Speculation continues to mount over the new sporting director being created by Carlisle United’s new ownership.
A sporting director/head coach partnership is to replace the traditional manager/assistant manager duo, tried and tested over the years.
General consensus is that the sporting director will be appointed first and will have a major input into the choice of head coach.
Before the change in direction Carlisle, like the majority of clubs, would appoint a manager and he would generally bring in his trusted lieutenant as his number two.
Trust and respect have to be the two essentials in a partnership running a football team, with both singing off the same hymn sheet, especially if they haven’t worked together before.
So who is in the frame – and, when it comes into fruition who do the players call gaffer?
David Flitcroft had a director of football role at Port Vale before he was sacked while Ricky Martin, former technical director with Stoke City is also being touted as the man for the Carlisle job.
Flitcroft had come in for fierce criticism from a number of Vale fans.
Flitcroft played over 450 games in the Football League between 1992 and 2011, notably at Chester (167) and Rochdale (160).
The younger brother of former Man City and Blackburn player Gary, 50-year-old David has had managerial experience as well with Barnsley, Bury with whom he enjoyed promotion, Swindon and Mansfield.
Martin has been out of work since leaving his role as technical director at Stoke in February after only 15 months in the job. He was appointed in November 2022 soon after Alex Neil had taken on the job as the Potters’ new manager.
A former West Ham Academy manager 48-year-old Martin came in for heavy criticism from Stoke supporters for making wholesale changes to the squad in the transfer market which failed to make an impact on the club’s performances.
And there’s the crux of the role of a sporting director/technical director/football director alongside a head coach/manager.
Nigel Clibbens, the club’s chief executive has gone on record as saying the club wants to adopt a specific style of play and clear football identity, and delivering this would be a key part of the remit of the new sporting director and head coach roles.
He has also said that United are seeking to appoint “someone with prior experience” to the sporting director role.
He claimed that the system has already been employed by many other clubs, even most in League Two and some in the National League.
The incoming sporting director was expected to watch Carlisle in action this afternoon against Fleetwood.
