scouting and transfers

[Mullers]

Last summer we spent 60 million on 3 players, these players quickly became surplus to requirements and we are unable to get rid of them. That being said we had a great season, we brought in Steve Hitchin in March to help with the scouting. I was looking forward to the transfer window, to see what improvements would be made.
We got Sanchez in for 42 million, we got Aurier in for 25 million, Llorente for 15 million and Foyth for 8 million.

Sanchez and Aurier I would say are solid signings but I would question why we need to spend 42 million on a defender when we had the best defence in the league last season? It's not an area in dire need of improvement. Foyth is a prospect but will not be getting any game time for a while, it's going to be difficult for him. Llorente is 32, its a very unimaginative signing for a club that came 2nd and is now in the CL, he has no resale value and isn't someone that will help us to win trophies I feel. He probably won't be here next season.

The transfer strategy was the same it has been in the past, wait until the closing moments of the transfer window then seal the deal. All the new players miss the preseason, Poch has made it known in the past that he wants players in early. I see no reason why most of the signings could not have been brought earlier.

Levy has shown he is prepared to spend money but I feel the money is being wasted and there needs to be a collective responsibility for the wastage of 60 million, Poch agreed to sign these players, the correct signings could have won us a couple of trophies.

I see little to no evidence of steve Hitchins influence. I've said many times, we need an extensive scouting network, we need to sign the Martial's and the Sanchez's when their price is low, that is the way we can be competitive in the CL and beat teams like Chelsea because we can't go out and spend 60, 70, 100 million on one player. I do feel it was a mistake not to get another DOF after Mitchell resigned, now I feel it's too late because Poch is more responsible for transfers and whoever comes in would be stepping on his toes.

 

[Mediocrates]

I think we had a good window. The squad is stronger.

Coys.

 

[nicdic]

Last summer we spent 60 million on 3 players, these players quickly became surplus to requirements and we are unable to get rid of them. That being said we had a great season, we brought in Steve Hitchin in March to help with the scouting. I was looking forward to the transfer window, to see what improvements would be made.
We got Sanchez in for 42 million, we got Aurier in for 25 million, Llorente for 15 million and Foyth for 8 million.

Sanchez and Aurier I would say are solid signings but I would question why we need to spend 42 million on a defender when we had the best defence in the league last season? It's not an area in dire need of improvement. Foyth is a prospect but will not be getting any game time for a while, it's going to be difficult for him. Llorente is 32, its a very unimaginative signing for a club that came 2nd and is now in the CL, he has no resale value and isn't someone that will help us to win trophies I feel. He probably won't be here next season.

The transfer strategy was the same it has been in the past, wait until the closing moments of the transfer window then seal the deal. All the new players miss the preseason, Poch has made it known in the past that he wants players in early. I see no reason why most of the signings could not have been brought earlier.

Levy has shown he is prepared to spend money but I feel the money is being wasted and there needs to be a collective responsibility for the wastage of 60 million, Poch agreed to sign these players, the correct signings could have won us a couple of trophies.

I see little to no evidence of steve Hitchins influence. I've said many times, we need an extensive scouting network, we need to sign the Martial's and the Sanchez's when their price is low, that is the way we can be competitive in the CL and beat teams like Chelsea because we can't go out and spend 60, 70, 100 million on one player. I do feel it was a mistake not to get another DOF after Mitchell resigned, now I feel it's too late because Poch is more responsible for transfers and whoever comes in would be stepping on his toes.

First off, one of those players was one of our best players all season. Don't go lumping Wanyama in with Sissoko and Janssen as failures.

Second, we need to always be looking to improve. Just because we had the meanest defence last year doesn't mean we shouldn't look to improve that. Adding Sanchez, a player who at 21 is already very accomplished, but should also get a lot better is very shrewd business. Particularly when huge clubs have been watching him, and he's expected to be one of the best in the world in time to come.

