He's the CEO mate, he runs everything with oversight from chairman, staff will report into him vs. Levy, so likely Lange, Frank, even Paratici if he comes in will be subject to some kind of metrics/performace evaluation from Vinai
I'm not being a dingdong, but it's very normal for any Exec to require regular sign off from board, but you can have a 1B budget as an executive, but strategy and spend (over much smaller amounts) sign off on major expenses will still go to board/chairman revue, this is how every company works.
With respect, I’m not asking what a CEO does, I get that.
I’m asking what specifically he was hired to do, or maybe rather why exactly he was hired. What exactly is the ‘problem they are solving.’ Why was this hire required?
I work in executive recruiting in my day job, so I do understand general reporting lines and scope of responsibility. But within that, each business has a context, each senior hire has a reason. There is usually something they are trying to solve for in making it. It might simply be that DL wanted to be less involved in the day to day, and wanted his time back. If so, cool. I’m just surprised that Vinai would take that job, because it’s basically a COO scope. I’m especially surprised since the video seemed to be at pains to describe them as working hand in hand, making all the big decisions together. Again, I’d be surprised if Vinai would take that job, because I’d assume he’d want more autonomy. Maybe in football business the CEO and COO dynamic is actually a Chairman / Owner and CEO dynamic, which is fine, I’m just still more interested in what value Vinai thinks he’s adding beyond getting DL (known and self confessed control freak) out of the day to day.
And my big interest in this is philosophically and strategically, where will Vinai help us? In those strategic discussions, when there is a decision to be made, has he been assessed that he’ll basically go along with what Levy would have done? Or have they hired him because they want someone to be a catalyst for change in that respect? I assume budgets overall won’t be drastically different from how we’ve operated before, but would Vinai be able to advocate for a little more risk in the transfer market? Eg get that one truly top player in their position versus two with potential and sell on value as long as we can still afford it?
It was interesting that he was the one showing Frank around, not Levy. Clearly he will build up that relationship with him. When it comes to hiring and firing, what is Vinai’s view? Arsenal gave Arteta a couple of seasons out of the top 4 to implement his methods, and are now rewarded with consistent top 2 finishes. Would Vinai advocate for similar patience here?
So that’s my point. I understand the reporting structure and scope. But I’m more interested in strategy, the philosophical thinking that guides it and the decision making that results from it. That’s where leaders need to fit really well. Often the hire is deliberately a catalyst for change, other times it’s someone who is going to carry on the good work and give the senior executive their time back, but things will largely stay the same. I want to know what will be different with Vinai making decisions that Levy previously would have done, and why the club thought it was interesting to create situations where that is required.