FOOTBALL throws up some unusual partnerships that work against the odds.
Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole were a great team on the pitch at Manchester United yet, apparently, they barely spoke to each other off it.
The same goes for managers and directors of football.
People think that combination will only end in tears.
Certainly Joe Kinnear's arrival at Newcastle left boss Alan Pardew bewildered.
I was director of football at Portsmouth and didn't enjoy it for reasons I'll go into later.
But, for the partnership to work, one thing is fundamen- tal: The boss has the final say.
Because he gets the blame if the players he is told to use are not up to it.
Have you ever heard fans chanting for the head of the director of football if results go pear-shaped?
The manager must be able to get on with the director of football. If they do, it can be a real success.
Look at Lennie Lawrence and Dougie Freedman when they were at Crystal Palace.
They got on superbly and for a young manager like Dougie it can only have been a help to have someone around with Lennie's experience.
But if they do not get on, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
Graham Rix was Portsmouth manager when I was director of football.
Milan Mandaric wanted someone with a bit of experience to help but I hardly got involved.
I never went to the training ground nor got involved with the players because I knew Graham wanted to do it himself. I understood that, as I had already been a manager myself.
It might have been different had I already known him. But I didn't and it was difficult.
I was going to pack it in at the end of the season but then Graham left and I became boss.
As a vastly experienced manager now it wouldn't be right for me to have a director of football at QPR.
But it works in certain circumstances - when a manager is young and raw for one, when he might not have the contacts to find the defender he needs to stop letting in goals.
It's not always easy sharing the responsibility as the best managers are hugely motivated.
But get it right and it can share a load which is only getting heavier and heavier.
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