Budge update on Sporting Director role

[Francis Albert]

5 minutes ago, Vlad Magic said:

 

Explain?

Read the thread. Your opinion is not the only one and I am not the only one who disagrees with you.

 

[GinRummy]

Just now, Adam_the_legend said:

You seem very certain this is how it would work. Assumptions or ITK. 

I think he’s describing, in general terms, how an SD is meant to work.

[Vlad Magic]

Just now, Francis Albert said:

Read the thread. Your opinion is not the only one and I am not the only one who disagrees with you.

 

 

You are the only one to challenge my opinion.

 

Sorry.

[Prof]

Conspiracy theorists out in force spouting usual nonsense. 

[jambo mark]

1 minute ago, Diadora Van Basten said:

Eventually got the manager.

And fully explained why it took so long!

 

Is she to blame for Barnsley owners being at it? Or not doing relevant due dillegence?

[Adam_the_legend]

20 minutes ago, Vlad Magic said:

 

Congratulations. You have taken the use of the word influence and used liberal definition to prop your blatant agenda up.

 

Everyone knows Hickeys next move has importance both in terms of squad strength to us and financially moving forward. Levein has a role to play in both of those scenarios.

 

That to you is influence in the first team. 

 

Influence in the first team to the rest of us without an agenda is very different.

So everyone that disagrees with your view has an agenda and you are pure and completely without bias or agenda. Aye, good one. 

[jambo mark]

3 minutes ago, Adam_the_legend said:

You seem very certain this is how it would work. Assumptions or ITK. 

It’s the same process that Neilson described when he was head coach and Levein was DOF.

 

When life was simpler and more peaceful!

[Diadora Van Basten]

Just now, jambo mark said:

And fully explained why it took so long!

 

Is she to blame for Barnsley owners being at it? Or not doing relevant due dillegence?

Meanwhile we are now ten points behind Hibs and have injured our brightest prospect by playing him at left centre back.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

3 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

Surely that hardly happens anywhere though?

Do you want MacPhee or Levein having a say in it?

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, sadj said:

One of the big take aways is AB runs Hearts as a business off the pitch not as football clubs tend to be run. If we start to get success on the pitch then Almost no one will complain. Until we do she does leave herself open for some criticism for doing it that way. People often have uses elsewhere in a big business and are trusted so are moved from one position to another as an owner sees value in them. 

Agreed. Doesn’t make it right or wrong, it’s just the way she runs her business. We should be used to it by now

[Bull's-eye]

9 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Because there are two of them and of because of who they are. IMO of course.

 

Of course, you obviously wouldn't comment on anybody else's ideas about what goes on behind the scenes so I look forward to reading some factual evidence from you about why it's so unfortunate. 

[Adam_the_legend]

Just now, jambo mark said:

It’s the same process that Neilson described when he was head coach and Levein was DOF.

 

When life was simpler and more peaceful!

The fact remains that has not been spelled out specifically by AB for how the responsibilities will be split. Until she does there is no way to know how this works unless someone has ITK info. 

[GinRummy]

Just now, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Do you want MacPhee or Levein having a say in it?

I think AM could maybe do well as SD. I wouldn’t trust CL not to meddle too much.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

2 minutes ago, jambo mark said:

It’s the same process that Neilson described when he was head coach and Levein was DOF.

 

When life was simpler and more peaceful!

And we now don't have a DOF. We have this vague other role which we seem to be creating to avoid punting people.

[Adam_the_legend]

11 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Budge says she’s now started the recruiting process to find one now that she’s found a manager. Did you watch the press conference or actually read the full article? Or did you read the headline and run with it like everyone else? Budge has officially started the process for SD for a day, try not being impatient.

She did also say a couple of things that run contrary to that position, which one do you believe? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

1 minute ago, GinRummy said:

I think AM could maybe do well as SD. I wouldn’t trust CL not to meddle too much.

Why exactly? How many contracts has he negotiated in the past?

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Cruickshank for Scotland said:

That would have been a pretty shitty thing for Levein to do considering all Ann Budge has done for him by bringing him in from the wilderness after his Scotland debacle.

With the complete arse he made of the job he should have been happy to accept gardening leave and slink away.

Agreed but I was responding to the basic question re why people going on gl isn’t just a straightforward move 

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Cruickshank for Scotland said:

Would that not prove them wrong?

No, the point would be they have screwed us up and nothing could be done to rescue the situation. 

[Guest ToqueJambo]

2 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

And we now don't have a DOF. We have this vague other role which we seem to be creating to avoid punting people.