Third, what's wrong with buying Foyth, a prospect. Perhaps Hitchin et al see him as having enormous potential and is gonna be a huge player for us in time. Surely that's the point in scouts? You've even said about buying the Sanchez's when their stock is low, is that not exactly what Foyth is?

Fourth, you describe it as unimaginative for a club that finished second in the league to sign Llorente, and yet our competition for his signature was the team that finished first...

Fifth, you have no idea about Hitchins. Just because the signings aren't the ones you would have picked doesn't mean he had no input or isn't working well, etc. What if we've done exactly what we wanted barring it would seem missing out on the wide forward we were after?

 

[nipponyid]

Sanchez and Aurier I would say are solid signings but I would question why we need to spend 42 million on a defender when we had the best defence in the league last season? It's not an area in dire need of improvement. .

What would happen then if both Jan & Toby by some shit luck got injured? It's called buying cover and improving the squad as Nicdic mentioned..

 

[coy-spurs1882]

Last summer we spent 60 million on 3 players, these players quickly became surplus to requirements and we are unable to get rid of them. That being said we had a great season, we brought in Steve Hitchin in March to help with the scouting. I was looking forward to the transfer window, to see what improvements would be made.
We got Sanchez in for 42 million, we got Aurier in for 25 million, Llorente for 15 million and Foyth for 8 million.

Sanchez and Aurier I would say are solid signings but I would question why we need to spend 42 million on a defender when we had the best defence in the league last season? It's not an area in dire need of improvement. Foyth is a prospect but will not be getting any game time for a while, it's going to be difficult for him. Llorente is 32, its a very unimaginative signing for a club that came 2nd and is now in the CL, he has no resale value and isn't someone that will help us to win trophies I feel. He probably won't be here next season.

The transfer strategy was the same it has been in the past, wait until the closing moments of the transfer window then seal the deal. All the new players miss the preseason, Poch has made it known in the past that he wants players in early. I see no reason why most of the signings could not have been brought earlier.

Levy has shown he is prepared to spend money but I feel the money is being wasted and there needs to be a collective responsibility for the wastage of 60 million, Poch agreed to sign these players, the correct signings could have won us a couple of trophies.

I see little to no evidence of steve Hitchins influence. I've said many times, we need an extensive scouting network, we need to sign the Martial's and the Sanchez's when their price is low, that is the way we can be competitive in the CL and beat teams like Chelsea because we can't go out and spend 60, 70, 100 million on one player. I do feel it was a mistake not to get another DOF after Mitchell resigned, now I feel it's too late because Poch is more responsible for transfers and whoever comes in would be stepping on his toes.

Re: Sanchez
There was itk (probably from Trix, please correct me if I am wrong) that Dier wants to play CM instead of CB, so we bring in Sanchez as a starting CB so that he can play CM.

Re: Foyth
You have already point out that we have to sign players like Sanchez and Martial when the price is low. Foyth is similar.

Re: Llorente
Some fans have been crying for an experienced and proven player in our squad. Llorente, who scored 15 goals in the league last season, should be considered as experienced and proven. Also, he played under Bielsa when he was a Bilbao player so Poch may think that he can do a job better than Janssen. I think you should not ignore that Chelski who won the league last season also wanted him.

Re: Late transfers
We enter the market only when the rich clubs have used up their transfer budget so that we can avoid the competition from rich clubs (credit to nicdic who corrected me), Poch said something like that in a recent press conference if I did not get it wrong. I don't know whether he is happy with this though.

Re: Money wasted?
I am sure Poch was consulted and asked for approval before we make a signing. Hercules stated that Levy asked Poch if he wants Andre Gomes, Poch was not interested and Levy pulled out the deal. Of course Janssen and Sissoko were disappointments last year but you can't judge a signing before the player plays for us. The correct signings could have won us a couple of trophies? Maybe, maybe not. A hypothetical scenario does not justify your point.

