Huddersfield Town believe they have the right man in new head of football operations Stuart Webber – and the right management systems in place – to push forward.
Webber has arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he was head of recruitment, to follow Ross Wilson, now director of scouting and recruitment at Southampton.
Such titles were unheard of 40 years ago, when a manager’s job tended to be all encompassing and unearthing talent was all about touchlines rather than technology.
However, while the current ‘football operations’ role was only created in 2012, after Town won promotion to the Championship, the club do have ‘a bit of previous’ in this area.
Back in January 1975, as they battled relegation to the basement division, Tom Johnston returned to Leeds Road to work alongside Bobby Collins.
Former Leeds United and Scotland star Collins had been appointed to his first managerial role the previous summer.
Johnson, who had been at the helm for four years during the sixties, was handed the title general manager.
The partnership never really worked, Town dropped into Division IV and Collins quit the following December, apparently displeased over interference in his control of the team.
One of the golden rules, it seemed, had been broken.
What does a director of football's role involve?
A manager and football operations chief need to know and be happy with their job descriptions and must work alongside, rather than against, each other.
In recent times, Town have talked of a ‘four-corner’ system, taking in chairman Dean Hoyle, chief executive Nigel Clibbens, the manager, now Chris Powell, and the football operations specialist, now Webber.
Put simply, in the model structure, the manager takes care of the team – selection, tactics and training.
The football operations chief takes care of the scouting and recruitment side, an area which has expanded greatly with the advent of new technology, deals with agents, and takes on anything which might distract the manager from his main tasks.
It’s a role which has long been common on the continent but which always had its fair share of doubters in this country.
But the game has moved on here, and football operations specialists are here to stay.
Wilson was a trusted ally of Town’s chairman, chief executive and manager – and the fact that he was wanted by a club of Southampton’s stature reflects his reputation within football.
Now 31-year-old Webber, who has also worked for Liverpool, QPR and Wrexham, will aim to make his mark.
