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Director of Football Operations Replacement Thread


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Well now I'm an expert on Steve Walsh due to his 2 articles on The Athletic he sounds like the perfect style of DOF we need.

 

Cheers for the update Manji

 

What were the articles about?

 

My memory was that the reason he wasn't great at Everton was down to the fact he was a better head scout / recruiter than he was DoF.

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Walsh fits to this spec of a "Player Trading Expert".

 

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/17965856.southampton-look-appoint-player-trading-expert-ross-wilson-leaves-club-rangers/

 

If it is Walsh then he is an experienced hand which would probably benefit us in that specific role. He is 66 though and I would have thought we may look for someone younger.

 

He also recruited Martyn Glover at Everton, who is now our Chief Scout - so some synergies there

 

There has been a couple of good interviews with him recently on The Athletic - but no hint he was set to get back into a permanent role.

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Steve Walsh

 

Got about as close as anyone else in the league to a Mitchell-esque streak of unearthed gems with Mahrez, Vardy and Kante. Everton wasn't great, but they tried to make a statement spending a lot of money very quickly, which hasn't worked that well for anyone of late.

 

His track record is as good - or better - than we could've hoped for. Assuming he really is coming and isn't the backroom equivalent of Promes.

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Got about as close as anyone else in the league to a Mitchell-esque streak of unearthed gems with Mahrez, Vardy and Kante. Everton wasn't great, but they tried to make a statement spending a lot of money very quickly, which hasn't worked that well for anyone of late.

 

His track record is as good - or better - than we could've hoped for. Assuming he really is coming and isn't the backroom equivalent of Promes.

 

Can Steve Walsh magic-up any money to spend though?

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Can Steve Walsh magic-up any money to spend though?

 

It's part of a long term plan (I hope) to turn us around. There will be little he can do in the short term; we will still likely get relegated and I doubt we will see much if any movement in January.

 

His time to shine will come over the next two or three years. As the contracts start to expire on the likes of Long, Cedric, Hojbjerg, Forster, Lemina, Boufal etc. it will be interesting to see who he brings in.

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It's part of a long term plan (I hope) to turn us around. There will be little he can do in the short term; we will still likely get relegated and I doubt we will see much if any movement in January.

 

His time to shine will come over the next two or three years. As the contracts start to expire on the likes of Long, Cedric, Hojbjerg, Forster, Lemina, Boufal etc. it will be interesting to see who he brings in.

 

Could be that they’ve decided to take the gamble in January and finally spend that’s what I’ve been told although won’t hold my breath just yet

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That’s an interesting video and I think Leicester may have looked at us but made a big difference in learning from our mistakes and our main flaw. They avoided acting as a feeder club as no-one will win anything by selling your best performers to competitors as the Saints and Liverpool disparity so evidently proves. They cherry picked our best players and won the CL & look set to win the league. We replaced our best players with crap and sit at the bottom of the league. Our model or strategy is fundamentally flawed and until we recognise that and adapt, we will continue to struggle. We need to hang onto our key players and not sell anyone’s soon as they hit form. If they can overcome that hugely over bearing issue then they might actually rebuild that good spirit we carefully cultivated & brought up from league 1 and the Championship. You won’t get player respect and good spirits by being seen as selling off all your talent. It will leave the remaining players feeling bewildered and disillusioned and I believe that was the contributing factor to the start of our demise. That and total neglect and incompetence.

 

Along with many and hardly earth shattering news but I have heard it is Steve Walsh that will be appointed.

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I have no idea whether it may be the head of recruitment or director of football. Smart money is hoping it is a player trading role. Walsh’s strength. It will be suicidal if they don’t sign players in January and the club representative who spoke to the telegraph did suggest so but the club tend to promise anything to appease fans and, to date, have still not delivered on a single promise which renders all their subsequent statements as meaningless. The club have already gone back on their telegraph article platitudes. They categorically stated a DOF would be installed before the international break which has arrived and passed.

 

In fact, The Telegraph assurances by the club (noticed they never give the source so no one can be held accountable) were:

 

“A new senior recruitment figure who will occupy a similar position to the departed director of football operations, Ross Wilson, will also arrive before the next international break”.

