New Director Of Football

[Stadt]

Rudkin's presided over failure after failure. It's obvious he needs to be replaced.

 

Who would you want to replace him? Trickier with DOFs as there's less information around them.

 

The essentials:

• Data and analytically driven
• Strong recruitment record
• Good negotiator
• Track record of appointing/working with managers & recruitment teams to focus on academy/u21 signings 

 

Michael Edwards is currently unattached, pay him £1m+ a year and he'd join - teams think nothing of paying a 3rd choice keeper that but not a DoF, silly.

Chris O'Laughlin is sporting director at Union Saint Gilloise, Tony Bloom approved and their rise has been fantastic.

Frank Arnesen is getting on a bit but he's worked in England before, overseen a strong Feyenoord revival - could tempt Slot.

Svend Graversen has been at Midtjylland for a while and they continually punch above their weight, recruit well, develop well etc.

 

It would be an exciting opportunity for 98% of DoFs/sporting directors out there, we can double, treble or quadruple their wages, work from the best training ground itw, they'd have their opportunity to put their stamp on a club with a lot of benefits.

 

Any names you think we should be looking at?

 

Edited 5 April 2023 by Stadt

[Leicester_Loyal]

I honestly know not a lot about the job but the way the club has been ran for the past few years is totally unacceptable and we need a new face and a fresh course to take. 
 

I’m assuming Rudkin is the one most in control of these aspects? So it should be him to go. 

[filbertway]

1 minute ago, Stadt said:

Rudkin's presided over failure after failure. It's obvious he needs to be replaced.

 

Who would you want to replace him? Trickier with DOFs as there's less information around them.

 

The essentials:

• Data and analytically driven
• Strong recruitment record
• Good negotiator
• Track record of appointing/working with managers & recruitment teams to focus on academy/u21 signings 

 

Michael Edwards is currently unattached, pay him £1m+ a year and he'd join - teams think nothing of paying a 3rd choice keeper that but not a DoF, silly.

Chris O'Laughlin is sporting director at Union Saint Gilloise, Tony Bloom approved and their rise has been fantastic.

Frank Arnesen is getting on a bit but he's worked in England before, overseen a strong Feyenoord revival - could tempt Slot.

Svend Graversen has been at Midtjylland for a while and they continually punch above their weight, recruit well, develop well etc.

 

It would be an exciting opportunity for 98% of DoFs/sporting directors out there, we can double, treble or quadruple their wages, work from the best raining ground itw, they'd have their opportunity to put their stamp on a club with a lot benefits.

 

Any names you think we should be looking at?

 

Newcastle are really impressive upgrading their backroom staff, considering the relatively cheap financial outlay, it's criminal we're still holding onto the staff that were here.

 

I was convinced Edwards would be off to Newcastle, wonder if he'd fancy a new challenge now he's coming on a year out of the game. 

 

All feels futile really as Rudkin will dine out on Pearson's work for as long as he can.

[TiffToff88]

We'll first need to hire a world class surgeon to remove Rudkins head from Tops arse. Quite often see them in the corporate areas on matchdays and they seem far too cosy together. He's managed to successfully con Top into thinking he's untouchable

Edited 5 April 2023 by TiffToff88

[iancognito]

I have no idea. Literally none about who could do the role. So very few people know what the job entails and what it is he ACTUALLY does, I'm not sure it's possible to even speculate who could come in.

[kingkisnorbo]

Edwards is a great shout. Though I thought he’d left Liverpool to take the job at Real? 

[st albans fox]

Just now, TiffToff88 said:

We'll first need to hire a world class surgeon to remove Rudkins head from Tops arse. Quite often see them in the corporate areas in matchdays and they seem far too cosy together. He's managed to successfully con Top into thinking he's untouchable

Top trusts him and whelan completely 

that counts for a lot in se Asian psyche 

 

rudders isn’t going anywhere whilst KP own the club 

 

can we change the title to ‘we need …..’. - got way too excited seeing it as it is ! 

