http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/17/andre-villas-boas-tottenham-technical-director AVB wants it back at Spurs. Not sure I like the thought of revisiting this idea, although if it speeds up our negotiations it could be a good thing, I guess. If we were to get one though, I'd rather he had a lot of Premier League experience above experience in the TD or scouting role, I think that's where we went wrong last time. I'm a bit annoyed that he's come out and said this though, unless he's already got Levy's approval to move back to this management structure.
The story about recruiting a TD - specifically Baldini - was circulating earlier this week, so guess that AVB was just put on the spot at the press conference. One can only suppose that he was briefed by the Media team before making comment..... Personally, when I hear of coach/managers advocating the TD role it always smacks a bit of 'Turkeys voting for Xmas' - but maybe it can work out for the best all round.
I read that he and Levy had spoken about this when discussing his job as spurs coach. The idea was mentioned by AVB during initial discussions as something"he'd like to see put in place in the future". So perhaps it's now we're seeing this finally come to fruition. AVB is pretty quiet when it comes to these sorts of things, so I can't imagine him saying it without it having been heavily discussed with Levy.
He says that he and Levy have been talking about it. I always think technical director points to the way the game is played and DOF or even of recruitment and acquisitions director makes more sense. Whatever he's called, I am undecided on this. A really experienced coach will have developed a network of acquaintances throughout the game and maybe the relative youth of AVB means that it is an effective way to go about things. The main problem is, if he is good at job, (like Arnesen,) he will be poached by big money clubs and losing the main piece of, say,a five year strategy takes some getting over, in fact it effectively ends that strategy because all our targets are then wiped away. If he is bad, we end up with a crap squad. Now I've thought about it, I'm searching for an upside.
Baldini was mentioned a few months ago as well. Roma have completely revamped their staff since Baldini came aboard, looking to emulate Barca rather than the model they were currently operating under - should Baldini come to Spurs, similar will presumably happen (presumably with a few staff changes - or, to put it another way, Freund will be off, and possible Sherwood as well)
It's got to be the right thing to do. The traditional manager role is now too big for any normal individual to perform properly. What the jobs are called is irrelevant but we clearly need someone to help in this area. I don't actually like the title though.
'Technical' too close to 'technique' for me, so always suggest play and performance rather than recruitment etc.... Maybe just stick with 'HR Manager'!!! (And I don't mean 'Arry....)
There are several circumstances playing a part here in this move. Firstly, Levy doesn't spend as much time in the UK as he used to and not as much as he thinks he should. But family affairs dictate otherwise these days. Secondly, although we did appoint an overseas recruitment guy from Australia, we have never replaced Ian Broomfield who left shortly after Harry. The main recruitment has been under the control of Tim Sherwood, who doesn't have too many contacts outside the UK, and David Pleat in who Levy continues to retain a high level of trust and uses on a "as and when" consultancy arrangement. Bring all these factors together, add in AVB's support for the idea and you can see why he club has chosen to move in this direction.
