There's a difference between standing the rigors of a Championship season, which is arguably our natural level, and settling for the same in League One. Unless that is you think Burton Albion should be a league above us.
Where does she say that is what they are settling for though? She's already said they want to try and get get promoted straight back up - withstanding the challenges of a long season in League One would seem to me to be a fairly fundmental part of doing that. Not much chance of promotion if you can't withstand the challenges of the division.
"Our sole aim is to be fighting for promotion next season and our top priority is to put together a squad that can help Charlton Athletic get back into the Championship."
"We are working on pulling together a squad that can withstand the challenges of a long season in League One"
Nothing in it or is she trying to lower expectations? When we eventually appoint a manager will she talk about promotion again or a competitive team. The latter wouldn't surprise me.
There's a difference between standing the rigors of a Championship season, which is arguably our natural level, and settling for the same in League One. Unless that is you think Burton Albion should be a league above us.
Where does she say that is what they are settling for though? She's already said they want to try and get get promoted straight back up - withstanding the challenges of a long season in League One would seem to me to be a fairly fundmental part of doing that. Not much chance of promotion if you can't withstand the challenges of the division.
Oi, brown nose. You trying to get the gig on the SMT in place of Wend?
"Our sole aim is to be fighting for promotion next season and our top priority is to put together a squad that can help Charlton Athletic get back into the Championship."
"We are working on pulling together a squad that can withstand the challenges of a long season in League One"
Nothing in it or is she trying to lower expectations? When we eventually appoint a manager will she talk about promotion again or a competitive team. The latter wouldn't surprise me.
Be worried as within a month she will be saying we want to avoid finishing bottom.
It's a PR statement. She probably didn't say that. Could we do with being better at PR in general? Yes. But this regime has done far worse things, they've had far worse Press Releases, than that one sentence.
Let's not focus on the trees so much we lose sight of the forest.
The reason why I bring this up is not so much that it matters now, but more that I think it's difficult to turn this mentality off. When we do get a new owner, I fear that their press releases and every word will be scrutinized by some to the extent that this regime's have. And that's understandable given the current mentality. But if you were to pick apart most footballing press release, really, most press releases, you could come up with just such complaints about ambiguity. They're meant to be a notification, not provide context. Again, the regime does far worse.
"Our sole aim is to be fighting for promotion next season and our top priority is to put together a squad that can help Charlton Athletic get back into the Championship."
"We are working on pulling together a squad that can withstand the challenges of a long season in League One"
Nothing in it or is she trying to lower expectations? When we eventually appoint a manager will she talk about promotion again or a competitive team. The latter wouldn't surprise me.
Katrien Meire 25 April 2017.
"We would like to apologise to the fans. We drastically under estimated league one, however we promise the fans that we will learn from this and we won't make the same mistakes again next season in league two"
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
That is a major part of the problem. Whoever we get is going to have to work with network sub-standard cast-offs.
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
That is a major part of the problem. Whoever we get is going to have to work with network sub-standard cast-offs.
"Our sole aim is to be fighting for promotion next season and our top priority is to put together a squad that can help Charlton Athletic get back into the Championship."
"We are working on pulling together a squad that can withstand the challenges of a long season in League One"
Nothing in it or is she trying to lower expectations? When we eventually appoint a manager will she talk about promotion again or a competitive team. The latter wouldn't surprise me.
Katrien Meire 25 April 2017.
"We would like to apologise to the fans. We drastically under estimated league one, however we promise the fans that we will learn from this and we won't make the same mistakes again next season in league two"
Katrien Meire 26 April 2017 1am after 8 Smirnoff Ice
"Yer all c********nts. Me and Roly know what we're fecking doing. The next one of you slaaaags who drapes a bedsheet over my head saying fibber and gives my old man grief is getting glassed"
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
Agreed, all though all of this, for me, is an argument for a director of football whose job it will be to create and execute the short term (summer) plans, and create 1-3 year plans. Managers and coaches come and go, even at the best of clubs. But if you have a supporting structure in place, and that includes a good Head Scout, the machine keeps working because you've only taken out one piece, not the entire engine.
