Rangers scouting

[tommy2212 151]

When you have little money to spend you don't go chasing players from the Premiership and Championship!

Lafferty, Mhiller and McCulloch are three prime examples.

If there was a proper scouting network within the club then we'd of been signing better players for the same amount of money from different European countries.

Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Spurs, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Ajax, PSV, Benfica and Atletico Madrid all have representitives at the Olympics. I bet we don't have anyone there and it's games like this where you can find some very good players who play for lower clubs in lower leagues and who are available within our budget and wage structure.

There are players in the Austrian, Belgian, Norwegian, Romanian leagues etc who are a lot better than the rubbish we have and would not cost as much.

rangers seem to be in the dark ages when in comes to scouting.

[Paintbox 0]

do we actually have a scouting system or is it just ian durrant sitting in front of the computer playing football manager 08 - there are probs 100's of undiscovered talents out there and we are just sitting on our hands - while arsenal,man utd etc scoop them all up.

You say that as a joke, but...

In Championship Manager 97/98 there was an outstanding Ivorian striker called Ibrahima Bakayoko. He played in France and you could buy him for around £8 million. Walter Smith signed him for Everton.

In the same game there was another player called Nicholas Alexandersson (the spelling may be a bit off) who was quite good and could play defence, midfield and upfront across the left, right or through the middle (i.e. any position outfield). We all know Walter loves versatile players and he signed Alexandersson for Everton.

Coincidence? I feckin hope so but I think Walter may have been playing Champ Manager back in the late 90s.

[excoriate 0]

do we actually have a scouting system or is it just ian durrant sitting in front of the computer playing football manager 08 - there are probs 100's of undiscovered talents out there and we are just sitting on our hands - while arsenal,man utd etc scoop them all up.

You say that as a joke, but...

In Championship Manager 97/98 there was an outstanding Ivorian striker called Ibrahima Bakayoko. He played in France and you could buy him for around £8 million. Walter Smith signed him for Everton.

In the same game there was another player called Nicholas Alexandersson (the spelling may be a bit off) who was quite good and could play defence, midfield and upfront across the left, right or through the middle (i.e. any position outfield). We all know Walter loves versatile players and he signed Alexandersson for Everton.

Coincidence? I feckin hope so but I think Walter may have been playing Champ Manager back in the late 90s.

haha, I remember that!

[BlueSuedeSambas 54,867]

Funnily enough on the day this was posted Fulham winger Hameur Bouzza moved on a season long loan to Charlton.

Bouzza is a left winger who joined them for 4 million last Summer after being one of Watfords best players in their dissapointing Premiership campaign.

However he has signed a season long loan away from them. That IMO shows that Bouazza isn't that bothered about playing in The Premiership at the moment.

Now our mangement know that we still need a few creative midfielders that wont cost a fortune. Surely Bouazza fits that criteria?

And on top of that this time a week ago we still had the lure of Champions league football. Most people see that as our clubs unique selling point when it comes to transfers, but we also have two of his international team mates on our books.

If he was prepared to leave London we could have offered him a far better short term option than Charlton could have.

Basically what I'm saying is our management probably have no idea who Bouazza is, and that he was avaiable, despite being in contact with his club all summer.

[CanadianGer 1]

I'm a bit advocate of us scouring other leagues for some decent players. I'm not opposed to us picking up young talented players who want some exposure to the UK market. Overall, UK football is struggling to generate the sort of wide, free ranging players I'd like to see and Championship and Premiership players expect a ludicrous amount of money despite constantly mediocre performances.

By contrast, if we signed hungry young players from smaller nations in the EU for example, we'd soon see some hunger in the team. They might not grasp what it means to be a Ranger right away but they'd definitely show some pride and hunger in their performances.

[Paintbox 0]

We seem to be alerted to players worryingly often by the players' agents. Agents are like used car salesmen - they will tell you the players is brilliant, will fit in well and will score 30 goals a season. The DVD they have only shows the good bits, not the bloopers. When you're calling up an agent to ask if they have any strikers available, you're going to get shafted time, after time, after time. And that's exactly what we do.

[excoriate 0]

I'm a bit advocate of us scouring other leagues for some decent players. I'm not opposed to us picking up young talented players who want some exposure to the UK market. Overall, UK football is struggling to generate the sort of wide, free ranging players I'd like to see and Championship and Premiership players expect a ludicrous amount of money despite constantly mediocre performances.

