Milan Management
Somedevil....there is absolutely no problem with many of the concerns that Maldini brought up, like the one about wanting to know the owners and to be able to be directly connected to them and to know their ideas.

But there is also a big problem with the fact that he basically said he doesn't want to share a role with anyone. This is the exact issue that put us in this situation. Galliani's way of doing what he wants and making all the decisions is what killed us. And now when we finally have someone who it looks like wants that role to be shared, we have Maldini saying "no" and he seems to be more concerned about whose opinion they'll follow if there is a disagreement. Sure, he doesn't want his opinion to be always squashed down if it's different than Mirabelli's and maybe he is right about it....but i really don't think that Mirabelli's opinion will always prevail. Collaboration is key. We can not afford another Galliani!

I love Maldini and I know he has the club's best interest at hand. But he has to be willing to work with others.
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What I can understand is he is not sure what exact roles and responsbilty to be given. He needs more clarity on it as he mentioned the project could be complicated but fascinating, and he would leave the quiet of his life to get back in the game. Im not sure the diff between technical director and sporting director is but it sounds redundant to me..(roles and resp might overlap) Perhaps someone can elaborate more  Sagrin Im not on the legends' side though. We need the club run professionally, and if those legends think and want it run like they want it, lets move on.
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Personally, I see no problem in not wanting to share a role with someone else. In fact, I can respect that. I don't think Maldini is necessarily egoistic or hungry for power. He is just intelligent and anticipates that this practice will lead to problems in the future, while it could have been easily avoided now. all it takes is to speak to the owner and ask for a clear picture and how the owner wants to divide up the responsibilities among them.

In a not so accurate analogy, I don't have problem sharing an apple with you, but I will just use a knife and cut it into halves. You have your half, and I have mine. I don't want your slobber all over my apple, and maybe you don't want mine over yours either. You can't say that I am greedy and want to eat the whole apple, it is just that I don't want myself (or you) to get sick with the way that an apple is shared.

[Image: 960.jpg]

Come on, cut the noodle! Sagrin  You are sharing saliva and germs! Grinundwech
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I think it's only logical that Maldini have some requirements of his own if he was to take a role at the club. I see nothing wrong with it, at least from this article.

And I don't think he will have a problem working with others, or Fassone. I just think he wants a clear role and the responsibilities that comes with it:
"If at the end of the day I should be a part of the new club, it’ll mean that contact with the owners – obviously shared with Fassone – are continual and constructive."

I really like this quote by the way:
"...having spent a lifetime with the Milan jersey, which I continue to consider not a second skin, but my one and only skin."

http://www.football-italia.net/92501/mal...-agreement
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I don't think there's anything wrong with what Maldini said. I am a little surprised he's been so up front publicly, but I guess it's understandable when you see what conclusions were being made in the press yesterday.

The biggest point I got from his comments is that he feels a lack of clarity on what his exact role is expected to be. That actually really concerns me, as they've met 4 times, and yet there's still no distinction on what his role would be? I actually agree with him on how he perceives working in the management structure. In the hierarchy the owners have to define what the plan is for the club, yet if they don't actually say what their plan is and how they intend to achieve it, how is anyone under them going to achieve their targets. Worse still, those proposed to work in the club don't even know who these people are, so how can they be sure that there's credibility there? Maldini is totally correct in wanting to know who he is working for.

I also found the distinction of roles to be a fair point. Reza yesterday said that having too many VPs etc is just as bad as one figure at the top. In order for a management group to work together and avoid that scenario that Reza raised, they must have clearly defined roles with clear distinction in what their responsibilities are. Coming to decisions together is key, but in order to avoid conflict and to maximise the skills of the individuals, they must have a clear set of responsibilities that will separate their individual duties. I look to the Bayern management structure as an example of one that in the past decade has done this well. Note that Maldini said a few times in his statements that he's happy to work with Fassone (I counted at least 3 times in the translation nefremo gave), so I don't think it's that he's unwilling to work with these people and that's something the press are sensationalising. Mirabelli's position seems to be the big questionmark. If he's sporting director, then what exactly would that mean Maldini is as technical director? Many of the points that suggest what his duties will be in the press are those I'd normally say are the Sporting Director's duties.

I will say this, I actually relate to this situation. I know people like Maldini who will want clarity on pretty much every detail before they commit to something, and in my experience these people have usually gone on to be successful. I was also personally in a similar spot to Maldini now a few months ago. I was offered a new role, one where the role wasn't clearly defined (it was a new role) and there wasn't a clear understanding of what my duties or responsibilities would be. Actually, it's ironic as even the discussion about pay was similar to Maldini, in that we barely mentioned it as there was no clarity on the role itself. Anyway, I passed up that opportunity and looking back now, and seeing others (well, one other guy so far) take on the role, there's complete confusion on the role and the duties of the person doing it, so much so that the person I mentioned who took on the job has had to go back to the management to try and work out his job, as the way he was simply wasn't going to work. Ultimately, I feel like I dodged a bullet because I had similar sort of reservations that Maldini has now. It's better to get clarity now, and have it part of his contract, than to accept a role which isn't what he thought it would be and end up quitting sooner rather than later.
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I am glad Maldini went public coz there were simply too many rumors about this situation. At least we have a little clarity now.

As for the role, While I do not want a Galliani 'God mode' persona to be at the club, I think we should have a single person In charge of a particular part of the operations. Galliani was handling everything- and then he had to share everything with Barbara before she completely moved to the commercial side.

I think Barbara handling the commercial aspect and a competitive sporting director in Galliani's role would've worked well for us. We just can't have one guy making all the calls- neither should we have 2 guys in the same role sharing the power in one department.

All this being said- I won't cry if none of the legends come back to the club. I'd hate to dislike a legend for a bad decision they have made- I'd hate for them to tarnish their name. It was very difficult to criticize Inzaghi when he was the coach. I'd hate to see that happen to another legend, but that is just the sentimentalist side of me.

The new management will make mistakes no doubt and I am sure that as smart as Maldini is, he knows that he will make mistakes too. It's right that he is asking for crystal clarity.

But if we instead go for professionals that have proven themselves or even get Braida back I'd be happy. I'd love it a lot though if we could snatch Rui Costa from Benfica.
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The best translation I've seen of Maldini's comments

http://www.rossoneriblog.com/2016/10/05/...ming-days/?
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Makes me very sad to read something like

"I need to hear it directly from them. If I am to put my face, heart and passion into this, working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, then I want to do it for a truly serious project."

before a closing and after all the recent B&G years. Maldini is close to sabotaging it for fans at least. Like I said before in 5, 10 years we might see this Fassone and Chinese as a failure but someone like Maldini is prejudging. You guys say 4 meetings should be enough for Maldini to get clarity, I say the opposite.
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Massimo Mirabelli is officially director of sport as soon as closing is done.
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The biggest problem IMO in my opinion is still the mysterious presence (or absence) of the new "owners". I know that the money is there (I am talking about the 100M they deposited), and a few Chinese have been seen here and there, but seriously, who the heck are they? Who are the "real" boss? Have they made any public appearance? Does every AC Milan know who their new owner will be? Because I for sure don't. Maybe I am ignorant, but the new "owner" certainly hasn't made any intentional effort in that either.

If even the identity of our true owner remains a secret, how is that supposed to instill confidence in the future? How can Maldini feel safe and assured that this is not another hoax that at the end? That he would be not working under Galliani? Not entering this mess is better than stepping in then having to withdraw. However many meetings isn't the matter here, but I do appreciate that Maldini needs the clarity. I do trust (maybe a bit naive) that he does this (or doesn't do) for the best interest of Milan, not himself.
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