 

Tell that to the many other clubs of all levels that have an SD and whose fans aren't being complete idiots about it.

[Vlad Magic]

4 minutes ago, Adam_the_legend said:

So everyone that disagrees with your view has an agenda and you are pure and completely without bias or agenda. Aye, good one. 

 

Until someone disagrees with my original posts 3 or 4 pages back, what else am I supposed to say?

 

Go back and read it. Agree with it or point out to me what you don’t agree with. Until then I will assume everyone agrees with it!

 

**** me this is hard work 😝

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Cruickshank for Scotland said:

Took you 24 minutes to come up with that! 😉

10 seconds after I read the post, honest. I don’t spend every waking minute on here. 

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Why exactly? How many contracts has he negotiated in the past?

ran a couple of successful businesses. Got good experience working with youth. God relationship with the board  helped with a few good signings already. Good contacts.

[BackOfTheNet]

3 minutes ago, Adam_the_legend said:

She did also say a couple of things that run contrary to that position, which one do you believe? 🤷🏼‍♂️

Like what? She said that until a new SD is found that the role will be shared amongst two people already at the club rather than by no one. What did she say contrary to that?

[Guest ToqueJambo]

5 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Why exactly? How many contracts has he negotiated in the past?

 

How many has any SD who does the job for the first time? Or how many first-time managers have done it when they take on that role? Levein had lots of experience doing that. But he was rubbish at it apparently. What makes you think McPhee can't do this fairly basic thing many rookie managers have to do themselves? IN fact, many owners do the negotiations and sign players. I'd rather someone with football knowledge like McPhee or AN Other personally.

Edited December 11, 2019 by ToqueJambo

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Cruickshank for Scotland said:

“Hearts haven’t done that either”?? They sacked him as First Team Coach and Budge confirmed he is acting as a joint interim DoF or DS or whatever we are calling the position now.

The point is some are posting that this arrangement with Levein is “normal”.

My point is it is anything but normal in the football world.

He isn’t acting DoF or anything. She said she has asked him and McPhee to split the responsibilities of the Sporting Director role that she is currently trying to fill. She wants to take as much workload off Stendel as she possibly can so that he can focus on first team. We don’t have an SD at the moment, we don’t have acting SD’s at the moment, we don’t have joint SD’s at the moment. The DoF role has been abolished at Hearts. Hope that clarifies things for you. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Just now, ToqueJambo said:

 

How many has any SD who does the job for the first time? Or how many first-time managers have done it when they take on that role? Levein had lots of experience doing that. But he was rubbing at it apparently. What makes you think McPhee can't do this fairly basic thing many rookie managers have to do?

Sigh. The dichotomy here is people saying Stendel is "inexperienced" in these matters so an SD will help. So why employ someone who has never done it?

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

Here it is in full - Budge's actual words not journalists' interpretation of them. This outlines very clearly what their tasks will be and that it is temporary until the new person comes in. She leaves the door open for McPhee which everyone knows anyway.

 

So what here makes you think Budge is talking about beyond this season or even beyond January? Feel free to highlight in bold. The bit I highlighted is pretty definitive no?

 

--

 

“I know this is unusual in football but Austin brings with him a lot of useful qualities,” said Budge when asked about MacPhee’s future.

 

“He’s been working on the recruitment side of things for a few months now and building relationships with the likes of Man City. I think everyone knows we have a relationship there.

 

"I don’t want to lose that, so there is still a lot of value, and a big job to do. The squad is bigger than we want it to be. For various reasons we’ve got ourselves into this situation, so we’ve got to trim and bring in new players who can play the style of football Daniel wants to play.

 

"I want Daniel totally focused on the first-team, totally focused, and he can shout his demands and say ‘I need somebody with this, that and the other’ or ‘this person is not going to work’ and I want somebody else to say ‘okay, we’ll go away and address that’.

 

“I don’t want to do this big umbrella thing because then people ask if the manager reports to him or does he report to him? They’ve got different jobs.

 

"I’ve got Craig looking at certain parts of the operation, largely youth, but a bit more than that. Austin will focus very much on recruitment and video analysis, which is very much his strength. He’s the stats man, as you know. Daniel will focus on the first-team.”

 

“We’ve got some important decisions to make and me bringing in somebody else new to the club, I don’t think that’s the best way of doing it.

 

“So, I want to use Austin and Daniel together to try to determine what we want to do on the recruitment front, and January is all about trying to change the squad around. In the meanwhile, in the background, I’ll be going through CVs and talking to people. I’m not desperate to get somebody in the door tomorrow.

