Director of football.

[Shania]

A DOF is the way to run a club if done properly. Anyone see the doc on Man C? The DOF there, Txiki Begiristain said quite simply, you identify your playing style. You identify your players to fit the style. You identify your coach to play the style. The CEO there is also from Barca so they will be copying the same philosophy of total football from kids to players over years. Once the infrastructure is set, you save money by bringing most players thru the ranks.

Then there is no more money being wasted on wrong players brought in by wrong managers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26182706

Amen to that.

[Tarbie]

A DOF is the way to run a club if done properly. Anyone see the doc on Man C? The DOF there, Txiki Begiristain said quite simply, you identify your playing style. You identify your players to fit the style. You identify your coach to play the style. The CEO there is also from Barca so they will be copying the same philosophy of total football from kids to players over years. Once the infrastructure is set, you save money by bringing most players thru the ranks.

Then there is no more money being wasted on wrong players brought in by wrong managers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26182706

Interesting read that and I certainly see the logic in it. In practice though, whilst it may work at a club like Barcelona it wouldn't work at QPR. Do you think Warnock, Hughes or Redknapp would have come here if the deal was they had a Director of Football signing their players? I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't have (not that that would have been a disaster with Hughes or Redknapp).

Managers want to be accountable for everything that happens on the pitch and that means they want final say on what players they sign.

[Olly]

If a club's ambitions are big enough like sheik mansour at city, what he says goes.They don't mess about, they do it right. If TF wants to go the same way, he can get it too on a lower scale to start with. Just because it hasn't happened yet at QPR or mainly in the EPL, doesn't mean it won't. Change happens all the time in life, and change comes, whether people like it or not. There will be huge competition amongst academies soon for signing up young players out of school.

[Tarbie]

If a club's ambitions are big enough like sheik mansour at city, what he says goes.They don't mess about, they do it right. If TF wants to go the same way, he can get it too on a lower scale to start with. Just because it hasn't happened yet at QPR or mainly in the EPL, doesn't mean it won't. Change happens all the time in life, and change comes, whether people like it or not.

The difference is clubs like Barcelona and Man City have pulling power and plenty of financial clout. If they want to go with a Director of Football set up and bring in a top professional for the position they will probably still be able to attract a top quality manager.

Can you honestly say it would pan out the same if we tried it?

[stationcafe]

We don't need millions to produce decent players. There's teams in Spain that play nice football and consistently produce solid, skilful ballers with a fraction of our resources - look at Rayo Vallecano, they've got a budget of €7M this year. There's no reason we can't do something similar if we get adequate coaches in! It's not guaranteed but it would be a big step up from the current setup.

Sadly the Fulham academy is no. 1 in the area now, which is painful to admit.

I'm all for a DOF, or anything that gives QPR some kind of plan or structure. At the moment we're just throwing money at things and hoping we somehow become a better team/club. That doesn;'t work.

[Olly]

The difference is clubs like Barcelona and Man City have pulling power and plenty of financial clout. If they want to go with a Director of Football set up and bring in a top professional for the position they will probably still be able to attract a top quality manager.

Can you honestly say it would pan out the same if we tried it?

At some stage starting at a lower level. Laudrup might be a man with good vision as a DOF.

As assistant manager to Morten Olsen, Denmark employed a 4–2–3–1 system with pacey wingers playing the pivotal role in attack. Laudrup learnt from Olsen and used the same tactical style with Brøndby, with the team becoming more attacking and focused on a short passing style. He continued to employ a similar tactical style when he joined Getafe, ushering a new brand of exciting and free-flowing attacking football, to help the club to the Copa del Rey final. However, at Spartak Moscow, he could not adapt his formation and tactics to the Russian game with the team unable to score enough goals per match.

As RCD Mallorca manager, Laudrup inspired a Mallorca team, who were losing a number of key players, from relegation by playing an offensive game. In 2012, Laudrup joined Swansea City as manager, replacing Brendan Rodgers.[46] Under Rodgers, Swansea were known to play a 4–3–3 approach with a lot of focus on passing, where the full-backs pushed up when in possession and the outfield players played a high tempo pressing game. Under Laudrup, the team began employing a 4–2–3–1 formation, becoming more attacking, while retaining the passing and pressing game. He also signed a number of new players, primarily from La Liga, trying to bring the attacking style from Spain to Wales, which saw more goals being scored.[47] Laudrup said: "You can get a lot of quality for a reasonable amount in Spain right now".[48]

Laudrup earned plaudits for maintaining their flowing, attacking brand of football and attractive, passing style of play throughout the season, which saw his side win the Capital One Cup, after thumping Bradford City a record 5–0 in the final. "You can't ask players to do things that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are doing, but you can ask the easy things" he said. "Sometimes the easiest things in football, a simple pass five or eight yards, can be the most effective. That, everybody can learn."[49]