New Director Of Football

[hejammy]

Ffs I read the title and thought we've got someone new in.... 

[so1]

15 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

The whole club needs a proper makeover.

 

New manager, new squad and new DOF.

Makeovers are usually a bit cheap, trashy and usually don't hold up too well aesthetically or maintenance wise.

 

As if the state of the world and the past 2 + years(Covid/finance) doesn't matter? Trash everything and start from scratch? Glover was a good start and the winter window was a solid step forward.  Two definite wins and a serious prospect that has every chance of coming good given time should you hire the right manager with a proper attitude towards youth. This club has every chance of getting back to where it was given time patience and rebuilding with a vision. The same vision that brought you the the League and the FA cup. Patience.

[filbertway]

1 minute ago, so1 said:

Makeovers are usually a bit cheap, trashy and usually don't hold up too well aesthetically or maintenance wise.

 

As if the state of the world and the past 2 + years(Covid/finance) doesn't matter? Trash everything and start from scratch? Glover was a good start and the winter window was a solid step forward.  Two definite wins and a serious prospect that has every chance of coming good given time should you hire the right manager with a proper attitude towards youth. This club has every chance of getting back to where it was given time patience and rebuilding with a vision. The same vision that brought you the the League and the FA cup. Patience.

It's spelled Pearson

 

 

[StanSP]

34 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

The whole club needs a proper makeover.

 

New manager, new squad and new DOF.

Change our kit to red

[Alf Bentley]

59 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.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post that. 

 

I want to understand how the LCFC structures of power and responsibility work, but real life has so many dry or depressing things to focus on that I lack the willpower to find out about such stuff. 

So your clear explanation is much appreciated - and I even trust you to provide mostly accurate information, unlike many posters. Fatal error.... 

 

A post worth pinning (assuming nobody turns up to say you've got it all wrong)?

 

[5waller5]

Big Nige would be an absolutely amazing DOF.

 

He was super keen on innovation / technology / data etc and knows football inside out.

 

What a great way to have the big man back whilst improving LCFC and not tarnishing his managerial legacy

[Dahnsouff]

9 minutes ago, 5waller5 said:

Big Nige would be an absolutely amazing DOF.

 

He was super keen on innovation / technology / data etc and knows football inside out.

 

What a great way to have the big man back whilst improving LCFC and not tarnishing his managerial legacy

This was my thought too. 

[Daggers]

1 hour ago, Babylon said:

Saved me writing it. 

If you could do a TLDR for me it'd save me reading it.

[indierich06]

Agreed on this but it's not even really a DOF we really need - let Rudkin stay and just strip back his role big time, or move him 'upstairs' if Top loves him so much, and then bring in a proper Technical Director to oversee analytics, recruitment and medical. Michael Edwards is a good shout, but would he come?

[Stadt]

1 minute ago, indierich06 said:

Agreed on this but it's not even really a DOF we really need - let Rudkin stay and just strip back his role big time, or move him 'upstairs' if Top loves him so much, and then bring in a proper Technical Director to oversee analytics, recruitment and medical. Michael Edwards is a good shout, but would he come?

For £1m a year? I think he would.

 

We probably spend that annually on Alex Smithies' wages - he'll certainly have a far bigger impact.

[Stadt]

We lost Sormaz as Head of Analytics to some investment firm last year. It was never announced if we replace him, even if we did the replacement role was advertised as 'Lead First Team Analyst' or something. Says it all about the lack of intelligence and competence at the club. Brentford and Bright are on the up because they're so data driven. We're going backwards.

Edited 5 April 2023 by Stadt

[Foxxed]

25 minutes ago, 5waller5 said:

Big Nige would be an absolutely amazing DOF.

 

He was super keen on innovation / technology / data etc and knows football inside out.

 

What a great way to have the big man back whilst improving LCFC and not tarnishing his managerial legacy

I love this idea. Whether he'd be able to or want to leave management is another question. I'm not sure he'd be content as a DoF.

[indierich06]

1 hour 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.

I think my main issue with Rudkin is that he's basically found himself in the role of DOF through virtue of being at the club for a long time, rather than because he has any real relevant qualifications or experience.

