Football Dynasty-Chapter 161: The Last Recuritment

Richard’s vision for Marina Granovskaia as City’s new Director of Football is simple: he wants to replicate how Abramovich used her diplomatic skills to their fullest.

Her responsibilities will include contract negotiations, club-agent-player relations, managerial support, and developing the transfer strategy.

This is how Richard envisions the Director of Football’s role.

So, essentially, the current City organization chart is divided among three key figures:

Richard Maddox (Chairman): Has the final say on overall club strategy and oversees the entire club’s operations.

Miss Heysen (CEO): Focuses on financial sustainability, liaising with governing bodies and external relations, and handling brand and commercial strategy.

Marina Granovskaia (DoF): Manages football operations, including player recruitment, transfers, scouting (later), negotiations, and contracts.

The Director of Football focuses on the sporting side, while the CEO manages the business side, and both report directly to him as the Chairman. It’s all about collaboration, where each party provides and receives input.

Thanks to O’Neill begging him to sign the player he wanted, Richard decided to change his approach, moving from a centralized structure to a more collaborative one where all decisions are made together.

After giving Marina Granovskaia the task of searching for a striker for O’Neill, Richard soon left her to focus on it while he continued to watch how City demolished Hearts.

City were already leading by two goals, with Larsson scoring the first and Solskjær adding the second after threatening the opponent’s post with three quick-fire chances, though none ended up in the goal.

For the rest of the match, City didn’t push too hard, playing it safe as O’Neill focused more on testing and experimenting with City’s defense rather than attacking.

Richard, in the stands, was delighted with the result as City swept through the Scotland tour, leaving the team optimistic. As the match came to an end, the Scotland tour wrapped up.

The team celebrated their victory, but the focus quickly shifted to what usually happens after such games.

In the locker room, O’Neill addressed the players, praising their performance but also emphasizing areas for improvement.

Meanwhile, Richard and Marina stood quietly outside the locker room, waiting for O’Neill to finish addressing the team.

After a few moments, the door opened, and O’Neill emerged. He gave Richard and Marina a quick nod, acknowledging their presence, before stepping aside to allow the team to exit.

As the players filed out, each gave O’Neill a brief handshake or a slap on the back, and Richard exchanged a few words with some of them.

Once the last of the players had left, O’Neill remained with his coaching staff, gathered in a corner of the locker room.

"I am here for your striker request," Richard stated, pointing to Marina.

"You tell her about the type of striker you need, and she will handle the search. Once she compiles a list of players who meet the criteria, we’ll discuss which one is the best fit, and then she’ll handle the rest."

Robertson raised an eyebrow at this.

After all, only O’Neill had been briefed by Richard, so he was the one in the loop, and the others were still also unclear.

After Richard left with Marina, Robertson turned to O’Neill, sensing something was on his mind.

"Aren’t you going to say something?" he asked.

Martin O’Neill shook his head. The recent transfers Richard had made for him had already left him satisfied. It was just that he felt it was a pity Richard couldn’t secure Chris Sutton for him, but he didn’t feel disappointed. After all, it was unrealistic to sign one of the best players from a club that had just won the Premier League and bring him to the First Division.

"From what I understand, she’ll handle the transfers and negotiations, and we’ll focus on the team. So far, they haven’t acted independently and are still willing to listen to us. Let’s try working with them for now and see if we fit with this system."

Since the boss said so, Robertson and the other coaches also decided to shut it down.

Done with the Scotland short tour, the team, Richard and his entourage returned to England together.

A week later, Manchester City will continue their preseason by facing Stockport. So for the next six days, the first squad will continue their usual training sessions in preparation for the upcoming match.

Richard was busy for these six days as well.

First, he had a visit from an old friend—John Humpreys, the current Managing Director of Umbro. John greeted Richard warmly, his face lighting up with a smile as he shook his hand.

"Congratulations on the promotion, Richard! I knew you’d get there eventually,"

Richard shook his head, a wry smile crossing his face. "Before we’re in the Premier League, there’s no reason for congratulations. We’ve still got work to do."

John chuckled, understanding Richard’s mindset. "True, always the realist," he remarked.

After the brief pleasantries, Richard, Miss Heysen, and Marina Granovskaia led John Humphreys into the meeting room.

"By the way, let me introduce you. This is our new Director of Football," Richard said, gesturing to Marina.

Humphreys was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly recovered and extended his hand to Marina with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you,"

Marina shook his hand confidently, offering a polite but firm greeting.

"A pleasure, Mr. Humphreys"

John Humphreys visited City today as a representative of Umbro for two main reasons.

The first reason was to present the revised jersey designs. Humphreys brought the updated versions following a last-minute request from Richard, who felt the current City kit looked too plain and too similar to those from the Peter Swales era, when Umbro was also the club’s kit supplier.

Richard requested that the plain blue jersey be updated with a subtle pattern, the white background on the badge be removed, and a subtle City logo watermark be added to the front of the jersey.

"This one is good."

After reviewing all the designs brought by Umbro’s designer and discussing them with Miss Heysen and Marina, they finally agreed on one.

