Legod Third Coming

He's the only player in the last year who I actually believe!

CB - Bang on the money. What the feck is Burley building for?? And how the hell can you 'build' an international team over a four year period when half the players will retire, a futher third will have injuries and some players will emerge you have never even heard of... Funny how Capello can deliver with exactly the same talent available as McLaren, Reason - he is a good manager, McLaren wasn't!!!! Same goes for Burley. He won 3 games in 12. With six of the games against international no-hopers!!!!

Totally. He does his talking on the pitch! How rare...

To be fair, in any betting 'caveat emptor'. If you bought the time of the first throw-in, knowing that footballers are normally: a) not very bright b) easily led c) compulsive gamblers Then you would be nuts!!!

You should see those stripes in Matt's lawn though...

How do you feel about Jhaidi? "I want to prove to everyone I am the best defender at the club." What I wouldn't give for that attitude throughout the side, 100%, 100% of the time.

I think that bodes well. Nervy crowd could translate to pitch... Straws clutching and all that!

I think having someone to handle all the contractual negotiations with players is fine and if DoF describes that role, so be it - but isn't that what good old fashioned Chairman used to do? Where it constantly goes wrong, it seems to me, is where it is a role that renders the manager a coach. I guess most of the managers I admire and who are succesful probably operate in a DoF role and rely on a coaching staff. Where you list a few clubs with them, I could list the most succesful without them. As for Frank Arnesen, this is lifted from the internet today: Arnesen is also credited with unearthing Robin van Persie, Chelsea defender Alex and Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, but has failed to develop a homegrown star at Stamford Bridge despite spending around £62m on young talent. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1212436/Chelsea-guilty-biggest-mistake-ditching-Frank-Arnesen-warns-Blues-scout.html#ixzz0QjeuIaSy "...has failed to develop a homegrown star at Chelsea despite spending £62m on young talent..." not exactly a glowing endorsement is it?

Who drops out for him? Perry??

Just looked him up on the Reading site and it appears Pardew employed him! lol. It says he handles all transfers and contract negotiations. Would love to know the full extent. I reckon it probably helps that he has never been a manager and probably has no aspirations to be so (although had to guess at that last bit of course). He was their Director of Youth football apparently.

Has he been a success? (These are genuine questions - all I can find on Wiki is that he was appointed in 2003 and I don't really know whether Reading were up/down went up/down since then). Six years seems like a good time in the role without losing too many managers.

We will agree on one thing and that is your penultimate sentence. But in order to win games, I believe a manager must be more than just a coach. If he has an approach which wins matches, that approach is normally dependent upon a 'type' of player, style and strategy of play so he needs to ensure that coaching, scouting and player pruchases are all geared to first team success. This is essentially a strategic decision. This was the major failing of Rupert Lowe in my book. Without going over old ground, if you get the first team right and the club is geared towards this, the rest is all commentary. I agree that you don't need the manager agreeing the contracts, signing off the bonus payments and the like, although the best managers must surely be involved in this because salaries can and do have such a big imact on team motivation. I guess I see a Manager's role as being in the true sense - a manager. And not as many people see him - a coach. Where a DoF is brought in above a manager and without the manager's input, time and again it ends more often in disaster than success. That is not my view, that's just my experience of football. I suspect that most often it fails (as it did at OUR CLUB) because the DoF is an ex-manager who then has his own ideas about how to manage the team. Where Sporting Directors/DoFs appear to work well is when they work for the manager rather than the reverse. So they are there to FACILITATE the manager, not to manage him.

Who was DoF?

Only since July this year. And while I am sure Ancelotti and Chelsea will be successful, it's a tad premature to ascribe the success they enjoyed without Anersen to him just yet!!

Er, that puts an end to discussing the team then, since we don't pick it... what an incredibly illogical post.

Which one?

Er, didn't they dominate when English clubs were actually banned from Europe... before that, we dominated (well Liverpool did) when no-one had ever heard the phrase 'Director of Football'. I think most DoFs were actually employed at Clubs like Real where the ownership changes every year because the President stands for election - hence some continuity was felt to be essential. Thus the Sporting Director (DoF) role was born. If you have a Chairman and Manager, there is no need for a DoF. Which is why every time people try it (in the UK) it seems to end in disaster.

Where is Burley's self respect? On appointment, he said his aim was to qualify. He won 3 matches. Out of 12. I would have no hesitation to hand in my badge.

Last season he looked very good in early season games with some of the best delivery into the box I have seen in a long time. I was then sat opposite him (yes in a QPR box) when he was taken out at knee hieght in what I thought could be a leg breaker. It was horrific - how the bloke was not sent off I do not know. A fecking scandal. It's no surprise he has been out almost since. I say get him back in and let him cross for Lambert to score 20 goals on the bounce. He's only 22 and with a few games behind him will give us, in my opinion, all the width we need.

I don't really want to have a pop at Burley but he came in and said his objective was to qualify for the World-Cup - already targeting the miminum achievement possible. Last night he came out with the usual - 'we're improving' nonsense. For those who think it is hard for Scotland, it may be true, but let us not forget, Denmark and Greece have both WON Euro Championships. Scottish players play in Europe and the Premiership and while a defeat to Holland is no disgrace, Norway and Macedonia are not exactly hotbeds of football are they? Yes, Scotland would probably have been beaten in the play-offs by a Portgual, but this is the Scotland who have been at and challenged at the World Cup in years past: 1974, 78, 82, 86, 90 and 98 Don't think Burley was trying to achieve the unachievable. Far from it. They are without players who showed no disciplinary respect for their manager.

hahahahahah nice one I loved the bit where they rebuilt a scale model of the moon to show how the shadows fall in different directions. Real clever stuff.

In my business we work most often by Consensus. When I suggested to Sir Richard Dannett that the army could adopt this approach, he funnily enough decided that their current method of him giving the orders and everyone following might be a more productive route forward... Which goes to show there is no pig-headedness involved. You are comitting the cardinal sin of business. You are looking at other markets and assuming that what works in them will work in yours. Whereas, you should be evaluating what works BEST for your competition. We do not need to be competing on the FTSE 500, we need to be competing against Liverpool, Manchester United and before them Stockport County. So rather than question my business knowledge, I respectfully direct you to the best in OUR CURRENT BUSINESS. English clubs dominate European Football. Those English clubs that do, do not have DoF roles. Ergo, why should we need one?? It is a risk with no proven upside, in fact quite the reverse. Don't you agree?

Yeah but they can't see a bloke reading the sun on Jupiter can they!?? Der! You can see the Sea of Tranquility like, but you can't see the waves, you know! Anyway, this is pointless, every one of the conspiracies was debunked on myth-busters.

Aye, and Trotman is good in this league, no doubt. Maybe even Championship level.

I would have to disagree. Terry is not as good at Vidic for my money. He is painfully slow and not a great footballer but compensates be being an 'all action' ball winner by humping and heading, sticking himself in anywhere. This is not 'class' in my terms. I would say he is about the same standard as Terry Butcher and just a bit better than Terry Fenwick. By contrast, I agree with you about Carvalho. And he doesn't need to be all action because of his ability to read the game and respond/predict accordingly. His tackles look less committed maybe because he simply got to the right place quicker. He has 'class'. I am sure everyone who could afford Terry would have him because the world has a shortage of good Centre Halves and don't get me wrong, he is very good. But class? What about his play lifts him above workmanlike??