Former SPL chief Roger Mitchell has thrown his opinion on the director of football role Celtic are looking to fill.
The Celtic fan now resides in Italy and likely follows the game over there.
Mitchell believes there’s a huge problem with UK football fans wrapping their heads around a head coach rather than a manager.
Having a DoF takes many decisions away from the traditional manager’s role and works alongside a head coach.
The head coach oversees the playing squad and confers with the DoF around signings, what he needs for his team and so on.
We’re all used to managers in the way most things begin and end with them.
The approach Celtic want to take with the new structure is having a DoF in place who will still be there when the head coach isn’t.
They’re making themselves Rodgers proof. When Brendan left, he took almost everything that wasn’t nailed down.
The continuity was gone and Celtic’s slow demise began.
Speaking about the DoF role, Mitchell is clear people need to change their way of thinking.
“UK football has such an issue with the Director of football role.” Mitchell told RecordSport.
“This person is misunderstood as a ‘contracts guy’, as a ‘player identification guy’. Even part of the staff of the manager. Often his mate. Nonsense.
“This is understandable given our history with dynasty ‘managers’ like Stein, Shankly, Busby, Clough and Ferguson.
“Those days have gone. European football has never had such issues. They don’t have managers, but mere coaches or trainers who report 100 per cent to a DOF.
“It is essential that a ‘manager’ is controlled in the European way.
“The club must have a strategy and structure beyond the current guy and his cabal. Especially around player recruitment, playing style, and data.
“First question to any candidate for quick filtering should be ‘do you consider yourself a manager or a head coach?’.
“UK fans don’t get this at all. They crave the manager.”
It’s been speculated Eddie Howe would like his own man in that position but that would be counter productive to what Celtic are trying to achieve.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