[st albans fox]

Just now, kingkisnorbo said:

Edwards is a great shout. Though I thought he’d left Liverpool to take the job at Real? 

No problem - he can come here with Poch …….

[Scotch]

Claude Puel.

[StanSP]

Top gave Rodgers far too much time before giving him the axe. 

 

Can't imagine Rudkin will be going anywhere soon, unfortunately. 

[Dahnsouff]

Identify what you want from a DoF not a specific guy, and ensure that’s a direction you are intent to commit to long term. Then managers come and go, the process remain cohesive.

[RoboFox]

His credit in the bank has surely run out now? Yes, we can accept he played a huge role in the success we’ve enjoyed.

 

But recently? Terrible transfers, bonkers wages, players running down contracts and walking away, an apparent inexplicable lack of planning for Rodgers’ successor.

 

Yet Teflon Jon is going nowhere. 
 

Where’s the accountability?

 

Edited 5 April 2023 by RoboFox

[Tomlcfc133]

Rudkin is a weird dude 

Edited 5 April 2023 by Tomlcfc133

[Finnegan]

8 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

I honestly know not a lot about the job but the way the club has been ran for the past few years is totally unacceptable and we need a new face and a fresh course to take. 
 

I’m assuming Rudkin is the one most in control of these aspects? So it should be him to go. 

 

People have a habit of getting mystified by football backroom roles and over-complicating them a little bit. Anyone that's worked in a corporate structure should have a rough idea of what Rudkin does.

 

I know it sounds like I'm being facetious but he's literally the Director responsible for actual football at the club. So a Director will sit above a team of Heads of service/department/section who will in turn be responsible for line managing a bunch of service Managers and so on. 

 

So Top owns the club, right? But he's got business interests all round the world so a CEO based here (Susan Whelan) actually has the final say on most areas of the club. But that's a huge portfolio, everything from marketing to community outreach to football operations to logistics, admin, sales, etc and the club will have different divisions for all of that. Each of those divisions will have a Director.

 

There are seven Directors at the club for it's different divisions. Five of those are Finance, Operations, Strategy, HR and Commercial, general business shit that we can more or less overlook as fans.

 

There are then two that pertain to the actual squads at Leicester and what happens in footballing terms. Rudkin is the Director of Football and Andrew Neville has the unhelpfully similar sounding job Football Operations Director. Nearly all major professional clubs will have both of these roles although they might vary a little bit in the specific title. The Football OPERATIONS Director is mostly responsible for more logistical things. He probably manages the new site at Seagrave, will be in charge of travel, possibly also stuff around like catering, logistics and supply for the squads.

 

What that leaves Rudkin in charge of is pretty much everything to do with the actual football team. The heads of department / managers below him will be responsible for all of the stuff like Recruitment, Management/Coaching of the squads (First Team, youth teams, possibly also the women unless they have their own DOF?), the physios and medical teams, all the data analysis stuff, scouting, etc, you name it. Each of those will have their own managers. Obviously there's the first team manager but there's also Martyn Glover, right, the new head of recruitment? We'll have a head of Sports Science, a Head Physio, probably a Head of Data Analytics. All of these people will report to Rudkin.

 

So whilst it's not a one-man operation, he's obviously not out there scouting all the players himself, signing them all himself, coaching himself, tending to the wounded himself, etc, he is the Director in charge of pretty much all of that within the corporate structure so ultimately the buck does stop with him when there's serious consistent failings. 

 

In defence of Rudkin, I'd say that the Head of Recruitment underneath him is ultimately going to be responsible for identifying talent and picking targets, we were obviously dissatisfied with that so Congerton has gone and Glover has come in. So he's acted, really, so fair enough. I'd also say in defence of Rudkin that building a squad capable of winning the Premier League and the FA Cup for the amount we've spent is really remarkable and that's happened on his watch. But at the same time, the current contract situation and how much we've overspent for some serious flops has also happened under him so. Yknow. Swings and roundabouts.

