Just wondering now they've had a transfer window to build their team and a start to the season with said team are we happy with them? Congerton... I've always been willing to go along with the idea of a DoF as it works on the continent and should free the manager up to go about coaching. I've gone off it now. De Fanti was an utter clown and while Congerton has done a little better I don't think he did enough to justify his position. I think the manager could have done just as much. Biggest plus... PVA Biggest minus... The Borini saga. Pace at centre back. If it was me in charge I'd be giving him one more window to get the squad where it should be, he fails then and he goes for me. Possibly too quick to judge but I'm fast losing faith in the DoF system. Poyet... I like Poyet, I think he's a decent bloke and I like that he tries to play football the right way. He's now been here over a year and I reckon it's safe to say he has enough about him to ensure that we stop up again. I'm disappointed we're yet to see him operating with his own team because for me it's only then that we'll know whether he's another Bruce/Hughes/Allardyce type, that will always keep you up but never take you to the next step, or not. Biggest plus... I think he's level headed enough to not panic, turn against the fans or lose the dressing room. Under other managers that 8-0 would have been a crisis, under him it feels like a blip. Biggest minus... I don't like his media handling at times, I find he becomes a bit strange and speaks in riddles. Closely followed by the fact he didn't push hard enough for more pace at centre back. Where else does everybody stand on the pair?
Congerton is a man and a position in the club that still is a mystery to me and i have no understanding how much role he plays in anything, i couldnt point at the guy in the street. Poyet is a modern manager for me, a real man manager, a nice guy balanced with passion and charm for the fans and the press. I really like him but worry that he doesnt have the steely stuff for the hard months ahead. I really hope he has he fight again in his belly for another potentially tough season but i do think the battles of the last transfer window showed him the reality of where we are (mainly geographically and status) and left him underwhelmed. He has looked flatter than last year so far and i really hope the 8-0 hasn't landed a crippling blow to his confidence as we may start looking beaten before the bell. But hey its early and coffee hasnt kicked in yet, a bounce back against a weakened Arsenal could right a lot of wrongs.
http://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport...nal-say-on-every-sunderland-signing-1-6916185 GUS Poyet has stressed that he has the final say on Sunderland’s transfer activity. The make-up of Sunderland’s recruitment system has again been in the limelight this week after Poyet claimed couldn’t take responsibility for only having four defenders available for the 8-0 defeat at Southampton. But the head coach has moved to clarify the relationship between himself, sporting director Lee Congerton and the club’s scouting system. Potential new signings are either proposed by Congerton and his staff, or Poyet himself - the likes of summer captures Will Buckley and Santiago Vergini falling into the latter category. But it is still Poyet who makes the ultimate decision on whether to press ahead with a concrete move for a target. He told the Gazette: “I’ve got a yes or no on a player. Every player who comes here, I agree. “There is no one among the ones we signed in the summer that I said ‘no’ and the club said ‘yes’. “That doesn’t mean I choose every single player. Let’s not be naive. “There is a working system, a recruiting system where we look at players and look at options and from those options we’re going to pick one or the other. “(Fabio) Borini and Marcos Alonso were easy for me. They were my picks. “They are not here, but Buckley was my pick and he is here. That was no recruitment system, it was me.” Poyet insists he was not being critical of Congerton when he drew attention to Sunderland’s scant defensive resources at Southampton, with the Black Cats subsequently boosting their options at the back by landing free agent Anthony Reveillere. “Look, I know that normally it sounds very negative and I understand why because of what happened in the past,” he added. “But I’m just trying to be honest and say I’m the head coach. “It sounded like ‘don’t blame me now’ but I was saying that when Billy (Jones) was fit and when Sebber (Sebastian Coates) played against Stoke that we were short. “What I said was that I don’t want eight players at the back, I want seven. “We started the season with six. I’d have been contradicting myself. “Now it’s easier we’ve got one more.”
Congerton- I think if he'd had the funds we'd see a much bigger and better squad. I'm not happy with how light we are but I understand he's got to work on a budget and well as deliver the Head coach demands. The job description for the DoF should read, 'must be able to work whilst caught between a rock and a hard place'. I think it's going to take another 3 or 4 windows to have a squad to be proud of that's capable of cementing a regular top 10 place. Needs time, we're simply not attractive and still financially restricted. Poyet: Love Gus me, Still relatively inexperienced and it shows, but I like his methods and I'm seeing him grow so can't grumble. Short: Great owner who won't be plummeting us into administration like other would. However, he's really showing that he's once bitten twice shy with the money. An extra 15-20 million is what we needed this summer, can't help thinking he should have been brave and put his hand in his pocket, called it an advance on next seasons TV money, a risk yes but one I think he should have taken, as the likes of us, Wigan, West Ham and Fulham have proven in the past, if you flirt with relegation too much, sooner or later you're going to go down. Not sure Short invested enough to steer us away from that flirtation.
He'll get a budget mate, probably four budgets in all, transfer budget, wage budget, development budget and development wage budget. He'll take his requests from Gus and he'll then run his scouting programs to form a shortlist for Gus, Gus then picks some targets in order of preference. Congerton will then try and obtain the requested players for the best deal possible, In the meantime he'll be looking for the best talents possible for the development squad by working with the Youth coaches whilst also working on contract renewals with Maggie. Basically he's a pen pushing negotiator who leaves the coaches to coach.
Yeah thanks for that and it probably is mostly common sense but i guess i just wish he was more 'something' but thats just my frustration at the club not being able to get players in probably not the guys fault at all.
Not really, i had to research the role with the same sort of questions in mind when we hired Di Fanti. He's basically there so that coaches aren't distracted from time with players so Gus can be on the training pitch instead of being snowed under with paperwork stuck in his office.
For me the DoF role only works if youve got a substantial kitty. I think both mens jobs were made harder by Short's tightening of the purse strings.
Curious to know mate, who have we spent money on? Rodwell for 10mill.. Jones, pants, Gomez & Buckley were free? Alvarez & Coates on loan. Just signed Reveillere for rest of season. We sold bards and Gardner for not a lot IMO, but you'd think ES would've spent more for stability!
I agree mate, the wage bill will be massively down too, Jones, Gomez & Buckley will be paid considerably less than the daft contracts Gardner, Bardo etc where on. I think the loan fee for Alvarez was around £4million to add to Rodwell, and we know there was a sizeable pot there for Borini. I do think we need to do a it more, but I trust Ellis to keep the club alive, and that's something in itself these days, very much so.
Mate my head can keep spinning all night thinking of Ellis Shorts logic.. Last season we created history in my eyes, going on impossible runs, the team & city belied belief! New season begins and does ES all of a sudden rely on the new TV money/ Gus getting us out of death? Time will tell my friend, I'm actually not that nervous tonight haha 100% effort that's all we deserve!
