Who will get the Head Scout job?

[Caseh]

Yes. A quality signing from a previous club who is not over 32 and past his best i don't have a problem with. It's the Clough-esque style reserve recruiting of former players that is not the way to go.

That would totally depend on who it was. McCall, Speed, Windass were all pretty successful. That kind of player can sometimes make all the difference. I do agree with you on not the kind of players Clough was aiming for though. I still believe there is a quality footballer in Coutts trying to escape though.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

I don't agree with the mind-set of recruiting past players to try and replicate his success. Many of those players will be past their best now and NA needs to build his own new team to get out of this league.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a Manager going for his previous signings, its overdoing it that is a problem. If we need a certain type of player, and he happens to have used a player that he believes could fill the role perfectly for the budget he has, I'd say is a good thing. Shoehorning all your ex players in just because its who you know is where the problem is.

Yes. A quality signing from a previous club who is not over 32 and past his best i don't have a problem with. It's the Clough-esque style reserve recruiting of former players that is not the way to go.

Where did this ridiculous myth come from that Clough only signed players who he had worked with before?
Usually with the additional imparted wisdom that they were all old, permanently crocked and a waste of money/space.

Brayford, B.Davies, Freeman, McCeveley, Coutts and S.Davies

I make it roughly seven signings in 18 months, some of whom have been very good and all of whom contributed at some point or another.
Who am I missing?

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

The OP says no "compromising club secrets". I think we fans deserve to be told the extent and overall effort of the club scouting network. I have had grave doubts for years and our signings have reinforced those doubts. I think there is little to lose by giving us an insight into just how many people and how much effort goes into scouting. A resume of the rationale would be interesting too.

Let's take Simon Clough for example. Don't you think he should have explained to our 20000 fans in a Matchday Programme why he only looked in 3 distinct areas? He needed to explain why he was so restricted in his approach surely.

Before the ill fated Simon Clough came on board , were we ever bothered about who was running the show scouting wise . This is only on the agenda because the blokes second name was Clough.

Its down to the manager . Next thing we will be questioning why they only sell KitKats and not stock Blue Ribbons.

Theres no secret about scouting , its either good , bad , successful or unsuccessful . The benefits are for all to see in recruitment , are not , as the case may be.

Leave it all up to experts . If the club want to tell us they will .

UTB

 

[Barney]

Where did this ridiculous myth come from that Clough only signed players who he had worked with before?
Usually with the additional comment that they were all old, permanently crocked and a waste of money/space.

Brayford, B.Davies, Freeman, McCeveley, Coutts and S.Davies

I make it roughly seven signings in 18 months, some of whom have been very good and all of whom contributed at some point or another.
Who am I missing?

7 signings is a lot of money on fees/wages, especially when all of them were garbage for a large part of their tenure maybe barring Brayford on his day and his loan in the 13/14 season. 7 signings of quality is a whole spine of a team and more.

So this myth you talked about, was only then proved by yourself in the sentence after, Clough did sign a lot of players from his previous clubs. In fact, throw in Blackpool and you've got the origin of nearly all of his signings. Hardly adventurous scouting is it?

BTW in the 'myth' you stated i said he only recruited past players, i do challenge you to find where i said this. I inferred he signed a lot of players from Derby, which is nothing but the truth i'm afraid as you have oh so gladly pointed out yourself by listing them.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

The OP says no "compromising club secrets". I think we fans deserve to be told the extent and overall effort of the club scouting network. I have had grave doubts for years and our signings have reinforced those doubts. I think there is little to lose by giving us an insight into just how many people and how much effort goes into scouting. A resume of the rationale would be interesting too.

Let's take Simon Clough for example. Don't you think he should have explained to our 20000 fans in a Matchday Programme why he only looked in 3 distinct areas? He needed to explain why he was so restricted in his approach surely.

I can answer that one for you.

1) Ex-Derby players – Because they’re one of the better teams in the league above and he knows their players (Brayford, Freeman, Coutts, B.Davies)

2) Blackpool – In the league above us and having a “firesale” of players who may be good at our level (see Harris, McGahey, S.Davies)

3) Scotland – Seen as a place to sign players who are good value for money (Scougall, McNulty). We were doing this long before the Cloughs joined (Murphy, Flynn).

Not to mention the simple fact that we didn’t only look in 3 distinct areas.