All that said, why Director of Football is considered the third-top priority behind manager and scout is absolutely beyond me. DoF should be hiring the manager and the scout as it will be their jobs to help execute his plans.
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
Might be a valid point if the chief scout had been appointed soon after applications closed on March 11th. Instead she has wasted another two and a half months, talking to people like Andrew Mills, so I'm not sure what the hurry suddenly is now, when you would think they are about to appoint a manager. Indeed, if the club hadn't been intent on saving Phil Chapple's modest salary, they'd have filled the vacancy when it was created last autumn.
I take it as just one more indication that no manager will be allowed to manage. After all, the job ad was quite clear. The chief scout is to report directly to Meire.
We were going down from mid-February onwards. By March they should have had plan a), b), c) and d) in place for the manager, even if they couldn't get that person in until May 9th. The fact they are a laughing stock within the game doesn't help, admittedly, but there is no way on earth they should be drifting towards June without a manager. Arguing that the club should run without one in the meantime misses the point.
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
Might be a valid point if the chief scout had been appointed soon after applications closed on March 11th. Instead she has wasted another two and a half months, talking to people like Andrew Mills, so I'm not sure what the hurry suddenly is now, when you would think they are about to appoint a manager.
I take it as just one more indication that no manager will be allowed to manage. After all, the job ad was quite clear. The chief scout is to report directly to Meire.
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
Might be a valid point if the chief scout had been appointed soon after applications closed on March 11th. Instead she has wasted another two and a half months, talking to people like Andrew Mills, so I'm not sure what the hurry suddenly is now, when you would think they are about to appoint a manager. Indeed, if the club hadn't been intent on saving Phil Chapple's modest salary, they'd have filled the vacancy when it was created last autumn.
I take it as just one more indication that no manager will be allowed to manage. After all, the job ad was quite clear. The chief scout is to report directly to Meire.
We were going down from mid-February onwards. By March they should have had plan a), b), c) and d) in place for the manager, even if they couldn't get that person in until May 9th. The fact they are a laughing stock within the game doesn't help, admittedly, but there is no way on earth they should be drifting towards June without a manager. Arguing that the club should run without one in the meantime misses the point.
Don't we already know that they're looking to hire a "Head Coach," and not a manager? I'm not sure that THEY know that, but if it's the case, having a "Manager" bring in their own chief scout doesn't make much sense.
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
Might be a valid point if the chief scout had been appointed soon after applications closed on March 11th. Instead she has wasted another two and a half months, talking to people like Andrew Mills, so I'm not sure what the hurry suddenly is now, when you would think they are about to appoint a manager. Indeed, if the club hadn't been intent on saving Phil Chapple's modest salary, they'd have filled the vacancy when it was created last autumn.
I take it as just one more indication that no manager will be allowed to manage. After all, the job ad was quite clear. The chief scout is to report directly to Meire.
We were going down from mid-February onwards. By March they should have had plan a), b), c) and d) in place for the manager, even if they couldn't get that person in until May 9th. The fact they are a laughing stock within the game doesn't help, admittedly, but there is no way on earth they should be drifting towards June without a manager. Arguing that the club should run without one in the meantime misses the point.
Maybe the applicants from March were not worth pursuing? Maybe Steve was identified a little earlier but he couldn't commit until now?
Don't dispute identifying a manager should ideally have been the priority but again maybe that is just proving too difficult to attract an acceptable (to us all) candidate as we are indeed a "laughing stock".
An appointment in the interim is better than none in my opinion. Time will tell if he can sufficiently influence KM and RD to pursue credible target players.
I am sure you would continue to identify the gap of a Chief Scout if the appointment was left outstanding any longer.
Mr Head as a Head Scout seems to have a very decent CV certainly in analysing the playing strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams whether that lends itself quite so ably to the construction of a squad is another matter.
