Damien Comolli confirmed as Director of Football.

Top European managers are more than used to DOF and those sort of systems.

I think the englishmen in the club will be the ones who find it an issue.

Take the positives from it, we got our wish, Roy not spending any money in January.

Top European managers are more than used to DOF and those sort of systems.

I think the englishmen in the club will be the ones who find it an issue.

OY what about the Scots

If NESV bring in a top man instead of Roy then this will give credence to thier statement of juddging them by their actions if they dont what does that say. Looking at Comolli's list I dont think we have done any better or any worse than him under Rafa. There are a lot of names on that list that I wouldnt want at Anfield.

I am glad that we have appointed a director of football as it means that Roy will not be in charge of the coffers and wont be able to buy sh*te like Poulson. What Roy actually thinks of this remains to be seen but i cant see him being happy about it. My only worry is that the role is usually in charge of scouting, the medical side and the academy. If this is the case WTF is Kenny Dalglish going to be doing. Surely they cant have a DOF and a Academy Ambssador. Or does this mean that Kenny will get a better role or smaller role at the club.

TBH i,m hoping that Roy will say i cant work under a director of football and f***s off and they give the job of 1st team coach to Kenny..............sound s like a plan.

OY what about the Scots

You get my point, I'm Scottish myself.

Yes of course but I am still clinging to the hope that we might get Kenny back

TBH I,m hoping that Roy will say I cant work under a director of football and f***s off

I don't see that happening. This is his last chance at a big job and he'll cling on forever rather than voluntarily leave.

Roy Hodgson today welcomed the appointment of Damien Comolli as Liverpool's new Director of Football Strategy.

The Reds confirmed Comolli as the latest addition to the club's backroom staff on Thursday afternoon.

Comolli was born in Beziers, France and played as a youth team player at AS Monaco. He was previously European scout at Arsenal FC, Director of Football at Tottenham Hotspur FC and most recently Sporting Director at AS Saint-Etienne. Damien holds a French coaching license and is fluent in English, Spanish and French.

Hodgson told an Anfield press conference: "I feel very good about it.

"It is something we have talked about with the owners and something they were very keen to put in place. The owners come from an American sporting background where the team manager is very much responsible for team affairs, but alongside him there is a person who can have all sorts of titles, a type of sporting director in European terms.

"It's someone who obviously has a large input into the running of the football club and has an input and a part to play in a management structure.

"If you're going to run a football club these days there are a lot of elements that need to be dealt with. Recruitment of players and scouting is a major, major aspect in this respect, as of course is the Academy and all the work you need to do to bring players through.

"All of this has a life of its own to some extent outside the life of a first-team squad.

"In Europe I am very used to having a situation where you have to work alongside people like that and I think it is becoming more and more common in England as well, so that's something the new owners wanted to introduce to the club and I welcome it very much.

"I think it is going to be a great advantage to us to have a man of Damien's qualities, knowledge and experience and I think we can only profit from it as a club. I am looking forward to working with him."

Journalists quizzed the boss on if he felt the appointment of Comolli was a sign of a cultural shift at Liverpool and also asked for his thoughts on the role Anfield's new man will play.

Hodgson replied: "When I worked at Fulham I worked very closely with Alistair Mackintosh. He didn't have the title 'sporting director' but my dealings with him and the way we worked together, I would have called him sporting director.

"He had other responsibilities as well with regard to Mohammed Al-Fayed, but as far as I was concerned he was my sporting director and I am very used to working in that way.

"I think more and more clubs are. If you're managing a Barclays Premier League team, organising training, coaching, dealing with the press and organising and preparing for all the games, that is a large body of work. On top of that if you're also organising all the scouting, looking after the academy and reserve team and all the other numerous administrative things that are required to run a football club at this level, you are asking a lot of people.

"The days of the 'dictator type' English manager have long since passed anyway, where everything went through one man and no-one dared even buy a paper clip without that person's approval.

"It is just a question of strategy which I think makes a lot of sense for all football clubs and certainly makes a lot of sense for our football club at this moment in time because we're in a transition.

