Director of football role in LOI?

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10/09/2009, 10:09 AM
RoversHead

Director of football role in LOI?

I see Mr Devlin is back at Bray in a director of football role .Are there many directors of football throughout the league these days and what if any effect do they have on clubs?I know Mr Kerr had such a roll at St Pats but the role has always been a bit of a mystery to me.What do they do?
I cant see Devo parting with any of his own cash and he has always struck me as a guy very much interested in selling anybody with an ounce of tallant to the highest bidder abroad ,E Zaid got hawked all over Europe but to no avail.He knows the schoolboy scene well but Bray have never had problems tapping into that anyway.
What do St Pats fans think about Mr Kerr s time in Inchie?
10/09/2009, 10:11 AM
brianw82

Interesting topic. The role seems a bit ambiguous to me as well.
10/09/2009, 10:20 AM
tiktok

A director of Football role is completely pointless for any LoI club unless they have a decent youth, reserve and A championship structure and the role is specific to the development of the same.
10/09/2009, 10:23 AM
Mr A

There is definitely a place at clubs for someone with overall responsibility for all the club's teams.

The managers only care about their team and it's all too easy for everything but the first team to be forgotten about. I'd see a director of football (or something like it) as working on both supporting the first team manager and also the youth and reserve sides to ensure the whole works and develops together.
10/09/2009, 10:41 AM
CMcC

Why any club in this league would want to shell out on a Director of Football is beyond me, when they are struggling to pay players all over the place. Madness.

Clubs here are simply not big enough to warrant a role such as that. The youth structure (such as there is one in this league) and coaches should report to the first team manager anyway with board members responsible for its day to day running.
10/09/2009, 10:44 AM
pineapple stu

Are Bray paying him?

We've a kind of director of football; he's basically a full-time person who looks after the club's admin, the Superleague, the U-20s and the collegiate teams.
10/09/2009, 10:54 AM
Mr A

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMcC

Why any club in this league would want to shell out on a Director of Football is beyond me, when they are struggling to pay players all over the place. Madness.

Clubs here are simply not big enough to warrant a role such as that. The youth structure (such as there is one in this league) and coaches should report to the first team manager anyway with board members responsible for its day to day running.

Subordinating your other team's to the first team manager is a terrible idea, it leave the future health of the club in the hands of a man totally focussed on the here and now in most cases. This exclusive, short term focus on the first team is one of the main problems at many LOI clubs.

Also, such a director need not be paid- just a designated member of the board.
10/09/2009, 1:03 PM
Mr A

Mods- could we get this spilt into a Pat Devlin Thread and a discussion of the role of a Director of Football in the LOI?
10/09/2009, 1:12 PM
pineapple stu

Done. Pat Devlin thread here.
10/09/2009, 2:26 PM
DmanDmythDledge

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr A

Subordinating your other team's to the first team manager is a terrible idea, it leave the future health of the club in the hands of a man totally focussed on the here and now in most cases. This exclusive, short term focus on the first team is one of the main problems at many LOI clubs.

Also, such a director need not be paid- just a designated member of the board.

While it is not exactly the same as what you have said I find it ridiculous that the UCD manager's performance is judged on all teams, including LSL and college teams, which is a joke.
10/09/2009, 2:38 PM
John83

Quote:

Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge

While it is not exactly the same as what you have said I find it ridiculous that the UCD manager's performance is judged on all teams, including LSL and college teams, which is a joke.

What makes you say that? Because the only example I can think of is how badly Doolin was thought of for completely neglecting the youth set-up.
10/09/2009, 2:43 PM
pineapple stu

The management team's performance is judged on all teams, not the manager's. Unless something major happens, like John83 pointed out.
10/09/2009, 4:01 PM
RoversHead

The role would seem to differ from club to club from country to country but it nearly always leads to a manager feeling undermined, especialy if the director is deemed to have more experience in some areas of the managers role.Could not see Fenlon or Kenny opperating under one and can only imagine what Keely would have to say.There did not appear to be too many issues with Kerr at Pats ,not on the surface anyway.