2020/21 Marcel Brands

[davek]

Perhaps MB was waiting in the forlorn hope that he'd get the United job.

Yesterday they also appointed someone no one's ever heard of so perhaps the Architect will now sign.

Can't say I'm arsed either way.

I'd prefer Carlo to nominate his targets and then someone simply negotiates with them.

If that's Brands , fine ....but I'm not sure we'd need someone on his enormous salary just for that.

Exactly. We dont need him.

 

[faddy the blue]

Is right
Looked at Porto last night. All midfielders agile and quick. Good movement and handy with the ball.
Everything we are not. Three years in the job and the midfield has only improved after what Carlo has engineered through his contacts
We’ve had money but the only decent signings from him are Digne and Godfrey and possibly Richarlson even though I think that was more the manager at the time.
Players he has let go he’s virtually given away or contracts have expired or loans.

Mina, Gomes, Delph, Walcott, Tosun, Kean,

How much money combined has been wasted by Brands in all of these names and what value have we seen?

Its very easy to say "Oh Kean wanted to leave and has an attitude problem". Well genius, isn't that thw whole point of you scouting the player, knowing what you're getting for 25M? I don't expect Brands or any DoF to get 100% of their scouting right or justify all the money spent. But surely Brands' record of success would be about 1 success for 5 failed moves.

His biggest acquisition for me has been Godfrey. God knows what Gbamin would have been like but judging by Brand's records not very good. We kept hearing Docoure even under Silva so I'd credit MS for initiating the interest.

Its been 5 years since we started the DoF model and I don't see what value both Brands and Walsh have added which no ambitious team can't add through good scouting like we used to do in 2000s and some of 2010s.

I would expect Brands or any DoF to unearth the likes of new Cahills, new Artetas, new Jagielkas, new Fellainis, new Pienaars, new Colemans etc. The only smart moves we made so far were Gueye and Godfrey.

 

[gaino92]

Mina, Gomes, Delph, Walcott, Tosun, Kean,

How much money combined has been wasted by Brands in all of these names.

Its very easy to say "Oh Kean wanted to leave and has an attitude problem". Well genius, isn't that thw whole point of you scouting the player, knowing what you're getting for 25M? I don't expect Brands or any DoF to get 100% of their scouting right or justify all the money spent. But surely Brands' record of success would be about 1 success for 5 failed moves.

His biggest acquisition for me has been Godfrey. God knows what Gbamin would have been like but judging by Brand's records not very good. We kept hearing Docoure even under Silva so I'd credit MS for initiating the interest.

I mean if you're going to argue the point of Marcel signing duds please remove Walcott and Tosun from the conversation. Both were signed under Walsh. Mina is a Good signing, Gomes has fell off a cliff, Kean was poor but we are going to make decent profit so file under fortunate decent deal.

For the record his best signing is Lucas Digne

 

[Brownie]

3rd most expensive signing in our history at the time. After Lukaku and Felliani no?

Hey, if you want to sign Russia's African Broken-wrist Player of the Year With Initials O.N.*, you have to pay the premium.

*Excluding players not named Oumar Niasse

 

[Eggs]

A month ago: all those stories about Brands signing a new contract.

IMO, if this were going to happen it'd have been done after the derby to make a poor appointment pallatable. It wasn't.

I think the conclusion to draw is that - with 10 weeks to run on his contract - there will be a parting of the ways.

....unless a new deal has been agreed. if it hasn’t, I wonder if its the club or Brands that isn’t pushing to get this done.

Without falling into the lazy ‘the good signings are down to the manager, the bad signings are down to the DoF’ argument, the DoF is accountable for all deals. I actually think Brands’ tenure has been a bit of a mixed bag. I get the concentration on Iwobi but I actually think the worst signing is Delph. A clear history of repetitive muscle injury should be part of the signing criteria.

I do, however, see a transfer strategy in play. We needed ‘legs’ in midfield & he brought Gbamin in. With the injury, he brought in Doucoure (apparently Ancelotti wasn’t convinced). We needed pace at the back, he got Zouma and then Godfrey. Digne & Richarlison have been terrific, Bernard a disappointment.

A bit of a mixed bag, probably more good than bad. it’s a key appointment in the modern game, if Brands is leaving I hope we have somebody effective lined up.

