Why do we need a DOF?

[eViL]

But none of you have ANY idea what the fucking lines of responsibility are..

You are criticising the guy that managed to talk the most highly rated youngster in Britain to join us over the club he supports, convinced the French U21 Captain to join us, convinced the most prolific English scorer in the Premier League to join us when he was 'being showed the money' by the Spam.

YEAH - Obvious Targets, but let's face it, they could have signed for ANYONE, but they didn't, they signed for us, because they've been shown our plans for the future.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

A bad result is something that can be gotten over, evil. But the uncertainty of the club's structure is an ongoing problem. And it is a problem because it seeds uncertainty in the fanbase. That is not a good thing for any club. Every football club is built on a fanbase foundation. If the club's foundation is uncertain and grumbling it can cause problems.

Look at the Scum. There is no doubt in anyone's mind what the role of Wenger is, what the role of David Dein was. They had a coherent, transparent structure in place and they are reaping the rewards. Because Wenger is the ultimate arbiter of who comes to the club and who doesn't. His scouting network is second to none and he knows which players he would like at the club and the club oblige him without question.

Moving on. Ramos strength, by all accounts is his tactical ability - the way he can change the team to produce the effect he wants. But to be able to do that optimally, he needs to have players that fit the tactics he chooses to impose on a game. His 'tactical freedom' would be restricted if the players that he has at his disposal don't fit the model he wants to utilise. Rather than being free to choose the system he believes will win a game, his choice of tactic would be based on the players he has available to him. If Jol was ousted because he didn't have the tactical know-how to win a game (something I don't believe anyway), how stupid would the club have to be to impose those very same weaknesses on the new coach?

Some people have said that we have a great DOF. Do we? What's his pedigree? 7 years as one scout in a network of scouts at Arsenal and then Technical Director at St Etienne do not a DOF make. The man is only 36 years old. Most footballers are still playing at thatage. I have yet to see evidence of real ability in discovering talent that no-one else spots or in being able to build a coherent team.

Let's look at the summer signings: Bale: everyone was salivating over Bale long before we even declared our interest. Kaboul: French Under-21 captain. Hardly hiding his light nder a bushell was he? Boateng: German Young Player of the Year, likewise. Bent: Top English goalscorer in the PL (two years running was it). And speaking of Bent, he is not the player we needed to be a fourth striker. He can't play, or certainly isn't used to playing, with his back to goal, which our strikers do. Yet Comolli saw fit to smash our transfer record to bring him to the Lane. Carrick: The heart of our midfield. We sold him and replaced him with a player who rather than filling the vacuum left by Carrick, seems better suited to play as a CB. These were not inspired footballing decisions, by any stretch of the imagination.

A real DOF is not just about buying and selling players. It's about having the ability and the know-how to shape the footballing nature of a club. And the, frankly, hit-and-miss transfers that we've seen under Comolli are evidence that that role may not be being adequately discharged.

Jol wasn't just sacked becasue of a lack of tactical know how. That was part, I'm sure, but also players themselves have come out and said Ramos has made them fitter. We've also heard Jenas this week saying all the players feel like they are playing for their future. Good - why was it not that way under Jol. Why has it taken Ramos a few weeks to spot Robinson, Dawson & Chimbonda can't defend when Jol never spotted it at all.

In case you hadn't noticed, we have played better football this year than any time in the last 10-15 years. We have been the better side away to Liverpool, Arsenal (twice), and competed evenly with ManU and Chelsea. Not bad for a team full of failed signings eh ?

There isn't too muchwrong with our side that a couple of defensive additions (defense & Midfield) with brains and leadership wouldn't solve and but for laural & Hardy dfending we would almost certainly be about 6-8 places higher. Then there would be much less questioning of Comoli.

You expect Commoli to attract the sort of players that either want regular CL football & huge CL wages - we won't even offer the wages. He is recruiting with one hand behind his back. I am certain that it is these constraints are the biggest single influence on who we sign. Levy's desire for a sustainable transfer policy is a great business model that has much merit and is a good compramise but as othersd have pointed out it does have it's drawbacks in the short term occassionally.

I don't agree with every purchase/non purchase that Comoli has made (Bent & Petrov spring to mind as the worst examples) but most of his signings have been pretty good and have at the very least made sense as stand alone signings.

And it's Ok saying Kaboul, Bale & boeteng were "obvious" but the point is 5 years ago we never would have been able to persuade the french U21 captain, the german Young player of the year, and the hottest prospect in the championship to come anywhere near us. Comoli did.

 

[rez9000]

But none of you have ANY idea what the fucking lines of responsibility are..

You are criticising the guy that managed to talk the most highly rated youngster in Britain to join us over the club he supports, convinced the French U21 Captain to join us, convinced the most prolific English scorer in the Premier League to join us when he was 'being showed the money' by the Spam.

YEAH - Obvious Targets, but let's face it, they could have signed for ANYONE, but they didn't, they signed for us, because they've been shown our plans for the future.