By contrast, if we signed hungry young players from smaller nations in the EU for example, we'd soon see some hunger in the team. They might not grasp what it means to be a Ranger right away but they'd definitely show some pride and hunger in their performances.

I reckon when Serbia finally get admitted to the EU, we should have a dossier ready on ALL the best young players in the league.

[excoriate 0]

We seem to be alerted to players worryingly often by the players' agents. Agents are like used car salesmen - they will tell you the players is brilliant, will fit in well and will score 30 goals a season. The DVD they have only shows the good bits, not the bloopers. When you're calling up an agent to ask if they have any strikers available, you're going to get shafted time, after time, after time. And that's exactly what we do.

very true.

[Muff 245]

And do we ever learn....do we fuck!

[TMWWBK 0]

Our scouting system is inexcusable for a club of our size. Given how tight our finances are, we are the type of club who should be pouring EVERYTHING into scouting. It's beggars belief that we were linked with James Beattie two months ago, the type of player who you could find easily in Europe for a quarter of the price.

Most clubs have their ex players scouting their homeland, not even club legends or anything. We could get the likes of Seb Rozenthal to scout South America, Jonas Thern to scout Scandanavia, Claudio Reyna to scout the USA and Tony Vidmar to scout Australia etc.

Here are two articles with Arsenal's chief scout, Steve Rowley. Whilst i dont expect us to be at Arsenal's level when it comes to scouting, it's actually scary how far ahead of us they are.

Steve Rowley interview part 1

Steve Rowley interview part 2

[bluenose_72 198]

Our scouting system is inexcusable for a club of our size. Given how tight our finances are, we are the type of club who should be pouring EVERYTHING into scouting. It's beggars belief that we were linked with James Beattie two months ago, the type of player who you could find easily in Europe for a quarter of the price.

Most clubs have their ex players scouting their homeland, not even club legends or anything. We could get the likes of Seb Rozenthal to scout South America, Jonas Thern to scout Scandanavia, Claudio Reyna to scout the USA and Tony Vidmar to scout Australia etc.

Here are two articles with Arsenal's chief scout, Steve Rowley. Whilst i dont expect us to be at Arsenal's level when it comes to scouting, it's actually scary how far ahead of us they are.

Steve Rowley interview part 1

Steve Rowley interview part 2

That was a great read

At the moment, sadly, we can only dream about a scouting system like that. Do you think we had any scouts at the African Cup of Nations?

[TMWWBK 0]

Our scouting system is inexcusable for a club of our size. Given how tight our finances are, we are the type of club who should be pouring EVERYTHING into scouting. It's beggars belief that we were linked with James Beattie two months ago, the type of player who you could find easily in Europe for a quarter of the price.

Most clubs have their ex players scouting their homeland, not even club legends or anything. We could get the likes of Seb Rozenthal to scout South America, Jonas Thern to scout Scandanavia, Claudio Reyna to scout the USA and Tony Vidmar to scout Australia etc.

Here are two articles with Arsenal's chief scout, Steve Rowley. Whilst i dont expect us to be at Arsenal's level when it comes to scouting, it's actually scary how far ahead of us they are.

Steve Rowley interview part 1

Steve Rowley interview part 2

That was a great read

At the moment, sadly, we can only dream about a scouting system like that. Do you think we had any scouts at the African Cup of Nations?

Probably not mate. The old "its the work permit problem" excuse would have been drawn out again. It's a lazy excuse for me.

Some of the responsibility has to lie with the management team as well though. I read an interview with Wenger and he was talking about Vincent Kompany, he said something like "Ive been watching Vincent since he was 16 and he's a player i like". Compare this with Smith's comments about only knowing DMB after his brother phoned him or McCoist's appearence on a Question of Sport where he failed to recognise who Luis Boa Morte was!

[the goal machine 7,826]

Funnily enough on the day this was posted Fulham winger Hameur Bouzza moved on a season long loan to Charlton.

Bouzza is a left winger who joined them for 4 million last Summer after being one of Watfords best players in their dissapointing Premiership campaign.

However he has signed a season long loan away from them. That IMO shows that Bouazza isn't that bothered about playing in The Premiership at the moment.

Now our mangement know that we still need a few creative midfielders that wont cost a fortune. Surely Bouazza fits that criteria?

