11 Sep 2020 01:09:25
Hi eds,

A bit of a change up from everything transfer-related - who do you think is the best sporting director in football?

Monchi is of course best-known, but of course there is also Ralf Rangnick and Luis Campos.

Cheers.

{Ed0666's Note - Zorc, Edwards and Marotta in no particular order.

11 Sep 2020 06:16:22
Apparently Victor Orta of Leeds is very well-regarded too. I think he actually worked under Monchi at Sevilla. And of course, enticing Bielsa to Leeds is a major coup.

{Ed001's Note - Orta? He was regarded as a flop at Boro. He never enticed Bielsa to Leeds at all either, Bielsa went after the job as he wanted to work in English football. I like his clear desire for the team to do well, but I have yet to see he actually knows what he is doing. Leeds have had a massive turnover of players under him, bringing in huge numbers of players and very few of them work out. Not sure why he would be highly regarded by anyone.}

11 Sep 2020 07:21:33
Ah didn't know that ed. I don't really follow Leeds, so it's just from articles here and there I've come across that waxed lyrical about him that I got the impression he'd developed a good reputation.

{Ed001's Note - people often get confused when trying to decide who to give credit to for a team doing well. In Leeds' case it is all about Bielsa. He has taken a team that was probably, at best, a mid-table Championship team and moulded them into a Championship-winning team.}

11 Sep 2020 07:33:29
Thanks for clearing that up, ed. You guys are the reason why this site's the best. Also, out of interest, who do you think are the best DoFs or sporting directors?

{Ed001's Note - I don't think it is that simple to be honest. They need to fit with the club they are at. For instance Monchi is best at working long term with a limited budget to build a team. Give him a big budget and he doesn't know what to do and ends up like a child in a sweet shop. The RB pair, Leipzig's Rangnick and Salzburg's Freund have worked brilliantly with the structure they have in place, but could they build a structure elsewhere? What you need is to fit the right director to the right team and coaching staff. We have that right now with Edwards, but would he be as good elsewhere, without Klopp's input or the expensively assembled stats analysis team?}

11 Sep 2020 08:02:41
Txiki" Begiristain Mujika - The absolute best in mainland Europe today.
Brands - Another solid candidate who will do wonders given the freedom to do.

{Ed001's Note - how can you pick Txiki? When has he done anything but spend huge sums of money for little return? Nothing he did helped Barcelona, it was the academy that their success was built on, not a sporting director's input. At City he has spent huge sums mostly on dross. Again how is he any good? It just shows the problem with discussing this, most people haven't a clue what a sporting director does or what makes a good one.}

11 Sep 2020 08:21:58
I don't think it's a problem discussing it Ed's, just because some people aren't as knowledgeable as yourself doesn't make it a problem. Peoples differing opinions create discussion around the subject. I have no idea what a sporting director does or is supposed to do personally! I know it sounds like a job for a jobs sake kinda title! Lol perhaps you could explain exactly what the job involves? That would be really useful. Thanks.

{Ed001's Note - that's the problem, every club has a different remit, as I have been explaining. Some of them will be like old school managers, some of them will also have responsibility for academies, others can be marginalised and be little more than chief scouts. Then there are others where they are more of a head of state for a cohesive identity of teams from a number of different sports that the club has and will have a director of football below them. This is why it is impossible to discuss, people are just picking out ones who are working for successful teams, because they won't have a clue what their remit is or how their work affected the team's success.}

11 Sep 2020 08:28:34
You have a point Ed01. But Monchi was a disaster at Roma something they are still struggling to come in terms with. he also bought some absolute dross and they are struggling to offload all of them.
Brands did a brilliant job at Leicester but he hasn't got a free hand at Everton yet and these recent deals of signing James for a free, Docoure for very less is the beginning.

{Ed001's Note - which was my point about Monchi. I just said that. When was Brands at Leicester? He has never worked for them. He came from Dutch football, where he worked with a limited budget and did ok. As for signing James, what is that to do with Brands? Nothing. Again you are proving my point, you are making comments about things you know nothing about. You don't know who Brands even is, yet you claim he will do wonders. How can you make such ludicrous claims without even knowing who you are on about?}

11 Sep 2020 08:46:50
On another note Ed01, what do you think of Bayern's Sporting Director Hasan Salihamidzic? I know Bayern already has a good system in place for years now so could Bayern's success under him, just be a case of him stepping in and keeping things moving or rather that him having a lot input on the club's transfer structure?

{Ed001's Note - yeah he seems to be just not rocking the boat so far. The real problem is with judging these directors is that you really only know how good they are doing ten years down the line to be honest.}

11 Sep 2020 08:51:28
Out of everyone, you picked the DoFs of our rivals Man City and Everton as the best in the business. Must've been a coincidence, right, Harry?