 

Assurance no. 1

 

Also, “The new director of football has been identified and will be expected to work with the scouting network in finding a profile of quick, high-energy players that suit the Hasenhuttl style. The partnership with Hasenhuttl is expected to be along the lines of that between Graham Potter and his technical director at Brighton and Hove Albion, Dan Ashworth, formerly of the Football Association”.

 

Assurance no. 2

 

“Currently in 18th place, in January they will address the most pressing problems that they have at full-back and centre-back. There is an acceptance that the club do not have the right profile of player in every position to suit Hasenhuttl's pressing-style game.”

 

Assurance no. 3

 

I just hope we don’t have the weekly member of the playing (or coaching) staff reading a contradictory, Surkov style script in the Echo later this week when they monitor further fan discord in the aether of social media. We do not need another naive, transparent, expectation lowering bullsh*t u-turn article to justify another chapter of inaction due to the club making insincere promises. Better known as lies. Fans have had enough. Positive action. No more prevaricating. No more words. Action.

 

I had hoped part of the “major restructure in the last 12 months” was replacing 100% of the key staff we lost. Instead, none have been replaced (I don’t count pushing untrained, inadequately qualified staff (in situ) as a suitable replacement as our league position suggests). You get what you pay for.

 

Let’s also replace the infernal and inherently irritating slogan #WeMarchOn with #BringAmbitionHome

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The whole Director Of Football and Assistant Manager debacle is an absolute joke and shows you what a complete mess the club is currently in.

 

I would imagine that we would have known that Ross Wilson might be leaving and the key to any successful business is succession planning. Poor succession planning will lead to short term failings and more than likely long term failings due to panic recruiting and then having to go through the process again. Football is a different type of business with short term failure potentially leading to relegation, mass loss of income and years of peril in the lower leagues. Les Reed used to bang on about succession planning, but I see no signs of this with Saints in the current climate.

 

Our current coaching set up is ridiculous too with bang average coaches and no Assistant Manager.

 

Kelvin Davis - Very average keeper, only kept on as club captain as he told jokes in the dressing room. Now the jokes are on the pitch.

 

Dave Watson - Made every keeper progressively worse during his tenure and then gets a promotion.

 

Craig Fleming - Not great with the under 18's and has promotion.

 

No idea about the guy brought in recently, but it is no wonder we are in the mess we are in really.

 

This is without going into poor player recruitment.

 

Anyway, looking forward to going tomorrow :lol:

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As in youve heard a different name or that things must have changed because the club have made a decent appointment in Steve Walsh?

 

The club were pursuing someone already employed elsewhere which is possibly why there has not been an announcement whilst contracts and potentially compensation are agreed. I think it's pretty obvious who that person is/was. Perhaps those discussions have broken down and we are now pursuing alternative options.

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The club were pursuing someone already employed elsewhere which is possibly why there has not been an announcement whilst contracts and potentially compensation are agreed. I think it's pretty obvious who that person is/was. Perhaps those discussions have broken down and we are now pursuing alternative options.
Obvious as in Paul Mitchell?

 

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk

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Got about as close as anyone else in the league to a Mitchell-esque streak of unearthed gems with Mahrez, Vardy and Kante. Everton wasn't great, but they tried to make a statement spending a lot of money very quickly, which hasn't worked that well for anyone of late.

 

His track record is as good - or better - than we could've hoped for. Assuming he really is coming and isn't the backroom equivalent of Promes.

 

Apparently at Everton he tried to sign Maguire and Robertson from Hull and Erling Haaland before he went to Salzburg, but Everton turned them down.

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I have no idea whether it may be the head of recruitment or director of football. Smart money is hoping it is a player trading role. Walsh’s strength. It will be suicidal if they don’t sign players in January and the club representative who spoke to the telegraph did suggest so but the club tend to promise anything to appease fans and, to date, have still not delivered on a single promise which renders all their subsequent statements as meaningless. The club have already gone back on their telegraph article platitudes. They categorically stated a DOF would be installed before the international break which has arrived and passed.

 

In fact, The Telegraph assurances by the club (noticed they never give the source so no one can be held accountable) were:

 

“A new senior recruitment figure who will occupy a similar position to the departed director of football operations, Ross Wilson, will also arrive before the next international break”.