[Mr Mister]

They will stick with Rudkin I reckon.

[Bezzanator89]

Bulletproof whether we go down or not. The board, however culpable they are for our steady decline, are ever present as the manager and player merry-go-rounds keep turning. And given Top's indecisiveness with Brendan Rodgers, it's safe to say that Jon Rudkin's position is as safe as it ever was.

[Babylon]

6 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

People have a habit of getting mystified by football backroom roles and over-complicating them a little bit. Anyone that's worked in a corporate structure should have a rough idea of what Rudkin does.

 

I know it sounds like I'm being facetious but he's literally the Director responsible for actual football at the club. So a Director will sit above a team of Heads of service/department/section who will in turn be responsible for line managing a bunch of service Managers and so on. 

 

So Top owns the club, right? But he's got business interests all round the world so a CEO based here (Susan Whelan) actually has the final say on most areas of the club. But that's a huge portfolio, everything from marketing to community outreach to football operations to logistics, admin, sales, etc and the club will have different divisions for all of that. Each of those divisions will have a Director.

 

There are seven Directors at the club for it's different divisions. Five of those are Finance, Operations, Strategy, HR and Commercial, general business shit that we can more or less overlook as fans.

 

There are then two that pertain to the actual squads at Leicester and what happens in footballing terms. Rudkin is the Director of Football and Andrew Neville has the unhelpfully similar sounding job Football Operations Director. Nearly all major professional clubs will have both of these roles although they might vary a little bit in the specific title. The Football OPERATIONS Director is mostly responsible for more logistical things. He probably manages the new site at Seagrave, will be in charge of travel, possibly also stuff around like catering, logistics and supply for the squads.

 

What that leaves Rudkin in charge of is pretty much everything to do with the actual football team. The heads of department / managers below him will be responsible for all of the stuff like Recruitment, Management/Coaching of the squads (First Team, youth teams, possibly also the women unless they have their own DOF?), the physios and medical teams, all the data analysis stuff, scouting, etc, you name it. Each of those will have their own managers. Obviously there's the first team manager but there's also Martyn Glover, right, the new head of recruitment? We'll have a head of Sports Science, a Head Physio, probably a Head of Data Analytics. All of these people will report to Rudkin.

 

So whilst it's not a one-man operation, he's obviously not out there scouting all the players himself, signing them all himself, coaching himself, tending to the wounded himself, etc, he is the Director in charge of pretty much all of that within the corporate structure so ultimately the buck does stop with him when there's serious consistent failings. 

 

In defence of Rudkin, I'd say that the Head of Recruitment underneath him is ultimately going to be responsible for identifying talent and picking targets, we were obviously dissatisfied with that so Congerton has gone and Glover has come in. So he's acted, really, so fair enough. I'd also say in defence of Rudkin that building a squad capable of winning the Premier League and the FA Cup for the amount we've spent is really remarkable and that's happened on his watch. But at the same time, the current contract situation and how much we've overspent for some serious flops has also happened under him so. Yknow. Swings and roundabouts.

Saved me writing it. 

[Shane]

Hopefully Huth will be ready soon. He has a masters degree in Sporting Directorship.

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

It is a bit suspect that our DoF - a notoriously specialist and yet crucial role - is the academy bloke from years ago when we were crap.

 

I agree he’s got to go - just look at this current mess. If it’s true there is no plan going forward then that’s at his door. Time for wholesale changes.

[Foxxed]

Would it be Susan's decision to sack him if supported by Top? Or is it Top's decision alone?

 

I have more faith in Susan than Top currently.

 

Rudkin helped us build the club that won the league and FA cup. But on the other hand it all seemed to unravel without Vichai's guidance.

 

Edited 5 April 2023 by Foxxed

[AKCJ]

The whole club needs a proper makeover.

