FV Recruitment Model

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Athertonian
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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Athertonian » Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:58 am

This could be the end of the season as we know it. What happens should this be the case will be a headache for the PL & EFL. Some clubs will simply not survive.
I firmly believe Uefa, Fifa and other footballing bodies could call an end to all competitions and declare them void. What will happen should this outbreak get worse and football can't continue here in the UK. These are all possibilities which could become reality.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by BWFC_Insane » Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:08 pm

Athertonian wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:58 am
This could be the end of the season as we know it. What happens should this be the case will be a headache for the PL & EFL. Some clubs will simply not survive.
I firmly believe Uefa, Fifa and other footballing bodies could call an end to all competitions and declare them void. What will happen should this outbreak get worse and football can't continue here in the UK. These are all possibilities which could become reality.
Its a possibility. As I've seen a few say - no guarantee we can play in April - or May and then June might well be the "peak" time. Then what? There are in effect 3 months of fixtures left this season - and playoffs etc. You'd need I guess at least 2 full months to complete season with heavily compressed fixtures. Contracts expire in June - though many loan deals end before that.

I think season being scrapped completely is not now beyond the bounds of possibility.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:14 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:08 pm
Athertonian wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:58 am
This could be the end of the season as we know it. What happens should this be the case will be a headache for the PL & EFL. Some clubs will simply not survive.
I firmly believe Uefa, Fifa and other footballing bodies could call an end to all competitions and declare them void. What will happen should this outbreak get worse and football can't continue here in the UK. These are all possibilities which could become reality.
Its a possibility. As I've seen a few say - no guarantee we can play in April - or May and then June might well be the "peak" time. Then what? There are in effect 3 months of fixtures left this season - and playoffs etc. You'd need I guess at least 2 full months to complete season with heavily compressed fixtures. Contracts expire in June - though many loan deals end before that.

I think season being scrapped completely is not now beyond the bounds of possibility.
As it's not really about FV's recruitment model, I've started a specific thread for the coronavirus logistics discussion here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27109

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dave the minion
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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by dave the minion » Fri Mar 13, 2020 2:18 pm

Bruce Rioja wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:15 am
Indeed they have. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51867989
No need to worry for us. First paragraph of the BBC story reads:

"Elite football in Britain has been suspended until at least 3 April" - we've been so far from Elite for the past few years presumably we will be OK to carry on?

Maybe we can play against no one each week? Might pick up a few more draws that way....

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:41 pm

dave the minion wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 2:18 pm
Maybe we can play against no one each week? Might pick up a few more draws that way....
Nah. we'd keep getting caught offside

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Prufrock » Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:48 pm

Aye, would only take 1 own goal to scupper that 1ppg target.
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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Fri Mar 13, 2020 4:33 pm

Prufrock wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:48 pm
Aye, would only take 1 own goal to scupper that 1ppg target.
At least we'd be able to kick off if we conceded. But I don't fancy our chances of being able to retain possession, stay onside and not knock it off for a throw or goal kick...

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:24 am

Morning all, here's a freebie to pass some minutes and build your knowledge.

We're told that we're looking at more of a Brentford model - hence the culling of the U23s. If you're not quite sure what that means - and there's nothing wrong with that, I'll certainly stand in that queue with you - here's a long piece explaining it, by the rather good Dom Fifield. It's on The Athletic but it's free for the next 48 hours (I assume until the arse-end of Tuesday).

https://theathletic.com/1536639/

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by The_Gun » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:19 pm

Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:24 am
Morning all, here's a freebie to pass some minutes and build your knowledge.

We're told that we're looking at more of a Brentford model - hence the culling of the U23s. If you're not quite sure what that means - and there's nothing wrong with that, I'll certainly stand in that queue with you - here's a long piece explaining it, by the rather good Dom Fifield. It's on The Athletic but it's free for the next 48 hours (I assume until the arse-end of Tuesday).

https://theathletic.com/1536639/
Thanks for sharing, DSB.

Brentford certainly have an innovative and enviable set-up currently, and I am encouraged that Bolton's owners are looking to draw inspiration from clubs like that. However, you have to question how much of what Brentford are doing is replicable at a club like Bolton. The success of Brentford's model is predicated on having excellent, extensive scouting at both domestic an international levels, as well as personnel who are highly skilled in using and developing advanced statistical modelling.

Now I can only imagine that Bolton would be looking at implementing some kind of scaled back version of what Brentford have done, but I would have to question what the efficacy of trying to do something like this on a vastly reduced budget will be. I wouldn't be qualified to say whether it's possible or not, and I applaud the effort, but I wonder if we perhaps shouldn't get too caught up in thinking we're going to become 'Brentford Mk 2'.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by nicholaldo » Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:26 pm

The_Gun wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:19 pm
I wonder if we perhaps shouldn't get too caught up in thinking we're going to become 'Brentford Mk 2'.

I might be wrong, but I interpreted the changes to the Academy set-up largely as bringing it in line with the level we're currently at and the budgets we'll be working with. We've adopted a model more similar to Rochdale's (Category 3 Academy, no Under 23's) than Brentford's (no Academy at all but a 'B' Team of players signed from elsewhere).

That's not to think we're aren't also trying to improve the Academy's output - the "hybrid" idea for the Under 15's and Under 16's sounds intriguing - but I think it's a case of accepting we have fewer resources to work with, and aiming instead to work smarter with less.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Sat Jun 27, 2020 10:31 am

Bolton Wanderers has today confirmed that all of its Academy players under the age of 15 have been made offers to stay at the club.

