Lee Turnbull shown the door?

I don’t think this is true and we are seeing more and more Dof roles inlower leagues. Sutton and Port Vale from the top of my head use this model. Its how it’s implemented which is important. The range of the role can be minimal to all consuming.
I’ve just had a look at David Flitcrofts role at Port Vale and while he seems to work along side the manager with recruitment it seems his main job at the moment is identifying and organising a new training facility while also sorting out coaching roles, facilities and it seems he’s been heavily involved in the medical side.
The problem with Turnbull was that is sole job was to sign players. One bad window and you’re gone. Although I don’t think for one minute that Adams didn’t have the final say on all signings this summer.

 

I find this mind blowing to be honest what about the way this club has been run since Richmond suggests we're getting it right and everything is just fine as it is just hire a new manager and give them total control and hope for the best and fail to plan forwards

I cannot disagree more strongly with your stance yes we know the players are the cheapest in the EFL we know the players don't or at least shouldn't cost fees we know we aren't likely to sign many top class footballers who can play multiple positions tactics and formations extremely well but what has that got to do with the failure to put in an overarching plan

Directors of Football or Heads of Recruitment whatever you want to call them should be the first thing installed before the club appoints a manager before the club puts a coaching team in place and before we sign a single player IF we're going to be consistent and actually do something on the field

I cannot understand how any club can just move from manager to manager to manager based on a resume and based purely on success when it's so obvious that it takes at least a year (or sometimes two) to shift on all those players that the manager might not want and why might that manager not want them well in Bradford's case it would be because the manager has picked up the reins from another manager who he has absolutely nothing in common with who plays a totally different style of football that requires totally different players because as you say these lads at this level are limited

Now if you were going to turn round and tell me don't worry that's the chairman's job or the owner's job or the CEO's job then that would make sense if those positions had been fixed for some time and the people in those positions had proven themselves okay fine they know what they're doing they'll hire someone to build on what Adams is doing even if Adams fails but NONE OF THAT IS TRUE!! Not one single thing has been constant or consistent at this club not one single person has been here for a decade or more (that matters) and it's of absolutely no surprise to see that we're struggling as a result

Sort the club out decide on a philosophy decide what the club is decide what a Bradford City player looks like and go from there and the club should have the balls to turn round to anyone involved at the club and say 'sorry that's not a Bradford City player' and actually try to (FOR ONCEEEE) future-proof this club by understanding what they're doing and why and not just to please a manager when those managers have failed over and over and over and over again with the single exception of Phil Parkinson

I'm sorry I got carried away lol rant over

 

Absolutely bang on and exactly what I was trying to say if we had done this when we had signed Doyle and we signed him knowing he fit in to the way we played and not just because we wanted a goalscorer then Doyle might still be here and he might have fired us to promotion and not Swindon and not Bolton

Not knowing what we're doing long term and not knowing who we're trying to sign is what pisses players off because they get here and we know they can play and yet we don't even know why we brought them in half the time it's not good enough

 

Who was available? Who would you have been going for?

 

Exactly this.

Lots of people here looking for controversy as usual when there really isn’t any.

 

He was pushed into a corner by the interviewer. Adams should have known better.

 

The most successful manager we've had in recent times buggered off as soon as he realised interference was coming. Get a decent manager and for pity's sake just let him get on with managing.

 

Not sure Doyle's the right example to illustrate your point. Wasn't he signed in precisely the way your advocating. The ultimate visionary Rahic handing him to head-coach Collins to fulfil the masterplan. We all know how that worked out.

 

While that is definitely true I would argue Rahic should have hired a Director of Football on Day 1 but we all know that's not how he wanted the club to be run lol the major issue with Rahic is he had no clue about English football and in reality very little clue about football full stop

There's a reason Rahic had to buy a club to get a meaningful job

 

Parky didn’t need one so I disagree.

 

Port Vale are unsuccessful though so don’t think that’s a blueprint to follow. Jury out on Sutton at this level this season.

