Directors Of Football In Scottish Football

Directors Of Football In Scottish Football.

Having a Director of Football is a tough decision. 

I know the Scottish FA needs high level bureaucratic positions to govern the organisation of thousands of players and clubs. 

But do clubs need Directors of Football?

The job of a Director of Football can be different at different clubs,

The idea seems to be they manage strategic operations to do with football.

Often they seem to manage transfers, and strategic football operations.

While they allow the manager or first team coach to concentrate on day to operational issues such as picking the team, coaching, and man to man management of players,

But for me problem with a Directors of Football is that you end up with a Director of Football who buys players that the manager does not want, and do not fit into the playing system he or she wants. So you have the club pulling in two different directions.

I think with limited budgets this can be dangerous. You could end up spending fortunes on players who are not needed, which is waste of money,

Another problem is that the Director of Football may just be a bureaucratic barrier to decisions,

A manger may want to buy players or hire coaches or go on football match tours, but may be stopped by the Director of Football or CEO.

So it may slow down purchases of players by having the fact that you have to get transfer deals past the board and a Director of Football, rather than just getting it past the board.

I think an ideal scenario is to have at least one person who understands football on the board, but where actual decisions are made by the manager. And to allow the manager to have an assistant who can manage more strategic issues,. But for me the manager should the top football person. The manager should choose which players to buy, staff to appoint, youth coaches, and assistants.

If you respect the manager, allow them to make the decisions.