Matt Hobbs

[Save Dwindlehurst]

Think our Director of Football needs a thread of his own. My views are:
1) Detested at Wolves so why did we get him?
2) Brennan Johnson. Terrible player. You only had to read the Spurs forum to know that. How can Hobbs look Parish in the eye after wasting £35m?
3) Strand-Larsen. He tries hard enough but we all know he was grossly overpriced. Wolves fans didn’t rate him.
4) Hobbs tried to get Dwight McNeil and Everton fans were offering to drive him down to London! Thought he was the worst player they’ve seen for years.
5) On the basis of the above I have zero confidence in this man. Hopefully the new manager will see that and persuade Parish to get rid of him.

Thoughts?

 

[RubinsCube]

Think our Director of Football needs a thread of his own. My views are:
1) Detested at Wolves so why did we get him?
2) Brennan Johnson. Terrible player. You only had to read the Spurs forum to know that. How can Hobbs look Parish in the eye after wasting £35m?
3) Strand-Larsen. He tries hard enough but we all know he was grossly overpriced. Wolves fans didn’t rate him.
4) Hobbs tried to get Dwight McNeil and Everton fans were offering to drive him down to London! Thought he was the worst player they’ve seen for years.
5) On the basis of the above I have zero confidence in this man. Hopefully the new manager will see that and persuade Parish to get rid of him.

Thoughts?

The rot started at Wolves on his watch. There must be at least suspicions that he has conflicts of interest with certain agents and certain players given how Wolves have been run.

Most importantly, Wolves didn't seem to unearth any gems like Bournemouth/The Scum/Brentford and us when we got in Guehi/Wharton/Olise and a few others over the course of a couple of windows.

So, whilst I hope I am wrong, I can see us turning into a Leicester/Wolves/West Ham more than I can see us moving towards Bournemouth/The Scum/Brentford.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

Hard to judge the bloke on his time at Wolves because we don't know what his remit was. They seemed to spent too much chasing nothing in particular and then have to sell anyone who was any good thereafter, leading to an inevitable collapse last season. Hobbs became director of football or whatever they called it in 2022. Perhaps he was brought in to manage a total mess that had been created, or perhaps he caused the mess, or something in between.

One thing's for sure, Palace isn't Wolves. They are owned by a Chinese conglomerate who are in bed with a Portuguese super agent. This seems to have supercharged their initial rise but also sowed discord as thier whole transfer strategy seemed based on Mendes clients and what he would do well out of. They've certainly sold a lot of good players. Doesn't seem to have done much for them, though. Plus they've not been able to keep a spine that cares about the club. I can't see Hobbs experiencing the same environment or circumstances at our place, so however he did at wolves may not really tell us much.

Newcastle were after Strand Larsen for a lot of money in the summer apparently, so it's not like it's only Hobbs who rates him. Plus someone at Spurs spent even more than we did on Johnson, so again, it's not only Hobbs.

 

[eaglesdare]

I mean it's not as if we havnt signed donkeys previously under freedman.

I think give hobbs some time. At least this summer window and see what happens.

Every club would love to find a gem and sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't and we are up against every other club.

 

[pssguy]

Newcastle were after Strand Larsen for a lot of money in the summer apparently, so it's not like it's only Hobbs who rates him. Plus someone at Spurs spent even more than we did on Johnson, so again, it's not only Hobbs.

Maybe they still would be. Woltermade and Wissa were both flops and they don't have Gordon to play through the middle anymore. You would have thought as Sporting Director, Hobbs would have had input with signing Sage - which most people look at as a good catch

 

[samprior]

I mean it's not as if we havnt signed donkeys previously under freedman.

I think give hobbs some time. At least this summer window and see what happens.

Every club would love to find a gem and sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't and we are up against every other club.

I don't think anyone expects us not to sign a few duds. However with the size of our club, spending 90m on two players who have shown very little in return is not the way to go. Unless the way to go is in the direction of West Ham, Wolves, Leicester!

I hope that both players can turn it around under Sage but I can't say I feel too optimistic about it. JSL I think will end up doing ok, as one would hope considering he cost 55m. Johnson unfortunately has so far just looked absolutely lost.

 

[samprior]

Maybe they still would be. Woltermade and Wissa were both flops and they don't have Gordon to play through the middle anymore. You would have thought as Sporting Director, Hobbs would have had input with signing Sage - which most people look at as a good catch

All this highlights is Newcastle are not good at valuing players. They were happy to spend 60m+ on JSL which was rejected...so instead they went an overspent on two other flops. 55m for Wissa with one year left on his contract is one of the worst deals ever... Unless you're Brentford!

 

[Fatherken]

What is the point of having a DoF ?

