It was the news every Newcastle United fan was dreading; confirmation from the club that former manager Joe Kinnear was to return in the role of Director of Football.
After initial confusion from Kinnear in a series of bumbling and embarrassing media interviews, the official line was that both Alan Pardew and Chief Scout Graham Carr would answer to the new DoF.
It remains to be seen if this will be a match made in heaven or a plane crash of a disaster, with many Geordie fans having already made their minds up, and former Managing Director Derek Llambias resigning within days of the club’s announcement.
But is there still hope? This article considers some of the best and worst examples of Directors of Football in recent years, and what is required to make such an appointment a success.
The obvious place to begin is at St James’ Park, where fans were incensed by the arrival of the ‘Cockney Mafia’ and the instalment of the diminutive and seemingly unqualified Dennis Wise taking up an unfamiliar corporate role as Director of Football in 2008.
The lack of communication between Wise and then manager Kevin Keegan was plain to see, epitomised by the former’s decision to sign Ignacio González behind the returning Messiah’s back. For Keegan, this, and other transfer dealings out of his control, made his position untenable and he left, later winning an alleged £2m compensation in a court case. Newcastle were relegated that season.
The lesson here is that having a distinct and transparent hierarchy, that all parties have bought into, is imperative to the role being a success. Txiki Begiristain was already in place at Manchester City when Manuel Pellegrini arrived at the Etihad and each role is defined and clear. The difference with Kinnear’s arrival is that he is being placed within an existing regime and Pardew has two choices: to like it or lump it.
Managers in Premier League history who chose to ‘lump it’ include Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers stood defiant against the suggestion Louis van Gaal might be brought in as Liverpool’s Sporting Director in 2012, and he was never hired.
Avram Grant was brought in as DoF during Mourinho’s first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge, at a time when relations between the manager and Abramovich were at their most strained. It was almost inevitable that Grant would eventually replace the Internazionale-bound Special One.
But once again, as in the Kinnear case, the lines can become blurred when bringing in anyone who has plied his trade as a manager as an essential supervisor to the current manager, as the notion that the new arrival is ‘waiting in the wings’ is hard to ignore. Any Director of Football brought in must not have a hidden agenda or designs on the manager’s job.
The other factor that can affect the role’s potential success is the man himself. It’s a position which holds a huge weight of responsibility and demands trust and respect from fans, players, the board and non-playing staff alike. Therefore the candidate must be in tune with modern footballing culture and the culture of the particular club in order to steer it in a direction that satisfies all of its stakeholders.
On the other hand, you may have the wrong man. One such example is Damiano Comolli who had fluctuating success rates during spells with Arsenal, Tottenham and St Etienne before being appointed Director of Football at Liverpool in 2010.
Comolli had really made his name scouting for Arsenal in the late 90′s and early 00′s; arguably Wenger’s most successful period. After leaving Arsenal, and, after a brief stint in France as technical director of St Etienne, he was appointed DoF at White Hart Lane.
Despite overseeing key signings such as Gareth Bale, Luka Modrić, Dimitar Berbatov and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, he was also largely responsible for bringing in players who never reached their full potential at Spurs, including David Bentley, Alan Hutton, Giovani Dos Santos and Adel Taraabt. The latter signings came in for heavy criticism and Comolli was shown the exit door along with then manager Juande Ramos, who had also been underperforming. The role was scrapped altogether by the club after bringing in Harry Redknapp.
After a questionable spell back at St Etienne as DoF, he returned to the Premier League as Liverpool’s Director of Football in late 2010, charged with overhauling a cumbersome squad left in the wake of Rafa Benitez’s departure by new owner John W. Henry. During the January transfer in 2011, Comolli took centre stage. He brokered the deals which saw an out-of-form Fernando Torres sold to rivals Chelsea for £50m, while Luis Suarez and a £35m Andy Carroll arrived; the latter was the most expensive transfer for a British player in history.
