Winston Churchill famously said: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Okay, the line was nicked and tweaked from the original by George Santayana, but as a quote it’s a good’un and one West Ham would do well to remember.
Because if the latest report from The Athletic is to be believed, Nuno Espírito Santo is going to have a ‘big’ say in the club’s next Director of Football.
In effect, that means Nuno will be involved in hiring his own boss.
Madness.
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To quote The Athletic:
“West Ham are keen to appoint a director of football. Sources with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, say head coach Nuno Espírito Santo will have a big say on the appointment.”
We’ve Been Here Before
Tim Steidten & Graham Potter talk in the West Ham gym
Potter saw off Steidten and appointed Macaulay
We’ve seen this sort of thing before.
Former West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini hired his mate Mario Husillos as Director of Football, which didn’t work out particularly well.
David Moyes probably got it right when he appointed Rob Newman as Head of Recruitment, but that wasn’t a role designed to oversee a complete restructuring of football operations at the club.
Because herein lies the problem.
The Director of Football is supposed to be the person responsible for hiring the head coach.
The whole methodology behind the role is that players are recruited to fit the style and philosophy of the technical director. That allows a football club to change coaches without having to completely overhaul the playing squad every couple of years.
The usual recruitment path is to appoint a new coach who broadly fits the existing football philosophy, causing the least disruption possible.
In essence, it means the baby doesn’t get thrown out with the bathwater every time a managerial change is made.
Kyle Macaulay’s time at West Ham was very short having paid £1m to extract him from his contract at Chelsea
West Ham Never Seem To Learn
Former West Ham Director of Football Tim Steidten said on numerous occasions that he needed five years to implement his strategy, which sounds about right.
Unfortunately, we never got to see whether that appointment would bear fruit.
What followed was Karren Brady appointing Graham Potter, who then brought in West Ham’s next football figure in Kyle Macaulay, his long-time recruitment ally from Brighton, Chelsea and Swansea.
If the whole thing sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is.
West Ham are painfully poor at this stuff.
Nobody wanted relegation, of course, but I was rather hopeful it might allow the club to reset and finally move away from the bad habits that have contributed to the gradual decline we’ve witnessed over recent years.
Unfortunately, it seems the lessons haven’t been learned.
My biggest fear is that we’ve simply moved from a situation where David Sullivan relied on family friend Will Salthouse for recruitment to a very similar model where Nuno relies on Jorge Mendes.
The Director Of Football Must Be In Charge
No doubt Daniel Křetínský’s intentions are good when it comes to appointing a Director of Football.
But it is imperative that any such appointment is allowed to run the entire football operation, particularly recruitment.
There is no way the manager should have a significant say in the appointment.
I’ve always held that view, irrespective of who the manager happens to be.
For that reason, if The Athletic report is accurate, I suspect Křetínský’s attempts to move away from agent-led squad building will ultimately fail.