The Football Director Thread

[localny]

Recent results have revealed a deeper appreciation for the Ibizian efforts of Jörg Schmadtke who was with us when we signed Endo, Macca, Gravy and Sboz in the 2023 summer window which effectively reshaped and replaced our aging midfield.

Is he an unsung hero of our club? Either way, he's moved up in my Football Director ratings. How would you rate them?

Here's hoping Richard Hughes gets the same thread in 2027, two years after the Summer Window signings of 2025.

Football Directors Index
1. Michael Edwardinho

2. Jörg Schmadtke

3. Richard Hughes (for signing Slot, but likely a joint decision with ME)

4. Julian Ward

5. Damian Comedy

====

1. Edwards: VVD, Salah, Mane, Fab, Gini, and most of the Klopp era part 1.

2. Jorg: Gravy, Endo, Sboz?

3. Hughesy: Chiesa, and SLOT.

4. Upon promotion to Liverpool FC's sporting director in 2022, Ward led on the signings of a number of players, including Colombian international Luis Díaz, Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez, Dutch winger Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister.

5. In the summer transfer window for the 2011–12 season, Comolli helped Liverpool sign Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Doni, José Enrique, Sebastián Coates and Craig Bellamy. On 12 April 2012, Comolli left Liverpool by mutual consent

 

[Brizzle]

3. Richard Hughes (for signing Slot, but likely a joint decision with ME)

Took me at least three reads of this to realise ME meant Michael Edwards rather than "me". I was about to go looking for your previous posts suggesting we should bring Slot in 🤣

 

[reuque]

I'm still pretty annoyed at Julian Ward because he was the director who signed Nunez and I'm pretty sure there was a piece in The Athletic which went to lengths to describe that Ward had a video call with Nunez in front of our trophy cabinet and sort of asked if he wanted to be part of all that. He left not long after, and the less said about our Darwin the better.

 

[localny]

I'm still pretty annoyed at Julian Ward because he was the director who signed Nunez and I'm pretty sure there was a piece in The Athletic which went to lengths to describe that Ward had a video call with Nunez in front of our trophy cabinet and sort of asked if he wanted to be part of all that. He left not long after, and the less said about our Darwin the better.

You're kidding. How long ago. I must check it out.

 

[localny]

Took me at least three reads of this to realise ME meant Michael Edwards rather than "me". I was about to go looking for your previous posts suggesting we should bring Slot in 🤣

My apologies. Tried to fix it but too late to edit. 🤣 🤣

 

[Irishanfield]

How does Hughes get credit for slot when he was still doing the Bournemouth job even if it had been announced he would take over at the end of the season

 

[737Max]

I'm still pretty annoyed at Julian Ward because he was the director who signed Nunez and I'm pretty sure there was a piece in The Athletic which went to lengths to describe that Ward had a video call with Nunez in front of our trophy cabinet and sort of asked if he wanted to be part of all that. He left not long after, and the less said about our Darwin the better.

And yet he laid the groundwork for us to sign Mac Allister. Also Jurgen and Pep were heavily influential in wanting to sign Nunez. Wards job was to get it over the line so I wouldn’t be too dismissive on his abilities. He was also responsible for Mo's last renewal

 

[doctor_mac]

Wasn't Nunez very much Klopp pressing for him (and further evidence that Jurgen was increasingly able to exert greater influence on these decisions than was probably wise).

 

[localny]

How does Hughes get credit for slot when he was still doing the Bournemouth job even if it had been announced he would take over at the end of the season

I thought he had a hand in it no? He went to the Netherlands and interviewed him as well no? If not, I will happily retract.

 

[localny]

Wasn't Nunez very much Klopp pressing for him (and further evidence that Jurgen was increasingly able to exert greater influence on these decisions than was probably wise).

Yes, I think the delicate talk afterward was he was not a data fit for the system, and we would need to adapt our style to accommodate. All the red flags.

 

[King Binny]

I thought he had a hand in it no? He went to the Netherlands and interviewed him as well no? If not, I will happily retract.

He did.

How Liverpool hired Arne Slot: The data, surprise contenders and why talks grew tense

Revealed: The inner workings of the process which has led Dutch coach to Anfield - and how his appointment has been received

www.nytimes.com

It was in mid-April when Liverpool’s new sporting director Richard Hughes boarded a flight to the Netherlands. Back then, the speculation surrounding the club’s impending managerial vacancy was swirling around Ruben Amorim, the highly-rated young coach of Sporting Lisbon.

But rather than head to Portugal, Hughes had a date with a different manager arranged for just outside Rotterdam; one Liverpool had identified as the perfect successor to Jurgen Klopp.

It was the first time Hughes had met Feyenoord coach Arne Slot. Still, by that stage, he felt he knew the 45-year-old inside-out, having spent the previous weeks immersed in the data, video analysis and character references that had established him as Liverpool’s No 1 choice.

Having sat and listened to why he was the preferred candidate, Slot made it clear that this was a challenge he was eager to accept. Keen to avoid creating any unwanted distractions before his Feyenoord side’s KNVB Cup final against NEC Nijmegen on Sunday, April 21, Liverpool waited until after that triumph before opening talks with the Dutch club the following Wednesday.

======

It wasn’t just the data. Hughes had studied Slot’s Feyenoord team extensively in his role as Bournemouth technical director, signing Argentina defender Marcos Senesi from the Dutch club in August 2022 and having also watched other players such as right-back Marcus Pedersen (now on loan at Italian club Sassuolo), left-back Quilindschy Hartman (who has filled the gap left by Tyrell Malacia’s move to Manchester United in July 2022) and Colombia winger Luis Sinisterra (who ended up joining Bournemouth via a year at Leeds United).

There were other Feyenoord players Hughes looked at, on his scouts’ recommendation. But it became a standing joke in Bournemouth’s recruitment department as Hughes told his scouts to stop recommending Feyenoord players because: “It’s not about the players. It’s about the coach and his system.”

 

[Irishanfield]

But Hughes didn't take up his role at Liverpool until June 1st