Arsenal cull their Scouting Department

Decent Article in the Guardian about more redundancies to be announced today.

"Arsenal’s overhaul of their scouting network has continued, with several more recruitment personnel told they will be made redundant.

The scouting department has been heavily hit in a cull that comes on top of the 55 job losses announced on Wednesday. Francis Cagigao, the head of recruitment, was the highest-profile name to be released, and Pete Clark and Brian McDermott were also told their services were no longer required.

Now the club have informed Ty Gooden, who covers France and Belgium, that he will not be retained and further changes are being made across their international operation. Leonardo Scirpoli, who has overseen their scouting in Germany since last summer, will also lose his job and a similar fate has befallen their scout in Scotland, Alex Stafford, the Spain scout, Julio de Marco, and the Italian scout Alessandro Sbrizzo.

While some internally feel the overhaul has been long planned, it has caused surprise within Arsenal and at several other leading European clubs. There is no indication yet as to how Arsenal intend to restructure the scouting operation after losing this top-level talent.

Cagigao made his name with the discoveries of Cesc Fàbregas and Héctor Bellerín, among others, and has not been short of suitors elsewhere throughout his 24 years serving the club. Some observers of Arsenal’s recruitment methods are concerned they are moving towards an agent-led approach.

Kia Joorabchian has been involved in several of their recent deals, such as a contract extension for David Luiz and the acquisition of Cédric Soares from Southampton, and another of his clients, WIllian, is closing in on a free-transfer move from Chelsea

Arsenal’s players are unhappy about the redundancies across the club. The squad’s WhatsApp group is understood to have been abuzz with discussions on the topic, although it is too early to say what action they may take. There is frustration given that, when they agreed to pay cuts of 12.5% in April – which will drop to 7.5% now they have reached the Europa League – part of the rationale offered was that it would help protect other areas of the organisation. That annoyance may well be voiced in some form.

Staff at the club’s Highbury House administrative base are waiting to discover whether individual departments will be undergoing cuts and whether their roles are at risk. Those employees are sweating on their futures at the same time Arsenal look to follow Willian’s likely arrival with a new contract for their captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is believed to earn close to £200,000 a week."

Most of the scouts let go seem European based then? I'm wondering if given the technology available now, if its more a restructuring / modernisation of how modern scouting operates. Given the wealth of info, videos, stat programmes available now do you actually need bums in seats scouting the same way that you used to?

I might just be shooting fish here, but I refuse believe that a top football club that also has a very good youth system will just scrap its scouting totally.

P. S. Look at the Dutch scout. There's a blast from the past!

 
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Every agent in the world now frantically wanking themselves into a hysteria while dreaming of lighting a Ramón Allones with £/$50 notes delete as appropriate.
 
Sign Tierney - Finish 8th - Disband scouting team.

If that's their scouting team's level of sense, you maybe get the reasoning of decision making.

Is it easier for the big teams with that sort of cash to just look at players in the market they're competing in and decide which ones they want like Real did with their strategy for years.

While I get sacking a scouting team raises eyebrows, they've won nothing of note regularly (last week's FA cup aside) since Wenger was at his peak and have been in freefall from that period.

Maybe they're fed up paying £4m for kids from France at 17 who look great and then fade away at 20 before they've helped the club win anything. The amount of cash they must have wasted on scouted players like Yaya Sanogo would make your eyes water.
 
If this happened in Football Manager, I'd be in the throws of a chug frenzy right bout now:D
 
It's one of those areas that there are big companies now creating data and analytical models on players performance and stats.

That in essence will drive purchases in the future

What it doesn't do is see the potential in someone with the right coaching approach etc

Its all very moneyball material
 
Tourist club.
Even that is under threat now.
Europa League is their only hope of CL football, which I see they think they are winning next seasons already.
 
It's one of those areas that there are big companies now creating data and analytical models on players performance and stats.

That in essence will drive purchases in the future

What it doesn't do is see the potential in someone with the right coaching approach etc

Its all very moneyball material
Players are suing these companies for using their stats. Bad timing from Arsenal
 
Players are suing these companies for using their stats. Bad timing from Arsenal

Yea but reality is they are not using stats that are generally in the public domain.

At some point their will either be a centralised system that no doubt uefa or fifa will get grubby little paws on to take a cut
 
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