It’s a DONE DEAL — as reported by the Athletic a couple of weeks ago, Tottenham have formally appointed Rafi Moerson, late of City Football Group, to the newly-created executive position titled Director of Football Operations. There was no future start date listed on Tottenham’s release about the appointment, so presumably he has already started his duties, or is starting today.
So what will Moersen actually DO? [officespace.gif] Well, thoughtfully, Tottenham gave a little paragraph that outlines his basic responsibilities.
Well THAT’S interesting. So more of a middle manager role on the men’s side, but he’s overseeing the whole of Tottenham Women’s operations. As I understand it Spurs Women have been managed by Andy Rogers, but there has been reporting that there has been constant contact with Spurs CEO Vinai Venkatesham. Presumably Moersen takes that oversight role away from Vinai allowing him more time to… uh, communicate to supporters? The club did mention, in the wake of Fabio Paratici’s departure in February, that the football structure is “flexible and adaptable” so it’s also possible that Moersen will slot in with the ubiquitous “other duties as assigned.” Perhaps that also includes picking out a through ball? One can hope.
If you’re an optimist, this is evidence that Tottenham are continuing to evolve from the Levy Top method of club oversight to a more flexible, modern football club operation. If you’re a pessimist, you’ll see this as just one more executive to insulate the Tottenham owners from its mistakes and any accountability for their oversight. I kind of fall in the middle — Spurs have needed to modernize its operations for a long time and they finally seem to be doing that, though I still have deep reservations about specific people in specific roles and what they are and are not doing.
Still waiting for that Spurs org chart. Anyway — welcome to our new Director of Football Operations! I hope you don’t suck!