Cardiff employ 23-year-old friend of chairman as Head of Recruitment

Was only a matter of time before this happened. I bet the new guy plays football manager on his laptop with Tan's son as does really well, and has got the job on that basis

To be honest tho, I think kt is a job that you dont need to be good at to do well. It wasnt hard to identify caulker as a decent defender, or frasier campbell as a decent, pacy striker. I'm actually shocked Roman at Chelsea hasn't done this more often...

It's disgusting really though. A 23 year old friend of the chairman? Betting odds have been slashed over Mackay being the next manager to leave - either through walking out or sacked. It's wrong really as he's  done a great job and is by far the best manager that they've had. Would be a big mistake to let him leave, but that's what Tan will get as he ruins the club.

Agreed. Mackay has done a great job at Cardiff but Tan is an absolute moron. I feel sorry for the fans, even if it is Cardiff.

Last edited by rhys (Thu-10-Oct-2013 08:29:02)

Agreed. Mackay has done a great job at Cardiff but Tan is an absolute moron. I feel sorry for the fans, even if it is Cardiff.

Tan has done a great job thus far, helping cardiff get promoted, and then releasing funds to bring in sone very good signings.

The appointment isnt perminant, and for all we know this might be the same as when Robson brought in a 16 year old AVB because Sir Bob was impressed after a football conversation on the steps of hia appartment.

The guy thats now on gardening leave might have an issue, maybe malkey didnt get on with him at the end, or fell out with him.

Football management and coaching is very elitist,and this bucks the trend. Maybe its a really good, forward thinking move

The guy has no experience in any part of a football club. Im 22, if they gave me the job would that be forward thinking?  I dont have a clue how to do the job and neither does this guy. Its a joke.

The guy has no experience in any part of a football club. Im 22, if they gave me the job would that be forward thinking?  I dont have a clue how to do the job and neither does this guy. Its a joke.

Avb and mourinho didnt have a clue either, and both have gone to to be successful.

They both did some kind of football work before starting their career in football. AvB started by talking with the great Sir Bobby Robson and giving him some tactical knowledge and tips - the guy clearly had a brain for football and this was recognised by being added to his observation team before taking coaching badges. Mourinho was a professional footballer before moving into coaching, and worked his way up from the bottom.

Both had a clue, and Mourinho had a footballing background.

Exactly. There's no justifying it. This guy isn't a footballer, hasn't had a footballing coach badge or playing experience. Not to mention he has no experience in dealing with the financial and contractual side of things. He has no experience in business or how to deal with agents. The only thing he knows how to do (according to the report) is paint the stadium. I mean, come on.

To be fair, I hear he's really good at Football Manager.

Obviously not a fan of football(with the feet) but I found this hilarious.  I'd be super pissed if I was a fan of that team.

Also "lol" at "gardening leave"  WTF is that??

To be fair, I hear he's really good at Football Manager.

Already said that...

So maybe this guy is the next avb, or the next karen brady (who had no football knowledge prior to joining birmingham)

If this guys role is spotting future talent, then being good at football manager is a help. That game spotted lukaku 3 seasons ago, as well as numourous others.

I dont think its a gd move, but Tan has done well for Cardiff thus far, so why not now?

I signed Richmond Boakye on FIFA 13 as a young nothing and he ended up with an overall stat of about 92. Sign him immediately! Also, Hilds will be happy to hear that in a couple of years Lloris is due to become the best keeper in the world.

Players like Cherno Samba will become one of the best strikers in England. Oh wait, he turned out to be a complete waste of space and don't think he can even get into a Football League team.

Obviously its hit and miss. What I'm saying is there is a decent track record of spotting decent young players.If it was 100% accurate all the time then the code writer would be burned at the state as witches...

And benji, the game has rated lloris as top 2 in the world for 3 or 4 seasons now.

Back on topic...

Apparently malky was asked to resign. Not sure how true as it was in the papers. Be interesting to see what comes of this.

You can't base football knowledge on Football Manager though. Can't believe anyone doesn't think that this is a terrible idea. Imagine if Tottenham employed myself or Rhys in this role based on us having played a football simulation game. At least he makes Mike Ashley not look so bad. He wouldn't even make a decision that bad and he's made some terrible backroom staff appointments since he took over.

I agree with Hilds. Tan has dramatically changed Cardiff in many way and it has been good for them, didn't he like change the crest, the kit and other things? He sounds like an innovator and this is a watch this space moment. Either that or this kid is just Tan's puppet which isn't a bad thing either since he probably won't be making any important decisions.

And Szczney > Lloris.

I agree with Hilds. Tan has dramatically changed Cardiff in many way and it has been good for them, didn't he like change the crest, the kit and other things? He sounds like an innovator and this is a watch this space moment. Either that or this kid is just Tan's puppet which isn't a bad thing either since he probably won't be making any important decisions.

And Szczney > Lloris.

I was with u all the way til the last sentence...

Benji, I'm not seriously advocating soneone be employed based on how good they are at fm. Im saying the game is a reasonable knowledge base. I know more about european players from playing the game. If i was a director of football, I think I would check the game and then check the player in person. But I wouldnt make any desisions on signing until I had seen the player play, and i had met and spoken to him.

But all the fm stuff is immaterial And sidetracking the actual topic.

How do any of you know that the new guy hasnt chatted to Tan about football and wowed him with his knowledge? Like I said, football is elitist and looks after its own, regardless of ability. Just look at avram grant and mick mccarthy who keep getting jobs... this kid might be a breath of fresh air.

