a muddying of the water with regards to who is responsible for what whilst the head coach or managers head is placed firmly on the block regardless of their input. I’m not a Luddite with regards to how football works but the system leads to just as many problems as it solves. If you have a poor DoF you will struggle regardless of the quality of manager, so essentially you have to get two key roles right rather than one for a club to be successful. 

I’m not suggesting a manager should have autonomy over transfers or the football department but I do think that the lack of individual accountability is the potential risk of having layers of management. How many times can a DoF appoint the wrong manager / first team not perform and still continue for years at a club whilst at the first time of struggle the manager is sacked? 

The biggest plus of having a DoF system is stability and long term strategy but at first team level that can just as easily lead to long term failure as the same old mistakes are made regardless of who the manager is.

Btw this isn’t a criticism of our club or DoF just an observation of the rather football operates now. Is there a better way of doing things when the ahem ‘football department’ operates at different speeds from long term planning for youth team players, to short term success at first team level? I don’t think at a club like ours getting the balance right is at all easy.

[Duffers]

Ultimately the responsibility has to be split.

Dowling - As the man responsible for overseeing the summer transfer business we have to say he failed miserably.

Bilic - Manager of the team, fitness levels, bizarre selections and lack of any tactical plan are all on him. Also contributed to the window fuck ups.

Allardyce - When improvement came it was too little too late. The December/January thumping and our failure to take enough points from the Fulham, Newcastle, Burnley, Palace and Sheff Utd games have been terminal.

The players - Not good enough is one thing, almost acceptable. But could every player put their hands on hearts and say they have their all this season? Too many silly mistakes and moments of individual indiscipline.

[Squid]

Ultimately the responsibility has to be split.

Dowling - As the man responsible for overseeing the summer transfer business we have to say he failed miserably.

Bilic - Manager of the team, fitness levels, bizarre selections and lack of any tactical plan are all on him. Also contributed to the window fuck ups.

Allardyce - When improvement came it was too little too late. The December/January thumping and our failure to take enough points from the Fulham, Newcastle, Burnley, Palace and Sheff Utd games have been terminal.

The players - Not good enough is one thing, almost acceptable. But could every player put their hands on hearts and say they have their all this season? Too many silly mistakes and moments of individual indiscipline.

I think that is very fair.


As for the DoF role, I understand it in theory, but I think it only rarely works well in practice.

[Birdman1811]

DoF works fine throughout the game, it's the British refusal to accept that old school managers are gone that causes the problem.

[Birdman1811]

Ultimately the responsibility has to be split.

Dowling - As the man responsible for overseeing the summer transfer business we have to say he failed miserably.

Bilic - Manager of the team, fitness levels, bizarre selections and lack of any tactical plan are all on him. Also contributed to the window fuck ups.

Allardyce - When improvement came it was too little too late. The December/January thumping and our failure to take enough points from the Fulham, Newcastle, Burnley, Palace and Sheff Utd games have been terminal.

The players - Not good enough is one thing, almost acceptable. But could every player put their hands on hearts and say they have their all this season? Too many silly mistakes and moments of individual indiscipline.

Agree with all this.

[Derek Hardballs]

DoF works fine throughout the game, it's the British refusal to accept that old school managers are gone that causes the problem.

But where are the consequences for failing? 18ths roughly for a manager before they are sacked, DoF, how many years grace do they get? There is a clear disparity in accountability baked into the system.

[baggiebloke]

The DoF system should work well when the Club has a clear strategy that all parties within the organisation are working within / towards.

It is somewhat compromised when the owner wants out.

In my opinion this season could have been a huge humiliation, which has been avoided despite the inevitable impending relegation.

[Duffers]

Ultimately the responsibility has to be split.

Dowling - As the man responsible for overseeing the summer transfer business we have to say he failed miserably.

Bilic - Manager of the team, fitness levels, bizarre selections and lack of any tactical plan are all on him. Also contributed to the window fuck ups.

Allardyce - When improvement came it was too little too late. The December/January thumping and our failure to take enough points from the Fulham, Newcastle, Burnley, Palace and Sheff Utd games have been terminal.

The players - Not good enough is one thing, almost acceptable. But could every player put their hands on hearts and say they have their all this season? Too many silly mistakes and moments of individual indiscipline.

I think that is very fair.


As for the DoF role, I understand it in theory, but I think it only rarely works well in practice.

Most clubs have DOFs these days, the time of a Fergie or Wenger dominating all aspects of a club are long gone. In most clubs you rarely hear about them because they are doing an ok job.

Doesn’t matter if it’s a DOF or manager, nobody involved in football transfers has a 100% or probably even 50% success rate. Even the likes of Fergie bought his fair share of flops.

[Spandaubaggie]

Truth is none of us know remotely enough behind the scenes to add real clarity to this. All I know is we had it right when we had Dan Ashworth and we need to get back to this- whatever that encompassed.
It is worth adding too that in a game where money talks more than ever we'll always be one of the 20 or so clubs behind 10 or so who can command 35,000 attendances and a bigger national audience. Punching above this pecking order has got harder and harder in the past generation.

[Birdman1811]

DoF works fine throughout the game, it's the British refusal to accept that old school managers are gone that causes the problem.

But where are the consequences for failing? 18ths roughly for a manager before they are sacked, DoF, how many years grace do they get? There is a clear disparity in accountability naked into the system.

Why does there need to be accountability to fans?

DoF is a director, so long as their long term objectives for the football side of the business us being met, they stay. The manager is sacked when they are clearly failing in their job. So training being lacklustre, poor performances, lack of fitness and of course not working well with the DoF.

That last part is key, they need to have a good relationship together, something Sam has managed to have with Dowling, Bilic never did.