Watt Announces New Football Structure

Clyde’s Director of Football, Neil Watt today gave a further insight on how the club will structure its football activities in the future and it includes a departure from the norm…

“When I was appointed at Clyde I stated that my first objective was to go through a process of observing the club at all levels. As the season unfolded, other issues demanded more immediate attention but throughout I have continued to gain an understanding of the club. Now is an appropriate opportunity to put in place a football structure which I hope will bring about stability to Clyde.

“I am aware, of course, of the importance of first team results yet equally conscious of the Chairman’s comments last July that the club was set for two years of extreme financial pressure. However, the new structure being proposed for the club is not a consequence of our financial position but rather it is an acknowledgement that, regardless of our financial situation, it is vital that there is greater continuity throughout the football activities of the club in general and between the first team and the youth structure in particular.

“To face the challenges ahead we need to be a team on and off the park and that is why I am proposing a departure from the traditional model of organising football at this club. We will not be announcing a new manager and an assistant manager in the coming days, rather we will be moving to fill the vacancies we have created in the new structure of head coach and a first team coach. A further appointment to the newly installed position of chief scout will also be made in the near future.

“There is a huge workload for a football manager these days. When things work well the manager gets the credit, if he is judged to have failed then he gets the blame. When a club sees a need for change in that position, it can mean a huge upheaval in the running of the club, as everything has been under the control of one person. That can make the club extremely vulnerable to change. That process can also be a waste of talent as people move away from the club rather than possibly being redeployed in a position which could still benefit the club.

“As Director of Football, I will continue to oversee the wider football structure but I also hope to be able to provide more focused support to our first team management staff whenever appropriate.

“So this new structure has been designed to ensure that information, knowledge and structures remain in place for the long term and help ensure sustained and acceptable levels of performance throughout the football activities of the club.

“I look forward to confirming our new appointments in the next few days.”