Spurs Scouting in Turkey

Some people are very hard to comprehend and I don't suffer fools gladly.

Why does someone who knows absolutely nothing about our scouting system say it needs a radical overhaul and better scouts employed?

That, with all due respect to anyone holding that view (not really), is stupid.

Tottenham have a top-notch scouting system employing high calibre scouts. 

Besides, scouting is done through statistics initially, then it is done through video analysis. It is not done by a scout just turning up at a game and spotting a player.

There were big pieces in the newspapers at the time of Paul Mitchell's appointment and how he operated at Southampton. That was basically how every club operates, but of course, it was all news to our ill-informed journalist pack.

once a player has been through the vetting process then a decision is made, often by someone in a director of football role, to send a scout to watch a player, not once but over an extended period of time.

If feasible, most games will be watched. A scout, for instance, will cover Holland, France, Belgium and spend the weekend travelling between games, several a day with different kick-off times.

Any player being scouted will continue to have his stats assessed and will continue to be video analysed.

It should be remembered that each manager sets the criteria of the type of player he is looking for, Pochettino wanted a totally different type of player to Mourinho, who wants tall, strong and fast, obviously with technical skills.

Kyle Walker was scouted and he hasn't done too badly picking up trophies regularly with Manchester City now, Christian Eriksen was scouted, Dele Alli was scouted, Toby Alderweireld, Son Heung-min, Giovani Lo Celso, Jan Vertonghen, but because Leicester City pick up James Maddison and not us (we were scouting him), then suddenly our scouting is crap and everyone else is so much better!

Bullshit.

In other words, you forget all the failures other clubs have and only see ours, you see all the successes other clubs have but you don't see ours. Blinkered.

We can't buy everyone.

Some players will want guaranteed football, we don't offer that, we offer a squad place where you have to prove yourself. If a player wants to play every week and that is his motivation then he may well end up elsewhere where it is easier to achieve.

Some just want the biggest wage they can get while others a club like Manchester City with over one and half time our income can offer a club a financial package that is better than we can offer.

When we are talking about experienced players then Champions League football is a greater pull than money. Thus it is easier to obtain CL football abroad than in the Premier League where there are more teams competing for the places.

If you have a choice between Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund and you want UEFA Champions League football you are going to choose the German club because it is easier to achieve. There are many clubs around Europe where it is almost guaranteed or there is competition between a few sides.

Atletico Madrid, Porto, Sporting, Benfica, Lyon, you get the idea.

Fans don't seem to understand a player has choices and if a player chooses another club it isn't usually down to money and besides, overpaying a player doesn't motivate them.

Money is NOT a motivator.

Why do you go to work in the morning?

It isn't to earn money, it is to do what you do with the money you earn that you go to work. It is to have the things you want, to feed the family etc.

One of our scouts will be at the Trabzonspor v Sivasspor Super League game in Turkey today which will have over 2.5 goals. They will be watching 23-year-old (24 in April) Turkish international (2 caps) and Trabzonspor goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır.

We have been watching him closely since he took over the goalkeeping role and he has impressed, even getting capped by his country.

We have been tracking his performances via video and we are taking the next step, actually sending someone over to watch with the naked eye. That tells you we are serious about him.

The Turkish side turned down an odder from Liverpool last summer.

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