11 Sep 2020 09:13:48
Sorry my bad, it was Steve Walsh. though Brands is doing a good job at everton.

{Ed001's Note - he has not been able to do his job yet, so there is no way you can say he is doing a good job. He has not been the one making the signings. Why don't you spend some time actually doing some research before opening your mouth for once? Walsh was at Everton, then left them with a load of dross. Brands was brought in but has been barely able to do anything because Moshiri had advisors telling him different things and he overruled Brands a lot. Now Ancelotti is picking the signings, so what is Brands doing so well? Other than not being at Liverpool, as you clearly only love anyone not connected with Liverpool. Everton have been poor since Brands arrived, so what on earth can suggest he is doing well? You really do live in a complete fantasy world.}

11 Sep 2020 10:09:16
hahaha. I have read a fair bit of history about Everton's transfer dealings and advisors to Moshri from Ed02 on their page. This has nothing to do with Liverpool. Ed02 rates both Brands and Txiki and that is enough for me. He also called Txiki the absolute best in Europe. We don't have a DOF as in. Not sure what your point is. If it was about the top 2 managers in the league I would have picked Klopp as one of the two.
Thanks.

{Ed001's Note - so in other words all you have done is taken the word of Ed002 and not actually bothered to find out for yourself and make your own mind up. Txiki is far from the best, he gives Pep far too much leeway and has wasted hundreds of millions at City and they still can't win in Europe. How is that the best? Why don't you show us how much you know and explain why you think they are good rather than just telling us someone else does and that will do?

Not sure why you are bringing Klopp into it, not even Man Utd fans would leave him out of the top 2 managers in the league, so it hardly shows anything does it? You can't even bring yourself to say he is the best, which says a lot.}

11 Sep 2020 12:44:18
Harry, you say we don't have a DOF. What role does Michael Edwards (very well respected in Europe, btw) fill/ occupy at LFC, then?

Let it go, bro. It's embarrassing to watch you get your clock cleaned by the Ed01 on an issue you are clearly out of your depth on, I'm afraid. Quite gruesome, really.

11 Sep 2020 13:07:14
If you think Johan Cryuff and Michel Edwards had a similar role then you are dead right, I need to change the sport.

11 Sep 2020 13:09:26
Brands want to install a philosophy at Everton, the way they play from the academy to the first team. Edwards is a telephone operator who speaks to clients to finalize a signing.

11 Sep 2020 13:57:40
Harry. Tyrion Lannister is actually one of my favourite characters from game of thrones but I am starting to hate him now because of your association with him. You are either a troll or completely delusional. I read your comments on this site and want to gorge my eyes out. The things you say are ridiculous, one example being your comments on Origi above. You think that brewster is currently better than him. Whilst brewster has more potential he has only played half a season in the championship compared to origis 4 or 5 seasons in the prem where he has scored goals and also done well in Europe. You compare him to N'gog which is mental. Honestly give it a rest.

11 Sep 2020 22:29:57
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Interesting debate but unfortunately the points Ed01 highlighted presents the issues discussing such subjects.
All sporting/ football directors have different remits and roles.

However, texi has far from been the resounding success. Signings are hit and miss, especially the vast sums of money on defenders and until he brings them the Champions league he can't be a success. Brands is another matter - is the credit being given for the ancellotti former players? Or what about all those number 10s or lack of Rw? Perspective is needed.

For me the best directors are almost unseen, allowing the manager to do their job as best as possible. And they are ones who traditionally received credit for success, along with the players of course.

12 Sep 2020 02:56:56
I don't have enough knowledge regarding those types of characters dealings within clubs to build a strong argument but if I was just looking at clubs who have had joy from working with a specific plan and recruiting well while also selling at the right moments I would not include Barcelona and cities success being built on teams that were largely put together by guardiolas BFF. Everton have wasted so much on bad investment also. The likes of Porto and benfica I see as regularly having joy in that sense. Juventus and bayern have the power to attract top players on free transfers which makes them look good. They still make big errors with the likes of renato sanches or gonzalo higuain being examples of bad judgement.
In England I think Liverpool are obvious examples of currently seeing the most rewards and also I think Southampton have done well considering they spend less than other clubs and since joining the league have rarely had seasons fighting near relegation despite limited spending while also making large profits on players who come and go. Bournemouth are proof that eventually a club pays for too many mistakes in squad building process. West ham and Everton have spent the type of money that should demand a club to fight higher than they do. Sevilla Roma napoli for example have enjoyed better despite building with no added advantage that the likes of Everton have tried with. Ac Milan, Valencia, man Utd and arsenal I think are currently the bigger clubs who have been let down over recent years in this department.

Again I know nothing really in terms of personnel or how each club is structured etc so I'm happy to accept if I'm way off the mark regarding those individuals being important in their clubs fate or not.