Scouting/recruitment

[StirlingBlue]

We, as a club have a habit of writing players off very quickly and looking at ways to get rid of them instead of giving them the time needed.

“PSR Tim” went from looking like he couldn’t play football to being our best performing CM in the space of about two months.

I was one of the ones writing him off but you’re on the money here Ram

[777Kidnappings]

Just our scouting, or our organisation as a whole, top to bottom?

I actually suspect we arent really scouting players. Think we probably signed barry primarily because he scored 13 goals in Spain. Probably signed dibbling primarily because there were nice stories that he was the next big thing and worth 100m. I dont think we are much deeper than that. Think we are decades behind in scouting and like you say probably lots of other things too

[Toddacelli]

This thread’s gone weird.

We need to improve our recruitment as a club and that means we need to attack the process, not the people.

We want to build something that makes other clubs and fan bases say things like ‘Everton always recruit well’ or ‘Everton always identify players well - why can’t we?’.

That’s the goal. Not a witch-hunt. And in terms of the new ownership, it is very early days and the new process building may already have started, so let’s judge over the next few years, not the next few months.

[Nicco]

And the scouts only provide information. They don't recruit.

[AjaxAndy]

I actually suspect we arent really scouting players. Think we probably signed barry primarily because he scored 13 goals in Spain. Probably signed dibbling primarily because there were nice stories that he was the next big thing and worth 100m. I dont think we are much deeper than that. Think we are decades behind in scouting and like you say probably lots of other things too

You think we aren't scouting any players...

[Cereal Killer]

You think we aren't scouting any players...

Nah we’re Everton, shit and unprofessional at everything, we just watch a YouTube compilation and bid eye wateringly big sums purely off that

[Cods]

I actually suspect we arent really scouting players. Think we probably signed barry primarily because he scored 13 goals in Spain. Probably signed dibbling primarily because there were nice stories that he was the next big thing and worth 100m. I dont think we are much deeper than that. Think we are decades behind in scouting and like you say probably lots of other things too

I mean, yes maybe, as there seems a fair bit of disjointedness,... but I think it's likely that there are a few other factors that might prevent us from getting the players we need, in a similar way that other clubs often don't get what they need...unless they're the big 5/6...

Our transfer budget, our targets not appreciating our recent league positions(no Europe) or wage structure, the dearth of suitable options available (20 goal a season finisher) (youth focus), and the more stringent personality testing a manager like Moyes employs.

There also don't seem to be many cases where we can go "gee we had the opportunity to sign that fella, and didnt" and it not be simply a case of 'Monday's expert' hindsight.

There also dont seem to be many names knocking around from our fanbase as to who would be a good signing, satisfying the categories above.

No one in the marketplace we're trading in will fit 2 or more of those categories, so we've got to go with what we can (in most cases carrying risk) and hope some of the other categories work out in the individuals we end up choosing.

[Bumble]

Nah we’re Everton, shit and unprofessional at everything, we just watch a YouTube compilation and bid eye wateringly big sums purely off that

We most definitely have given that impression in the past few years though.

[Toddacelli]

Perception is reality!

[777Kidnappings]

You think we aren't scouting any players...

No i think its not througher enough. Weve had so many who've come in and from day 1 haven't been what we needed and/or not been good enough.

[dazfrancis]

There are no surprises in professional football anymore, clubs know about good players, even in lower leagues, from the time they are youth players.

To suggest our scouts don't do their actual job is laughable, the issue is and has always clearly been in the decision making process on which players to bring in.

It also extends to which managers we have decided to bring in. Yes Moyes has been a good appointment in stabilizing the club but he has also clearly stated that he is not here to develop players young players, which unfortunately for a club in our current position of mid-table mediocrity is a necessity if we want to continue to stabilise and eventually improve long-term.

The club has some very interesting decisions to make this summer with regards to recruitment, do they defer to Moyes and bring in players that he prefers who will likely offer more short term solutions but not necessarily long-term development/resale value or do they recruit towards the long term given that Moyes' contract will be expiring in 12 months and he may not be here in 2 seasons time

[AjaxAndy]

No i think its not througher enough. Weve had so many who've come in and from day 1 haven't been what we needed and/or not been good enough.

Bakoyoko
Conceicao
Fofana

That's just 3 of the players that rejected us in the summer... It's not that our recruitment team and those previously hadn't scouted players properly, it's that we were such an unattractive proposition people didn't want to join us, so we ended up with players quite far down our shortlist.

You keep repeating how our signings should have been more for the now rather than requiring development, but we were scraping the barrel because of repeated near relegations.

It feels like you just keep coming up with new ways to complain about the same thing, and yes I get that it's frustrating watching players learning on the job, but also what do you really expect?

Let's just see how the summer goes if and when we manage a mid table finish and can actually offer the likes of the players listed above a more attractive proposition and get those types of deal over the line this time.