I've heard a little bit of Papa Allam's thoughts about the current situation at the club from someone who speaks to him now and then and met with him recently. I'm not going to say who it was and I know people are going to be sceptical. But I know for a fact that this guy met with Mr Allam formally and I trust him that everything he told me was true. I can't force anyone to believe me but I assure you this is from Mr Allam's mouth. I don't want to reignite the old debates completely but this is some new information to me and I think it's of interest to other fans. Mr Allam asked why the fans don't 'love' him and why they didn't 'protect' him over the Barmby/Pearson saga. A strange choice of words but he basically couldn't understand the backlash from fans and doesn't seem to have realised quite how many people still back him. He said he could leave at any time if he wasn't 'loved' by the fans, which I thought sounded a bit strong. He didn't fully understand the odds system regarding managers because he doesn't gamble, and asked what Bruce being 1/6 on actually meant, I don't know whether he was suggesting it was out of the question or quite likely. But I can't see it happening anyway. He says he will only appoint a manager with PL experience (or the equivalent from abroad). I'm not sure if he will have the choice anyway, but it's interesting. He also said the same thing about players, which I think is a ridiculous notion (Rickie Lambert anyone?) The most interesting thing he said was that he was completely binning the club's scouting network. He thinks it's an unnecessary expense because he can easily look up information on players on the internet, he says there is enough info on players out there for a decision to be made based on that. Everyone knows my stance on the way they are doing things so I won't bore you all with it again, but I wanted to share this information (and once again, I have no doubts about its legitimacy, regardless of my initial stance or bias) with the rest of the board.
You would think so wouldn't you. I laughed when I heard it but honestly that is what he said. I wouldn't have posted this if it wasn't for that part, that's what made it interesting. I fully expect some to accuse me of making this up to suit some kind of anti-Allam agenda I have, but apart from completely denying it what can I do?
Worrying if true and further proof they know little about football. Why can't they just take a step back from the football side of the club and stick to the business.
I know Mr Allam is going abroad on holiday in a week and a half - ask your mate where he's going, if it's correct, then I'll maybe believe him. but just brings everything straight back to... [video=youtube;Spy6uEeyEU0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spy6uEeyEU0[/video] ....Our scouting network seems to be ****e anyway. We're one of the best placed cities in the UK to check out talent in The Netherlands and Belgium, yet we're one of the few teams in the top two divisions that don't seem to ever pick players up from those countries. Baffles me. We say our geography lets us down when attracting players here, yet don't bother using it to our advantage when we can.
I not excusing this - if true - but arent lots of clubs binning their scouting network and using the specialist set up database malarkey (the name of which I havent a clue).
its a scary thought that Allam would ever contemplate picking players or expecting a manager to scout for players via youtube or whatever professional video service that may be available. Infact if such a service doesnt exist maybe now is a time to create such a website - anyone got Alan Sugars number ?
Unfortunately the person isn't really my mate and I don't see him very often at all, I doubt they discussed holidays (it was firmly a Hull City conversation on a fairly formal basis). I agree completely with you about our scouting, even when Walsh was here he didn't find that many good players, the most impressive being Chester because Nige said before the signing was done that this mystery defender was going to be a great signing for us and even better than Ayala who he was brought in to replace. He said it with such confidence and turned out to be right that I remain impressed by that one. Other posters have mentioned things they know the Allams have done since sacking Barmby which were going to be really detrimental to the club, but said they couldn't share them just yet. I reckon this will be one of them.
I'd have to question whether the Allams have any advisors if this is true, we've seen how football-naeve owners can ruin a club in Venkys/Blackburn.. proper scouts with proper contacts
No seriously, I saw / read a feature as some company has set up an online database of all professional players that is managed concurrently and can provide up to the minute pro-zone stats (or the equivalent) on all their games, effectively making scouting redundant. If we go down this route we really wont be the first or last. Or did I dream all this? The details are a little sketchy to be honest, it just rings a bell.
Oh, I also totally believe this. I have a similar sounding mate - might even be the same one! - who reguarly meets with Papa and he said something uncannily similar.
Stats are one thing, but it's nice to see a player live to fully understand their attitude and other certain skills. For example how can you understand the quality of a cross using stats? How can they see the height or trajectory of the ball?
If this scouting thing is true, then a manager wouldn't join us, which leads me to think its untrue seen as we're supposed to be getting a new manager on Wednesday.