For now he at least brings the industry working knowledge and experience the club so desperately needs. May he be empowered to fulfil his duties to the best of his ability.
I fear however some are latching on to some hope that we are seeing a material change here.
Yet for all of the grand title unless the job description as advertised has materially changed Mr Head is a replacement for Phil Chapple. The same Phil Chapple, who served us well under previous regimes but who to all intents and purposes was largely ignored by this one.
Where is there any indication the new appointment is a quasi Director of Football? Where is he charged with setting out any template for the construction of the football part for the business? Where is it defined he, within defined budgets, will be the decision maker?
As per the job description the role is to "Liaise with the Head Coach, Scouting Network and CEO with regards to the identification and signing of talented players".
That is liaise not lead, not manage, not determine but liaise. I suggest he, in large part, will likely replace the gathered ensemble assembled in Belgium overseeing the myriads of analysts buried in the bowels of Staprix.
It appears to be a small step in the right direction but unless he is suitably empowered then are we, in terms of end deliverables, in reality going to be any further forward?
Simply rebranding Phil Chapples' old job reads more like an arse covering exercise by the CEO defending her position by removing the faceless underlings previously identifying recruitment targets. I fear more smoke and mirrors than any substantial change in "modus operandi".
To those who argue the use of a Head of Recruitment is preferable to the English manager model who will likely gone in 12 months anyway presupposes there is any more permanence or empowerment to the role of Head of Recruitment.
Judging by Mr Heads' CV I am not sure such an argument stands much scrutiny.
To argue preparation may well have been undertaken by any number of existing/ former club personnel with regard to bringing in any number of players, is fine but palpably such has not been the case with the appointment of a manager/ head coach.
I entirely agree no club exists nor should exist on the input of any one individual but when you are reliant on the head coach to deliver a successful squad it is, with limited resources, absolutely imperative he is in tune with the thinking that has sought to bring certain players to the club.
As the Chief scout job description states the job is to liaise with the Head Coach. At the time of writing he will be liaising with an empty chair.
Much as that may be preferable to some of the previous incumbents of such furniture to try and move forward with out a head coach merely puts an extra burden on your negotiations with prospective head coaches and players with the very real possibility of people pulling in different directions - none of which is ideal and frankly should have been completely unnecessary.
As I have indicated before if you are competing to try and bring players to the club then the player and his agent will want to be very clear exactly where a player will fit within the squad and the role the head coach sees him playing over the season.
In the absence of a head coach/ manager no such dialogue is possible. Those clubs with managers "in situ" will always be able to offer a stronger commitment. We are immediately negotiating from a weaker position. It sends the wrong message.
At this point such challenges are not insurmountable but to overcome them will present barriers which were completely unnecessary.
For all of the inactivity on transfers and signings currently in the media any amount of ground work and handshakes will have already been done by many clubs and player agents.
For a regime still yet to sign a permanent deal for a British player directly from another British club we appear to still be adjusting our starting blocks for a hurdle race where many will have already reached the 2nd or 3rd hurdle.
Once again the regime appears to be out of step with industry best practice.
You don't have a manager and you personally have as much to contribute to "pulling together a squad" as you do to driving the Eurostar, you ridiculous woman.
Are you suggesting the club should do absolutely nothing on this until the manager is confirmed then?
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
Might be a valid point if the chief scout had been appointed soon after applications closed on March 11th. Instead she has wasted another two and a half months, talking to people like Andrew Mills, so I'm not sure what the hurry suddenly is now, when you would think they are about to appoint a manager. Indeed, if the club hadn't been intent on saving Phil Chapple's modest salary, they'd have filled the vacancy when it was created last autumn.
I take it as just one more indication that no manager will be allowed to manage. After all, the job ad was quite clear. The chief scout is to report directly to Meire.