 

Assurance no. 1

 

Also, “The new director of football has been identified and will be expected to work with the scouting network in finding a profile of quick, high-energy players that suit the Hasenhuttl style. The partnership with Hasenhuttl is expected to be along the lines of that between Graham Potter and his technical director at Brighton and Hove Albion, Dan Ashworth, formerly of the Football Association”.

 

Assurance no. 2

 

“Currently in 18th place, in January they will address the most pressing problems that they have at full-back and centre-back. There is an acceptance that the club do not have the right profile of player in every position to suit Hasenhuttl's pressing-style game.”

 

Assurance no. 3

 

I just hope we don’t have the weekly member of the playing (or coaching) staff reading a contradictory, Surkov style script in the Echo later this week when they monitor further fan discord in the aether of social media. We do not need another naive, transparent, expectation lowering bullsh*t u-turn article to justify another chapter of inaction due to the club making insincere promises. Better known as lies. Fans have had enough. Positive action. No more prevaricating. No more words. Action.

 

I had hoped part of the “major restructure in the last 12 months” was replacing 100% of the key staff we lost. Instead, none have been replaced (I don’t count pushing untrained, inadequately qualified staff (in situ) as a suitable replacement as our league position suggests). You get what you pay for.

 

Let’s also replace the infernal and inherently irritating slogan #WeMarchOn with #BringAmbitionHome

 

Brilliant post. It’s like Comical Ali is our PR mouthpiece.

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Brilliant post. It’s like Comical Ali is our PR mouthpiece.

 

I’m genuinely fed up of being intolerant and cynical but the club under Kat then Gao have that effect on you. I can’t abide lying and I hate cowardly, hollow promises from wimps who can’t face those they lie and stitch up. It’s bad enough with our politicians. We don’t need it at our football club too. F**k that. You don’t ignore or, worse, constantly lie to your paying fan base. You don’t fo that. It’s pathetic. I could smell it a mile off.

 

So, rather than plain ranting, I thought I’d use their own words against them. As we do to expose our politicians, quote and remind the time wasting con artists the magnitude & fall out of their string of broken promises. I simply can’t tolerate it anymore. Under this regime, it’s been broken promise after broken promise and, frankly, I’m astounded our fans have remained patient or continued to find positives, no matter how far fetched. One thing we all share is our love for the club, for football, no matter how frustrated this situation finds us. All I want to do is go back to St Mary’s and watch a decent match of football with the hope of winning the odd game. This owner needs to go and we need some intelligent leadership, financially and professionally, stating the obvious.

 

I see it as a positive that Gao wants to sell - if true which seems plausible by his ineptitude & mute, disinterested & decimating chairmanship - but, as the independent article suggests, we are in a complicated and volatile position. That doesn’t bode well for the immediate future because we need player transfers and coaches and scouts and an assistant manager & a football director & decisive and positive action NOW. I can’t see that coming following this latest revelation in the news article. It seems survival this year is becoming longer and longer odds with each passing week. They say miracles happen at Christmas but I can’t see even Father Christmas bailing us out of this one unless Father Christmas comes from the Middle East and is a football fan and kind benefactor with more money than sense. Quite frankly, that kind of ridiculous pipe dream sounds more like something that you may read in a local newspaper.

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Brilliant post. It’s like Comical Ali is our PR mouthpiece.

 

They’ve been learning from Russia. Even Trump and our UK politicians as far back as Cameron follow the same, contradicting ethos of social management. It’s infuriating and cowardly. No-one answerable. Shape shifting in the shadows. What a world!!

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/is-trumps-chaos-a-move-from-the-kremlins-playbook/amp

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They should give the job to Jeremy Corbyn he seems to find billions lying around whenever he needs to be popular

Or give it to Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (sic) who could just lie to us all that we're really heading for the Champions League.

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Or give it to Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (sic) who could just lie to us all that we're really heading for the Champions League.

 

I think we’ve had enough of false promises and hollow words that never come true. I’d rather a magician who can magic a healthy transfer budget to overhaul our defence & midfield. Can’t the club do some deal with Beaulieu town planners? Allow Jim Ratcliffe to build his luxury home in exchange for him buying our club and transforming it into a proper club with ambition and intelligent management. Pipe dreams. I’d settle for a sensible owner who engages the community at the very least and forms an honest, transparent and respectable dialogue with the fans. Our standards are so low, anything is better that what we have.