Done with the jersey discussion, Humphreys then brought up the second reason for his visit—and why he came personally instead of sending a staff member.

"Umbro Cup?" Richard raised an eyebrow at the mention.

Seeing his confusion, Humphreys explained:

England did not compete in the 1994 FIFA World Cup after finishing third in their qualifying group. As a result, the Three Lions had gone over 18 months without playing competitive football. With Euro 1996 approaching, the FA initiated a rehearsal tournament, which would be organized and sponsored by Umbro.

"Yes," Humphreys nodded. "We’ll be hosting Sweden, Japan, and the reigning world champions, Brazil. That’s why I wanted to personally propose the use of Maine Road as one of the venues."

Richard leaned back slightly, processing the information. The idea of Maine Road being showcased on an international stage wasn’t something he had expected to hear today.

"Interesting," he said thoughtfully. "Maine Road hasn’t hosted a match of that scale in a while."

"Exactly," Humphreys replied. "This is more than just a friendly tournament—it’s a warm-up for Euro ’96. Stadium logistics, crowd control, broadcasting—it’s all under the microscope. And having a historic venue like Maine Road on the list would make a strong statement."

However, it wasn’t Richard who rejected the proposal, but Miss Heysen instead.

"Logistically, it’s feasible," she said. "But we’ll need to coordinate early with Arup Construction for the Kippax stand, and the club calendar will need to be reviewed."

"Ah, yes... the Kippax stand," Richard muttered, slapping his forehead.

When Richard took Humphreys to inspect the Kippax stands, he was shocked.

"What? Why isn’t it finished?" Humphreys asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

The legendary Kippax Street Terrace, once a source of incredible energy for City, was now in disrepair.

Richard sighed helplessly.

"Alan Ball and Francis Lee redirected funds from the Kippax project into transfers, leaving half of the stand unfinished. That’s why I made it a priority last year. Now, next season, we can expect the Kippax to finally be standing once again."

Humphreys was at a loss for words. He placed a hand on Richard’s shoulder, his sympathy evident.

In the end, no deal was made.

Even if they had agreed, the FA would not have allowed it.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The day before the match against Stockport, a sharp knock echoed on his office door.

"Come in," Richard called, looking up from the stack of papers on his desk.

The door creaked open, and Marina stepped inside, holding a folder in her hands. She closed the door quietly behind her and moved forward.

"I’ve already compiled the list of possible striker to add to the squad, based on what we need," she said, her voice steady but carrying an undertone of professionalism.

Richard didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he motioned for her to set the folder down on the desk. He adjusted his posture, leaning back in his chair, and raised an eyebrow.

"Has O’Neill already given his green light on this?"

"No, not yet. I mean... isn’t it better for you to take a look at it first, before taking it to the current manager?"

The silence in the room grew tense as Richard suddenly slammed the folder shut.

"Miss Marina, that was dangerous, though. You know that?" Richard said, his voice cool but carrying a weight of seriousness.

Marina, unflinching, met his gaze. "I understand. But I thought it would be more efficient this way. And I mean to secure players quickly, isn’t it better—"

"No, no, no," Richard quickly interrupted before she could continue.

While it was previously common in English football for the manager to negotiate transfer deals and the personal contracts of prospective signings, sometimes a chief scout—often linked to the manager—would handle some of the duties.

As a result, the role of transfers lacked a clear structure, and the areas of responsibility still varied from club to club. This is precisely why he launched the new Director of Football role in the first place.

"Accountability is key," Richard stated.

As City moves forward, many transfer decisions will be handled by the new Director of Football. However, the head coach, the one picking the team, may not always get the first name on their wish list.

And if a signing doesn’t work out, it inevitably triggers a chicken-and-egg dilemma: Was the failure because the player wasn’t the right fit for the manager, or was the manager unsuccessful in getting the best out of the player?

And then what?

With some DoFs staying well out of the spotlight, the manager is often left to respond to media questions about transfers and long-term strategy ("the project").

"That’s why I emphasized collaboration to you in the first place," Richard explained.

Clarity and communication are key, and that’s why Richard’s approach is centered on collaboration — ensuring all parties share these responsibilities. Later, once Marina becomes more skilled in her role, he expects her to take a more active part in sharing the club’s vision with the media and supporters.

Marina nodded, sensing the weight of his words. "I’ll make sure to be more cautious next time."

After hearing this, Richard nodded and soon asked Miss Heysen to fetch O’Neill, who was on the training pitch.

Once he joined, the three of them began to review each player.

Dion Dublin (Coventry City) – Age: 26

Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) – Age: 19

Kevin Phillips (Sunderland) – Age: 21

Nicky Barmby (Tottenham Hotspur) – Age: 21

Brian Deane (Sheffield United) – Age: 27

Marek Panák (Sigma Olomouc) – Age: 23

Marius Lăcătuș (Steaua Bucharest) – Age: 31

Marek Kulič (Olympia Hradec Králové) – Age: 23

Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo-2 Kyiv) – Age: 18

"..."

What else could Richard say?

Even a fool would know who to choose from this list.