Tisdale should be looking at modernising our scouting department as a priority…
Guilty of neglect
Paul Tisdale is close to being appointed by Celtic to look after a few aspects of the club, including scouting which for me is one of the most important areas of a football club, and one we have been guilty of neglecting in years gone by.
Sure we’ve had plenty of good signings throughout the years, but some of them have been through our various ‘contacts’ rather than a tried and trusted scouting method.
The Ajax Example
Look at Ajax for example. They employ 55 scouts, with 50 of them based in the Netherlands alone. I’m not saying we need to have that many, but we need to upgrade on what we have currently which isn’t that many.
Ajax is just one example, as there are several European clubs who are on a par with us, and they have such a good scouting system and network that it helps them compete against the bigger sides in Europe. That’s what we should be looking to emulate.
Mark Cooper was recruited
Double our scouting network in the UK and Ireland, while adding a few more in Europe and the rest of the world. It’s not beyond our means and should be easily achievable. Mark Cooper was added to the payroll back in May and he has great experience in the South American and MLS market which is great, but we need more like him in all corners of the globe.
Ange Postecoglou’s J-League knowledge
Because Ange Postecoglou knew the J-League market we ended up with three current first team starts – Kyogo, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate – but none would have been at the club had we reed on our current set-up where our scouts knew as little about this three players as the wider Celtic support, myself included. Zero.
Due to our limitations when it comes to spending, enhanced scouting is a key component that could help us bridge the gap between us and the elite. Get it sorted Paul.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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Personally believe that the scouting department is starting to become a fruitless task by the look of things imo?
The biggest problem still remains with the standard of Scottish football and where the overall set up is currently at?
Trying to attract the promising youngsters without a proper pathway for development, with only the lowland league on offer to them?
That gap has to be reduced somehow, especially with the impact of the homegrown quota requirements are starting to grow for ourselves?
There is also the issues with Rodgers looking for quality to be kept and introduced into the squad, where the standard within the SPFL is still a tough sell, all the same?
That becomes far easier only if we start becoming far more successful within the CL?
Even though us supporters could class every Celtic match as a big match, due to the demands of our club?
From way to many outside looking in, at the start of a season, it starts at 12, with CL matches and 4 Glasgow Derby games?
That number increases during the season, with more success hopefully gained?
So we need to be getting up to the 20 mark of mouth watering games, with increases within CL matches, to get to the 10 to 12 a season, with cup finals, and maybe even more challenging Glasgow derby’s?
Might interest the more quality players to start showing more interest in actually wanting to join ourselves easier imo?
We want to hopefully change been looked upon, as just a stepping stone for players to be looking to go elsewhere for bigger rewards elsewhere?
To a fair degree that process has slowed down somewhat of late, yet it remains uncertain as to how long it will continue to remain the case in the future?
So can our scouting department still find the players, who could see there futures staying with ourselves with the longer term moreso in mind, than the shorter term?
Not an easy task with the footballing landscape as it currently is, especially when we would still be looking to keep a strong core group in place for stability purposes for ourselves also?
Always a very challenging position for someone to hold within our club, especially with the amount of changes that seem to occur every summer?
Still believe that we hopefully will have a minimum of 15 core players in position for each summer transfer period in place for ourselves imo?
Now that 15 has to consist of players worthy of there positions within our 25man squad, and not just making up squad numbers either?
Would like that to actually grow, but there will always be a certain amount of movement, with players within our squad, but without to many influential players moving on also?
There should be space for more youngsters with potentially, which we need to start getting from within?
And if we are going to be giving out 5 year contract to incoming players, they want to be for players with 3 years with ourselves in mind also?
So still a fair bit to overall for ourselves, in order to keep moving forward as a club?
Tough task, but not one I would class as impossible for ourselves to achieve either imo?