Re: Hitchen and scouting department
I am not itk and I don't know what exactly they are doing (e.g. scouting which leagues etc.), but we have been signing young players when their price is low. Some of them work (e.g. Dele, Dier) and some of them did not (e.g. N'jie, N'koudou). There are many factors for young players to succeed or fail in the club, the quality of scouts is just one of them. I don't know much about our scouts so I can't judge their quality.

Re: DOF
Mitchell was the Head of Recruitment but I am not sure whether this post is similar to a DOF or not. I think there was news/reports/itks that Poch wants more control regarding player recruitment so I am not sure appointing another DOF at the risk of upsetting Poch is a good idea.

We replaced Walker and Wimmer with Aurier, Sanchez and Foyth. We brought in an experience striker who scored 15 goals in the league. Harsh to Gazza but I don't really care whether he joins us or not. I think the squad is stronger than last season, but surely there is still room for improvement. Cover and competition for Eriksen, wide forward etc. have been discussed for numerous times in forums and social medias. Surely Poch will judge our squad again in the winter transfer window based on the performance in the coming months and we will see whether we will enter the market again (Barkley, Sancho, Sessegnon etc.). Hopefully at that time everything goes well so that any recruitment will make us even happier. COYS.

 

[nicdic]

Re: Late transfers
We enter the market only when the rich clubs have used up their transfer budget so that we can avoid the inflated prices, Poch said something like that in a recent press conference if I did not get it wrong. I don't know whether he is happy with this though.

Not sure that it's about avoiding inflated prices.

Our late entry to the market is in order to avoid the money clubs gazzumping us or agents hawking their players elsewhere. If we wait for the money clubs to do their business and fill their squads we significantly reduce the risk of teams coming in and gazzumping us, and agents are gonna have fewer teams to hawk their player to instead of us. If we move early agents know they're gonna get a better deal out of a bigger club and can alert them to our movements.

 

[ShelfSideSpurs]

Last summer we spent 60 million on 3 players, these players quickly became surplus to requirements and we are unable to get rid of them. That being said we had a great season, we brought in Steve Hitchin in March to help with the scouting. I was looking forward to the transfer window, to see what improvements would be made.
We got Sanchez in for 42 million, we got Aurier in for 25 million, Llorente for 15 million and Foyth for 8 million.

Sanchez and Aurier I would say are solid signings but I would question why we need to spend 42 million on a defender when we had the best defence in the league last season? It's not an area in dire need of improvement. Foyth is a prospect but will not be getting any game time for a while, it's going to be difficult for him. Llorente is 32, its a very unimaginative signing for a club that came 2nd and is now in the CL, he has no resale value and isn't someone that will help us to win trophies I feel. He probably won't be here next season.

The transfer strategy was the same it has been in the past, wait until the closing moments of the transfer window then seal the deal. All the new players miss the preseason, Poch has made it known in the past that he wants players in early. I see no reason why most of the signings could not have been brought earlier.

Levy has shown he is prepared to spend money but I feel the money is being wasted and there needs to be a collective responsibility for the wastage of 60 million, Poch agreed to sign these players, the correct signings could have won us a couple of trophies.

I see little to no evidence of steve Hitchins influence. I've said many times, we need an extensive scouting network, we need to sign the Martial's and the Sanchez's when their price is low, that is the way we can be competitive in the CL and beat teams like Chelsea because we can't go out and spend 60, 70, 100 million on one player. I do feel it was a mistake not to get another DOF after Mitchell resigned, now I feel it's too late because Poch is more responsible for transfers and whoever comes in would be stepping on his toes.

Aurier was never going to be an easy signing to make with the surrounding visa issues and I'm pretty certain Swansea wouldn't have sold Llorente had it not been for Bony joining.

