Date: August 25th 2009
Author: Grantley Bernard
From: Herald Sun

MELBOURNE Heart is preparing to make several crucial appointments, including one that may be considered more important than its coach.

Among three senior jobs to be advertised this week will be the role of football operations general manager, which will include the massive responsibility of signing the Heart franchise's squad for its A-League debut next year.

With chief executive Scott Munn in place and a coaching appointment imminent, the hiring of a football operations general manager is considered one of the most important decisions for the franchise.

While the head coach is set to come from Holland, the football operations general manager will be an Australian with an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of football, especially the A-League and its salary cap, dealing with agents and identifying talent.

"From our perspective, this position is crucial in the build of the club," Munn said yesterday.

"He will be working extremely closely with the coach to build a platform for longevity and to carry us forward for the next 10 or 20 years. It's vital for the club."

The football operations general manager will be expected to hit the ground running given the A-League's free-agent period opens in October and the Heart franchise must put together a 23-man squad from scratch.

It is expected Melbourne's second A-League team will use all five visa spots for overseas players and its prospective coach has indicated he may be able to secure a package of foreign players to build a competitive team around.

That would help the team's quality and quantity as some people are concerned the A-League's expansion from eight teams to possibly 12 within two seasons may dilute the talent pool and the level of play in the competition.

While there is an almost limitless amount of overseas players to recruit, the Australian content is crucial to all A-League teams, so the football operations general manager must be knowledgable about all domestic levels and which A-League players fit Heart's needs and profile.

The other two positions to be advertised are for general managers of commercial operations and finance, meaning the Heart franchise will have several important planks of its off-field operation in place and begin filtering other positions in the rungs below.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/soccer/job-vital-to-melbourne-heart/story-e6frfg8x-1225765751707