All the schoolboys from the under 9s through to the under 15s age groups will have the opportunity to represent the Academy next season.

Head of Football Operations, Tobias Phoenix, said: “Due to the unexpected early curtailment of last season, we felt it important that all those under the age of 15 had the opportunity to progress their education with us for at least another season.”
https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2020/june/a ... choolboys/

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Thu Jul 30, 2020 12:50 pm

This is an interesting piece on Huddersfield's decision to switch from an Under-23 "EDT" team to a B-team. AFAIK we haven't officially announced plans for a B-team yet but in March we did say we were nixing our U23s and stopping the Academy at U18 level. Moneyballers Brentford have a B-team rather than EDT; it's a way to play against older teams and to mix in out-of-favour older players. Which is a bit like the old Reserves really, but it's a step-change from our previous decade or two.

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/fo ... d-18687308

(Piece on Brentford B here - https://theathletic.co.uk/1536639/2020/ ... er-league/ - The Athletic, so it costs, but so does journalism)

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:42 pm

Quick - the Athletic have made the Brentford B piece free to read for a limited period of time.

https://theathletic.com/1536639/?source=twitteruk

Worth five or 10 minutes of your time - gives a good insight into the whole data-boosted recruitment thing. We're not yet near the Euro-trotting level they inhabit, but it's a fascinating world.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Prufrock » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:34 pm

Not euro trotting but you'd think a slightly older tougher team would be a good friendly choice for the youth teams of the big clubs, giving us an opportunity to see them up close for the ones that don't make it.
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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:51 pm

Prufrock wrote:
Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:34 pm
Not euro trotting but you'd think a slightly older tougher team would be a good friendly choice for the youth teams of the big clubs, giving us an opportunity to see them up close for the ones that don't make it.
That's far from a bad idea... if the big clubs will do it. They usually have loads of youth comps to enter, including the EFL Trophy and - for the biggest - the shadow Champs Lge for the kids.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:20 am

Thought I'd transplant The Gun's very fair question from the transfer thread to here...
The_Gun wrote:
Thu Jan 21, 2021 9:54 am
Are we still going ahead with this B team idea? I thought we would have implemented it as soon as we scrapped the U23s, but instead there's just been a void.
I'm not entirely sure they know what they're doing. I don't mean that in the "terrace chant at refs" way, just that before they could really get going, a pandemic came down and presumably severely affected U23 football, including scouting and hiring. I would imagine we'd be picking up big club rejects as well as trying to hone our own U18s and lower (the U18s played this week, by the way). Nothing wrong or particularly groundbreaking with that - Nolan was released by Liverpool, Politic by United, etc and so on – but the real big difference seemed to be that we were abandoning the idea of the somewhat cosseted U23 "development squad" idea and going straight to "men's football' as soon as possible.

I would also genuinely question why, just as we appointed Phoenix in February last year (ie just after a crucial January), we are now hoping to appoint a chief scout *this* February; per Iles, "Applications for the chief scout role closed on Friday and interviews will be organised in the coming weeks." It seems from the below to have been Evatt's decision, but surely we knew as soon as Phoenix was bounced that we'd need a replacement? I know it's not all about quick fixes, and perhaps there's contracts etc, but it would seem that while to make one major hiring decision a vital month late may be regarded as a misfortune, to do the same thing two seasons running looks like carelessness.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... ian-evatt/
Evatt:
The board have been magnificent in terms of their support, I must say. My staff, Peter (Atherton) my assistant, Lewis (Duckmanton) my analyst, work round the clock looking at players, analysing the opposition, our own team, potential targets.

It isn’t ideal that I am having to do everything at the moment but I’d rather it be that way than any other right now. I would rather be in control of my own decisions in this window and moving forwards.

We need a chief scout, someone who can help identify talent and targets, then have a structure underneath them where we are identifying the best talent for the best price, giving the club a better opportunity to get them in advance. We have got no real structure at the moment, no database, and that all needs to happen quite quickly.

We have had lots of applicants and myself, Simon Marland and Andrew Gartside are sifting through them to come up with a shortlist. That will then develop into one or two – so we’ll meet them or Zoom call them so it’s Covid safe, and then make a decision.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by The_Gun » Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:03 pm

Thinking about it, perhaps it hasn't been viable to get a 'B' team off the ground at the present time. It would have been nice for the club to perhaps make some kind of comment to that effect, though.

The Chief Scout will of course be an important hire in the longer term, so I'm intrigued to see who we'll plump for. I should imagine that we'd still get some decent candidates putting themselves forward for that role, unless we're offering absolute peanuts.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by officer_dibble » Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:03 pm

Yeah the scout thing looks weird - looks like Evatts on his own, managing, recruiting and he’s got Atherton and the analyst on the first team coaching side. Looks like cost management to me for this season. Even to the point where we appoint a scout after this Jan - so their remit isn’t purely next season.

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by LeverEnd » Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:26 pm

I think.it suggests long term planning and with Evatt at the heart of it, which is both admirable in their faith in him, but also slightly worrying in that I don't share it. :D
Still, while people have questioned their knowledge of running at football club, it's greater than mine! I also have a lot of goodwill towards them so will renew next season, but without expecting too much.
...

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Re: FV Recruitment Model

Post by nicholaldo » Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:52 pm

The club never acknowledged the idea that it was following the "Brentford" model. I think it's more likely the case it was an effort to streamline the Academy to make it more affordable to run, although I'm quite sure as well they hope they've restructured it in such a way that it means we get more value for money.

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