We were going down from mid-February onwards. By March they should have had plan a), b), c) and d) in place for the manager, even if they couldn't get that person in until May 9th. The fact they are a laughing stock within the game doesn't help, admittedly, but there is no way on earth they should be drifting towards June without a manager. Arguing that the club should run without one in the meantime misses the point.
Maybe the applicants from March were not worth pursuing? Maybe Steve was identified a little earlier but he couldn't commit until now?
Don't dispute identifying a manager should ideally have been the priority but again maybe that is just proving too difficult to attract an acceptable (to us all) candidate as we are indeed a "laughing stock".
An appointment in the interim is better than none in my opinion. Time will tell if he can sufficiently influence KM and RD to pursue credible target players.
I am sure you would continue to identify the gap of a Chief Scout if the appointment was left outstanding any longer.
Mr Head as a Head Scout seems to have a very decent CV certainly in analysing the playing strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams whether that lends itself quite so ably to the construction of a squad is another matter.
For now he at least brings the industry working knowledge and experience the club so desperately needs. May he be empowered to fulfil his duties to the best of his ability.
I fear however some are latching on to some hope that we are seeing a material change here.
Yet for all of the grand title unless the job description as advertised has materially changed Mr Head is a replacement for Phil Chapple. The same Phil Chapple, who served us well under previous regimes but who to all intents and purposes was largely ignored by this one.
Where is there any indication the new appointment is a quasi Director of Football? Where is he charged with setting out any template for the construction of the football part for the business? Where is it defined he, within defined budgets, will be the decision maker?
As per the job description the role is to "Liaise with the Head Coach, Scouting Network and CEO with regards to the identification and signing of talented players".
That is liaise not lead, not manage, not determine but liaise. I suggest he, in large part, will likely replace the gathered ensemble assembled in Belgium overseeing the myriads of analysts buried in the bowels of Staprix.
It appears to be a small step in the right direction but unless he is suitably empowered then are we, in terms of end deliverables, in reality going to be any further forward?
Simply rebranding Phil Chapples' old job reads more like an arse covering exercise by the CEO defending her position by removing the faceless underlings previously identifying recruitment targets. I fear more smoke and mirrors than any substantial change in "modus operandi".
To those who argue the use of a Head of Recruitment is preferable to the English manager model who will likely gone in 12 months anyway presupposes there is any more permanence or empowerment to the role of Head of Recruitment.
Judging by Mr Heads' CV I am not sure such an argument stands much scrutiny.
To argue preparation may well have been undertaken by any number of existing/ former club personnel with regard to bringing in any number of players, is fine but palpably such has not been the case with the appointment of a manager/ head coach.
I entirely agree no club exists nor should exist on the input of any one individual but when you are reliant on the head coach to deliver a successful squad it is, with limited resources, absolutely imperative he is in tune with the thinking that has sought to bring certain players to the club.
As the Chief scout job description states the job is to liaise with the Head Coach. At the time of writing he will be liaising with an empty chair.
Much as that may be preferable to some of the previous incumbents of such furniture to try and move forward with out a head coach merely puts an extra burden on your negotiations with prospective head coaches and players with the very real possibility of people pulling in different directions - none of which is ideal and frankly should have been completely unnecessary.
As I have indicated before if you are competing to try and bring players to the club then the player and his agent will want to be very clear exactly where a player will fit within the squad and the role the head coach sees him playing over the season.
In the absence of a head coach/ manager no such dialogue is possible. Those clubs with managers "in situ" will always be able to offer a stronger commitment. We are immediately negotiating from a weaker position. It sends the wrong message.
At this point such challenges are not insurmountable but to overcome them will present barriers which were completely unnecessary.
For all of the inactivity on transfers and signings currently in the media any amount of ground work and handshakes will have already been done by many clubs and player agents.
For a regime still yet to sign a permanent deal for a British player directly from another British club we appear to still be adjusting our starting blocks for a hurdle race where many will have already reached the 2nd or 3rd hurdle.
Once again the regime appears to be out of step with industry best practice.