And on top of that this time a week ago we still had the lure of Champions league football. Most people see that as our clubs unique selling point when it comes to transfers, but we also have two of his international team mates on our books.

If he was prepared to leave London we could have offered him a far better short term option than Charlton could have.

Basically what I'm saying is our management probably have no idea who Bouazza is, and that he was avaiable, despite being in contact with his club all summer.

Maceo Rigters went on loan to Barnsley as well. He was great in the European U21 championships.

[bluenose_72 198]

Our scouting system is inexcusable for a club of our size. Given how tight our finances are, we are the type of club who should be pouring EVERYTHING into scouting. It's beggars belief that we were linked with James Beattie two months ago, the type of player who you could find easily in Europe for a quarter of the price.

Most clubs have their ex players scouting their homeland, not even club legends or anything. We could get the likes of Seb Rozenthal to scout South America, Jonas Thern to scout Scandanavia, Claudio Reyna to scout the USA and Tony Vidmar to scout Australia etc.

Here are two articles with Arsenal's chief scout, Steve Rowley. Whilst i dont expect us to be at Arsenal's level when it comes to scouting, it's actually scary how far ahead of us they are.

Steve Rowley interview part 1

Steve Rowley interview part 2

That was a great read

At the moment, sadly, we can only dream about a scouting system like that. Do you think we had any scouts at the African Cup of Nations?

Probably not mate. The old "its the work permit problem" excuse would have been drawn out again. It's a lazy excuse for me.

Some of the responsibility has to lie with the management team as well though. I read an interview with Wenger and he was talking about Vincent Kompany, he said something like "Ive been watching Vincent since he was 16 and he's a player i like". Compare this with Smith's comments about only knowing DMB after his brother phoned him or McCoist's appearence on a Question of Sport where he failed to recognise who Luis Boa Morte was!

Seems like Wenger is very knowledgable about youngsters throughout the major football continents, with that scout saying how sometimes Wenger had already heard of a player before he even mentioned him! Whereas Walter seems clueless and can't seem to identify the talent his own youth players have!

[bluenose_72 198]

Funnily enough on the day this was posted Fulham winger Hameur Bouzza moved on a season long loan to Charlton.

Bouzza is a left winger who joined them for 4 million last Summer after being one of Watfords best players in their dissapointing Premiership campaign.

However he has signed a season long loan away from them. That IMO shows that Bouazza isn't that bothered about playing in The Premiership at the moment.

Now our mangement know that we still need a few creative midfielders that wont cost a fortune. Surely Bouazza fits that criteria?

And on top of that this time a week ago we still had the lure of Champions league football. Most people see that as our clubs unique selling point when it comes to transfers, but we also have two of his international team mates on our books.

If he was prepared to leave London we could have offered him a far better short term option than Charlton could have.

Basically what I'm saying is our management probably have no idea who Bouazza is, and that he was avaiable, despite being in contact with his club all summer.

Maceo Rigters went on loan to Barnsley as well. He was great in the European U21 championships.

2 players who probably would have walked the SPL and added that much needed creativity to our team

[the goal machine 7,826]

Funnily enough on the day this was posted Fulham winger Hameur Bouzza moved on a season long loan to Charlton.

Bouzza is a left winger who joined them for 4 million last Summer after being one of Watfords best players in their dissapointing Premiership campaign.

However he has signed a season long loan away from them. That IMO shows that Bouazza isn't that bothered about playing in The Premiership at the moment.

Now our mangement know that we still need a few creative midfielders that wont cost a fortune. Surely Bouazza fits that criteria?

And on top of that this time a week ago we still had the lure of Champions league football. Most people see that as our clubs unique selling point when it comes to transfers, but we also have two of his international team mates on our books.

If he was prepared to leave London we could have offered him a far better short term option than Charlton could have.

Basically what I'm saying is our management probably have no idea who Bouazza is, and that he was avaiable, despite being in contact with his club all summer.

Maceo Rigters went on loan to Barnsley as well. He was great in the European U21 championships.

2 players who probably would have walked the SPL and added that much needed creativity to our team

Exactly. Both of them have hardly played and as DBBTB said, the lure of CL football (at the time) would have been a great selling point.