 

[Donki]

Last summer we spent 60 million on 3 players, these players quickly became surplus to requirements and we are unable to get rid of them. That being said we had a great season, we brought in Steve Hitchin in March to help with the scouting. I was looking forward to the transfer window, to see what improvements would be made.
We got Sanchez in for 42 million, we got Aurier in for 25 million, Llorente for 15 million and Foyth for 8 million.

Sanchez and Aurier I would say are solid signings but I would question why we need to spend 42 million on a defender when we had the best defence in the league last season? It's not an area in dire need of improvement. Foyth is a prospect but will not be getting any game time for a while, it's going to be difficult for him. Llorente is 32, its a very unimaginative signing for a club that came 2nd and is now in the CL, he has no resale value and isn't someone that will help us to win trophies I feel. He probably won't be here next season.

The transfer strategy was the same it has been in the past, wait until the closing moments of the transfer window then seal the deal. All the new players miss the preseason, Poch has made it known in the past that he wants players in early. I see no reason why most of the signings could not have been brought earlier.

Levy has shown he is prepared to spend money but I feel the money is being wasted and there needs to be a collective responsibility for the wastage of 60 million, Poch agreed to sign these players, the correct signings could have won us a couple of trophies.

I see little to no evidence of steve Hitchins influence. I've said many times, we need an extensive scouting network, we need to sign the Martial's and the Sanchez's when their price is low, that is the way we can be competitive in the CL and beat teams like Chelsea because we can't go out and spend 60, 70, 100 million on one player. I do feel it was a mistake not to get another DOF after Mitchell resigned, now I feel it's too late because Poch is more responsible for transfers and whoever comes in would be stepping on his toes.

I seem to recall you questioning the need for Toby when we signed him as we already had Fazio .

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

We are never going to be able to directly compete for top end players on big money and big fees.. We are realistic in who we target and how we conduct our business against a back drop of financially duped clubs who work on a different level that we can't and won't try to compete.

I think we should be applauded for the way we conduct our business and how we refuse to be seduced into an unsustainable model that will end in tears for many clubs.

 

[dontcallme]

1.Last summer we spent 60 million on 3 players, these players quickly became surplus to requirements and we are unable to get rid of them. That being said we had a great season, we brought in Steve Hitchin in March to help with the scouting. I was looking forward to the transfer window, to see what improvements would be made.
We got Sanchez in for 42 million, we got Aurier in for 25 million, Llorente for 15 million and Foyth for 8 million.

2. Sanchez and Aurier I would say are solid signings but I would question why we need to spend 42 million on a defender when we had the best defence in the league last season? It's not an area in dire need of improvement. Foyth is a prospect but will not be getting any game time for a while, it's going to be difficult for him. Llorente is 32, its a very unimaginative signing for a club that came 2nd and is now in the CL, he has no resale value and isn't someone that will help us to win trophies I feel. He probably won't be here next season.

3. The transfer strategy was the same it has been in the past, wait until the closing moments of the transfer window then seal the deal. All the new players miss the preseason, Poch has made it known in the past that he wants players in early. I see no reason why most of the signings could not have been brought earlier.

4. Levy has shown he is prepared to spend money but I feel the money is being wasted and there needs to be a collective responsibility for the wastage of 60 million, Poch agreed to sign these players, the correct signings could have won us a couple of trophies.

5. I see little to no evidence of steve Hitchins influence. I've said many times, we need an extensive scouting network, we need to sign the Martial's and the Sanchez's when their price is low, that is the way we can be competitive in the CL and beat teams like Chelsea because we can't go out and spend 60, 70, 100 million on one player. I do feel it was a mistake not to get another DOF after Mitchell resigned, now I feel it's too late because Poch is more responsible for transfers and whoever comes in would be stepping on his toes.

1. Every club, manager and DOF has signings that didn't work out. The players we;ve bought since Poch took over have collectively helped us have our best ever Prem seasons.

2. I believe the signing of Sanchez is thinking ahead. Within the next 2 seasons I expect Alderweireld to either leave or decline. So rather than having to scramble around for a ready-made replacement we'll be doing what we do best, developing one.

