What is an Athletic Director?

With the commercialization and globalization of football, top professional clubs have begun to operate in the direction of corporatization. There are always various departments in a company. The same is true for football clubs. The larger the club, the more complicated the organizational structure. Like other companies, football clubs also have multiple positions such as marketing director, executive director, media director, etc. These positions are actually different department managers. The football club also has its own characteristics, that is, it has the position of sports director. Of course, some clubs will further refine this position into specific positions such as technical director, transfer director, youth training director, and some clubs. It is solely borne directly by the sports director. ^[1]

Sports director

Sports director? To put it plainly is the department manager

In the era of commercialization of football, a club is more than just a team. However, the first team is still the most important part of the club, it is both the source of club income and the most expensive part. The first team is so important that it is inevitable that the coach alone is responsible for it, and the position of sports director comes into being.

As a sports director, his job responsibility is to be responsible for the management of the first team. In short, the sports director is the person who lives between the first team and the management. Where do the players come from? It is nothing more than the transfer market and youth training. With two transfer windows each year, the sports directors of each club will be at their busiest time, and the success or failure of the transfer will be connected. As a sports director, you have to have a good relationship with other clubs, and more importantly, you must be fiery with the scouts and agents of the first-line players, so that countless good players will come to your account.

Sports directors were initially popular in continental Europe. In Spain, this position is called "Director deportivo"

In the UK: From Wasteland to Prevalence

In other words, the concept of sports director is not popular in the Premier League. British football advocates the manager's responsibility system, and the coach has the full authority to handle all matters of the team. Among these powerful coaches,

Personally, a sports director is a role that is necessary to exist in any team. First of all, his main task is to operate in the transfer market. Although we have seen such powerful coaches as Sir Alex and professors, how many Ferguson and professors are there in the world? And we see more tactical masters such as Bielsa, Benitez, or internal managers of teams such as Mourinho and AVB. In many cases, these two types of coaches are not good players in the transfer market (here, Benitez must be talked about, which is basically the injustice of the transfer market). Even Sir Alex has been fooled by Mendes (a pass to a guy outside the galaxy). Therefore, a person who specializes in adjusting funds, analyzing players, and realizing market operations becomes extremely important.

Let's take a look at some good examples. The best performers have been mentioned in other articles. Let's talk about others. Galliani is a good example of living. Although all major fans have talked about Galliani's "0 down payment + installment & lease for one year + buyout right", but have to say that this is a very effective and economical choice. Just like when we buy a car by installments, if a new car that has just been bought has a technical failure within two days, I don't think anyone wants to return it? Galliani can often find a cheap and easy-to-use player in the transfer market, or buy it at a low price, or lease + buy out. There are people who can make head coach Allegri pay attention to technical and tactical issues. When the head coach needs someone to supplement the lineup, he will find some of the most affordable to supplement, a good example is the lease of Beckham.
Put it in the Premier League (I wo nt talk about the Premier League and the Bundesliga, because I do nt understand it). For a long time, most of the Premier League teams have the head coach in charge of all powers. Generally speaking, the chairman makes money, The "head coach spends money" rhythm, while the head coach also cares about this and that. The biggest fear for the position of sports director is that this role splits the transfer option of the head coach. In fact, this is a process, and a process that must go through. Just like the segmentation of coaches, take a game that many fans have played-fm. After entering fm, one of the most critical things is to allocate and adjust training. If you play giants, you can see a large number of coaches, and then assign and adjust one by one to make all training reach five stars as much as possible. The llm players are not so happy. A coach opens up two halves. Although we can humblely turn some good coaches into "coach" positions (you can train the youth team and the adult team at the same time), but the training effect Can not reach the extreme. Therefore, the subdivision operation is necessary, as we said in an old saying: the surgery industry has a specialization. Let the professional do the professional thing.
So what is the director's position? Manage scouting reports, negotiate with agents (or with players), and transfer trade operations. But it must be said that the existence of this position must be left to the head coach to make the final decision. In other words, the physical presence of the sports director can be regarded as an assistant coach, an assistant coach specialized in managing team personnel. In fact, my demon used to have a very similar role, that is, Sir Alex Ferguson, the younger brother of Grandpa. But after all, Lord Martin is a ball probe head. Although he can discover or observe some players, he lacks awareness of the market situation and the situation of the agent. Sometimes it is even more obedient to obey the head coach and then selectively observe the players. This is actually not in line with the characteristics of rational management. The specialized sports directors have research on the market. Perhaps the coach likes a certain player, but in fact? Everyone knows that Manchester United lacks a midfielder. Then all summer, Stromman, Thiago and Fabregas failed to pass one of the gossips, and Fellaini's transfer was even more unsatisfactory. (After all, it was not possible to buy at the lowest price). Everyone blamed Chairman Wu and Mr. Mo for the fact that I find it very boring. This summer, Rooney first made noises, and the second big change in personnel has caused these problems. Coupled with the fact that Chairman Wu is not a football professional (I believe that Chairman Wu should make no less than Gill), a lot of farce has appeared in Manchester United's transfer, and it has also been dubbed as "Manchester Price Up".
If there is a person who can handle the transfer professionally, maybe Manchester United's transfer this summer will not be so ridiculous. And Manchester United's failure and Tottenham's success also made a good comparison, let alone how Levi's business capabilities. The sale this summer alone reflects how much a good sports director can help a team. In terms of management in the enterprise, the board of directors is of course monitoring the existence of the enterprise, and the CEO is the managing director, the CFO manages the finance, the COO manages the operations, and the CHO manages the personnel. A large company will set up these positions to manage the company if the economy allows it. For a club, the chairman is naturally the one who makes the money and finally makes the final decision. The head coach manages the tactics and team operations, the sports director manages the transfer, and the chief scout manages the player information. The other Premier League teams basically have it, but there is a lack of personnel dedicated to managing the transfer.
The key to the contradiction of the sports director is to divide power, so why can't he be placed under the management of the head coach? When the team lacks a certain position, as long as you say something to the director, you can recommend a few feasible transfer goals in a short time, and then the head coach nods, the chairman claps, and the transfer is fully sung. Just like the existence of Peter Brand (the fat man) in Penalty into Gold, professional analysts and operators.