 

[davek]

....unless a new deal has been agreed. if it hasn’t, I wonder if its the club or Brands that isn’t pushing to get this done.

Without falling into the lazy ‘the good signings are down to the manager, the bad signings are down to the DoF’ argument, the DoF is accountable for all deals. I actually think Brands’ tenure has been a bit of a mixed bag. I get the concentration on Iwobi but I actually think the worst signing is Delph. A clear history of repetitive muscle injury should be part of the signing criteria.

I do, however, see a transfer strategy in play. We needed ‘legs’ in midfield & he brought Gbamin in. With the injury, he brought in Doucoure (apparently Ancelotti wasn’t convinced). We needed pace at the back, he got Zouma and then Godfrey. Digne & Richarlison have been terrific, Bernard a disappointment.

A bit of a mixed bag, probably more good than bad. it’s a key appointment in the modern game, if Brands is leaving I hope we have somebody effective lined up.

Not a ringing endorsement for a man earning a king's ransom in salary.

Get shut. Leave that DoF post vacant and crack on with Carlo.

 

[gaino92]

Not a ringing endorsement for a man earning a king's ransom in salary.

Get shut. Leave that DoF post vacant and crack on with Carlo.

The same Carlo who has said multiple times he doesn't work on transfers? The same Carlo who at every club has worked with a director of football?

 

[Eggs]

Not a ringing endorsement for a man earning a king's ransom in salary.

Get shut. Leave that DoF post vacant and crack on with Carlo.

....that won’t happen and I doubt Ancelotti will want it to happen. The market is so global these days & its a job in itself to co-ordinate scouting network, sort deals & set strategy. Managers will want to throw their twopenneth into targets etc, but they are more devoted to coaching than before.

Like it or loathe it, the DoF role is here to stay.

 

[davek]

The same Carlo who has said multiple times he doesn't work on transfers? The same Carlo who at every club has worked with a director of football?

The same Carlo who signed our big three summer signings. Yes.

 

[davek]

....that won’t happen and I doubt Ancelotti will want it to happen. The market is so global these days & its a job in itself to co-ordinate scouting network, sort deals & set strategy. Managers will want to throw their twopenneth into targets etc, but they are more devoted to coaching than before.

Like it or loathe it, the DoF role is here to stay.

There are different roles that may fit each club. Sporting director etc.

 

[gaino92]

The same Carlo who signed our big three summer signings. Yes.

2 of 4 were down to him I agree, but I highly doubt he had any input in the negotiations beyond picking up the phone and saying to James and Allan, come play for me again

 

[Simon Buttle]

The same Carlo who signed our big three summer signings. Yes.

No he spoke to 2 of them, and of those 2 one has missed half the season due to being injured and the other just turns up when he feels like it and is so injury prone that it's virtually impossible to build anything around regardless of how good he can be.

 

[Eggs]

There are different roles that may fit each club. Sporting director etc.

...different titles but the scope of the role will be similar.

Personally, I think it’s more about the right person than the right job title. Its a significantly key role, we’ve seen how disastrous it can be with Steve Walsh. I’m fairly ambivalent to whether Brands stays or not, its not difficult to be an improvement on his predecessor but much will depend on whether a replacement has been lined up.

 

[davek]

No he spoke to 2 of them, and of those 2 one has missed half the season due to being injured and the other just turns up when he feels like it and is so injury prone that it's virtually impossible to build anything around regardless of how good he can be.

They've been successes. No question.

 

[brieverton]

The tribute video related to his "The Architect" moniker popped up in my You Tube feed on Sunday so I watched it. All 25 minutes.

I just thought it was astonishing really. You might consider that sort of self-aggrandisement off the back of a Champions League qualification at the very least, or a cup win, not to mention several seasons of these things.

You can engage in debate about what he has brought to the table here, but I just didn't get the point of that video at all, other than to put himself front and centre. It was interesting to learn a bit more about his background and contributions from his father and brother, and people like van Gaal, but it was the thought process behind the whole thing as a good idea I find very strange.

Achieve something, win something, and then take the plaudits. Comparisons between the Eredivisie and the Premier League do not stand up to any scrutiny.