In late summer, when you see footballers like Fletcher, Sharp and others who could do a job, then in January you see people like Collins available, yet you come up with Clem Rodrigues with a few hours left, then you deserve to lose your job regardless of the board above. Not nice seeing people out of work; I have nothing against Mladen as a person; I don't know him. My opinion is that of a fan who only sees the evidence presented.
Sormaz is clearly in the top 3 or 4 of Directors of Football in the league. The data supports that. Probably. That's what he told Neerav anyway.
But who is responsible is the question? You are assuming it is Sormaz as he is heading it up, you are also assuming better players were available that were in budget, suited the club, wanted to come and we could afford but he failed to get them. If I gave you £1k to buy a £10K car and you didn’t, is that you’re fault or mine? We should be asking Neerav the questions and assumptions of why he is allowing it, at the minute he is defending even praising the performance of Sormaz.. If the end result of those questions is Sormaz needs to go then fine but and it’s a big but if it turns out he is being given £1k to buy that car then he may actually be doing the best that can be done.
Nareev said we had lined up 3 potential strikers who let us down.One because his partner was having a baby,one because of location and one because his manager reneged on the deal. Having said that I don't think I'd have filled the squad with "another body"I'd have promoted from within.
Nailed it with the post. Mladen is part of the problem but not solely responsible. However, he should be sacked just for what happened in January because it was an absolute disgrace.
If we judge Sormaz based on our playing style, it's been a failure. If we judge him on being top 6... Its been a failure. If we judge him on the two transfer windows, it's been a failure. And if we judge him on squad size, strength and balance... It's been a disaster. But. We don't know if he's truly got the say or if owners are dabbling or abdicating. We don't know if he's got the right datasets or a useful team to help him interpret that data. And we don't know if budget is allocated in a way that caps off better quality signings. I certainly don't rate him, largely from his public outings and lack of them, but more often than not, problems aren't caused by single factors. They are compounded and complex and resultant from multiple other issues, choices and internal and external effects. Just like replacing Clarke, I don't think we'd see a huge immediate turnaround by shifting to a different sporting director. Frankly, I'd scrap the role anyway, we're operating like a ftse 250 plc and we just don't have the need for such a corporate structure overlaid by active shareholders. Ultimately, the top dog has to grip problems and take accountability for them and rectify them. Consistently paying issues off isn't going to stop them arising again. I'm sure we'll go through plenty more coaches, execs, backroom staff and probably supporters, but until we have sporting people making sporting decisions facilitated by data, experience and good instinct, we're on a hiding to nothing.
Khaled said on the record that he had 99% control - or words to that effect. So you would imagine Mladen has the same.
The Sporting Director role is because we have absentee owners who rarely grace Oakwell with their presence. The Crynes are a honourable exception but, because of the structure of the ownership, they don't have the power to change things. That lies with Neerev and, to a lesser extent JAQ. Years back when I went to a Supporters Club meeting when John Dennis was the speaker. He admitted that there had been interest from outside parties about taking over BFC. He had resisted because he felt owners with no connection to the Town might lose interest in BFC and therefore wouldn't make good long term custodians of the Club.
True, there may be financial constraints on Sormaz imposed by Neerav but then again he doesn't have to sign anybody if they're not good enough does he? If potential players aren't good enough he shouldn't sign them - he should wait - but he does sign them all the time, bloating the squad, adding countless thousands to the wage bill... He's not doing his job properly. His data analysis is flawed or he simply doesnt care/he's lazy. In my opinion.
My lad and Sormaz, a curious pair, With mischief and laughter, they’re everywhere. My lad, with his frown and his twinkling eyes, And Sormaz, who’s clever, and often surprised. My lad says, “Let’s run, let’s shout, let’s play! Who cares for the rules or what people say?” Sormaz just chuckles and shakes his head, “I’d rather stay wise, be quiet instead.” But my lad doesn’t listen, he jumps with glee, He climbs on the table, and says, “Come see! The world is an adventure, don’t stay in one place, Let’s leap and let's wander, let’s race the race!” Sormaz, with a smile, tries to keep things in line, But how can you stop such a wild, young mind? So off they both go, my lad full of cheer, And Sormaz follows, though a little unclear. For together they make such a marvelous sound, The noise of the world, and the joy that is found. My lad and Sormaz, a pair that’s so true, A lad full of mischief, and Sormaz, too. By Richard Kell
It’s not just about the quality of the players we’ve signed though is it? Who’s choice is it to have a huge amount of the budget spent on central midfielder’s & attacking midfielder’s but to leave us so short in other areas? Connell Craig Hourihane Russell Phillips Benson Nwakali Keillor-Dunn Craig might have had his wages subsidised by Spurs but the rest of them are presumably on some serious wages. Is Sormaz really doing his job well having all these players eating up such a huge chunk of the budget when there’s such obvious deficiencies with the rest of the squad? Whose decision was it to have Gent as our only left wing back for the first half of the season? Why did we not support him with an experienced player & instead sign Farrugia who’s barely played wing back in his life in an attempt to convert him from a forward / winger? Why did we not sign a natural centre forward? A forward who can play with his back to goal & actually link play? A type of striker that we’ve been crying out for.
What happens if indeed he has only been given 1k to buy a car but ends up buying a banger for 100 quid and the engine doesn't even run
I’d speak with him, ask him for his reasoning and then make an informed decision if it was a learning curve error, a fundamental error or an incompatible error and act accordingly. Equally if I’d wanted that vehicle for my customers to use, I’d expect them to be questioning me why I’d bought it and to give reassurances about what I’m doing to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Bored to **** of hearing 'need to find a buyer' as though they wouldn't if it was favourable to do so. Nobody wants to losing 10 million a year, especially rich folk. They're not just going to give the club away.
I think Mladen lacks something but like others on here its not altogether his fault. Probably chairman falls into a trap a lot people at the top fall into of just listening to the middle/upper management who are generally good at telling people what they want to hear. None of those signings in January were what the club needed and we are now saddled with more wages to find without having a lot of impact. BUT those signings also reflect what the people at the top want. The owners came to this club because they were sold a pipe dream of making money from player trading. The Jan signings most likely reflect a conversation from Mladen to chairman/board: "these players stats show undervalue so one or two of them might make a profit somewhere along the line". All just blowing smoke up each others' ar£ses that its going well. Upshot: a massive wage bill, with nothing to show on the pitch.
Not giving the club away means chipping in £10m pa. Selling the club for the nominal pound could well be the best financial decision Neerav makes since his initial investment having fell for Conway’s story of making millions from football. They can easily stop their personal losses by dropping the club in to administration if they cease to provide financial support.
I think a similar analogy is he’s got £10k and he’s bought 10 x 1k players instead of 2 x 5k players. None of those 10 x £1k players are good enough to make the first team. He’s spent the money, not improved the team and we’re saddled with 10 more wages. He’s completely wasted the money.
