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Victor Orta did an Q&A on Facebook live, answering questions that fans had asked him using the “#AskVictor” tag on Twitter.
He spoke for about 20 minutes and you can see the full video on the Leeds United Official Facebook page.
Tune in to watch #AskVictor...After asking Leeds fans for their questions over the weekend, we put them to Director of Football Victor Orta in #AskVictor. Watch the Q&A below now...
Posted by Leeds United on Monday, September 4, 2017
Chris Taylor, @LUFCDATA on Twitter, did some yeoman’s work and tweeted out some key quotes by Orta.
Orta: "I've never brought in a player in my career without the permission of the head coach. The head coach has the last word, always." pic.twitter.com/s0pjhDmBHV
— Chris Taylor (@LUFCDATA) September 4, 2017
Check out his twitter feed for all of the ones he compiled. For me, this is the key one.
A lot of the complaints from managers about Directors of Football is that the DoF will be in the one in charge of transfers without consulting or talking with the manager about who the players coming in will be. And while it’s true that the DoF is in charge of recruitment and the scouts, this kind of statement from Orta kind of blows the “no say in players” complaints out of the water. Now, we have to take Orta at his word here, and maybe he’s just blowing smoke at us, but he comes across as a reasonable guy. And if owners start interfering with transfers, then all bets are off, and, let’s be honest, if the guy who signs the checks tells you to buy a player, you buy him, philosophy be damned.
Anyway, statements like these should put the Leeds fans at ease about Orta. He’s not someone who is going to be buying players without the knowledge or input of the head coach or manager or whatever you want to call it, but at the end of the day, the coach does what he does best, coach the team, and Orta does what he does best, find talent for the team.
Anyway, on to the links.
Leeds United Links
Gjanni Alioski and Macedonia had a few near misses but were unable to get past Albania in their World Cup Qualifying match that ended 1-1. [Sky Sports]
Ronaldo Vieira and the U20s were held scoreless by Switzerland [The FA.com]
England and English football Links
Leicester City’s £22 million deal for Adrien Silva has not cleared all of the paperwork hurdles, so he is unable to play for Leicester until everything is cleared with FIFA. [Sky Sports]
John Motson is calling it a day after 50 years in broadcasting. [FourFourTwo.com]
World Football Links
Wales scored twice in the late stages of the game against Moldova to go second in their group and leapfrog the Republic of Ireland. [BBC.com]
Serbia, meanwhile, was able to hang on with 10 men and win in Dublin 1-0 over the Republic of Ireland. [BBC.com]
Syria came from behind to draw with Iran and locked in a play-off sport to advance to the World Cup. [BBC.com]
The United States has done almost everything wrong so far this qualifying cycle, but thanks to a last minute Bobby Wood goal, they grabbed a point in Honduras and are still in a good position to qualify for the World Cup. [Stars and Stripes FC]
A Nigerian immigrant to the United States talks about what soccer means to him and to his family back in Nigeria. [SBNation]