The Nowhere Men: The Unknown Story of Football's True Talent Spotters

by Michael Calvin

  ‘We always put football first, before family. That’s wrong, but it is why we do what we do. I can remember once having tickets for Dionne Warwick at the London Palladium. She is one of my favourite singers. Then I got a call to go and do Atletico Madrid against Athletic Bilbao. What do I do? You’ve guessed it. I’m on the plane to Spain. I put football first. They are killing us, but nine out of ten scouts would have done the same.

  ‘I really must find time to clean out the garage. I have condensed everything in my life, but not football. You can’t move in there for boxes and suitcases full of stuff. I keep everything; match programmes, team sheets, match tickets, even plane tickets. I tell you, if I go to a match and I can’t get a team sheet I am positively suicidal. Silly, I know, but that is the way we are.’

  There was a soothing familiarity to the conversations he had with Gary Penrice in the Mona Lisa café on the Kings’ Road, before a sequence of Chelsea games in March. Luke Shaw’s price had soared, beyond £10 million. Dave Philpotts and Ronnie Moore were achieving minor miracles, in maintaining Tranmere’s challenge for promotion to the Championship. Brentford were making inroads into the immigrant community, because of the sensitivity of the scouting of Miguel Rios, their park-keeper.

  On a broader level, the irony of Stoke City’s signing Jack Butland for a cut price £3.5 million, from Birmingham City, had not gone unnoticed. Mark Cartwright, the goalkeeper’s erstwhile representative, was Stoke’s newly-appointed technical director, and memories of that Friday foray to Southend remained vivid. ‘A bad game will always be with you,’ said Mel Johnson, sympathetically.

  He was invited to Melwood, to be briefed on the renewal of Liverpool’s recruitment strategy. He watched the first team train, and saw Jordon Ibe, his protégé, score twice as Liverpool reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup at the expense of Leeds United. Together with Alan Harper, the other principal survivor of the Dalglish era, he was extremely impressed by the intellectual rigour and detailed vision of Dave Fallows, the new head of recruitment. Johnson’s diligence had also been noted.

  The potential of analysis and experience became apparent when he was asked about Isaiah Brown, a 16-year-old prodigy who had been an unused substitute for West Bromwich Albion at Chelsea that weekend. The scout had done his homework: ‘He’s a Kit Carson boy. I met his stepfather at an under twenty-one game recently. He told me the boy had changed agents.’ Such information was invaluable and unavailable online.

  Rodgers had resisted the introduction of a Director of Football at Anfield, but accepted a collegiate approach, in which transfer policy was dictated by collective wisdom. Fallows, Michael Edwards, the head of analysis, and Ian Ayre, Liverpool’s managing director, all helped to shape the strategy. Senior scouts like Johnson were their eyes and ears.

  Since Liverpool’s business plan was based on the detection and development of young players. Griffin was quick to push the potential of Wycombe’s full back Charles Dunne – ‘he’s getting some interest from Celtic, and will play in the Premier League one day’ – and gave an honourable mention to Kortney Hause, a 17-year-old centre half.

  Johnson smiled, knowing his friend had been told by his club to generate a loan fee, to help cash flow. He had heard of a prospect in Plymouth, 17-year-old striker Tyler Harvey, and had been given additional responsibility for scouting in Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria. ‘I’m so excited,’ he said. ‘I can’t wait to do it.’

  There was a plane to catch, a player to assess, and a dream to pursue.

  Index

  The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

  Abramovich, Roman 132, 176

  academies, football youth:

  budgets 5, 8, 336

  categories of 8, 71, 76

  drop out rates 5, 128–9

  Elite Player Performance Plan (EP3) and 7–9, 71, 73–4, 75–6, 132, 226, 234

  exit trials and 210–26

  failure of 132, 133, 255, 317

  French 321

  importance of 41

  NextGen Series and 78–82, 89–99, 305–6, 308

  Nike Academy 216–26

  poaching/’nicking’ kids from 7–8, 75–6, 80–1, 226, 234–5, 236, 315

  release of players from 86–7, 210–26

  see also scouts and under individual club name

  Accam, David 217

  Accrington Stanley 192

  Achterberg, John 151, 160, 163

  Adam, Charlie 26, 340

  Adkins, Nigel 297

  AFC Wimbledon 167, 208, 262, 264

  agents:

