Phil Chapple joining Fulham?

AFKABartram said:

Couple of points to things that i don't think have been mentioned.

Does anyone know if Chapple's role was one purely forcused on player recruitment? That is all anyone ever mentions, yet a huge part of scouting is future opposition preperation. No idea whether that falls under his remit or not.

Secondly, (and i'm sure @Tutt-Tutt will correct me if wrong), i'm pretty sure that when you lose a chief scout, if that person is moving to another club you invariably lose virtually your whole scouting network; his contacts at other clubs and in the game that he has built up, regional scouts who report up etc. It can take a hell of a long time to build up a solid network with the right coverage and know who in the game to trust or avoid, and it can be something that can be very quickly be lost.

Seeing 'names' of players that will come round on the PFA circulars will only help you make a judgement based on what you think your know of their ability. You really need to have a solid contact base in the game to get a true understanding of things like their character, whether they will fit into your dressing room, manageable hidden injuries they may be carrying, ability to step up if a youngster looking for experience etc.

Very much an underated role imo

Yes, I moved from QPR to Luton Town after David Pleat had left to join Tottenham and had taken all of his scouts with him. most scouts are connected to a manager or a Chief Scout. The Academy scouts tend to be more permanent.

In my experience, the Chief Scout organises the scouting network and is responsible for opposition assessments and monitoring players. The list of player targets comes from the manager, the Chief Scout will then organise his scouts to monitor the player list, with the extra remit of adding players to the list that he or his scouts recommend.

When a player is identified, the Chief Scout, his scouts, the coaching staff, the assistant manager and the manager will all look at the player, covering both home and away matches. The manager always has the final say.

A couple of examples - I was at Luton when Iain Dowie was identified. He was watched around 8 times by different members of staff, before the manager watched him and put in a bid of £20,000, which was good enough for Hendon.

I was sent along to Barking v Yeovil in the Isthmian League, to watch the Yeovil GK called Dave Walter. I put in a report on Alan Pardew. The Chief Scout would then send another scout for a second opinion, and the process starts. The Chief Scout would be 3rd or 4th in line to watch him and if he is positive about him would add him to the list for the coaching staff to watch and finally the manager.

I also put in a report for Mark Kinsella who played as sweeper in a FA Cup match for Colchester v Exeter City. The initial target was Steve McGavin the CF, who ended up at Birmingham. That one was stopped dead in its tracks, as Daglish had seen him in a trial match at Liverpool while he was at Home Farm. There's an example of a manager having the final say.

How it works these days, I don't know. There seems to be transfers made without the knowledge of the manager at a lot of clubs. The weakness at Charlton is clear. Players brought in from the continent are not being assessed as suitable for the Championship. A lot of players we have brought in are struggling with the physical demands of 46 games, three games a week and the pace of the game. The old process of watching a player 5 , 6, 7 times seems to have been superseded by internet scouting.

If Phil Chapple has been at a club for 8 years, he must be doing a good job. He will have a network of scouts across the country, stacks of team assessments and player reports and a huge knowledge. His next club will benefit from that.