 

New manager, new squad and new DOF.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

34 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

People have a habit of getting mystified by football backroom roles and over-complicating them a little bit. Anyone that's worked in a corporate structure should have a rough idea of what Rudkin does.

 

I know it sounds like I'm being facetious but he's literally the Director responsible for actual football at the club. So a Director will sit above a team of Heads of service/department/section who will in turn be responsible for line managing a bunch of service Managers and so on. 

 

So Top owns the club, right? But he's got business interests all round the world so a CEO based here (Susan Whelan) actually has the final say on most areas of the club. But that's a huge portfolio, everything from marketing to community outreach to football operations to logistics, admin, sales, etc and the club will have different divisions for all of that. Each of those divisions will have a Director.

 

There are seven Directors at the club for it's different divisions. Five of those are Finance, Operations, Strategy, HR and Commercial, general business shit that we can more or less overlook as fans.

 

There are then two that pertain to the actual squads at Leicester and what happens in footballing terms. Rudkin is the Director of Football and Andrew Neville has the unhelpfully similar sounding job Football Operations Director. Nearly all major professional clubs will have both of these roles although they might vary a little bit in the specific title. The Football OPERATIONS Director is mostly responsible for more logistical things. He probably manages the new site at Seagrave, will be in charge of travel, possibly also stuff around like catering, logistics and supply for the squads.

 

What that leaves Rudkin in charge of is pretty much everything to do with the actual football team. The heads of department / managers below him will be responsible for all of the stuff like Recruitment, Management/Coaching of the squads (First Team, youth teams, possibly also the women unless they have their own DOF?), the physios and medical teams, all the data analysis stuff, scouting, etc, you name it. Each of those will have their own managers. Obviously there's the first team manager but there's also Martyn Glover, right, the new head of recruitment? We'll have a head of Sports Science, a Head Physio, probably a Head of Data Analytics. All of these people will report to Rudkin.

 

So whilst it's not a one-man operation, he's obviously not out there scouting all the players himself, signing them all himself, coaching himself, tending to the wounded himself, etc, he is the Director in charge of pretty much all of that within the corporate structure so ultimately the buck does stop with him when there's serious consistent failings. 

 

In defence of Rudkin, I'd say that the Head of Recruitment underneath him is ultimately going to be responsible for identifying talent and picking targets, we were obviously dissatisfied with that so Congerton has gone and Glover has come in. So he's acted, really, so fair enough. I'd also say in defence of Rudkin that building a squad capable of winning the Premier League and the FA Cup for the amount we've spent is really remarkable and that's happened on his watch. But at the same time, the current contract situation and how much we've overspent for some serious flops has also happened under him so. Yknow. Swings and roundabouts.

That explains it really well, I hadn't even thought of it like that kind of org chart setup.

 

The Redknapps of the world bemoaning the interfering DoF getting in the way of the manager's job (despite doing the role himself at Portsmouth, prior to replacing Graham Rix) did a lot of irreparable damage to the job title.

[Finnegan]

8 minutes ago, Mike the Metal Ed said:

The Redknapps of the world bemoaning the interfering DoF getting in the way of the manager's job

 

Translation: clubs taking recruitment away from a manager so that Dirty Arry and Fat Sam can't take a massive cut in bungs anymore

[Stadt]

You can make the cat it's the most important role at a club.

 

The person responsible for hiring managers, recruitment personnel, setting the strategy, squad planning, contract management etc has a much bigger say on the long term success of a club than any one manager.

 

If you sack a manager and replace him with an equally poor one - you're in the shit.

[Fazzer 7]

54 minutes ago, Tomlcfc133 said:

Rudkin is a weird dude 

He is, I had a few dealings with him around the time Micky Adams was in charge. He was a very serious type, doesn't smile much and had an aura of gloom about him like a dark cloud above his head. Can't imagine him having a laugh or getting leathered at all, ever.