[Scott-RFC 308]

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/opinion/column...78057-20691551/

They Must Unearth Some Gems

SO Carlos, excited about the new campaign? Those big away trips to Inverness, New Douglas Park, the Falkirk Half-Stadium?

Carlos...? Car.....?

To be fair, Carlos Cuellar doesn't strike you as being a toys out the pram type. He's got a bit about him.

He won't be kicking the chairman's door in this week with his agent in tow, asking David Murray (below) for a move.

But the bottom line for Rangers? For the sake of the many, they need to sacrifice the one. He has to go.

They've just coughed up a £10million choker on Tuesday night and one look at their team tells you it doesn't just need a tweak here and there to make it right.

To give it the overhaul it needs Walter Smith needs cash. And it's not coming from Murray's pockets. Not this time.

So there's only one place to get it. The family silver. And Cuellar is it.

He's not cup-tied in Europe and his reputation is stellar, a situation that will diminish the longer he's not seen playing at the top level. His stock will never be higher than it is now.

And ask yourself this - do they actually need him to get through the SPL campaign? Or do other areas need strengthened more?

The fans might hate the idea, the way they hated Alan Hutton being punted. But needs must.

Davie Weir and Madjid Bougherra should cope with the rigours of most of the SPL.

Therefore you take the eight or nine million now and use it wisely.

Find some decent width, find a midfielder who's going to pass the ball and get beyond the strikers.

But there's the big problem for them - what they actually do with the dough when they get it.

It would be my biggest question mark against Rangers and their signings. Their scouting.

When you are working to a budget you don't buy your suits in Hugo Boss or your messages in Harrods. So why do Gers shop in the most over-inflated markets in the world - the Premiership and the Championship?

When was the last time they pulled a rabbit from the hat? A Gattuso, signed for nowt and sold for £3million and add-ons.

A signing that made you think they'd plucked a real talent from left field that showed some creative thinking?

Walter's summer haul was a striker he knew like the back of his hand, another striker who impressed him in games against his team and a striker everyone had beenwatching forever, yet no one else would pony up for.

I know the manager likes what he knows and wants a certain character about his team but surely you've got to stretch the boundaries a bit wider.

Look at Celtic. Sure, no one knows whether Paddy McCourt or Marc Crosas will be a success.

But the word is they both have talent and at least there's a bit of lateral thought gone into the process of finding some creativity for the team.

They did it with Nakamura. Did it to a lesser extent with Evander Sno. Not everyone's cup of tea but he's now attracting bids of £1million. Celtic knew they couldn't go for a Messi or a Fabregas, so you get outside the box and you scout.

Liverpool, another case. Hungary made the recent final of theEuro Under 19 championships but anyone surprised by that and thinking about plundering them found Rafa Benitez already had their four top players tied up.

Again no guarantees but it shows they're ahead of the game.

Rangers need to find some balance - and in a hurry.

At the moment they have NINE men who can play the striking roles - Miller, Boyd, Darcheville, Cousin, Lafferty, Velicka, Novo, McCulloch and Naismith.

And that's a problem brought about by buying before you've sold.

Day one of pre-season and while he didn't say it out loud, it was clear Smith (left) expected at least Darcheville and Cousin to have been shipped out by now.

No takers, though, and the queue won't exactly be forming after what happened in midweek.

It's still astonishing to think that 180 minutes on from a manager taking a club to a European final, taking them to within minutes of a quadruple, that punters want his head on a stick.

It won't happen and nor should it. But exactly two months ago today I wrote, "Europe doesn't matter a monkey's for Rangers or Walter Smith next season. ALL that matters, ALL that keeps Walter Smith in his job, is stopping four in a row."

That hasn't changed, no matter what happened in midweek. And the least he deserves is the chance to prove it.

[Del 667]

Our Scouting system is basically non-existant...

We sign players that Martin Vain has seen on youtube,are on McLies books or that play against us and do well!

We need to look at the Swedish, Danish, Russian Leagues for players!

We need creative players with a bit of flair,

Mika Varynen (alhtough i dont like him) is an international football that is going for 700k even if we sign him and he doesnt do well its not a massive loss!

Marek Sapara, the slovakian Beckham...AM playing for Rosenborg! Available for 1m and is an international footballer with plenty of champions league experience!

Thats just 2 players that me, a fan that watches a lot of football would sign! If i was getting paid to be a scout for a club like Rangers you should be able to reel off potential signings, give a report about which one you think would fit into the team and then get the manager to watch them for a final say!