No, we don't know what the lines of responsibility are, and that in itself is a big problem for us, the fans. We need to feel that the management of the club is in good hands and, to that end, a clear delineation of responsibility is required. The fact that we don't know is a point against Comolli not for him.

Also, the signing of big names does not equate to a good DOF (or more accurately in the case of Spurs, Sporting Director). A good DOF is one who has the ability to build a team, which doesn't necessarily translate as signing the most high profile players. And as for being shown the plans for the future, how about showing us, the fans, the plans for the future?

If Comolli's role as DOF is one of building a team (as is true of all DOFs) then I believe he has failed to discharge his responsibility in anything approaching a satisfactory manner. Let's ignore the individual signings. Let's look at the squad as a whole. Does our squad show adequate signs of cohesion, balance, ability and strength in depth? Do we have the right blend of experience and youth? Do we have a squad that can be rotated without significant loss of strength? Our flanks are weak, our defence rickety to the point of collapse, our midfield creative but woefully weak when playing defensively. These are obvious to the most casual of football fans, and yet it seems beyond the ability of Damien Comolli to address them.

On the issue of attracting players, we're hardly Arse End of Nowhere United. We are one of the most historic and accomplished clubs in the world. Our achievements date back to the turn of the century and since the 1950s, we have won at least two trophies every decade. Convincing a player to sign for Spurs doesn't strike me as the most challenging thing to do. And even if it were, that does not necessarily mean that Damien Comolli is the right man to pick the players we attempt to sign.

Moving on. Part of our troubles this season are as a result of our DOF and our then coach being unable to reconcile their differences. And this is another point that suggests that Damien Comolli is unsuitable for the role. As I stated he is 36, and his experience in football number, at the absolute most, 15 years. Martin Jol is 51 years old and he has nearly 20 years more experience. And yet he was deemed subordinate to Comolli. That was bound to rankle. Surely the DOF of a club like Spurs should be an individual with proven experience in that role? One year as technical director at a midtable French Ligue 1 club is not a proven pedigree.

I'm not necessarily knocking the DOF system (although I'm not fully convinced either) but at the very least have a person in that role who has that proven pedigree. At least have a person in that role that the coach can work with without feeling that he is being dictated to by an ingenu. Frank Arnesen was the same age as Martin Jol and started his football career a year after Jol. He had experience and he had proven himself more than able in the role of DOF, having worked the role successfully at PSV for 10 years. He was considered one of the most knowledgable men in European football. No coach would have hard feelings working under Arnesen. How would you feel if you had worked in a job for 30 years and man 15 years your junior with less than half your experience was not only appointed your superior,, but was deemed more important to the firm than you?

All of the points above do not recommend Damien Comolli as the right man for the job. His position does not breed confidence in the fans. His position has been directly linked with the firing of the most successful Spurs manager for 20 years. If stability is the order of the day and is the justification for having a DOF, then Damien Comolli has been shown up as hopelessly inadequate.

 

[pablo73]

But none of you have ANY idea what the fucking lines of responsibility are..

You are criticising the guy that managed to talk the most highly rated youngster in Britain to join us over the club he supports, convinced the French U21 Captain to join us, convinced the most prolific English scorer in the Premier League to join us when he was 'being showed the money' by the Spam.

YEAH - Obvious Targets, but let's face it, they could have signed for ANYONE, but they didn't, they signed for us, because they've been shown our plans for the future.

but you've just summed up the problem right there. noone has ANY FUCKING idea who is responsible for what. that is the problem. it sows uncertainty and this whole thing that Levy came out with about joint responsibility for decisions between four people just menas there is the danger that every decision becomes death by committee. in my opinion, it just gives levy another person to hide behind when flak comes his way.

 

[Kurtzen]

Daniel, overwhelmed by his responsibility as Chairman, decided he needed help?

Spoiler

 

[senseispab]

Well of course he'll agree.

We have got one, he'd be an idiot to disagree with that. And it also allows the coach to spend more time coaching, it'd be impossible to disagree with that.

But yeah... thanks for your input :-|

Don't be a smug prick all your life. It was disagreements with comoli over buying policy that clearly destabilised his authority as manager of the team and contributed to him leaving.

Also, the mere fact that we spend so much time on this site debating what exactly it is that comoli does suggests to me, at least, that the necessity of the role itself is not a no-brainer.

now jog on son.

 

[eViL]

Pablo, you misquote me.

I said none of YOU (or me) know what the lines of responsibility are. Commolli's getting it in the neck and none of you know what he does or doesn't do.

I have no doubt everyone at the club knows what the fuck they are doing, they don't need to justify it to us, I just want them to get on with it, we've had TOO MANY comings and goings the last couple of years, we need consistency.

Which we'll get, if you lot just stay off everyone's back.

 

[rez9000]

Pablo, you misquote me.

I said none of YOU (or me) know what the lines of responsibility are. Commolli's getting it in the neck and none of you know what he does or doesn't do.

Let's analyse, then.