Everyone spent all of last season complaining we were struggling because they failed to build a squad that could withstand the rigors of a Championship season. Now they publicly state they are trying to avoid making the same mistake again, you're all bitching about lack of ambition, but when they said they want to get promoted at the first attempt, you all laughed in their face. I'd advise her to say nothing, but then we'd be back to complaining about no communication.
Some of you are harder to please than a 70s comedian's mother in law.
The thing is, whatever she says will be ridiculed based on 2 and a half years of incompetence - she/they have to accept that. However meaningful or well intentioned their soundbites are, the fact that their actions have led to us being a laughing stock means nothing, she/they say means anything anymore
I haven't been on the official site for about 6 months mow, because to me it's absolutely redundant. I don't want to dismiss anyone working in the comms team because it's not their fault they're working for an incompetent management, but they might as well put up the words to red rover or all the Kings men
Whatever comms we get from the club doesn't matter. Only when we see a turn around on the pitch will I deem anything they say worthy
What if by "learning from our mistakes" she really means "we haven't done as well as we should because I haven't been involved in player selection enough"?
Comments
"Our sole aim is to be fighting for promotion next season and our top priority is to put together a squad that can help Charlton Athletic get back into the Championship."
http://mobile.cafc.co.uk/news/article/club-statement-charlton-athletic-relegation-to-league-one-3068129.aspx
29 April 2016
Katrien Meire says the club “do not want to build up expectations” as Charlton prepare for League One football.
http://m.newsshopper.co.uk/sport/14461831.___We_don___t_want_to_build_up_expectations_____Charlton_CEO_comments_on_League_One_plans/
Katrien Meire 25 May 2016
"We are working on pulling together a squad that can withstand the challenges of a long season in League One"
Nothing in it or is she trying to lower expectations? When we eventually appoint a manager will she talk about promotion again or a competitive team. The latter wouldn't surprise me.
Let's not focus on the trees so much we lose sight of the forest.
The reason why I bring this up is not so much that it matters now, but more that I think it's difficult to turn this mentality off. When we do get a new owner, I fear that their press releases and every word will be scrutinized by some to the extent that this regime's have. And that's understandable given the current mentality. But if you were to pick apart most footballing press release, really, most press releases, you could come up with just such complaints about ambiguity. They're meant to be a notification, not provide context. Again, the regime does far worse.
Katrien Meire 25 April 2017.
"We would like to apologise to the fans. We drastically under estimated league one, however we promise the fans that we will learn from this and we won't make the same mistakes again next season in league two"
He will be busy.
There are other coaches in the club who may have / are providing input into possible targets and likewise Riga may have identified candidates to consider before he left. Preparation doesn't have to stop. What mustn't happen Is that the new manager has no ability to influence when they are eventually appointed. Given any new recruits to date that seems unlikely.
Tony Pulis quit Palace on the eve of a new season by comparison ie nothing is certain and a club must be bigger than the individual employees.
It's got to be a step in the right direction and preferable to a continuing void.
We just aren't a club that's going to appoint a manager who comes with his own team of supporting personnel.
"Yer all c********nts. Me and Roly know what we're fecking doing. The next one of you slaaaags who drapes a bedsheet over my head saying fibber and gives my old man grief is getting glassed"
All that said, why Director of Football is considered the third-top priority behind manager and scout is absolutely beyond me. DoF should be hiring the manager and the scout as it will be their jobs to help execute his plans.
I take it as just one more indication that no manager will be allowed to manage. After all, the job ad was quite clear. The chief scout is to report directly to Meire.
We were going down from mid-February onwards. By March they should have had plan a), b), c) and d) in place for the manager, even if they couldn't get that person in until May 9th. The fact they are a laughing stock within the game doesn't help, admittedly, but there is no way on earth they should be drifting towards June without a manager. Arguing that the club should run without one in the meantime misses the point.
She gives you Head and you're still not happy!