3. Many teams buy late, it's not just us. It's the way the market works.

4. Every team can argue if all their signings were successful they;d win the league. There is no guaranteed formula and the fact we're punching above suggests we're doing pretty well.

5. My understanding iswe have been building an extensive scouting network. We have signed the likes of Alli and Dier very early. It's not easy to buy every Martial before they get to level. The fact we have the youngest team in the Prem suggest we are doing all right in this area.

 

[Streetspur77]

You just said we need to scout players when there price is low, and the seemingly critised the foyth signing?

 

[dontcallme]

You just said we need to scout players when there price is low, and the seemingly critised the foyth signing?

There are a few contradictions in the OP.

Essentially fans want every signign to work out. They want the chairman to splash the cash and buy players before their worth is too high. We need experienced players but when we buy one there is no resale value and the money is going down the drain.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

We needed CBs
We needed any striker since Janssen is used less than even Sissoko
We needed a new RB

 

[Hercules]

Aurier was never going to be an easy signing to make with the surrounding visa issues and I'm pretty certain Swansea wouldn't have sold Llorente had it not been for Bony joining.

VJ was the contingency if Bony failed. We got Aurier due to our meticulous legal work well before, something the other clubs did not do.

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

VJ was the contingency if Bony failed. We got Aurier due to our meticulous legal work well before, something the other clubs did not do.

I would struggle to see Swansea paying £20m+ for Janssen

 

[ShelfSideSpurs]

VJ was the contingency if Bony failed. We got Aurier due to our meticulous legal work well before, something the other clubs did not do.

When Poch said back in July we need to be 'clever' in the transfer market, this could well be what he was talking about. Good to know the work behind the scenes is paying off.

 

[Mullers]

I seem to recall you questioning the need for Toby when we signed him as we already had Fazio .

Sure that definitely wouldn't be the only mistake I've made. Poch brought Sissoko but that doesn't mean everything he does is invalid does it?

 

[danielneeds]

The OP says there was no need to strengthen the defence, but arguably what cost us the chance to win the title last year was Toby's injury in the atumn. We missed him far more than Kane IMO.

 

[DanielCHillier]

You just said we need to scout players when there price is low, and the seemingly critised the foyth signing?

He also criticised the Llorente signing for being 'unimaginative' for a team who finished second, then why were champions Chelsea after him as well?

 

[Mullers]

First off, one of those players was one of our best players all season. Don't go lumping Wanyama in with Sissoko and Janssen as failures.

Second, we need to always be looking to improve. Just because we had the meanest defence last year doesn't mean we shouldn't look to improve that. Adding Sanchez, a player who at 21 is already very accomplished, but should also get a lot better is very shrewd business. Particularly when huge clubs have been watching him, and he's expected to be one of the best in the world in time to come.

Third, what's wrong with buying Foyth, a prospect. Perhaps Hitchin et al see him as having enormous potential and is gonna be a huge player for us in time. Surely that's the point in scouts? You've even said about buying the Sanchez's when their stock is low, is that not exactly what Foyth is?

Fourth, you describe it as unimaginative for a club that finished second in the league to sign Llorente, and yet our competition for his signature was the team that finished first...

Fifth, you have no idea about Hitchins. Just because the signings aren't the ones you would have picked doesn't mean he had no input or isn't working well, etc. What if we've done exactly what we wanted barring it would seem missing out on the wide forward we were after?

I didn't mean Wanyama I meant Nkdou.

2: Like I said is that area in dire need of improvement, when we have limited funds and other areas to improve on?

3> Foyth is a prospect but where is the game time coming from to impress? He is competing with great defenders, Nkdou was a prospect his price wasnt that high but Poch quickly decided that he isn't good enough.

4 So Chelsea lack imagination as well which is no surprise, we arent Chelsea we need to be more a lot more intelligent then they are.

What do you think Hitchin's input has been?