 

“Austin will be doing part of that job and Craig will be doing another part of it. They could continue in that. If I find somebody I think will be absolutely perfect for taking on what in my mind is the sporting director’s role, then Austin, myself and Craig will have to sit down and talk about it.”

 

MacPhee is interested in the sporting director job. “Potentially, yes,” said Budge. “But, again, I think the key thing is we have to define exactly what that role is. So, the way it is in my head, he’ll be doing part of that role. Will he be the right person to do the whole role? We’ll see.”

 

She won’t appoint a sporting director and keep MacPhee and Levein on the payroll. “I don’t think I want to go there, because that it is, again, a bit of a bloated management structure.

 

“Austin and Craig are both under contract until the end of this season. If I find somebody else, I have to sit down and talk, whether it’s Austin or Craig, to say I’m bringing somebody in.

 

“The one thing I am with all of them is completely honest. They know that I think the best way forward is all getting behind the new manager. We’ve got priorities in recruitment and trimming the squad, etc. Let’s really focus on getting that done. 

 

“We ran a couple of tournaments last year and we’re going to do more of that. Austin was heavily involved in that. Again, there are things I need to get to a certain point and whether it’s Austin or whether it’s Craig, they are people who I think can get us there.

 

“Meanwhile, I’m looking for one person to do all of it. I’m not setting a timeframe on it.”

Great post. Unfortunately as 17 pages of this thread proves, many will not take the time to read it, far less think about what it actually says. Gets in the way of the anti-Levein thoughts. 

[Guest ToqueJambo]

1 minute ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Sigh. The dichotomy here is people saying Stendel is "inexperienced" in these matters so an SD will help. So why employ someone who has never done it?

 

We haven't employed someone who has never done it. We employed Levein to do it. He's been sacked. McPhee has been asked to help Stendel out with January recruitment. We will then either employe McPhee to do it or someone else. How do you know McPhee hasn't done it before anyhow?

[number witheld]

2 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

Great post. Unfortunately as 17 pages of this thread proves, many will not take the time to read it, far less think about what it actually says. Gets in the way of the anti-Levein thoughts. 

Totally. 

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, GinRummy said:

Craig Levein will be SD imo.

I think it’s likely as well and have little issue with it. She might unearth someone with lots of experience in a similar role elsewhere or Stendel may have a preferred candidate. If not I agree re Levein. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

1 minute ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

We haven't employed someone who has never done it. We employed Levein to do it. He's been sacked. McPhee has been asked to help Stendel out with January recruitment. We will then either employe McPhee to do it or someone else. How do you know McPhee hasn't done it before anyhow?

Because I'm looking at his career prior to HMFC! 

 

Personally, I don't think we need the role but if we are going to appoint one I don't think MacPhee is best suited to it. 

[GinRummy]

Just now, soonbe110 said:

I think it’s likely as well and have little issue with it. She might unearth someone with lots of experience in a similar role elsewhere or Stendel may have a preferred candidate. If not I agree re Levein. 

I hope she doesn’t though I think she will. He’ll be too tempted to get too involved with the first team imo.

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Not saying that at all. However, we have the world's strangest job share going on in our role and the idea of MacPhee recruiting for Stendel is hilarious. Stendel is experienced enough to recruit who he wants himself. Much like McInnes at the sheep recruits who he wants. In short, it is overhead we don't need.

She didn’t say McPhee was selecting who to hire. Just as the Sporting Director won’t decide who we hire. The way it works is Stendel and staff  will identify targets and the SD gets them in. Not sure how people don’t get this. 

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Adam_the_legend said:

Literally no one is advocating that. At least know what you’re arguing against 

Posters on here want Levein, McPhee, Fox, Daly out of the club. Who is left at first team level? 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

1 minute ago, soonbe110 said:

She didn’t say McPhee was selecting who to hire. Just as the Sporting Director won’t decide who we hire. The way it works is Stendel and staff  will identify targets and the SD gets them in. Not sure how people don’t get this. 

No. I get that 100%. The point remains.

[steve123]

1 minute ago, soonbe110 said:

She didn’t say McPhee was selecting who to hire. Just as the Sporting Director won’t decide who we hire. The way it works is Stendel and staff  will identify targets and the SD gets them in. Not sure how people don’t get this. 

I might be wrong but not how I read it- Stendel says I need an attacking midfielder etc then is presented with options and decides who to go after may well be wrong but was my understanding !!

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

1 minute ago, soonbe110 said:

Posters on here want Levein, McPhee, Fox, Daly out of the club. Who is left at first team level? 