It would be a pleasure to do that kind of job yet we seem to have nothing of the sort in place!

Sign me up Rangers!

[Guest therabbitt]

Our Scouting system is basically non-existant...

We sign players that Martin Vain has seen on youtube,are on McLies books or that play against us and do well!

We need to look at the Swedish, Danish, Russian Leagues for players!

We need creative players with a bit of flair,

Mika Varynen (alhtough i dont like him) is an international football that is going for 700k even if we sign him and he doesnt do well its not a massive loss!

Marek Sapara, the slovakian Beckham...AM playing for Rosenborg! Available for 1m and is an international footballer with plenty of champions league experience!

Thats just 2 players that me, a fan that watches a lot of football would sign! If i was getting paid to be a scout for a club like Rangers you should be able to reel off potential signings, give a report about which one you think would fit into the team and then get the manager to watch them for a final say!

It would be a pleasure to do that kind of job yet we seem to have nothing of the sort in place!

Sign me up Rangers!

Sorry, that made me laugh :harhar:

[Del 667]

Our Scouting system is basically non-existant...

We sign players that Martin Vain has seen on youtube,are on McLies books or that play against us and do well!

We need to look at the Swedish, Danish, Russian Leagues for players!

We need creative players with a bit of flair,

Mika Varynen (alhtough i dont like him) is an international football that is going for 700k even if we sign him and he doesnt do well its not a massive loss!

Marek Sapara, the slovakian Beckham...AM playing for Rosenborg! Available for 1m and is an international footballer with plenty of champions league experience!

Thats just 2 players that me, a fan that watches a lot of football would sign! If i was getting paid to be a scout for a club like Rangers you should be able to reel off potential signings, give a report about which one you think would fit into the team and then get the manager to watch them for a final say!

It would be a pleasure to do that kind of job yet we seem to have nothing of the sort in place!

Sign me up Rangers!

Sorry, that made me laugh :harhar:

add "er" to football! haha

[papaguy51 912]

do we actually have a scouting system or is it just ian durrant sitting in front of the computer playing football manager 08 - there are probs 100's of undiscovered talents out there and we are just sitting on our hands - while arsenal,man utd etc scoop them all up.

You say that as a joke, but...

In Championship Manager 97/98 there was an outstanding Ivorian striker called Ibrahima Bakayoko. He played in France and you could buy him for around £8 million. Walter Smith signed him for Everton.

In the same game there was another player called Nicholas Alexandersson (the spelling may be a bit off) who was quite good and could play defence, midfield and upfront across the left, right or through the middle (i.e. any position outfield). We all know Walter loves versatile players and he signed Alexandersson for Everton.

Coincidence? I feckin hope so but I think Walter may have been playing Champ Manager back in the late 90s.

haha, I remember that!

There was a massive list in one of my old PC Zone mags regarding relatively unknown players in Champy that eventually turned good in the game, and were snapped up by clubs in real life shorty after the release of the new version that included said player.

[wearethepeople 0]

Just thinking about this Rangers scouting, it surly would have to be one of the best jobs in the world.

I mean how hard can be to sit and watch different fitba matches every couple of days and thinking he's no a bad player, he's pish, he could be good blah blah blah?

Anyone have Mr Murray email address, I feel a career change coming on....

Ho and don't steal my idea rite! :harhar:

[Whitdaeyemean 0]

Just thinking about this Rangers scouting, it surly would have to be one of the best jobs in the world.

I mean how hard can be to sit and watch different fitba matches every couple of days and thinking he's no a bad player, he's pish, he could be good blah blah blah?

Anyone have Mr Murray email address, I feel a career change coming on....

Ho and don't steal my idea rite! :harhar:

25 million from you and 25 fae me and we are in

[wearethepeople 0]

Just thinking about this Rangers scouting, it surly would have to be one of the best jobs in the world.

I mean how hard can be to sit and watch different fitba matches every couple of days and thinking he's no a bad player, he's pish, he could be good blah blah blah?

Anyone have Mr Murray email address, I feel a career change coming on....

Ho and don't steal my idea rite! :harhar:

25 million from you and 25 fae me and we are in

Off to the bank I go... happily wondering down the.....

[The Hammer 11 2,675]

we should really take a look at some of the south american leagues see if we can dig up anything there