Top post Roy. I have to agree with BMW that is looks like a storm in a tea-cup considering what I've read on the subject. F.i. When you have people talking about some coach in Evertons youth setup how the liverpool-academy is in a shambles - it just highlights exactly how biased the overall views that sparked the talk over at TLW must be. Every dynamic structure needs to allow discussion, differentiating opinions to be heard and of course, a debate can spark emotion. But at the end of the day - Piet Hamberg and Ablett were picked by rafa - who clearly has a vision and a mission - and these guys would'nt have a job if they had conflicting views in that sense. They might have different ideas at times on how to go about it, but those are matters that can be resolved.
I know for a fact that it's very often the case that raised ambitions, raised expectations - unless understood - makes people receive that change badly. One example is of "foreigners" brought into the academy and there would be a host of parents outside the club feeling that this is a bad thing - now their kids stand less of a chance to play for LFC. Small-mindedness basically. Sometimes there are people within the club that react in a similar way - like in Roy's analogy.
Rafa is a learner, and so he would expect his staff to be similar in that sense(he's on record lot's of times praising players will to learn). I don't know if that has anything to do with what's going on at the club - but it's not hard to imagine issues if that would be the case.
I'm just going to focus on the part I've bolded from this message, and then get into a few other unrelated thoughts building on what I posted last time. If Rafa appointed Hamberg and Ablett then I believe we'll have problems, I hope he was consulted though as we have a real lack of footballing brains at the top level. I explained it in my earlier post regarding the Academy/Reserves set up and my opinion on how it should be run. If we have Rafa making the decisions on hirings for the Academy and Reserves we could have a massive clean up job once he leaves, bigger than the one that had to occur after Houllier left as we'd have coaches and trainers leaving from all levels from the club and could potentially lose not only first team players, but youngsters too.
We need an Academy director who is not a hire of Rafa's, but a hire of the clubs. Someone who will withstand managerial changes and is monitored separately, with no regard to what is happening with the first team. This is why Heighway was ideal, we saw managers come and go, but the Academy was untouched and left to go about it's business. Each level under the first team squad almost needs to be run as a feeder club, similar to the Spanish model (Barcelona B, Castilla, etc.), independent enough but in unison as to their goals. They need to have open communication and relationships, of course.
It's more of a structural issue for the club than an on the pitch problem, but it's just as important. Without a solid framework in place, we'll never have the continuity within the club. With each managerial change we'll potential have to start over again with the Academy and Reserves, which is obviously no way to work an efficient club. The real question is, how can you set up a system for the Academy/Reserves which has the best interest of the club, and not a manager? It's tough, and I'm not sure of the answer. I feel if you make them independent you're on the right track, which is what most clubs have. Local Academy staff who stay on despite managerial changes and get evaluated in their own right. Who does the evaluating though? I can't think of anyone at the club qualified enough who still has a job when the manager is gone.
Some clubs have developed a football/sporting director (Chelsea - Arnesen, Barcelona - Begiristain, look at this list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_football), others just have a CEO type (Parry). We have a board of directors that knows little of football and a lot about greed and lying. So no one qualified at the top level is making football decisions for the club, except Rafa. Many don't have a problem with that, I'm undecided. Here's why.
I like Rafa, don't get me wrong. However my support is for the club first and foremost. And while Rafa does want what's best for the club, the man puts himself first. Rightfully so really, he has to look after himself first, and then the club. Many might not want to realize it, but our natural instincts as human beings are selfish. Darwin, natural selection, survival of the fittest, etc.. Intrinsically selfish, me first creatures. In a lot of ways Rafa and the clubs best interests are the same, if Rafa wins everyone is happy. But when you get into detail, they're not exactly the same. Rafa wants the club run his way, right down to the Academy. Can we risk that and is it in the best interest of the club?
And in this light, I feel we need someone who can be a custodian for the club. The owners and board of directors are definitely not. Rafa can't seriously be a custodian as his position as manager is delicate, unlike other manager-custodians in the modern game (Arsene, Ferguson). Someone with the best interest of the club, who will not threaten the managers position, decisions, or power. Very tricky, and probably a bit too idealistic to work under the current situation. This isn't someone to take over any of the managerial roles, it's a representative role. Someone to connect the Academy, Reserves and First Team, evaluate how they're doing and act as a sounding board. The manager has exactly the same tasks as he does now. A real custodian type, not just by name. Someone like Dalglish who commands respect, is (presumably?) not looking to manage again, and fits the history criteria. I don't want a Football Director like at West Ham or Tottenham, where they make transfer decisions. A football director in the sense of a custodian. I hope that comes across as clear.
The best example structure for a football club is Barcelona, that's in my opinion of course. You have the members of the club voting on a representative, who in turn has to have the interest of the club first or he loses his job. No owners, no incompetent CEOs who can't be sacked due to internal bickering, if there are any problems you don't get re-elected. It's not perfect by any stretch, but it's a club owned by the people, for the people. You need members owning the club, not the club being listed on the stock exchange. This isn't an option for us, so put it down as a pipe dream.
Hope this all makes a little sense, just a few thoughts as to how we can work on our system. I think our Academy and Reserves are looking good, we've obviously gone through quite a few changes over the past 18 months. Hamberg seems to have brought a new style, the Academy and Reserves play a different type of football to the first team.
It's all about building and securing a solid future for the club, not just about the here and now. 5 to 10 managers on, we don't want to be starting a new system all over again. Set up a successful structure now and stick with it.