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They should give the job to Jeremy Corbyn he seems to find billions lying around whenever he needs to be popular

 

Worth a read...

 

“Nowhere is this divide between public debate and economic reality more dramatic than in Britain, which is perhaps why it appears to be the first country where something is beginning to crack. It was center-left New Labour that presided over the pre-crash bubble, and voters’ throw-the-bastards-out reaction brought a series of Conservative governments that soon discovered that a rhetoric of austerity—the Churchillian evocation of common sacrifice for the public good—played well with the British public, allowing them to win broad popular acceptance for policies designed to pare down what little remained of the British welfare state and redistribute resources upward, toward the rich. “There is no magic money tree,” as Theresa May put it during the snap election of 2017—virtually the only memorable line from one of the most lackluster campaigns in British history. The phrase has been repeated endlessly in the media, whenever someone asks why the UK is the only country in Western Europe that charges university tuition, or whether it is really necessary to have quite so many people sleeping on the streets.

 

The truly extraordinary thing about May’s phrase is that it isn’t true. There are plenty of magic money trees in Britain, as there are in any developed economy. They are called “banks.” Since modern money is simply credit, banks can and do create money literally out of nothing, simply by making loans. Almost all of the money circulating in Britain at the moment is bank-created in this way. Not only is the public largely unaware of this, but a recent survey by the British research group Positive Money discovered that an astounding 85 percent of members of Parliament had no idea where money really came from (most appeared to be under the impression that it was produced by the Royal Mint).”

 

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/12/05/against-economics/

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Worth a read...

 

“Nowhere is this divide between public debate and economic reality more dramatic than in Britain, which is perhaps why it appears to be the first country where something is beginning to crack. It was center-left New Labour that presided over the pre-crash bubble, and voters’ throw-the-bastards-out reaction brought a series of Conservative governments that soon discovered that a rhetoric of austerity—the Churchillian evocation of common sacrifice for the public good—played well with the British public, allowing them to win broad popular acceptance for policies designed to pare down what little remained of the British welfare state and redistribute resources upward, toward the rich. “There is no magic money tree,” as Theresa May put it during the snap election of 2017—virtually the only memorable line from one of the most lackluster campaigns in British history. The phrase has been repeated endlessly in the media, whenever someone asks why the UK is the only country in Western Europe that charges university tuition, or whether it is really necessary to have quite so many people sleeping on the streets.

 

The truly extraordinary thing about May’s phrase is that it isn’t true. There are plenty of magic money trees in Britain, as there are in any developed economy. They are called “banks.” Since modern money is simply credit, banks can and do create money literally out of nothing, simply by making loans. Almost all of the money circulating in Britain at the moment is bank-created in this way. Not only is the public largely unaware of this, but a recent survey by the British research group Positive Money discovered that an astounding 85 percent of members of Parliament had no idea where money really came from (most appeared to be under the impression that it was produced by the Royal Mint).”

 

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/12/05/against-economics/

 

Typical. You started with your post talking about a crash, that was caused by banks who were no better than spivs, selling on packaged mortgages with no chance of repayment. Then you end it with saying the banks are the answer to our problems and are money trees.

 

An economic view worthy of the retards that are Corbyn and McDonell.

 

We should both f*ck off to the lounge for this debate.

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Worth a read...

 

“Nowhere is this divide between public debate and economic reality more dramatic than in Britain, which is perhaps why it appears to be the first country where something is beginning to crack. It was center-left New Labour that presided over the pre-crash bubble, and voters’ throw-the-bastards-out reaction brought a series of Conservative governments that soon discovered that a rhetoric of austerity—the Churchillian evocation of common sacrifice for the public good—played well with the British public, allowing them to win broad popular acceptance for policies designed to pare down what little remained of the British welfare state and redistribute resources upward, toward the rich. “There is no magic money tree,” as Theresa May put it during the snap election of 2017—virtually the only memorable line from one of the most lackluster campaigns in British history. The phrase has been repeated endlessly in the media, whenever someone asks why the UK is the only country in Western Europe that charges university tuition, or whether it is really necessary to have quite so many people sleeping on the streets.