 

I think the reason for this is due to the lack of direction from the top. We have made a number of bad appointments as Rahic was hopeless and Rupp hasn’t a clue. Sparks has made some better decisions since he started but I don’t think you need a DoF to build for the future.

Parky was the blueprint. Bring in a manager who gets the club, gets the fans’ mentality, buys into the culture and then gets players to do the same.

For me, Adams is a man who can do this. He doesn’t need Turnbull in the background like his rookie predecessors did.

 

To be honest it seems to me like the appointment of Parkinson was a total fluke rather than a blueprint

We've hired managers with resumes that are similar to Parkinson hoping that lightning will strike twice and of course Adams is the most recent of those attempts Bowyer was another even Grayson wasn't a bad appointment on paper and of course Hopkin did at Livingston what Adams did at Ross County only Grayson's record at Livi was better

If Adams fails now will we finally accept that we don't have to find another Parkinson to have success and that we can actually influence it as a club by knowing what we're doing from managerial appointment to managerial appointment right down to which kids get deals

Even the transition from McCall and Trueman to Adams has been bonkers with Staunton frozen out for Kelleher and our kids no longer a priority

Seems like with every appointment we change our mind about what we want the club to be and Sparks isn't doing anything to stop the chaos in fact he might be accelerating it given how often he chops and changes

 

That old bullshit? wHO woULd YoU sIGN?
It was Turnbull’s job to identify players, to use his network, database and contacts to find the best possible players, to make players who aren’t available want to come to City and force a transfer from their current club. It’s not a fan’s job to do that. No offence meant to Theo, but if that’s the best Turnbull could do then Adams is right if he’s disappointed. The fact that Robinson has had about five minutes in two games might tell you Derek’s opinion.

 

Mansfield also struggling under David Sharpe's reign as DOF despite having one of the best budgets available last couple of seasons

 

Some of you really do make me laugh. All summer I said we lack quality and most of you were buzzing off the bang average signings we made and making out we will be up there for promotion. When I said we were about 8th some of you were like bloody hell who is above us blah blah!

Now the Sparks has unturned again you because he his clueless some of you are like the signings were rubbish ha ha.

We better not be going back to old recruitment methods. I have no problem with Adams shaking things up but the communication manager as CEO is a massive worry. He doesn’t know what he is doing when it comes to recruitment and contracts.

It’s not good the manager comes in and is basically suggesting the players we have are average at best.

When Adams leaves then what? Sparks will be gone before him though because Adams isn’t a man to mess about. He will tell Rupp how it is - NO DANCING!

 

Well heres hoping that this 'change of direction' actually works because we can't keep swapping and changing every few months. It wasn't that long ago that Sparks was shouting the praises of Lee Turnbill and his important role at the club, it became clear Adams wasn't happy with what happened on the striker recruitment front. And as it currently stands we look no better or worse than most teams in the division in terms of squad strength and for me that simply is not good enough for an apparently big club in this division.

 

That’s something they go very quiet on, except they throw in xxxx , and when we see xxxx playing for the opposition and they are absolutely crap.

Salford’s , Armstrong, Henderson and Hunter were garbage, yet lauded as brilliant signings we should have got because we are “ massif”

They talk Horlicks , sadly.

 

It’s not bullshit, Mike….They offer critical opinion, fair enough , but offer zero as an alternative .

 

I get what you’re saying mate, but on the other hand a recruitment director, chief scout or whatever has a full time job with access to databases, industry contacts, a scouting network and contact with agents to draw up a shortlist. They and the analysts team should be drawing up a short list of candidates and with the coaching team picking the ones to go for. This should include players in non league clubs, other divisions, other countries perhaps and of course PL and Championship U21s.

You can’t expect a fan to have that knowledge, people in this thread have suggested Agard, yet he’s been at Plymouth a week. It is not wholly unfair to say the recruitment by Turnbull has hardly turned up any Paul Mullin or Cole Stockton gems, the hits for me have been Vernam, Canavan and Cook and McCall reckoned two of them were already identified before he left.