Posters on here want Stendel to have his choice of backroom team. That is all.

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Francis Albert said:

Ok. One and counting. 

Was only asked to name one. Two - Wilson, Rangers. Three - Mathie, Hibs. Four - JJ, Edinburgh City

[Guest ToqueJambo]

Just now, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Posters on here want Stendel to have his choice of backroom team. That is all.

 

Who's saying he won't? Even Austin McPhee was able to choose his temporary team.

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Gambo said:

See the players that Stendel wants to move on, who do we think the player and his agent will turn to at the club?

McPhee as of yesterday I presume 

[Taffin]

2 hours ago, ToqueJambo said:

What exactly has Fox done wrong out of interest? Daly and mcphee I can sort of understand as they’ve been assistants and caretakers. But why pick on Fox now too?

 

Aren’t eddie may and grant murray still at hibs despite being part of heckingbottom’s team?

 

No idea, he's just one of the names being bandied about so thought it was worth including him. 

 

If you take him out of the equation, for the price of a CCTV system we could have jettisoned the lot of them.

 

Wouldn't personally be my choice but I can't see it being finances that have made Ann's decision for her as some have suggested

[Guest ToqueJambo]

2 minutes ago, steve123 said:

I might be wrong but not how I read it- Stendel says I need an attacking midfielder etc then is presented with options and decides who to go after may well be wrong but was my understanding !!

 

I think it's normally a bit of both. Stendel might have names in mind as well as a profile of a type of player (left-sided, good in the air, etc). The SD will find options or go after someone specific, or both.

[Hectormasson]

28 minutes ago, jambo mark said:

And yet she managed to recruit the manager the fans wanted, despite the fact he allegedly never applied?

 

 

Hope he does the business at hearts " love to see him have some type of success" hes came at the right time too🎄🎄🎄miracles happen at Christmas???🇶🇦🇱🇻🇶🇦🇱🇻🇶🇦🇱🇻🇶🇦🇱🇻🎅🎅👍

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Let's say you are correct in that. What advantage does MacPhee have over Stendel by the same token?

Doesn’t have to worry about first team responsibilities for one 

[Guest ToqueJambo]

Just now, Taffin said:

 

No idea, he's just one of the names being bandied about so thought it was worth including him. 

 

If you take him out of the equation, for the price of a CCTV system we could have jettisoned the lot of them.

 

Wouldn't personally be my choice but I can't see it being finances that have made Ann's decision for her as some have suggested

 

Yeah, but then Stendel would have no staff! He'd be on the first plane back to Germany.

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, EIEIO said:

One way of looking at I suppose. Another is footballers and managers have copper bottomed contracts to be paid in full and others, ordinary employees, are sacked and at best can expect a single  months wages on their next payday.

Plus redundancy money unless they have been fired for performance issues. Very difficult area in football. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

2 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

Doesn’t have to worry about first team responsibilities for one 

Is that it?

[Guest ToqueJambo]

14 minutes ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Because I'm looking at his career prior to HMFC! 

 

Personally, I don't think we need the role but if we are going to appoint one I don't think MacPhee is best suited to it. 

 

I don't get what the fuss is. The pack has just been shuffled until we have everyone in place. It's no different to a reserve coach taking over first team duties. I disagree about McPhee. From the start I think he's been our post-Levein SD in training. I'll be surprised if he doesn't get it tbh but I do think Budge is being swayed by the general "get rid of the lot of them" feeling around Hearts right now and is seeing who else is available. If she does as good a job finding an SD as she did with Stendel - who fits every single criteria we had at the start including what fans wanted - then I'm looking forward to see who comes in. If it's McPhee that means him and Stendel created a good working relationship which is important.

 

Most SDs don't have the experience you seem to want in our SD before they take on the role. Thomas Flogel and Takis Fyssas for example both seem to have stepped into that role direct from coaching. For what it's worth Fyssas was my top SD choice from ages ago.

Edited December 11, 2019 by ToqueJambo

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, Barack said:

Hopefully, someone just asks the pertinent questions at the AGM. Hopefully, get the right answers. Then hopefully, maybe slavering ****ers can shut the **** up for the rest of the season & support the manager.

 

 

Hear, hear. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

6 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

Who's saying he won't? Even Austin McPhee was able to choose his temporary team.

Wow. Not what I said at all. If Stendel is happy with the coaching set up at present then that's fine. What people are saying re Daly, Fox et al is the concern that they have been imposed on Stendel. That is all.