 

The truly extraordinary thing about May’s phrase is that it isn’t true. There are plenty of magic money trees in Britain, as there are in any developed economy. They are called “banks.” Since modern money is simply credit, banks can and do create money literally out of nothing, simply by making loans. Almost all of the money circulating in Britain at the moment is bank-created in this way. Not only is the public largely unaware of this, but a recent survey by the British research group Positive Money discovered that an astounding 85 percent of members of Parliament had no idea where money really came from (most appeared to be under the impression that it was produced by the Royal Mint).”

 

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/12/05/against-economics/

 

Jesus wept.

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Worth a read...

 

“Nowhere is this divide between public debate and economic reality more dramatic than in Britain, which is perhaps why it appears to be the first country where something is beginning to crack. It was center-left New Labour that presided over the pre-crash bubble, and voters’ throw-the-bastards-out reaction brought a series of Conservative governments that soon discovered that a rhetoric of austerity—the Churchillian evocation of common sacrifice for the public good—played well with the British public, allowing them to win broad popular acceptance for policies designed to pare down what little remained of the British welfare state and redistribute resources upward, toward the rich. “There is no magic money tree,” as Theresa May put it during the snap election of 2017—virtually the only memorable line from one of the most lackluster campaigns in British history. The phrase has been repeated endlessly in the media, whenever someone asks why the UK is the only country in Western Europe that charges university tuition, or whether it is really necessary to have quite so many people sleeping on the streets.

 

The truly extraordinary thing about May’s phrase is that it isn’t true. There are plenty of magic money trees in Britain, as there are in any developed economy. They are called “banks.” Since modern money is simply credit, banks can and do create money literally out of nothing, simply by making loans. Almost all of the money circulating in Britain at the moment is bank-created in this way. Not only is the public largely unaware of this, but a recent survey by the British research group Positive Money discovered that an astounding 85 percent of members of Parliament had no idea where money really came from (most appeared to be under the impression that it was produced by the Royal Mint).”

 

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/12/05/against-economics/

 

Two replies? it must have bothered you ?

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What I hate in life, is when people announce deadlines and it doesn t happen.

It looks so unprofessional and makes us look like utter mugs.

 

If you can no longer meet the deadline, just say so, so people don’t get left hanging.

Communication at SFC is a shambles and has been for a very long time.

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What I hate in life, is when people announce deadlines and it doesn t happen.

It looks so unprofessional and makes us look like utter mugs.

 

If you can no longer meet the deadline, just say so, so people don’t get left hanging.

Communication at SFC is a shambles and has been for a very long time.

 

I thought we were back to Alexander Boris de Piffel Johnson again. LOL.

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What I hate in life, is when people announce deadlines and it doesn t happen.

It looks so unprofessional and makes us look like utter mugs.

 

If you can no longer meet the deadline, just say so, so people don’t get left hanging.

Communication at SFC is a shambles and has been for a very long time.

 

Did the club actually SAY that they were going to make an announcement or did it just come from a poster?

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Typical. You started with your post talking about a crash, that was caused by banks who were no better than spivs, selling on packaged mortgages with no chance of repayment. Then you end it with saying the banks are the answer to our problems and are money trees.

 

An economic view worthy of the retards that are Corbyn and McDonell.

 

We should both f*ck off to the lounge for this debate.

 

Unregulated banking versus regulated. Pretty simple stuff.

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Did the club actually SAY that they were going to make an announcement or did it just come from a poster?

 

Manji confirmed the other day, that it is Steve Walsh who is the new DOF. What about the other backroom changes (coaching staff) that was he was talking about? Has this happened?

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I dont think so but with all due respect to Manji he is ITK.

 

Or maybe not on this case? To be fair to the club, if they say they are going to do something and don’t, then they are fair game. If someone who says they are ITK says something and it doesn’t happen, the club can’t really be blamed can they?

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Or maybe not on this case? To be fair to the club, if they say they are going to do something and don’t, then they are fair game. If someone who says they are ITK says something and it doesn’t happen, the club can’t really be blamed can they?

 

Think its been mooted Walsh isnt DOF but to be head of recruitment, the DOF was supposed to be somebody already in employement hence the delay

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