NBTTT: OG's post last night re Wilder / Sheff Utd

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There was an interesting debate on Soccer Saturday yesterday; apparently the Sheff Utd owner wants to bring in a DoF but Wilder doesn't want one.

Paul Merson was arguing for Wilder saying that if he's in charge next season then they come straight back up, however with anyone else they stay down. If Wilder doesn't want a DoF, don't therefore force one on him.

Joleon Lescott made what I felt was a valid point in that Wilder's transfer activities haven't been successful. He pointed specifically to spending £45m on 2 players (Ramsdale & Brewster) with one season in the Prem between them and even that resulted in relegation. He argued that an owner would likely want to aim for a better return on their investment, hence the DoF.

Merson's counter-argument was that if there was a manager and a DoF, who would have the final say on transfers and then be answerable to the fans / media for bad results, poor signings etc?

There wasn't any mention of clubs at which a DoF / Sporting Director has worked well, however it just got me thinking about us and how the balance to the relationship between Farke and Webber seems to be spot on. At the end of last season when there was almost an assumption in some of the media that Farke would be sacked, I seem to recall Webber coming out relatively swiftly and basically accepting the blame and thus diverting such from Farke and the players.

We're very fortunate with our current management structure and long may it continue. Interesting that one of last season's more successful / progressive clubs now seems to be lagging behind in this regard.

Posted By: NxNW, Mar 7, 08:48:37