J.Wallace, Campbell-Rice, Butler, Alcock, Higdon, Turner, Done, K.Wallace, O'Grady and McCarthy fit into none of the above categories.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

7 signings is a lot of money on fees/wages, especially when all of them were garbage for a large part of their tenure maybe barring Brayford on his day and his loan in the 13/14 season. 7 signings of quality is a whole spine of a team and more.

So this myth you talked about, was only then proved by yourself in the sentence after, Clough did sign a lot of players from his previous clubs. In fact, throw in Blackpool and you've got the origin of nearly all of his signings. Hardly adventurous scouting is it?

BTW in the 'myth' you stated i said he only recruited past players, i do challenge you to find where i said this. I inferred he signed a lot of players from Derby, which is nothing but the truth i'm afraid as you have oh so gladly pointed out yourself by listing them.

Not actually, factually true that "nearly all" of his signings were from Derby or Blackpool though is it? Therefore it's a myth..

 

[Barney]

Not actually, factually true that "nearly all" of his signings were from Derby or Blackpool though is it? Therefore it's a myth..

A myth is when facts cannot prove the myth to be true or false. The 'myth' that you posted stated that i said that Clough only recruits former players. This is not a myth, it is simply not true as there are 2 facts to prove that it is false.

1 - He didn't only recruit former players.
2 - I didn't say he did either, just that he signed a lot from Derby.

 

[sheffielder]

Adkins has brought a small team with him with no mention of scouting yet.

I haven't mentioned scouting for a couple of weeks but if anyone uses Facebook can you suggest to Jim that he places as much emphasis on the appointment of a Head Scout as he did the manager's job.

I would also suggest the appointment be announced at a Press conference and the new man/woman be instructed to give fans an abridged version of his regular reports to the Board.

It is perfectly possible to summarise areas and levels of activity without compromising club secrets.

Any new signings could be presented by the Head Scout alongside the manager if his work has led to the signing. Let's make the job high profile.

Positive Nige also said in his interviews that he has watched alot of football over the last 6 months or so, and has a good idea of what is needed. I think he will have his own list to work from in the immediate term.

 

[sheffielder]

Dean Hammond out of contract rumoured to be NA first signing

6 foot defensive midfielder who played a few premier league games. Sounds like a good shout, although I admit I don't remember anything else about him.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

A myth is when facts cannot prove the myth to be true or false. The 'myth' that you posted stated that i said that Clough only recruits former players. This is not a myth, it is simply not true as there are 2 facts to prove that it is false.

1 - He didn't only recruit former players.
2 - I didn't say he did either, just that he signed a lot from Derby.

Woodwardfan said above that Simon Clough only looked in 3 distinct areas for players (presumably Derby, Blackpool and Scotland?)
You said above that Clough signed nearly all his players from Derby and Blackpool
Other people have made many similar comments on many different occasions.

It isn't true.

 

[Barney]

Woodwardfan said above that Simon Clough only looked in 3 distinct areas for players (presumably Derby, Blackpool and Scotland?)
You said above that Clough signed nearly all his players from Derby and Blackpool
Other people have made many similar comments on many different occasions.

It isn't true.

But you didn't say that in your post you said that i had said 'all' but i didn't i said 'nearly all' so it is not correct.

 

[Kenilworth]

Lord Baden Powell

 

[Sothall_Blade]

But you didn't say that in your post you said that i had said 'all' but i didn't i said 'nearly all' so it is not correct.

There have been many posts by many people which have implied it. Such as...

I just think the first step in solving our problems is for clough to start looking beyond derby and blackpool for players, and for him to realise that he is allowed to sign players over 6ft tall that are not scottish.

More midgets thrown out by derby and blackpool no doubt.

A scouting policy that extends further than derby, blackpool and scotland.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

Obviously Simon lived in Darby took his Holidays in Blackpool and his wife's relatives live in Scotland..

Sorted !!!......

 

[Barney]

There have been many posts by many people which have implied it. Such as...

Yes as all those comments are perfectly true. Most of our signings did come from those locations. So all you have done there is prove me right because not once in any of those comments did i say that he only signed players from those locations, simply inferred that's where he spends most of his scouting time. Which is true. So thank you for proving me right.

 

[Foxy]

I'm being interviewed for this role next week.

That's all we need.

 

[Bladesway]

Who scouted his players at his previous clubs?
or did he do the leg work himself?

His brother

 

[Hartley Hare]

These two get my vote,

Jack and David.

Well done fellas.

HH