http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/tensions-over-transfers-saw-nigel-1546179 Do you believe this? DTLW
Oh god, imagine if GMI got word of this. Sounds feasible enough, though. People need to realise that the manager isn't head of every single footballing decision any more.
Yep. I do. No club ever has the manager being solely responsible for all transfers, but it looks like Adkins wasn't involved in the slightest.
Would make sense, Hence why Pochettino was keen to point out he was only "Head Coach" rather than team Manager. Very diffrent responsibilities, including dealing with transfers.
I believe the transfer bit...Nigel didn't get the type of player he wanted...defenders rather than another midfielder...and even denied we were going to sign Yoshida. I began to get concerned when signings didn't come in this window and Adkins didn't seem to know what was going on. He was being marginalized. The bit about forming a committee is daft as we already have one. And of course, the players are concerned about a change in emphasis by the new manager and the possibility of expensive stars coming in...change is always unsettling though may be also exciting. It will make them play their best as they know they could be playing for their futures. When Poch took over Espanyol he got rid of some of his friends, so he is not afraid to make decisions.
Makes as much sense as anything else. The 'transfer committee' seems like a recipe for disaster, though; obviously, all of those parties should have input, but there ultimately needs to be one person making the decisions...and, IMO, that person should not be the chairman. There are flaws with the 'general manager' system favoured in North America (namely, that they run the show in its entirety...rare is the coach who has any say), but having a Director of Football-type who casts the final vote is a hell of a lot better than having several people pulling in different directions.
Nuytinck is indeed way better than Yoshida, but Anderlecht were able to buy him rather cheaply from NEC Nijmegen. He is still young, 22 years old and plays for the Dutch National squad U21. But I don't think he would've done better than Hooiveld or Yoshida for that matter. Too young to tell. But I rate him higher than Yoshida. If the financial department had to chose between the two and chose to go cheap then yea, they cocked up
Yeah it does sound quite feasible, but they could have made that story up from piecing old reports together and adding in a bit of gumph. I think manager taking more of a back seat in transfers is a good thing, it should free them up more to work with the team. It also allows us to have people dedicated to working on transfers which in theory should make the clubs transfer activity more efficient.
I suspect Les Reed plays a big role in identifying transfer targets. I suppose that's okay as he has good football knowledge. If it's just the directors making these decisions then that's unacceptable. Let the football people make the football decisions.
The general manager system works brilliantly in the NFL. There are very rarely power struggles because everyone knows their role, and they work as a unit anyway. It seems a lack of cohesion and communication that hinders the system in most cases over here... power hungry Directors of Football and the like.
I actually don't believe this. Adkins would have some idea of what areas he wanted to strengthen but when would he have had time to scout Nuytick and Yoshida. Moreover, what would be the problem? Chairman wants one player, manager wants another. Chairman wins. Cortese got the guy he wanted and Adkins was using him pretty much from the start. If they were at loggerheads it would more likely be over Ramirez or possibly Rodriguez who we spent a lot on and doesn't always play. Would also explain why Lambert doesn't always start when most of us would have assumed he'd be dead certain to do so unless injured. But even then, that seems more like a situation where the manager would quit, as opposed to Cortese firing him. Cortese could simply order Adkins to play a certain player and Adkins would either do it or quit. Neither of them seem like the type who would play games with each other. I have no doubt that Cortese and Adkins probably had some substantial disagreements over many things, else I don't think he would have been fired in this manner. Transfer policy was likely one of them, but I just don't think Adkins would be fired just for that. I hope not, anyway. More likely they disagreed over transfer policy because of some deeper, more fundamental disagreement over the direction of the team.
It can work brilliantly, but there's room for ugliness. For some godawful reason, I am a fan of the Toronto Raptors. Years ago, they drafted a lazy giraffe by the name of Andrea Bargnani first overall, and since then the general manager has used his heft to criticize (both in public and private) his use by a series of coaches, blurring the boundaries that ought to be in place for such a system to work. Because he has hiring/firing power, he wins any such power struggles, effectively declawing his coach, and forcing me to watch a dead-eyed waste of oxygen hoisting jumpshots for eight years. But I digress. Definitely agree on communication; any such system works best when everyone has their say, but one person ultimately makes the call. Go too far in either direction and it falls to pieces. You might be right that the structure in football is partly to blame, because there rarely is a set chain of command; there are myriad involved parties, from the board down, all angling to have as much influence as possible, over multiple aspects of the club.
Including the name of Adkins' top defensive target. Rings true, though - could see the strain in some of his early season interviews.
I think it's fair to say that until autobiographies are released in 20 years time we will never know for certain. At the end of the day transfers are expenditures and Cortese holds the purse strings. This is not FIFA or football manager where you have free reign over a budget. For me the signings of Lee & Yoshida hold the most interest and give this story credence. Lee was free & welcomed by Adkins although he also signed one of his former players in Sharp. I think it was clear from a financial point of view that the purchase of Lee opened up potential marketing & revenue opportunities in the Far East. Even though Lee was injured, it was Sharp who left. Cove mentioned that he couldn't seperate the Dutch kid & Yoshida in terms of ability to perform in the PL now. You can therefore see that signing the captain of Japan from a business perspective must of swung his recruitment ahead of a Dutch kid.
He does oversee recruitment after all. He oversees just about everything apart from first team affairs according to a recent interview. To be honest I find this quite easy to believe, or at least a story like this. Yoshida and Mayuka were good signings from the perspective of spreading the brand to new corners of the globe, which is something we know Cortese wants to do. Mayuka has barely played, and Rodriguez, who appears on those posters around the stadium has been used sparingly as well. But then if Cortese was actually picking the team as some suggest, these players would have played and there would be no problems! It will be intriguing to see who Pochettino picks, and whether there is any pressure on him to play certain high-profile signings, especially when Mayuka is available. Presuming he does pick the team of course! The committee stuff seems unlikely though, I'd be shocked if something like that didn't already exist. Although if there's any truth to the idea that Adkins had no idea about signings until they were through the door (which I doubt), maybe it makes sense to give Pochettino at least some idea about developments.
I still think we are underestimating Reed's influence in this bullshit. No matter what we think of Cortese, he is a smart guy, and I don't believe for one moment that he would believe he had the footballing knowledge to overrule Adkins. Someone is whispering in his ear, only one person it can be really.
