Man United should be careful not to lose touch with their history

Changes at Manchester United have not been confined to the first team this summer. On Friday, Derek Langley, the head of youth recruitment for 16 years, was told to his surprise that his services would no longer be required.

A United fan with an excellent reputation among the parents of the players he helped bring to Old Trafford, Langley feared for his job when United began a reorganisation of the club's youth system. Other changes have included Paul McGuinness, who departed in February after 23 years at the club.

Other long-standing employees are worried about their positions, too. Langley had been given reassurances that his role was to continue, though he was expected to help source and sign the best young players for United with an under-resourced youth system in comparison to neighbours Manchester City.

It was some ask, but he did well. On several occasions, young talents were brought to the club, with the parents onside and signings expected to be formalities. Yet they were not signed, leading to embarrassed staff and disillusionment. Meanwhile, former United players Darren Fletcher and Robin van Persie, and coach Phil Neville, thought their sons were better off at Manchester City.

United have lost some excellent staff since Sir Alex Ferguson departed in 2013 and one hopes they don't regret it. Ferguson gave the club a stability that has since suffered with so many changes. If he thought a member of the staff was doing well at their job, then they were retained and promoted. Under Ferguson's control, Manchester United twice became the best team in world football and were the pre-eminent English force for two decades.

The club had their very own boot room where coaches would mix and form a template for what a Manchester United player should be both as a person and a player. This tactic worked, and there were people at the club who had been there long enough to know their history and pass it on.

United plan further changes, with a significant recruitment of 40 new scouts as they look to increase their investment in youth. At present, the biggest club in England have no scout in England's biggest city, London. United once recruited David Beckham under the noses of Arsenal and Tottenham but now lose scouts to better-paying Arsenal and Tottenham. United do have scouts around England and abroad, but young players can earn more by choosing to go to Chelsea or City. Money talks, even in youth football.

The main man on the youth side is head of development John Murtagh, who was brought to the club by David Moyes and who has been kept on and promoted by an admiring Ed Woodward.

Manager Jose Mourinho has met Murtagh and will work with him. United's new manager has his own ideas about how young players should be trained and has already offered his opinions. He'll also involve several of these players in the senior team's first preseason game at Wigan on Saturday before the team fly to Shanghai next week.

There have been other new appointments. Nick Cox, who has started as head of academy operations, arrived from Sheffield United. He will work closely with Nicky Butt, the new head of academy. Warren Joyce stays on -- a very popular old-school coach whose under-21 United side won the league title in three of the last four seasons; he is one of the few survivors of the post-Ferguson age.

The departures of Ferguson and chief executive David Gill led to a power vacuum at United that is still being filled. Three new managers in three years has not helped, for each has had his own idea of what a successful youth system looks like.

Unlike at other clubs, where a sporting director is used to see a bigger picture for the long-term benefit of the club, United bestow power on the first-team manager. That's great for the manager, who enjoys immediate authority and little interference from the club's decision-makers who don't possess expertise in football, but it creates problems when that manager leaves, for one man's poison is another man's ivy.

Louis van Gaal thought he had gotten rid of "dead wood" on the playing side. Fans who greeted the Dutchman's appointment with the enthusiasm that Mourinho, his successor, is now experiencing trusted Van Gaal, just as they now trust Mourinho. Whether Van Gaal was right to get rid of European Championship winner Nani (United had to heavily subsidise his wages), Javier Hernandez and Patrice Evra was put in doubt when they excelled elsewhere.

Along with more additions, Mourinho is expected to get rid of a substantial number of players by the end of the current transfer window. Again, he'll be trusted with the belief that he's doing right.

Whether working with youth or senior players, United's coaching appointees post-Ferguson have all had enormous confidence in their own ability and ideas. But what if things go wrong for Mourinho, as they did with Moyes and Van Gaal? Those departing get huge payoffs, while the next man changes the system to do things his own way. Moyes thought he had a huge job to do post-Ferguson, Van Gaal thought the same post-Moyes, and now Mourinho thinks the same post-Van Gaal.

There have been too many changes at United in a short space of time, and that has been reflected in the disappointing performances of the first team. The harmony has gone; United have ceased to be what they once were.

Mourinho was right last week to point out the emotional attachment that long-serving staff -- most of them United fans -- have to his club. He used examples of employees he has met in his first days who have been at United for a couple of decades, and he believes that is what sets United apart from the other clubs he's worked at.

There are staff who've been there even longer, but many have left in the last three years, either by being pushed or jumping first. Change is inevitable at any club, but the fast pace of recent times has not helped at Old Trafford, though fans continue to remain optimistic about a brighter future.

They have been cheered both by Mourinho's early signings and by his first news confidence, when he exuded confidence and intent. Yet there are no awards for news conferences or signings. The best headlines come from winning trophies; the great United sides from history were not bought off the peg. They grew slowly, with sensible additions integrated into a club with a clear identity and understanding of what they stood for.

From the youth coaches upward, the staff at United helped reinforce that identity and the feeling that United were special and different from the rest. The club's marketers will still talk up the romance, status and appeal of United, but the first team has disappointed for three seasons now. It's time to do some talking on the field.

Andy Mitten is a freelance writer and the founder and editor of United We Stand. Follow him on Twitter @AndyMitten.