Managing Director Football: Fabio Paratici

[EQP]

I'm loving how much he's ingratiated himself into the club by being so passionate and involved in the matchdays. If you skip to the 2:40 minute marker in the video below, you can see him giving PEH either instructions and or praise as Pierre takes his place on the bench.

 

[Yiddo100]

I'm loving how much he's ingratiated himself into the club by being so passionate and involved in the matchdays. If you skip to the 2:40 minute marker in the video below, you can see him giving PEH either instructions and or praise as Pierre takes his place on the bench.

And gives Nuno a Hug/chest bump at the end

 

[wiggo24]

Like the passion but not sure how keen I am on him shouting instructions to the players whilst they're on the pitch. He's not on the coaching staff he should leave that sort of stuff for them imo.

 

[Supersi32]

Like the passion but not sure how keen I am on him shouting instructions to the players whilst they're on the pitch. He's not on the coaching staff he should leave that sort of stuff for them imo.

More likely encouragement rather than instruction....

 

[Johno1470]

Like the passion but not sure how keen I am on him shouting instructions to the players whilst they're on the pitch. He's not on the coaching staff he should leave that sort of stuff for them imo.

I politely disagree. If we have a director of football who is well known for establishing deep relationships with his targets and signings then I would imagine he would be heavily invested in their performances on the pitch and not just if he got a good fee for them or not. The fee and signature is the start - his signings need to be successful and that is what he will be ultimately judged on.

His job is to sign players that suit our managers style and current crop of players. Therefore I’d like him to be as involved as much as the club, Nuno and players want.

It doesn’t make any sense to me if we have a DoF that rarely gets to know the squad and manager, instead choosing to just stick to the board room and negotiations.

 

[arunspurs]

Like the passion but not sure how keen I am on him shouting instructions to the players whilst they're on the pitch. He's not on the coaching staff he should leave that sort of stuff for them imo.

I dont think he was shouting instructions to players...He is sitting too far out for any player to hear anyway.
For Juve, he was in similar areas and had a very good rapport with players in general - I dont think he has ever done anything to go against/challenge Managers

 

[EQP]

I dont think he was shouting instructions to players...He is sitting too far out for any player to hear anyway.
For Juve, he was in similar areas and had a very good rapport with players in general - I dont think he has ever done anything to go against/challenge Managers

Also, the amount of experience he has and the crazy number of world class players that he's helped sign and watched train on a day to day basis, I wouldn't be opposed to him chiming in with some gems or advice ( if the situation makes sense of course ).

 

[spursfan77]

ITK is making it sound like it's all in hand but I'm not convinced. We've been here before. I hope Paratici pulls off everything we need but as I look at our likely starting 11, even with Kane it looks weak especially in that RWF position. We still have a huge question mark over Kane though, and if he goes, our attack looks horrible.

I honestly don't see Bergjwin working out, watched him again on Sunday and to me he doesn't have anything which makes him special. Just a very meh player all round.

At the moment we’ve had a worse window than last summer. Last summer we got in a new starting XI left back and central midfielder, a back up striker, back up keeper and Gareth bale. This summer we’ve got a new centre back, a back up keeper and a rookie winger. It’s really not good enough.

 

[Tucker]

At the moment we’ve had a worse window than last summer. Last summer we got in a new starting XI left back and central midfielder, a back up striker, back up keeper and Gareth bale. This summer we’ve got a new centre back, a back up keeper and a rookie winger. It’s really not good enough.

Yep, still a week and change left, but another day has passed without us getting anyone in, or anyone looking anywhere near close for that matter. Get the feeling we won’t do a single thing this week and will leave everything for the last couple of days in a mad panic.

 

[spursfan77]

Yep, still a week and change left, but another day has passed without us getting anyone in, or anyone looking anywhere near close for that matter. Get the feeling we won’t do a single thing this week and will leave everything for the last couple of days in a mad panic.

It’s looking that way, as many of us predicted. We can’t move on the players we want rid of so have no money to buy alternatives. That’s usually the way with us. Fingers crossed something/lots drops into our laps in the last week.