  appearance/character of 1–2, 9–10

  approach players 76

  assessment of players 28

  baseball 173–4

  clubs dealing directly with 313

  coaches operating as 174

  French 94

  media-savvy 91

  Redknapp criticises 345

  Russian 254

  shady practices 370

  South America and 51–2, 326, 327

  third-party ownership and 233–4, 326

  usefulness of 313

  using as scouts 75

  ages of players, false 174

  Aibangee, Ose 59, 66–7, 70, 71, 75, 76, 79, 228

  Ainsworth, Gareth 357, 358

  Ajax 81, 82, 130–1, 295, 362, 369

  Akinde, John 207

  Akpom, Chuba 308

  Al-Hasawi, Omar 306–7

  Al-Mutawa, Bader 307

  Al-Rashidi, Khalid 307

  Albert, Florien 138

  Aldridge, John 204

  Allardyce, Sam 104

  Allen, Clive 14

  Allen, Martin 200, 355

  Allison, Malcolm 259, 260

  Alvechurch 202

  American College system 216, 292

  American Soccer League 191

  Amiens 322

  analytics 2, 143

  analysis of heart rate, recruitment and 356–7

  baseball and 21, 36–7, 170, 172–5, 186, 187, 335, 336, 343, 355–6

  basketball and 182, 292–3, 330–1, 332–3, 334–5, 336

  Bill James and 36, 172–3, 187

  Billy Beane and 21, 27, 36, 37, 335

  Charles Reep and 171–2

  Damien Comolli and 12, 13, 20–8, 33–7, 340–2

  driven by bloggers and statisticians 185–6, 187–8

  Everton/Moyes and 38–56

  football and 2, 20–8, 33–7, 38–56, 175–88, 332–44, 356–7, 360–1

  future of 370–1

  limitations of 360–1

  Liverpool and 20–8, 33–7, 340–2

  Matthew Benham and 332–43

  Moneyball and 21, 26, 36, 171, 172–3, 176, 184, 188, 331, 335

  Nate Silver and 355–6

  NBA and 330–1, 332–3

  NFL and 344, 356

  Opta and see Opta

  overconfidence in 337–9, 340–2

  Player Archaeology 184–5

  players as unstable platforms on which to test theories formed in

  the vacuum of academia 177–8

  plus-minus principle and 331,

  332–3

  problems with football model 333–5

  problems with interpreting data 177–85, 333–43, 360–1

  Pythagorean Expectation 343–4

  randomness in 339–40

  Shane Battier and 330–3

  Stan Cullis and 171–2

  technology and 46, 110, 179, 181–5, 186, 197, 331, 360

  Anderson, Chris 356

  Anderson, Lee 31

  Anderson, Mark 6, 7–8, 12, 17, 31, 32, 77, 83, 90, 91–2, 94, 230–7

  Andrews, Justin 79

  Anelka, Nicolas 142

  Anzhi Makhachkala 345

  Appleton, Michael 297, 364

  Are We Getting Too Clever? (Reep) 172

  A
rgentine League: Primera Divisón 328

  Armero, Pablo 94

  Arnesen, Frank 142, 152, 153

  Arsenal:

  Academy 59, 67, 69, 91, 132

  EP3 and 8

  as a family 274–5

  NextGen Series and 305, 308–9

  performance analysis and 179–83

  scouting/recruitment 16, 21, 24, 28, 31, 34–5, 41, 49, 67, 68–70, 74, 76, 83, 91, 92, 111, 126, 132, 137, 141–2, 151, 200, 205, 226, 236, 269, 271–84, 285, 290, 291, 292, 293–5, 305, 306, 308–9, 317, 322, 339