Don't dispute identifying a manager should ideally have been the priority but again maybe that is just proving too difficult to attract an acceptable (to us all) candidate as we are indeed a "laughing stock".
An appointment in the interim is better than none in my opinion. Time will tell if he can sufficiently influence KM and RD to pursue credible target players.
I am sure you would continue to identify the gap of a Chief Scout if the appointment was left outstanding any longer.
For now he at least brings the industry working knowledge and experience the club so desperately needs. May he be empowered to fulfil his duties to the best of his ability.
I fear however some are latching on to some hope that we are seeing a material change here.
Yet for all of the grand title unless the job description as advertised has materially changed Mr Head is a replacement for Phil Chapple. The same Phil Chapple, who served us well under previous regimes but who to all intents and purposes was largely ignored by this one.
Where is there any indication the new appointment is a quasi Director of Football? Where is he charged with setting out any template for the construction of the football part for the business? Where is it defined he, within defined budgets, will be the decision maker?
As per the job description the role is to "Liaise with the Head Coach, Scouting Network and CEO with regards to the identification and signing of talented players".
That is liaise not lead, not manage, not determine but liaise. I suggest he, in large part, will likely replace the gathered ensemble assembled in Belgium overseeing the myriads of analysts buried in the bowels of Staprix.
It appears to be a small step in the right direction but unless he is suitably empowered then are we, in terms of end deliverables, in reality going to be any further forward?
Simply rebranding Phil Chapples' old job reads more like an arse covering exercise by the CEO defending her position by removing the faceless underlings previously identifying recruitment targets. I fear more smoke and mirrors than any substantial change in "modus operandi".
To those who argue the use of a Head of Recruitment is preferable to the English manager model who will likely gone in 12 months anyway presupposes there is any more permanence or empowerment to the role of Head of Recruitment.
Judging by Mr Heads' CV I am not sure such an argument stands much scrutiny.
To argue preparation may well have been undertaken by any number of existing/ former club personnel with regard to bringing in any number of players, is fine but palpably such has not been the case with the appointment of a manager/ head coach.
I entirely agree no club exists nor should exist on the input of any one individual but when you are reliant on the head coach to deliver a successful squad it is, with limited resources, absolutely imperative he is in tune with the thinking that has sought to bring certain players to the club.
As the Chief scout job description states the job is to liaise with the Head Coach. At the time of writing he will be liaising with an empty chair.
Much as that may be preferable to some of the previous incumbents of such furniture to try and move forward with out a head coach merely puts an extra burden on your negotiations with prospective head coaches and players with the very real possibility of people pulling in different directions - none of which is ideal and frankly should have been completely unnecessary.
As I have indicated before if you are competing to try and bring players to the club then the player and his agent will want to be very clear exactly where a player will fit within the squad and the role the head coach sees him playing over the season.
In the absence of a head coach/ manager no such dialogue is possible. Those clubs with managers "in situ" will always be able to offer a stronger commitment. We are immediately negotiating from a weaker position. It sends the wrong message.
At this point such challenges are not insurmountable but to overcome them will present barriers which were completely unnecessary.
For all of the inactivity on transfers and signings currently in the media any amount of ground work and handshakes will have already been done by many clubs and player agents.
For a regime still yet to sign a permanent deal for a British player directly from another British club we appear to still be adjusting our starting blocks for a hurdle race where many will have already reached the 2nd or 3rd hurdle.
Once again the regime appears to be out of step with industry best practice.
I haven't been on the official site for about 6 months mow, because to me it's absolutely redundant. I don't want to dismiss anyone working in the comms team because it's not their fault they're working for an incompetent management, but they might as well put up the words to red rover or all the Kings men
Whatever comms we get from the club doesn't matter. Only when we see a turn around on the pitch will I deem anything they say worthy
I'm excusing the cafc im the community in this
I would be amazed if she thought this out on her own.
SH "I've found us a fantastic centre-half - excellent in the air, great passer, a real leader."
*Katrien looks pensive and strokes chin*
KM "Not convinced."