Any Webber Replacement Ideas?

[Big O 226]

I don’t know enough names of sporting Directors in the industry but this development does leave me a little worried about Wagner and the recruitment this summer (albeit pretty sensible freebies so far).

I know many don’t appreciate Webber but his replacement is coming into a modern footballing environment, with solid youth structure in place and an international scouting network, crikey he even has a soccerbot!

I would hope we are going to go for a very modern football thinker, who desires fluid attacking football and is data driven. Ideally someone on the way up (maybe already at a big club in a junior role) who would see this as a great opportunity to make their mark.

with that backdrop I would expect them to want to make their own managerial and coaching staff decisions and therefore Wagner may be on borrowed time 

[norfolkngood 1,095]

Recruitment of players and staff are key for me ,

someone who has their finger on pulse of youth players that coming through at other lower league clubs with be massive ,

We did so well signing youngsters like Aarons ,J Lewis ,Godfrey and Maddison 

[Norfolk Dan 308]

Rob Newman 

[hogesar 9,803]

They definitely need to not say the truth or be honest with us.

They need to just say whatever sounds good and talk about how amazing our fans and club are.

Probably just need to toe the party line until getting called Delias puppet. Then move on and I don't know. Join the Scottish FA?

[norfolkngood 1,095]

wonder if Craig Fleming would make a good DOF was in the same team as  Neil Adams could be a good connection 

[Midlands Yellow 4,118]

1 hour ago, hogesar said:

They definitely need to not say the truth or be honest with us.

They need to just say whatever sounds good and talk about how amazing our fans and club are.

Probably just need to toe the party line until getting called Delias puppet. Then move on and I don't know. Join the Scottish FA?

Kleenex on its way after a quick whip around.

[essex canary 515]

Zoe Webber working from home in Yorkshire.

[canarydan23 4,117]

Let's replace him with ChatGPT

[littleyellowbirdie 2,611]

I think they should employ a decoy Sporting Director who goes around acting like a pantomime villain, while the real Sporting Director works undercover from the physio department, or possibly in accounts. Every time we lose a game, the 'sporting director' can resign and fans can rejoice at another scalp, while the real guy can quietly get on with his job without any fuss.

Edited June 13, 2023 by littleyellowbirdie

[Disco Dales Jockstrap 1,899]

11 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Let's replace him with ChatGPT

ChatGPT has spoken...

Once upon a time, in the bustling city of Norwich, there was a passionate football club called Norwich City Football Club. The club had enjoyed its fair share of ups and downs throughout its history, but it had always been driven by the dedication and enthusiasm of its staff, players and supporters.

One key figure in the success of Norwich City was Stuart Webber, the club's sporting director. Stuart had an impressive resume, with years of experience in the football industry. However, there was one peculiar characteristic about Stuart that everyone at the club was aware of: he often said things that seemed, well, a bit silly.

It wasn't that Stuart lacked intelligence; in fact, he had a sharp wit and keen eye for talent. However, it seemed that he had a tendency to speak without engaging his brain fully. His comments in interviews would sometimes leave people scratching their heads or laughing incredulously. Some even speculated that he only had one working brain cell, given the eccentric nature of his remarks...

OTBC

[Terminally Yellow 2,491]

1 hour ago, Norfolk Dan said:

Rob Newman 

Now that's not a bad shout. Currently at West Ham in some capacity isn't he?

[Norfolk Dan 308]

6 minutes ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Now that's not a bad shout. Currently at West Ham in some capacity isn't he?

I think he is a Man City. 

[Google Bot 3,373]

Paul Watson at Luton, it'd be like when we poached Webber from Huddersfield.

[pete 320]

Is he SD at Luton?  Was going to post Cov and Luton seem to getting along fine without a Svengali like Webber pulling the strings.  No media profile darling to waste their few finances hasn't done them any harm.  Examples of a well run club despite all the tribulations take note Delia.  

[chicken 2,675]

13 hours ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Get the chap who was amazing at signing players back from Middlesbrough 

Didn't he leave at the end of the summer in which we signed Normann, Kabak, Gilmore etc?

[Dean Coneys boots 1,419]

1 hour ago, chicken said:

Didn't he leave at the end of the summer in which we signed Normann, Kabak, Gilmore etc?

I think it was the summer before that 

[TheGoogler 324]

I see Michael Bailey has thrown a couple of names into the pot as suggestions.

The first being Mike Rigg. Formerly at Burnley. Known to have a close working relationship with Webber. Both on the board of the association of sporting directors. 

The second being Steve Hitchin. Formerly at Tottenham. Was at Liverpool and played a big role in the purchase of Luis Suarez. Article says he was a guest of Webber at a fixture this season.

Third being Mark Bowen. Now head of football operations at Reading. Described in the article as a romantic option. 

Interesting.

[YoussefSafriFromDistance 5]

Michael Edwards is an interesting one, might be an attraction in working with a coach who is similar to Klopp in both style and personality plus he worked really well with FSG who will operate in a similar way to Attanasio who also consulted John Henry / FSG before getting involved at Norwich. Huge step down but the fact he's turned Chelsea down shows he might be looking for the "right club/project" rather than one where he has lots of money to play with

[Old Shuck 191]

17 hours ago, Branston Pickle said:

I realise this may be covered elsewhere, but are there any realistic names out there for us to mull over?  - think people have mentioned Bromby is leaving a similar role at Huddersfield.  