  see also under individual manager, scout and player name

  Arshavin, Andrey 251

  Ashworth, Dan 327, 328, 340

  Aston Villa 10, 17, 49, 77, 83, 147, 185, 240, 258, 262, 267, 312, 338

  Athletic Bilbao 322, 372

  Athletic News 257

  Atkinson, Graham 166

  Atkinson, Ron 166

  Atletico Madrid 372

  Austin, Dean 6, 116, 164, 166–8, 208, 296–305, 306, 309, 364–7

  Aveldaño, Lucas 329

  Ayre, Ian 374

  AZ Alkmaar 259

  Ba, Demba 319–20, 321

  Bailey, Dennis 206

  Bakare, Sakho 210–14

  Bakenga, Mushaga 82

  Baker, Little Joe 277–8

  Baldelli, Rocco 174

  Bale, Gareth 12, 33, 152

  Bamford, Patrick 17, 131

  Banbury United 211

  Banco Espirito Santo 325

  Barcelona 17, 28, 59, 65, 66, 80, 82–3, 129, 265, 317–18, 327, 329, 333

  Barkley, Ross 15

  Barnet 67, 153, 203, 212, 213, 289, 305

  Barnsley 319

  Barron, Jim 166

  Barton, Joey 349

  Barton, Warren 128

  baseball 21, 36–7, 170, 172–5, 186, 187, 335, 336, 343, 355–6

  basketball 182, 292–3, 330–1, 332–3, 334–5, 336

  Bassett, Dave 117

  Bassong, Sebastian 245

  Battier, Shane 330–1, 332–3

  Baxter, James 235, 243

  Beane, Billy 21, 27, 36, 37, 335

  Beardsley, Peter 317

  Beattie, Kevin 156

  Beckham, David 12, 80

  Being Liverpool (TV documentary) 239

  Belenenses 369

  Bellamy, Craig 9

  Ben Arfa, Hatem 320–1

  Benfica 323, 325

  Benfica Stars Fund 325

  Benham, Matthew 80, 332–43

  Benitez, Rafa 26, 235

  Berbatov, Dimitar 254–5

  Berg, Henning 245

  Beswick, Bill 178–9

  Bickart, Kevin 356–7

  Bidwell, Kevin 83

  Birmingham City 17, 50, 150, 154, 155, 200, 203, 240, 241, 242, 369, 373

  Blackburn Rovers 93, 114, 364

  Blackpool 117, 140, 208

  Blake, Noel 114

  Bloom, Tony 231

  Boca Juniors 17

  Boga, Jeremie 91

  Bohemians 190

  Bolton Wanderers 6, 107–8, 164, 165, 235, 246–7, 257, 297, 298, 312, 365

  Boothroyd, Aidy 82

  Boras, Scott 173–4

  Borussia Dortmund 43, 53–4

  Borussia Mönchengladbach 338

  Bosman free transfer 251, 327

  Bostock, Johnny 129

  Boston Red Sox 36–7

  Boswinga, Jose 351

  Bournemouth 6, 102, 126, 267, 304, 354

  Bowman, Dave 287

  Bradbury, Lee 301, 304

  Bradley, Michael 338

  Brady, Liam 69, 293–4, 296, 308

  Brazil 5, 17, 251, 288, 317, 325, 326, 327

  Brentford 10, 59, 62, 79, 171, 201–2, 205, 261, 358, 372

  Academy 71–3, 78–9, 80–7, 96–8, 226

  Benham and 332, 335, 336, 339

  Community Stadium 336

  EP3 and 71–2, 75–6, 226

  Griffin Park 72, 78, 89, 197, 336

  Milk Cup, under-15 team 228

  NextGen Series and 78–9, 80–7, 89–90, 96–8

  scouting network/recruitment 58–77, 80, 198, 199–200, 228–9

  see also under individual manager, scout and player name

  Brighton and Hove Albion 7, 124, 125, 126, 137, 152, 230, 231–7, 306, 362

  Bristol City 207, 354, 367

  Bristol Rovers 45, 206, 312, 316–17

  Britton, Leon 182

  Broomfield, Ian 352

  Brown, Isaiah 373

  Brown, Steve 45–6, 141

  Brukner, Peter 163

  Brunt, Ryan 193

  Bryant, Kobe 331

  Buck, Danny 74

  Buckle, Paul 206

  Bundesliga 54, 251, 252, 313, 321

  Burke, David 233

  Burnley 192

  Burns, Tommy 11, 244

  Burt, Keith 354

  Burton Albion 131

  Burton, Terry 107, 275–7, 284, 285, 292, 293, 295, 303, 305

  Bury 141

  Busby, Matt 136, 201

  Butland, Jack 50, 150–60, 351–2, 373

  Buxton, Ted 200–1, 306

  Cabaye, Yohan 320–1

  Cahill, Gary 41

  Caledonian Thistle 190

  Callaghan, Fred 201

  Calvin, David 32

  Calvin, Jamie 32

  Cambridge United 43, 152, 238, 267, 359

  Campbell, Bobby 201, 276

  Campbell, DJ 200

  Canaries Cup 12

  Cantona, Eric 244

  Cardiff City 111, 198, 217, 286

  Carolina Lightnin’ 191

  Carr, Graham 313, 318–20, 321, 355

  Carroll, Andy 26, 164, 340, 342

  Cartwright, John 259–60

  Cartwright, Mark 160, 373

  Cassidy, Jake 194

  Cedar Bridge Partners 326

  celebrity culture, young players and 12, 293–4, 308–9

  Celtic 11, 16, 74, 217, 244, 362, 374

  Central America 324

  Chalobah, Nat 12

  Chamberlain, Mark 106

  Chambers, Callum 144, 146

  Champions League 27, 54, 78, 217, 247

  Championship 10, 50, 96, 103, 104, 112, 209, 241, 253, 265, 307, 308, 315, 318, 338, 367, 372

