Hendrik Almstadt

[tomd2103]

I agree with Dave ^^^^^

The role of running a football club is too big for one individual so other people need to be given power somewhere somehow.  So simply it is a case of deciding where the power lines are drawn.  In Dave's system there is continuity between managers and the club avoids the waste associated with flip flopping between managers like McLeish and Houliier.

Totally agree and if roles are clearly defined and agreed then I think it can work.  It is when roles become blurred that there can be problems.  I think the one positive is that a person in such a role can provide  stability and continuity even if there is a change  in manager.

[Dante Lavelli]

To think it was only a few months ago when Lambert was running the whole show.
We look a bit like a football club now.

Ha! Very true.

Whether he proves to be the right guy or not, I don't think Faulkner would even have known who to call whereas Fox has bought with him a host of contacts.

[Ormy Droid]

I hope Tim still has full power on who he brings in....

Not a fan of these Sporting Directors to be honest, another foreign myth that British football thinks it must have.

Have they really worked here though...just an open question.

Personally don't think they have worked. Spurs springs to mind, now Liverpool....

I never understood why football clubs (who tend to be owned by multi-millionaires who've grown successful businesses, and so aren't exactly mugs when it comes to money) were/are always so quick to allow dumb, uneducated ex-football players to handle their vast sums of money.

Even the managers that are able to string a coherent sentence together are liable to throw millions down the drain eg. like sell a promising youngster (Gary Cahill) and use the money to buy a glorified Giraffe (Zat Knight), and all O'Neill's other disastrous expenditures.

Halle-bloody-luiah! If we finally start acting like a well run football club (Swansea, Southampton) because it'll be about the first time since Ron Saunders left!

Sherwood may not like it, and possibly because Hendrik might soon be on to the fact that he's tactically hopeless, and a bit of a chancer really, who just passes the buck/blame onto anybody else but himself, just like his mentor at Spurs, Redknapp.

And then our Sporting Director can appoint the type of coach/manager that he thinks he can work with and bring the club success, see Les Reed/Ronald Koeman.

[frank]

On behalf of the German Villans:
Herzlich willkommen, Hendrik!

[pauliewalnuts]

I hope Tim still has full power on who he brings in....

Not a fan of these Sporting Directors to be honest, another foreign myth that British football thinks it must have.

Have they really worked here though...just an open question.

Personally don't think they have worked. Spurs springs to mind, now Liverpool....

I never understood why football clubs (who tend to be owned by multi-millionaires who've grown successful businesses, and so aren't exactly mugs when it comes to money) were/are always so quick to allow dumb, uneducated ex-football players to handle their vast sums of money.

Even the managers that are able to string a coherent sentence together are liable to throw millions down the drain eg. like sell a promising youngster (Gary Cahill) and use the money to buy a glorified Giraffe (Zat Knight), and all O'Neill's other disastrous expenditures.

Halle-bloody-luiah! If we finally start acting like a well run football club (Swansea, Southampton) because it'll be about the first time since Ron Saunders left!

Sherwood may not like it, and possibly because Hendrik might soon be on to the fact that he's tactically hopeless, and a bit of a chancer really, who just passes the buck/blame onto anybody else but himself, just like his mentor at Spurs, Redknapp.

And then our Sporting Director can appoint the type of coach/manager that he thinks he can work with and bring the club success, see Les Reed/Ronald Koeman.

I agree

It will also bring in a little continuity which might mean not totally reinventing ourselves every time we change manager.

I also think the MON period proved the folly of not having anyone with football knowledge involved in that side of things other than the manager himself.

The only possible problem is where the lines between one man's job and the others cross. So long as the roles are defined and agreed to all, that can be minimised.

Your comment re Sherwood, whilst sounding tongue in cheek, is a good point. Prior to this, we've had the manager, the CEO and Randy. If the manager is under performing (a situation we've more than a passing familiarity with, obv), then it has to come from the CEO, who is not a football person. Having another individual there who has a background more attuned to be able to spot these problems can only be good.

Fox played with fire last season leaving it so late to bin Lambert. He should have done it a long time before. Worth remembering, we finished 17th. I know that final position doesn't tell the whole story because it was clouded by things like the cup final, and we weren't rescued by a final day result or anything, but the margins between going down and not going down were as thin last season as we can ever allow them to be again.

In short, we got away with it just in the nick of time. If this appointment stops things like that (and the much discussed witless approach to contracts), then it can only be good.

[Salsa Party Animal]

We need someone in between managers and club to make sure we use our transfer and wages bill wisely and get good value for money, we wasted too much money in the past. if we become more like Arsenal in transfer market and that will be good for the club. I hate our club managers wasted millions on players with no return.

[Villan For Life]

A decent/professional structure off the pitch has been long overdue at Villa. I'm in the Paulie/Ormy camp as detailed above. A good appointment, welcome to the Villa Hendrik.

[Nastylee]

It certainly won't hurt to have someone looking at contracts.

[Villa in Denmark]

I agree with Dave ^^^^^

The role of running a football club is too big for one individual so other people need to be given power somewhere somehow.  So simply it is a case of deciding where the power lines are drawn.  In Dave's system there is continuity between managers and the club avoids the waste associated with flip flopping between managers like McLeish and Houliier.

Totally agree and if roles are clearly defined and agreed then I think it can work.  It is when roles become blurred that there can be problems.  I think the one positive is that a person in such a role can provide  stability and continuity even if when there is a change  in manager.

Changing manager is up there with death and paying taxes as one of life's unavoidable events.

[silhillvilla]

Guess the worry is we start getting players in that the manager doesn't want.

[cdbearsfan]

It's not like you to worry.

[Matt Collins]

😊😊😊

[Villa in Denmark]

Guess the worry is we start getting players in that the manager doesn't want.

Wrong way round. Almstadt's role should be more likely to irritate the incumbent manager at the other end of the contract with a "now's the time to get rid".

Other than that it should be no different on incoming transfers other than another voice / sense check on new contract terms.

[silhillvilla]

Guess the worry is we start getting players in that the manager doesn't want.

Wrong way round. Almstadt's role should be more likely to irritate the incumbent manager at the other end of the contract with a "now's the time to get rid".

Other than that it should be no different on incoming transfers other than another voice / sense check on new contract terms.

Yes I get the theory part. However in practice has it worked yet in any premier league club

[Dave]

Guess the worry is we start getting players in that the manager doesn't want.

Wrong way round. Almstadt's role should be more likely to irritate the incumbent manager at the other end of the contract with a "now's the time to get rid".

Other than that it should be no different on incoming transfers other than another voice / sense check on new contract terms.

Yes I get the theory part. However in practice has it worked yet in any premier league club

Well yes, all those ones mentioned earlier in the thread.