"We've got new owners who have a very clear vision and philosophy for the club and they want a management structure in place they can identify with. That means one they can identify with from American and European sporting models, not necessarily an archetypical, if somewhat outdated, English model."

If NESV bring in a top man instead of Roy then this will give credence to thier statement of juddging them by their actions if they dont what does that say. Looking at Comolli's list I dont think we have done any better or any worse than him under Rafa. There are a lot of names on that list that I wouldnt want at Anfield.

All transfers carry an element of risk and all clubs/managers/directors will be hit & miss when it comes to transfers, look at Fergie Veron big name, good pedigree was bound to work wasn't it ?, Maureen/Abramovich with Shevchenko, massive name global super start on paper perfect signing for Chelsea wasn't it ?, Rafa with Morientes, global name great pedigree was bound to make an impact wasn't he and if we were to delve further into the anals of history the more it would be highlighted.

Damien Comolli’s Tottenham signings:

1. Vedran Corluka, Manchester City, £8.5m
2. Roman Pavlyuchenko, Spartak Moscow, £14m
3. Cesar Sanchez, Real Zaragoza, Undisclosed
4. David Bentley, Blackburn Rovers, £15m-17m
5. Heurelho Gomes, PSV Eindhoven, £9m
6. Giovani dos Santos, Barcelona, £4.7m
7. Luka Modric, Dinamo Zagreb, £15.8m
8. Gilberto, Hertha Berlin £1.9m
9. Alan Hutton, Glasgow Rangers, £8m
10. Jonathan Woodgate, Middlesbrough, £7.5m
11. Chris Gunter, Cardiff City, £2m
12. Kevin-Prince Boateng, Hertha Berlin, £5.2m
13. Danny Rose, Leeds United, Undisclosed
14. Younes Kaboul, Auxerre, £8.2m
15. Darren Bent, Charlton Athletic, £16.5m
16. Adel Taarabt, RC Lens, Undisclosed
17. Gareth Bale, Southampton, £5m – £10m
18. Ben Alnwick, Sunderland, Undisclosed
19. Ricardo Rocha, Benfica, £3,5m
20. Mido, AS Roma, £4m
21. Pascal Chimbonda, Wigan Athletic, £4m
22. Steed Malbranque, Fulham, £3.5m
23. Didier Zokora, St Etienne, £6.5m
24. Benoit Assou-Ekotto, RC Lens, £3.5m
25. Dimitar Berbatov, Bayer Leverkusen, £10.9m
26. Hossam Ghaly, Feyernoord, Undisclosed
27. Danny Murphy, Charlton, £2m     

Be interesting to see what the profit +/- is on this bunch. Berbatov was bought by the mancs for £30m wasn't he? If anybody's got the time have a dabble, if not i'll have a go later on after tea.

NESV must now be aware of the feeling towards Roy and the warmth and affection we have for Rafa. That being the case wouldnt it be a good idea to either back him or sack him. The latter being my previous choice but if they said he was there choice of manager then at least we would know where we stood. Comolli's appointment does at least mean they are at last getting around to looking at the football side of the business. Keep your head down Roy.

All transfers carry an element of risk and all clubs/managers/directors will be hit & miss when it comes to transfers, look at Fergie Veron big name, good pedigree was bound to work wasn't it ?, Maureen/Abramovich with Shevchenko, massive name global super start on paper perfect signing for Chelsea wasn't it ?, Rafa with Morientes, global name great pedigree was bound to make an impact wasn't he and if we were to delve further into the anals of history the more it would be highlighted.

I still dont see anything in there that makes me believe we would have done so much better than Rafa.

Not impressed by that signing list to be honest.

Few cracking ones but lots of disappointing ones too.

I honestly don't know much about the man other than other than the furore that surrounded his leaving Spurs. I therefore contacted two mates, one a Spurs S.T. holder, the other played a few games for them a number of years back.

Both were anything but complementary about Comolli. They both disliked him with a passion and claimed that he "damned near ruined us". They spoke of him the way I spoke of H & G. Both wished us luck.