  Chance, The 217–18

  Chapman, Herbert 171, 257

  Chappell, Phil 111, 112, 134, 306

  Charlton Athletic 6, 7, 100, 105–6, 109, 111, 112, 115, 134, 231, 234, 284, 306

  Charlton, Jack 145

  Charnley, Lee 321

  Chelsea 353, 354, 372, 373

  Academy 5, 91

  analytics and 175–7

  EP3 and 8

  feeder clubs 52

  culture at 175–6

  FA Youth Cup, 2011/12 4, 10–12, 110

  reserve team 108

  scouting network/youth teams 10, 11, 12, 17, 29, 31, 69, 76, 104, 110, 131, 151, 175–6, 177, 218, 226, 228, 229, 236, 237, 294, 318, 319, 323, 325

  Torres and 364

  see also under individual manager, scout and player name

  Cheltenham Town 149, 150, 151, 157,

  158

  Chester, Ewan 154–5, 242–8

  Cissé, Papiss 321

  City of London 59

  City University, New York 344

  Clark, Lee 240, 241

  Clarke, Cindy 362

  Clarke, Gordon 276

  Clarke, Ray 361–4

  Cleveland Indians 174–5

  Club Brugge 82, 362

  coaches:

  anxiety of 179

  attitude of players towards 280

  bad player habits and 213

  badges 260, 276, 298, 299

  change of 254

  changing culture of 236–7

  complain about scout approaches 63

  data analysis and 331

  differences from scouting 365

  directors ask scouts about 153

  emotional attachment to job 180

  FA syllabus for 58,
60

  foreign players adapting to British 316

  inspirational qualities of 88

  lack of foresight 5

  lack of knowledge in some 135

  Moyes as 45, 47

  operating as agents 174

  performance analysis and 179, 180

  players challenge 16

  respect of players for 99

  rotated around age groups 73–4

  scouts as 6, 59, 129–30, 140

  Spanish 235

  spot players 32

  teams reflect 61, 62, 64

  wedded to winning 66, 178

  Coe, Tim 361

  Colchester United 101, 107, 110, 118–24, 155, 156, 198

  Cole, Andy 280

  Cole, Ashley 32, 91, 214

  Cole, Devante 280

  Coleman, Tommy 276

  Collett, Ernie 276–7

  Collymore, Stan 198, 202, 203, 360

  Cologne 255

  Colorado Rapids 111

  Comolli, Damien:

  appearance 21

  Arsenal, career at 21

  attempts to justify legacy at Liverpool 340–2

  character 21–2, 33–4, 35–6

  Dalglish and 24–6, 37

  data evangelist 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 36–7, 341–2

  dedication 20, 22

  Liverpool Sporting Director 12, 13, 20–8, 29, 33–7, 55, 91, 95, 151, 161–4, 170–1, 205, 231, 237–8, 257, 340–2, 371–2

  Martin Jol, relationship with 21

  Matthew Benham on 341–2

  Mel Johnson and 12, 24, 33, 91, 161–3, 170, 207–8, 231, 237–40, 371–2

  Moneyball and 21, 26

  Robert Pires, remembers first impressions of 35

  polarising figure 20–1

  poor transfer choices and 26, 340–2

  Raheem Sterling, scouting of and 29, 33

  Ronaldo, remembers first impressions of 34

  sacked from Liverpool 161–4, 170–1, 237, 340–2

  Saint Etienne, career at 21

  Tottenham, career at 21, 23

  Van Persie, remembers first impressions of 34–5

  Coney, Dean 201

  Conference 4, 6, 87, 202, 203, 205, 297, 307

  Convergence Capital Partners B.V. 52

  Cooke, Robbie 43, 44, 47, 269

  Coppell, Steve 206, 261, 298, 302

  Cornell University 356

  Cotterill, Steve 307

  Coulibaly, Souleymane 133

  Coulthirst, Shaquille 87

  Coventry City 39, 305, 362, 368

  Craddock, Jody 359

  Crawley Town 105, 161

  Crewe Alexandra 95, 161, 192

  Crosby, Malcolm 241

  Cruyff, Johan 42–3, 81

  Cruz Azul 328

  Crystal Palace 6, 31, 71, 90, 129, 145, 152, 157, 198, 200, 206, 234, 236, 260, 261, 297, 300–3, 358–9, 361, 365