 

[Pekoni]

Tbh can’t really blame Paratici for not being able to move out our deadwood especially in this window. Average players on large wages with clubs struggling for cash means that there isn’t really any buyers for them.

Anyways I hope we’ll get some new players over the line soon

 

[carmeldevil]

Like the passion but not sure how keen I am on him shouting instructions to the players whilst they're on the pitch. He's not on the coaching staff he should leave that sort of stuff for them imo.

If a player is listening from a DoF from afar, we have problems. Doubt they are paying attention - more likely they hear lots of yelling with Italian accent.

 

[TasSpur]

I know we all want those signings across the line but we want players to improve us and that means players who are at Champions League level. We can't offer Champions League or even Europa. I can see how that means that they will wait to see if they can get CL (see Athletic Madrid interest in Vlahovic). If not then we are as attractive as anyone. But we have to wait. Seems like Paratici is working hard on that very problem. He may fail ultimately to get who we want but that won't mean he isn't any good, it's just where we are. The Romero business was brilliant and I have no doubt that it was left only to Levy that signing would not have happened. I am very encouraged by our new DOF.

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

At the moment we’ve had a worse window than last summer. Last summer we got in a new starting XI left back and central midfielder, a back up striker, back up keeper and Gareth bale. This summer we’ve got a new centre back, a back up keeper and a rookie winger. It’s really not good enough.

Firstly, you're comparing apples and oranges. This transfer window is infinitely more complicated because of the Harry Kane situation. Additionally, we have both a new manager and a new DoF whereas, last year, the manager and all those making transfer decisions had been in situ long before the transfer window opened. They had a big head start over Paratici and Nuno this summer.

Secondly, despite the aforementioned advantage, the only players we signed prior to the final 2 weeks or so of the 2020 window were Hojbjerg, Doherty and Hart - of which, all were cheap (or free), none were especially ambitious, and only one proved to be a success. By a similar stage of this window, the signings of Romero, Gil and Gollini represent a significantly bigger statement of intent. Romero, especially, is several levels above any of last season's permanent signings in terms of ambition. And Gollini is genuine succession planning by comparison to the mere stop gap, has been signing of Joe Hart. Of course, the signings of Bale, Reguilon and Vinicius rounded off last summer's / autumn's window nicely. But there's still every chance that this window will match it in that respect. Maybe even exceed it.

Lastly, to dismiss Bryan Gil - a full fucking Spanish international - as a mere "rookie", as if he is some kind of Jack Clark light who will contribute little if he even plays at all, is risibly negative spin. But I think you know that.

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

Yep, still a week and change left, but another day has passed without us getting anyone in, or anyone looking anywhere near close for that matter. Get the feeling we won’t do a single thing this week and will leave everything for the last couple of days in a mad panic.

Otherwise known as two weeks.

 

[McFlash]

I dont think he was shouting instructions to players...He is sitting too far out for any player to hear anyway.
For Juve, he was in similar areas and had a very good rapport with players in general - I dont think he has ever done anything to go against/challenge Managers

And I doubt he's going to be treading all over the toes of a manager that he helped sign.
We want unity, so a manager DoF and squad all being invested and working together is surely a good thing.
If Don Fabio wants to be a suited and booted cheerleader on the side of the pitch, then I'm all for it to be honest.
Bring the entire club together, no matter what your status in the structure.

 

[rossdapep]

Like the passion but not sure how keen I am on him shouting instructions to the players whilst they're on the pitch. He's not on the coaching staff he should leave that sort of stuff for them imo.

I get the concerns with having a Sporting Director/General Manager sat on the bench or close by. I felt the same when I first moved to Portugal and starting coaching. I felt that there would be interference.

However, I learnt it's not much of an issue and there are some benefits to it. As long as the director is more Rui Costa (Benfica's Interim President) than Bruno de Carvalho (ex-Sporting President). The first was very connected to the team in the right way, building good relationships but encouraging players and not interfering with the coaches messages. The latter, who regularly criticised players from the bench and even questioned the coaches decisions.