Although Suarez has become a key player for Liverpool since his arrival, scoring 34 league goals, Carroll found himself first out-of-favour and then on loan to West Ham last season: a very expensive failure in the eyes of Henry, who has since seen Carroll permanently transferred to Upton Park. Add to that a reported £43m outlay for Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing; Liverpool fans weren’t exactly being treated to a world-class midfield for such a steep price.
For whatever reason, Comolli’s otherwise impressive CV has been tainted by mixed performances when taking on the challenge of the Director of Football role. To his credit, when he got it right he really delivered, however his many flops left a bitter taste. He was removed along with Kenny Dalglish after their ‘Moneyball’ experiment painfully failed.
Jose Mourinho, perhaps burned from his earlier experiences, played a large part in seeing off former Real Madrid DoF Jorge Valdano. He endorsed the instalment of club legend Zinedine Zidane as Valdano’s replacement, who had previously been advisor to club President Florentino Perez since 2009.
Zidane, part of the famous Los Galácticos side, brought the La Liga title to the Bernabéu as well as scoring the winning goal in the 2002 Champions League final at Hampden Park. He is synonymous with success in the eyes of the fans as a man who understands the Real Madrid culture and expectations and, as a former three time-World Player of the Year who won the World Cup and European Championships with France, commands unmatched respect from players around the world. To put it simply: he is the perfect fit.
Mathias Sammer, another footballing legend, holds the DoF role at current Champions League holders Bayern Munich. Although previously a manager with rivals Borussia Dortmund, he has not managed a club since leaving Stuttgart in 2005. The steely-eyed and designer suit-wearing Sammer looks the part, but he offers far more substance than aesthetics.
He has played a significant behind-the-scenes role in dragging Bayern back from a spectacular end of season capitulation in 2011/12, where they finished runner-up in the Bundesliga, German Cup and to Chelsea in the Champions League, in that unforgettable night at the Allianz Arena. Bayern are now holders of all three of those competitions, winning aN impressive treble last season against Dortmund. Sammer, it seems, will always strive to be a winner.
Pep Guardiola will have big shoes to fill after Jupp Heynckes’ fairytale swansong, although one aspect about his new job that won’t trouble him too much is the presence of Sammer. Guardiola worked underneath first Begiristain and then Andoni Zubizarreta at Barcelona, and he didn’t seem to affect his job performance all that much. Much like Pellegrini, the hierarchy he is entering into is stable, already in place and has proven to be successful.
In the Netherlands, Ajax are enjoying an Old Boys reunion within the backroom staff. Marc Overmars is the Technical Director, Edwin van der Saar the Marketing Director, Frank de Boer the manager and Dennis Bergkamp his Assistant Manager: all products of the legendary Ajax youth system during the 90’s. They all embody the culture of the Amsterdam outfit and brought glory and success to the club in their playing careers, so it is quite the experiment to see whether they can rekindle a similar chemistry off the pitch. Three back-to-back league titles suggest the formula is working; the next phase is to make Ajax a force on the European stage once again.
But maybe the idea of a Director of Football is still very much part of continental culture and tends to get lost in translation when employed by English teams? Indeed, Frank Arnesen had torrid spells with Chelsea and Tottenham despite demonstrating his prowess previously in the same position at PSV, being credited for unearthing talent such as Arjen Robben and van Nistlerooy and was also integral to bringing Brazilian striker Ronaldo to Europe.
For success, it seems that the infrastructure housing a DoF must have clarity and definition, while the Director of Football himself must command respect, and therefore the ability to attract big names. He must also offer acute knowledge of the game, demonstrate talent-spotting abilities and an eye for value. But perhaps more importantly, he must accept the vacancy with his eyes firmly away from the managerial hot-seat.
If these elements can marry, then we may see the role flourish in England, however with its failures far outweighing successes in the Premier League so far, I can’t help but feel it is merely a passing trend.