 

[ASCPFC]

What is the point of having a DoF ?

As far as I was aware the DoF looks at the system/s the manager employs or wants to employ and finds the players who should fit into the areas required. Largely. They would then also carry out negotiations on fees and contracts. Depending on the club structure.
Which puts them a bit above a chief scout.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

Think our Director of Football needs a thread of his own. My views are:
1) Detested at Wolves so why did we get him?
2) Brennan Johnson. Terrible player. You only had to read the Spurs forum to know that. How can Hobbs look Parish in the eye after wasting £35m?
3) Strand-Larsen. He tries hard enough but we all know he was grossly overpriced. Wolves fans didn’t rate him.
4) Hobbs tried to get Dwight McNeil and Everton fans were offering to drive him down to London! Thought he was the worst player they’ve seen for years.
5) On the basis of the above I have zero confidence in this man. Hopefully the new manager will see that and persuade Parish to get rid of him.

Thoughts?

By the way, as much as I've argued we shouldn't judge him on his time at Wolves, these are all perfectly valid criticisms! That is, presuming he is behind these transfers and offers. Which isn't exactly clear. Unless anyone can enlighten me?!

 

[ASCPFC]

By the way, as much as I've argued we shouldn't judge him on his time at Wolves, these are all perfectly valid criticisms! That is, presuming he is behind these transfers and offers. Which isn't exactly clear. Unless anyone can enlighten me?!

They are Matt Hobbs deals. Parish would have actually led negotiations before. It's clear what Hobbs' role was, it's not clear how much Steve was involved. He said he stepped back from these kind of duties after issues on the Guehi transfer amongst others.

 

[Eagleman13]

Wonder if these will be under Hobbs direction . . .

Rodrigo Carvalho and Fernando Ziskind to join Crystal Palace in recruitment shake-up

Crystal Palace are already putting Alessandro Brito to work after agreeing to bring the former Botafogo recruitment chief to the club.

sportwitness.co.uk

 

[TheBigToePunt]

They are Matt Hobbs deals. Parish would have actually led negotiations before. It's clear what Hobbs' role was, it's not clear how much Steve was involved. He said he stepped back from these kind of duties after issues on the Guehi transfer amongst others.

This is one of the issues with having a DoF. It seems logical that they are in charge of trading players, including agreeing fees and wages, but they are also ultimately surely responsible to the Chairman or Chief Executive, and surely the latter must sign these deals off? It can't be that Parish opens his newspaper over breakfast one day to find the Hobbs has spent the Eze/Guehi profits on these two donkeys, and that's the first he knows about it?!

Even back in the day when managers were managers, rather than coaches, as they effectively are now, Noades did a lot of what we would now call DoF stuff alongside or instead of Coppell.

I suppose my point is that if our player trading goes to s*** in the next 18 months, Hobbs should of course be in the firing line, but it's not like he would have snuck in late one night and done all the deals in secret. It's surely a collaboration to some degree?

What I'm asking is, who do I shout at and heckle?! Just tell me that much.

 

[MrRobbo]

Think our Director of Football needs a thread of his own. My views are:
1) Detested at Wolves so why did we get him?
2) Brennan Johnson. Terrible player. You only had to read the Spurs forum to know that. How can Hobbs look Parish in the eye after wasting £35m?
3) Strand-Larsen. He tries hard enough but we all know he was grossly overpriced. Wolves fans didn’t rate him.
4) Hobbs tried to get Dwight McNeil and Everton fans were offering to drive him down to London! Thought he was the worst player they’ve seen for years.
5) On the basis of the above I have zero confidence in this man. Hopefully the new manager will see that and persuade Parish to get rid of him.

Thoughts?

By way of a bit of a balance, all for a good debate, and cant be arsed to do any work today (so have tried to defend)

1) Detested at Wolves so why did we get him?
Dont have an opinion on this, not sure if he is/isnt. From the outside Wolves feel a bit of a mess, and have done for years. Odd Portuguese connection. Revolving door of players and managers. V little stability.
In his defence, he brought in some decent names that have gone on to bigger clubs. Nunes, Cunha, Gomes, JSL! Most of Portuguese or Brazilian decent. Feels like some directive to focus on certain nationalities?

2) Brennan Johnson. Terrible player.
Its hard to defend based on performances so far. What I would say is that he scored 18 goals and assisted 10 last season. He's not a chump. And £35m for a 25yo with those numbers isnt bad business. Whether he can be a success here is clearly still up in the air.