But it can be a good way to gain togetherness. When I was coaching, our general manager never interfered with tactical instructions, it was mostly behavioural and encouragement messages he was giving. It's also good for the players because they can feel the willingness from others than the coaches. Also, if you have petulant players or those who are not team members, these guys can be very direct and get them told without it distracting the coaches. We had a player who was chatting shit about the coach's decisions, who was on the touchline barking instructions, the general manager was able to discipline him on the spot without it escalating - the coach didn't even know it was going on.

Also, with match day squads consisting of 18 players now, it's quite challenging for the coaches to speak to every player, so an extra person there to offer encouragement and make sure players are focused is a plus. As assistant coach, I would often go to the players our head coach hadn't spoken directly to, to ensure that they knew what they were doing or give them little bits of encouragement. As long as all are pulling in the same direction it can only be a benefit.

It does have its issues, especially if the director/general manager starts to instruct players, especially if those messages are different to the coaches. However, in my time in Portugal, I didn't really see any of that going on.

 

[spursfan77]

Firstly, you're comparing apples and oranges. This transfer window is infinitely more complicated because of the Harry Kane situation. Additionally, we have both a new manager and a new DoF whereas, last year, the manager and all those making transfer decisions had been in situ long before the transfer window opened. They had a big head start over Paratici and Nuno this summer.

Secondly, despite the aforementioned advantage, the only players we signed prior to the final 2 weeks or so of the 2020 window were Hojbjerg, Doherty and Hart - of which, all were cheap (or free), none were especially ambitious, and only one proved to be a success. By a similar stage of this window, the signings of Romero, Gil and Gollini represent a significantly bigger statement of intent. Romero, especially, is several levels above any of last season's permanent signings in terms of ambition. And Gollini is genuine succession planning by comparison to the mere stop gap, has been signing of Joe Hart. Of course, the signings of Bale, Reguilon and Vinicius rounded off last summer's / autumn's window nicely. But there's still every chance that this window will match it in that respect. Maybe even exceed it.

Lastly, to dismiss Bryan Gil - a full fucking Spanish international - as a mere "rookie", as if he is some kind of Jack Clark light who will contribute little if he even plays at all, is risibly negative spin. But I think you know that.

We signed Bale & Regullion on the 19 September, the window closed on the 5 October 2020, 17 days later. We currently have 14 days until the window closes. So you might want to go back and do your maths. If you really want to be accurate. If you’re happy with what we’ve done so far coupled with not selling the players we need to, then fine. I’m not.

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

We signed Bale & Regullion on the 19 September, the window closed on the 5 October 2020, 17 days later. We currently have 14 days until the window closes. So you might want to go back and do your maths. If you really want to be accurate. If you’re happy with what we’ve done so far coupled with not selling the players we need to, then fine. I’m not.

Well, if forensic accuracy is that important, 19th September to 5th October is 16 days, not 17. And really, given that I wrote “two weeks or so”, it should have been clear that the precise date was not the salient point. Rather it is that, contrary to your claim, our early transfer dealings this summer have actually been better than last summer’s.

Do we need to do more? Of course. And I’m hopeful that we will do quite a bit more - despite the uniquely complicated circumstances. So I’m happy to wait until the window shuts before pronouncing on the success or otherwise of Paratici’s efforts. It bemuses me that you appear to be in such a rush to determine that “it’s not good enough”.

 

[yiddo]

I accept there is reason to "wait until the window shuts" completely before making judgement but it should also be perfectly acceptable to give opinions on how the window is going and how its likely to conclude.

People have mentioned 4-5 further incomings on top of outgoings to occur in the next 14 days, that just doesn't sound realistic to me at all.
Any more than 2 incomings is unlikely now and the closer we get to the window end the less likely the incomings will be at a quality level to go straight into the first XI.
Of all the players we have been linked with this window, right now at this point in the window the only link I am even the slightest bit confident in us getting over the line is Nahitan Nández.

Ending the window with Gollini, Gill, Romero & Nandez I think most people would be disappointed.