Levy confirmed that he is in charge of the academy at the EGM late last year. That's easy enough. And according to all reports he's in charge of the club's medical and secretarial duties too. Fine and dandy. He's also supposedly in charge of scouting. This is where we run into trouble. Does this mean that he is the person who is primarily responsible for signing players?

If he is, his record is uninspiring at best, given the relative weakness of the squad. Another negative to add is that in this transfer window, the target most likely to materialise isn't (as most football followers would expect), a defender, or a central midfielder, but, yes you've guessed it, another stiker. And this striker is potentially being brought in to cover for the departure of one of our other strikers, with most people laying odds that it will be Bent that is dispensed with. So 6 months after utterly shattering our transfer record, the player in question is being shipped out because he wasn't what we needed in the first place. Does that sound like a man who knows what he is doing, evil? Take the hypothetical: Would you be satisfied with a DOF who's actions resulted in at least a £3 million loss in a 6-month period? If you were chairman, would you consider that to be sign of an employee doing an effective job?

On the other hand, maybe Comolli isn't in charge of transfers at all. In which case, what justifies the enormous amount of influence he seems to brandish, influence so significant that our coach was deemed to be more dispensible?

Or perhaps the third option is possible. That he is partially responsible for signings. In which case, why was responsibility for our poor start to the season attributed to Martin Jol only? Again, Damien Comolli's perceived influence is disproportionate to his role.

So, three diferrent possibilities and none of them can be deemed to make Damien Comolli's position as a tenable or justifiable one.

The possibility that does occur is a potentially sinister one in that Daniel Levy doesn't want an effective DOF. That he wants someone at the club who can be relied on to follow the money-generating policies he has set down with regard to transfers. That's for the more cynical people out there, and is the height of conjecture.

I have no doubt everyone at the club knows what the fuck they are doing, they don't need to justify it to us, I just want them to get on with it, we've had TOO MANY comings and goings the last couple of years, we need consistency.

Yes, they do need to justify it to us. We pay their wages. Or are you siggesting that the club would continue without us? But you are absolutely right when it comes to consistency. So, if we want consistency, what's the best way of gaining that consistency? I would suggest that alienating, isolating and then finally firing the most successful coach the club has had in 20 years isn't the best method of being consistent. And Comolli has plenty of blood on his hands over that episode.

Which we'll get, if you lot just stay off everyone's back.

Loyalty is a fine thing, evil, and a good thing too. But blind faith isn't. We care about the club, and if one or some of us believe that it is being mismanaged then it's natural that we speak out. Comolli has had the opportunity to prove himself. He's been at the helm for two years. All he's delivered is an unbalanced squad, a dispirited fanbase and a fired coach. If that's the sort of consistency we have to look forward to, then far from sitting back and letting them get on with it, I for one am going to make sure my voice is raised in protest.

 

[ethanedwards]

Why don't you ask Jol if he agrees....

Why. He is no longer an employee of THFC.

 

[senseispab]

Why. He is no longer an employee of THFC.

In part because of differences of opinion with our DOF over the club's buying policy.

Your point is?

 

[ethanedwards]

In part because of differences of opinion with our DOF over the club's buying policy.

Your point is?

I do not have a difference of opinion with the DOF over buying policy. I you care to enlighten me with the facts it would be most welcome.

 

[senseispab]

I do not have a difference of opinion with the DOF over buying policy. I you care to enlighten me with the facts it would be most welcome.

huh?

Try again, but in English this time.

Thanks.

 

[SpurSince57]

Eny fule kno that it is to ensure continuity and minimum disruption in the event of a change of coach. The continuity is provided by the Chairman and DOF/SD, who provide a squad of good players for the coach to work with. A new coach doesn't have to worry his little head with all the tiresome hassle of signing new players, he can just concentrate on the job of getting the beat out of existing ones.

So that's worked really well, then.

 

[nidge]

Eny fule kno that it is to ensure continuity and minimum disruption in the event of a change of coach. The continuity is provided by the Chairman and DOF/SD, who provide a squad of good players for the coach to work with. A new coach doesn't have to worry his little head with all the tiresome hassle of signing new players, he can just concentrate on the job of getting the beat out of existing ones.

So that's worked really well, then.

Well we have a top 4 squad don't we?

 

[Doctor Who]

we don`t need Defoe

 

[SpurSince57]

we don`t need Defoe

No, this is about whether or not we need a DOF, not whether or not we need Defoe. Do try and keep up.

 

[Doctor Who]

what is DOF

 

[wildheart]

I'd rather have a DOF than a Defoe....

 

[SpurSince57]

Well we have a top 4 squad don't we?

So the Dear Leader would have us believe. Ramos appears to differ.

What we definitely do have is a Hate Figure to be Aunt Sally for all the shit which would otherwise be chucked at the Dear Leader. Because nothing that goes wrong can ever be Lil' Daniel's fault.

 

[eViL]

Hmm.. sacking Jol was all down to one man.

The fans are innocent because not one of them were growing restless and calling for the guys head in the first place were they?