It's a done deal so we'll just have to suck it and see. My initial thoughts are that I can't recall the "D.o.F." approach working in England but who knows; there's always a first time. 

I still dont see anything in there that makes me believe we would have done so much better than Rafa.

Well me neither to be honest but Rafa is gone and Comolli identifying transfer targets instills much more confidence in me than the thought of Hodgson identifying them does.

Not sure i'm in favour of this idea, but willing to see what happens, maybe the new owners have a manager already lined up and who has no worries having a DoF at his disposal, if so could that man be Rafa who has a DoF with him at Internazionale at the mo, bringing Rafa back IMO would piss the media off as well as Kuntface Fergie and a few others to boot, PRAY PPL, seriously though, NESV seem to have a plan and these are the first signs of their intentions, we all know what we fans want and its possible that NESV have taken on board our feelings and are putting in place the people they want first, although it's frustratingly slow it seems things are beginning to change, another possible reason could be that they definately don't trust Roy with the pending transfer kitty and appointed Damien to oversee spending, yet another nail in Bricktops pine overcoat, another query i have is what exactly is Kenny's role now, is he still at the academy ? be interesting to see what the future holds for our King.

another query i have is what exactly is Kenny's role now, is he still at the academy ? be interesting to see what the future holds for our King.

I believe he is club ambassador ?

So is he a scout for young talent? or someone in charge of transfer policy?

what happend to my post.
What will happen to the Academy if we sign "young" players. We already have a load of Kids doing nothing.

Thank God Woy won't be in-charge of signings but on the downside when Woy gets the boot in the not too distant future he will have an excuse to complain and blame the DOF saying "i was not given the players i wanted such as C. Cole....blah...blah"....

Thank God Woy won't be in-charge of signings but on the downside when Woy gets the boot in the not too distant future he will have an excuse to complain and blame the DOF saying "I was not given the players I wanted such as C. Cole....blah...blah"....

hopefully he wont be around long enough for that to happen as players will only be available to buy in january

Damien Comolli takes Liverpool position

Liverpool have appointed ex-Tottenham director of football Damien Comolli as their director of football strategy.

The 38-year-old Frenchman was sacked by Spurs in October 2008 after three years at the club and later joined French outfit St Etienne as sporting director.

He will begin work with Reds owner John Henry and boss Roy Hodgson immediately.

"I am delighted to be joining Liverpool and look forward to working with John and Roy," said Comolli, who also spent seven seasons as a scout at Arsenal.

"I think we all realise there is a big job ahead, but we all share the vision that John has for rebuilding the club and bringing back the success that the supporters deserve."

Since succeeding Rafael Benitez as Liverpool manager last summer, Hodgson has endured a difficult start to life at Anfield.

His side were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Northampton, won only one of the first eight Premier League matches this season and were in the relegation zone until Sunday's late victory at Bolton.
   
Hodgson has been critical of the squad he inherited from Benitez and suggested he will work closely with Comolli and Henry to turn things around.

"I am looking forward to working with Damien whom I have known for many years," said former Fulham boss Hodgson.

"We are engaged in an exciting project here and he will bring a lot to the table. We all want to see moves to strengthen the squad and support player development over the next few years.

"John Henry and I are totally united in delivering on that ambition."

Henry's New England Sports Ventures (NESV) group completed a £300m takeover of Liverpool in October and the American indicated Comolli's appointment could be the first of several.

"Today's announcement is just the first step in creating a leadership group and structure designed to develop, enhance and implement our long-term philosophy of scouting, recruitment, player development and all of the other aspects necessary to build and sustain a club able to consistently compete at the highest level in European football," explained Henry.

"Damien has a proven track-record of identifying exciting young footballing talent and we are delighted that he has agreed to join Liverpool.

"Working closely with Roy Hodgson and the coaching staff, I know he will make a valuable contribution to strengthening the club and the squad as we move forward.

"We intend to be bold and innovative. We will not rest until we have restored Liverpool Football Club to the greatness Liverpool fans expect."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9155544.stm

Why was he sacked from Spurs? Hope it was not because he was sh*te. Or may be not enough "Wheeling and dealing"