Bromby left Huddersfield because of perceived poor performance/results in the role-so don't think we should, or would, be considering him.

Paul Clements, the GK Coach, is someone who we approached a little while ago but he chose, at the time, to stay put. If we try again for him, does this mean Ed Wooten, very highly regarded in the game, is off?

Paul Clement as a Webber replacement, is a good call.

Mark Bowen an interesting one.

 

[Greavsy 2,475]

 

 

[Google Bot 3,373]

Seems like many fans are happy about Bromby going, but gutted about Clements. 

[Creative Midfielder 2,004]

16 hours ago, rock bus said:

I agree we’d love you back Daniel!

Yes definitely, and wasn't his goal originally to be a DoF rather than a Head Coach?

[Capt. Pants 4,323]

 

2 hours ago, Old Shuck said:

Bromby left Huddersfield because of perceived poor performance/results in the role-so don't think we should, or would, be considering him.

 

They were actually only 9 pts behind us and you could argue coaxing Warnock out of retirement was a masterstroke.

To be honest I've no idea who we should appoint. I don't think previous experience is a huge requirement, especially with Adams still here. After all WHU appointed Mark Noble as SD and they've just won a European trophy!

[repman 638]

27 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

 

They were actually only 9 pts behind us and you could argue coaxing Warnock out of retirement was a masterstroke.

To be honest I've no idea who we should appoint. I don't think previous experience is a huge requirement, especially with Adams still here. After all WHU appointed Mark Noble as SD and they've just won a European trophy!

I think the SD role varies massively from club to club, West Ham might have Noble in that position but Moyes is a much more old school style manager who will want control of transfers. 

I wouldn't be against an Adams type appointment if I believed everything at the club was running smoothly and effectively. In that sort of scenario a continuity type who won't rock the boat could be a good thing. However I think the place we find ourself in right now we need someone to drive us forward yet again.

[Danke bitte 967]

15 minutes ago, repman said:

I think the SD role varies massively from club to club, West Ham might have Noble in that position but Moyes is a much more old school style manager who will want control of transfers. 

I wouldn't be against an Adams type appointment if I believed everything at the club was running smoothly and effectively. In that sort of scenario a continuity type who won't rock the boat could be a good thing. However I think the place we find ourself in right now we need someone to drive us forward yet again.

Good post. I agree. We need a Webber circa 2017. Ultimately we find ourselves at the beginning of a massive period of transition and need someone who isn’t afraid of taking risks. McNally was the same when he first came in. 

[Wibble 110]

5 minutes ago, Danke bitte said:

Good post. I agree. We need a Webber circa 2017. Ultimately we find ourselves at the beginning of a massive period of transition and need someone who isn’t afraid of taking risks. McNally was the same when he first came in. 

The trouble is, we all know what happens when the risks don't go your way.

Very much of a poisened chalice of a job imo.

[Danke bitte 967]

8 minutes ago, Wibble said:

The trouble is, we all know what happens when the risks don't go your way.

Very much of a poisened chalice of a job imo.

Totally. It’s riding the risks but equally taking the criticism when it doesn’t work out. Which is what Webber hasn’t done more recently. DoF at Norwich (in its current ownership state) will always be a poisoned chalice owing to the way we have an approach to transfers. You have to be willing to work with little and know full well the level of expectation is incredibly high

[PurpleCanary 5,601]

2 hours ago, repman said:

I think the SD role varies massively from club to club, West Ham might have Noble in that position but Moyes is a much more old school style manager who will want control of transfers. 

I wouldn't be against an Adams type appointment if I believed everything at the club was running smoothly and effectively. In that sort of scenario a continuity type who won't rock the boat could be a good thing. However I think the place we find ourself in right now we need someone to drive us forward yet again.

Quite. And by a similar token an argument against Farke coming back as SD is that he potentially would be still too much of a head coach in his mind.

[Mark .Y. 352]

9 hours ago, TheGoogler said:

I see Michael Bailey has thrown a couple of names into the pot as suggestions.

The first being Mike Rigg. Formerly at Burnley. Known to have a close working relationship with Webber. Both on the board of the association of sporting directors. 

The second being Steve Hitchin. Formerly at Tottenham. Was at Liverpool and played a big role in the purchase of Luis Suarez. Article says he was a guest of Webber at a fixture this season.

Third being Mark Bowen. Now head of football operations at Reading. Described in the article as a romantic option. 

Interesting.

If that Steve Hitchin brought Luis Suarez over - he owes us, big time 🤣

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,157]

It's really hard to pick someone from the outside looking in because any success that a football club has could be down to so many different factors or people. It's not as easy as looking at a manager with a good record because a Sporting Directors role is so broad and varies from club to club, it's also further confused by what their main objective is. Webber here obviously felt that his primary role was to grow the club, if we're looking for similar you can look at other clubs who have improved their stature and facilities over the last few years under one SD but I'd imagine that list is pretty slim because not many SD's had as much control as Webber did here and what about if those infrastructure improvements were owner funded or maybe the club rose a couple of divisions but had an excellent manager? What do you look for? I have no idea honestly. 

I do have a feeling though that we'll hire someone who's really highly rated in the game but maybe hasn't had a clear and obvious success like Webber did with Huddersfield as opposed to someone you could point to and say he's the reason x club got promoted or avoided relegation etc because I don't see anyone at a similar sized or smaller club who has done that in this country.