Mohammed Thabit’s Reviews > Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United > Status Update

I read two sections today. They are called Confidentiality and Rivalries. SAF talks about how hard it was for him to keep the club's secrets within the club. He also mentions how Rivilaries played an important role in his career which helped him succeed.

Today I read the section called Innovation. This was one of the best sections that I read in this book because SAF talks about how innovation also impacts sports and football in particular. He talked about how it became essential that a club has video analysists, nutritionists, etc. In addition, he talked about how he tried to keep up with technology so the team has the best advantage

Today I read two sections. These two sections were about Negotiations and Brokers. SAF talked about being a football manager helped help become a better negotiator through signing and selling players. He also mentions how players these days appoint an agent which overcomplicates the process of signing players. I am still enjoying the book because it talks about the challenegs behind the scenes of a football club.

Today I read a long section called Compensation. SAF talks about how he managed the club's salaries. He mostly talked about how his experience when he was a player and a manager for Scottish clubs like Aberdeen. I am still enjoying this book because he talks about topics from a manager's prespective and not from the media's prespective which can be biased.

Today I read the chapter called Frugality. SAF talks about how he used to spend money during his professional career as a manager. He also talks about his strategy in buying and selling players and how he didn't spend a lot of money on players. One of his beliefs was that you have to build and not buy a team.

Today I read three sections called Decision-making, Buying, and Delegation. He talks about the importance of each one and how he applied these principles during his time in Man U. At first, he wrote about how he tried to do/manage all aspects of the club during his early carrer but eventually realised that he needs to trust and give other people responsibilities so that he can focus of the managing aspect.

Today I read the two sections called Owners and Control. SAF talks about the importance of having owners who care more about the long-term goals rather than the short-term goals. In addition, he explains how he used to manage the players and the different departments of Manchester United to increase the productivity of his players. I still find the book very interesting.

Today I read two sections called writing and answering. In these two chapters, SAF talks mostly about the press and how he dealt with the pressure they mounted on him. He also describes the importance of talking to the press and some of the tips he received from and gave to other managers. Overall, I am still enjoying the book because it describes what happens behind the scenes which cant be seen by a the fans.