3) Strand-Larsen
Certainly overpriced. But at the time, JPM was about to move to Milan. We needed a big man who could come in and contribute straight away. I for one was glad that the club were prepared to be decisive and get the man in, vs holding firm to a lower price and potentially having to go the rest of the season with just Nketiah up top.
JSL has shown he can score, I dont know why we wouldn't be optimistic and assume that he'll be better after more time with the team. He's also benefit from not playing inverted wide men. I think with a slight tweak in formation he could be prolific.

4) I think lots of Palace fans liked the sounds of Dwight McNeil. Not a superstar signing, but a really solid squad player who would have added depth for the conference league run.

5) Lack of confidence
I feel like I always end up with a bit of an outlier view on the hol. Broadly speaking it comes from a couple of places:
We as fans, dont really understand how the club runs, how decisions are made and easy/hard some things are. But yet, fans will stay stuff like "why dont we brings players in early, instead of waiting until deadline day". Do ppl genuinely think thats what the club want???

I trust Steve P to do the right thing, he's not going to sign off on ridiculous fees or stand for incompetence. Some on here seam to think he's a moron. Which is odd considering he's built a very successful business, and delivered our club multiple trophies.

So no we dont know Hobbs, but I do know that we only see/understand the tip of the iceberg. Parish isnt a fool, so if he rates him, then I cant see why we wouldn't back him.

 

[ASCPFC]

This is one of the issues with having a DoF. It seems logical that they are in charge of trading players, including agreeing fees and wages, but they are also ultimately surely responsible to the Chairman or Chief Executive, and surely the latter must sign these deals off? It can't be that Parish opens his newspaper over breakfast one day to find the Hobbs has spent the Eze/Guehi profits on these two donkeys, and that's the first he knows about it?!

Even back in the day when managers were managers, rather than coaches, as they effectively are now, Noades did a lot of what we would now call DoF stuff alongside or instead of Coppell.

I suppose my point is that if our player trading goes to s*** in the next 18 months, Hobbs should of course be in the firing line, but it's not like he would have snuck in late one night and done all the deals in secret. It's surely a collaboration to some degree?

What I'm asking is, who do I shout at and heckle?! Just tell me that much.

Ultimately, it's the responsibility of the board or the chairman isn't it. Even if they were little involved in the deals, they'd have to sign off on them.

 

[Linford]

The rot started at Wolves on his watch. There must be at least suspicions that he has conflicts of interest with certain agents and certain players given how Wolves have been run.

Most importantly, Wolves didn't seem to unearth any gems like Bournemouth/The Scum/Brentford and us when we got in Guehi/Wharton/Olise and a few others over the course of a couple of windows.

So, whilst I hope I am wrong, I can see us turning into a Leicester/Wolves/West Ham more than I can see us moving towards Bournemouth/The Scum/Brentford.

The rot started when their owners turned off the taps financially.

He presided over a highly successful period for the club, and they brought in their best players when he was DOF. Most were identified, and not hugely known or obvious targets.

 

[Linford]

This is one of the issues with having a DoF. It seems logical that they are in charge of trading players, including agreeing fees and wages, but they are also ultimately surely responsible to the Chairman or Chief Executive, and surely the latter must sign these deals off? It can't be that Parish opens his newspaper over breakfast one day to find the Hobbs has spent the Eze/Guehi profits on these two donkeys, and that's the first he knows about it?!

Even back in the day when managers were managers, rather than coaches, as they effectively are now, Noades did a lot of what we would now call DoF stuff alongside or instead of Coppell.

I suppose my point is that if our player trading goes to s*** in the next 18 months, Hobbs should of course be in the firing line, but it's not like he would have snuck in late one night and done all the deals in secret. It's surely a collaboration to some degree?

What I'm asking is, who do I shout at and heckle?! Just tell me that much.

Yes, it would be a shared responsibility. If it all goes to pot, shout 60% at Matt and 40% at Steve.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

Yes, it would be a shared responsibility. If it all goes to pot, shout 60% at Matt and 40% at Steve.

But I like Steve. I've never met him, but I like him. I like his hair. Its f***ing mad.

I have no such affection for this Hobbs character. He has far less credit in the bank.

 

[Linford]

But I like Steve. I've never met him, but I like him. I like his hair. Its f***ing mad.

I have no such affection for this Hobbs character. He has far less credit in the bank.

Well it's all up to you who you do or don't heckle 😂 I wouldn't be heckling either of them, even in that situation. I appreciate the job they do, neither of them are sitting around twiddling their thumbs, and yes of course we love Steve.

The question was about proportioning responsibility. The responsibility is and would be both of their's.

 

[waterfordpal]

If he could flog off Larsen to Newcastle at close to €50m he would be an instant hero. I like Eddie but we need to cut our losses on him and Johnson. Admit we bought bad sell them and move on. Any losses will be offset on future profit from selling Wharton in 12 months time.