We would all love to see some decent cash being spent on either a top striker or midfielder, but without a cash injection from Bates, which is never going to happen, we have to look elsewhere. Forget the on/off T/O and think that the only way to get a bit of quality is either through your academy, which we know has been run down, and the kids coming through are not that type of kid we used to get. So why has our scouting been so bad recently? We picked up Beckford from non-league and we also got Somma from the states via S Africa, but Somma is still out and in fairness we still don't know what he's going to do. We have brought in some duds like Nunez et al, so scouting isn't our forte. Newcastle are competing at the highest level and have brought in some brilliant players, and all for peanuts. There are gems out there, but we're not picking any up, so maybe we should invest a bit more in our scouting system, as there are bargains to be had if you know where to look. The 'icing on the cake' players Warnock wants may be around but nobody at ER is looking. Cost of an unheard of player who can cut it and has massive potential - hardly anything. Cost of an established player who can perform at a high level - loads of dosh
We face a number of challenges, not least that there are lots of clubs in the North that have better and wider scouting networks than us and can offer (the potential at least) of higher level football. Plus the continents where you might find a diamond in rough, such as Africa and Australia are much more widely scouted than before. And I suspect (though I've got no evidence) young players are now more likely to have their heads turned by their agents towards playing for a Premier League club, even if it means less chance of getting into the first team. But I'd like us to go down the route of a team like Southampton. Not only have they brought the likes of Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain through the ranks (and made a lot of money from their sales) but have got the likes of Clyne, Cork and Rodriguez who they bought cheaply and look to be developing into quality players. A much better approach than signing duffers on the wrong side of 30.
Charging for summer schools and weekly lessons puts people off and scares away our future youth! Man City operate all around Yorkshire and don't charge a penny!!! Bates is the root of this problem
Hardly for peanuts. They are signing unknown (in this country) and great players cheaply, but it's only cheaply for a club in the Prem. They are still paying millions of pounds for them. Our scouting network is quite good for our level. Look at some of the gems we have picked up recently (and actually for peanuts!)- Beckford, Somma, Becchio, Snodgrass and this season Austin. But there aren't that many good players available for these prices. That's why we've signed duds as well, like Grella, Rogers, Sousa, Da Costa, Nunez. You can get some gems, but you do need to bring in established players too.
Well we got Austin who no one really had heard of or at least fans haven't. People more in the game might have. But I do like the way Southampton go about things from bringing players through their academy. In fairness they have done it for years and years. But lets clear one thing up, they didn't bring in Cork, Clyne and Rodriguez for relatively cheap. Cork was about 750k and was probably a similar gamble as what Clayton was (and I think clayton was worth it) and Clyne was expensive and Rodriguez is the most they have ever spent on a player I believe (around 8m). While they are buying young up and coming players, it is costing them Scouting is a tough thing to get right though and you can end up exhausting your resources with very little reward. Bigger clubs are a huge draw for these players so as soon as someone else picks up on em we are already struggling. I do think we should be looking in africa a little more though. I don't think there's much in Australia, the A-League is **** and there's not many people really standing out to me at the moment (although I'm not a scout).
Not sure about some of those myself Austin was on Warnocks list before he joined us Beckford was a Chelsea youth player and he had a lot of attention with some 30 scouts watching him and he had a trial at Crystal Palace before we stepped in at the last minute. Somma was scouted by QPR and had a trial with them before coming to us on trial, I would assume his agent approached us. Becchio was recommended to Leeds United Director of Football Gwyn Williams by former Newcastle United midfielder Marcelino Elena so we took him on trial. Snodgrass - After failing to impress during a trial spell with Barnsley, he joined League One team Leeds United. In all I would say our scouting network is pretty **** to be honest...
I was about to use the example of Scott Sinclair - snapped up by Swansea for 500k and has been an absolute star for them. Then I noticed that he's just jumped ship to Man City (albeit for £5m). What, other than money, motivates a player like that to go to a team where he'll hardly play a first team game? If he had stayed at Swansea he'd play all seasona and be picked for England. At City he'll get a few league cup games and the odd subs apperance. Just look at Milner, Adam Johnson and SWP and how their careers have stalled. Personally I'd like to see us trying to secure you players from the top 4 who don't have a realistic chance of regularly playing first team football. Someone like Dedryck Boyata at City or Daniel Boateng from Arsenal.