I could probably wow Tan with my football knowledge, but that doesn't mean I'd be very good at the job. I'd bet that I'd be rather shit at it.

He's not going to know more than the guy they've replaced. I could understand if they were going for someone with more experience, or who had a good footballing background even if they don't have experience in the particular role. But to replace a footballing man with a friend of the family who has no football background is madness. Realistically, what is he going to bring that Moody wasn't? Fresh ideas? Nope, nothing that will help Mackay anyway. With this kind of role you need someone with some experience to work alongside the manager, to help him with transfers and who would be a benefit to the team so that Mackay can concentrate on managing.

Now he won't be able to, as he knows more about what the team needs, more about negotiating football deals, more contacts, etc. You can't concentrate as you were when someone you clearly worked well with is taken away and replaced by someone far inferior.

If he was any good then he'd have had better work experience than painting the walls of Cardiff City Stadium. He'd have had a job with another football club, no? Even a small one. He has nothing.

All you have to do is look at a few quotes to know that this isn't a good idea at all.
"Iain is a trusted member of Malky's backroom staff. Malky will be shocked, stunned and angry that this has happened behind his back."
"Moody has been an unobtrusive, yet hugely significant, influence at Cardiff City."

I see it differently. Cardiffs manager doesnt need someone to have ideas etc, none of the managers need that. They need someone to delegate to. Someone they can say 'I want to sign this player' and then it happens. Managers dont generally want discussions, they are managers because they are decision makers.

As for experience, hows it working out at newcastle having someone in the dof role with loads of experience? And I'll flag up avram grant and mick mccarthy again.

Who'd have thought avb would 'wow' sir bobby at 16 years old enough to encourage sir bob to sign him?

Who'd have thought sir bob would want to bring his enterpritor on to his coaching staff?

I bet, if that happened today, message boards would go mad...

I agree with Hilds. Tan has dramatically changed Cardiff in many way and it has been good for them, didn't he like change the crest, the kit and other things? He sounds like an innovator and this is a watch this space moment. Either that or this kid is just Tan's puppet which isn't a bad thing either since he probably won't be making any important decisions.

And Szczney > Lloris.

I was with u all the way til the last sentence...

I don't actually believe that, it just feels like too long since I last took a dig at Spurs.

But yeah my point is you guys need to stop being so knee-jerk and give the guy a few months at least. If you don't hear anything about him fucking up in his role then i'll say he's been a success, we don't need football clubs to be like wrestling and have like 6 different people in charge. Plus, isn't he just 'acting' or 'interim' or whatever the term is we use nowadays? Regardless, I'm 20 and have no qualifications in football but I reckon I could do a good job, football really isn't that hard of a sport to work in.

Last edited by H Sticks (Fri-11-Oct-2013 22:02:49)

AvB didn't go into anything where it was important to start with. Robson basically took him as someone to mentor which is totally different than this. He didn't go onto the coaching staff for a few years after Robson discovered him. There's also the fact that Robson wanted him. It's a totally different situation so irrelevant to this one.

And Kinnear is shit, but I'd much rather have him than this guy cus at least he knows something even if he is off his rocker. Plus it's not just him, we have an owner who doesn't like to spend. We almost missed out on Debuchy because Ashley wouldn't pay the extra £1m to sign him last summer and wanted to wait until January to see if he could get him cheaper. We could have signed Bony, but Ashley wouldn't pay the price. There are loads of people that Newcastle missed out on because Ashley won't pay more than certain amounts or allow wages of more than £60k a week. There's almost no need for Newcastle to have a DoF with the restrictions we have in place.

Delegating only works when you have someone below you that can do a job. Like I said, this guy will have no contacts, not like Moody had. Mackay will say I want this player or that player and he won't have a clue who to ring up or email to inquire about the cost. Yeah you can learn all that, but if they desperately need someone in January you don't want someone handling it that is still learning to wipe their ass.

It's also been made clear that Mackay isn't happy with it. Why piss off your manager like that? Why has there been reports that he was asked to resign? That's not good for the club. You're also pissing off your fan base. I know a few Cardiff fans and they're all still very bitter about changing the kit from blue to red as well as the nickname, now they're even more pissed off. Tan is trying to create a global brand, that's great, but if you piss off your core base first and then continue to do so, it's not good and can end up more damaging to the brand he's trying to create.

That's not good for the club. You're also pissing off your fan base. I know a few Cardiff fans and they're all still very bitter about changing the kit from blue to red as well as the nickname, now they're even more pissed off. Tan is trying to create a global brand, that's great, but if you piss off your core base first and then continue to do so, it's not good and can end up more damaging to the brand he's trying to create.

Now I don't give 2 shits about Cardiff and how it's ran, that's why I can look at this in a positive way. He's only interim until they find someone else anyway, whoever you put in this position would be pretty much pointless. However, I think you're giving football fans way too much credit. I doubt Cardiff fans are that pissed off after Tan got them promoted, made them richer and got a higher class of players to transfer to Cardiff. It's like saying Chelsea fans are pissed off that Roman keeps switching managers, even though you know they're rather have Roman than any of those managers.

Fans are fickle. Arsenal fans were up in arms and wanting wenger out after the villa game. Not so much noise now tho...

The point is, kinear is shit. Avram grant is shit. Mick mccarthy is shit. Dennis wise is shit. Martin jol is shit. I could go on and list a load more, and they all keep getting jobs in football. The sport doesnt progress because we have the same old names bouncing around clubs and keeping them in the dark ages. Maybe Tan is bucking that trend. Maybe he is trying something innovative and different.

Like I said, I think he's wrong, but Im interested to see where this goes.