Pellegrini must be allowed to get on with the job
In February David Sullivan promised to take a back seat in recruitment by saying:
“I want to set something in, a procedure, a set up that will long term deliver better. Only the manager can sign players. Going forward, we are going to completely re-jig it, I am going to delegate the whole thing to a huge new analysis system and a new head of recruitment, massive video analysis department, increase the scouting, every player will be looked at 5 or 6 times, we won’t be signing a player based on who the manager has never seen play. The manager will watch him play and we hope we will spend our money better.”
Pellegrini learnt the hard way after a bad experience at Real Madrid with major interference from their board later saying:
“To coach Madrid was a source of great pride, but what happens is that when one coaches Madrid, one must understand that they are not just about sport, they are also very political. And to the extent that folks, who, in my opinion, have no football knowledge, are allowed to interfere in decisions. If one allows people who do not have knowledge to interfere, if one allows oneself to be weakened by critics who have agendas that are either political or sport-related or personal, then one is not prepared [to coach them]. That is why I had the good luck to pass one of the most difficult tests and I was not at all affected.”