 

Culture starts at the top and works it's way down - and the feeling I get from Rudkin is that he relies on those below him to do the right thing, rather than instilling any strategy, direction or leadership himself. He isn't equipped to do anything else. He seems a nice enough/unoffensive bloke, and someone like that is fine to have on board during the good times, but at the end of the day - regardless of whether we stay up or go down - we need someone heading up the footballing side of the club who is going to instill a culture and strategy to turn things around, and I don't think Rudkin is the guy.

[indierich06]

6 minutes ago, Stadt said:

For £1m a year? I think he would.

 

We probably spend that annually on Alex Smithies' wages - he'll certainly have a far bigger impact.

I was thinking more stature-wise - seems a bit of a 'downgrade' to go from Liverpool to us. But money does talk.

 

Maybe Paul Mitchell? He's got a good track record, although again - I'm not sure anyone would swap Monaco for the East MIdlands.

[Babylon]

18 minutes ago, Daggers said:

If you could do a TLDR for me it'd save me reading it.

Dunno what that means, looks like something to do with Lord of The Rings. 

[Dan]

If it's true about our lack of planning for this then for me it's beyond debate that Rudkin needs to go immediately as well. An absolute cartel of amateurs throughout. It really was a miracle we achieved what we did with these absolute clowns in such positions of power.

 

Total ineptitude tolerated through the club. Disgraceful.

[Daggers]

2 minutes ago, Babylon said:

Dunno what that means, looks like something to do with Lord of The Rings. 

Stop making me read more posts, this was about cutting down my effort not increasing it. Think of me as the Elvis Hammond of posting.

[Stadt]

3 minutes ago, indierich06 said:

I was thinking more stature-wise - seems a bit of a 'downgrade' to go from Liverpool to us. But money does talk.

 

Maybe Paul Mitchell? He's got a good track record, although again - I'm not sure anyone would swap Monaco for the East MIdlands.

He's been out of the game for a while, only conjecture on my part but I think he was jaded from being at such a large club. Rumours of him going to Newcastle, obviously they're better off financially but we can still pay him more if we make him a priority and give him the reigns.

[Babylon]

1 minute ago, Daggers said:

Stop making me read more posts, this was about cutting down my effort not increasing it. Think of me as the Elvis Hammond of posting.

Top Shit.

Leicester Shit.

Rodgers Really Shit.

Rudkin, could be shit, but might not be that shit. 

We're in the shit. 

...End summary. 

[indierich06]

11 minutes ago, Stadt said:

He's been out of the game for a while, only conjecture on my part but I think he was jaded from being at such a large club. Rumours of him going to Newcastle, obviously they're better off financially but we can still pay him more if we make him a priority and give him the reigns.

Well, Newcastle have got Dan Ashworth now right? Maybe worth a punt.

[Chrysalis]

What does the DoF handle?

 

Many seem to be assuming he deals with the contracts.

Other club owners have revealed its Whelan who deals with player transfers, (they commented she is hard to work with).

Does he handle managerial sackings and hiring?  My expectation is Top had to approve Rodgers sacking.

Does he choose our wage budget? (overspend)

Managerial appointments I think have been mostly positive.  Rodgers although he lost it, he still was a positive appointment initially, the issue was holding on to him for too long.  Puel no question was a good appointment, I feel he was key in our squad transition and player development.

 

Until is answers to these questions its hard for me to form an opinion if he's doing a good or job or is a failure.  Player signings have been mixed like most other clubs. 

Edited 5 April 2023 by Chrysalis

[Trelleh]

How rudkin’s brown nosed his way up to the nosebleed heights of DoF I’ll never know. Couldn’t run a bath. Remember him taking temporary duty with stowell against West Ham after Sven went not that long ago, he’s got spades of dirt on Top, must do.

[gw_leics772]

NFP

[indierich06]

1 hour ago, Trelleh said:

How rudkin’s brown nosed his way up to the nosebleed heights of DoF I’ll never know. Couldn’t run a bath. Remember him taking temporary duty with stowell against West Ham after Sven went not that long ago, he’s got spades of dirt on Top, must do.

I think you were right the first time, he's just a brown-nosing little shit. People like that seem to climb the greasy pole pretty easily.

[5waller5]

3 hours ago, Foxxed said:

I love this idea. Whether he'd be able to or want to leave management is another question. I'm not sure he'd be content as a DoF.

Me too!! I’m not sure he would tbh, I think he enjoys the day to day coaching too much. If he got sacked from BCFC he may feel his managerial career is over though?