Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[Chicken Wing]

Ian Wurstwater

[Islay]

Jack de Bier

[D.A.F.C]

VW Beetle Anderson

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

i know Ross McArthur is not stupid and these German guys clearly haven't thrown their money in the ring for laughs so I presume they know exactly what they are doing but I'd have some concerns at this point about exactly how easy it will be to bring players to the UK in a post-Brexit environment in the longer term. Anyone who has ever tried to get a player registered from a non EU country previously will know what an absolute administrative and costly nightmare it is. The thing about the EU was it allowed free labour movement within it to French, German, Dutch players etc could come and go as they pleased. We're currently in a transitional arrangement where that's still pretty much allowed but I'm unsure what the longer term procedure will be to obtain work permits for European nationals to play in Scotland presuming they don't have a UK passport.

Which was exactly what I was asking about, is there some twist that would allow foreign owners of a Scottish team to import player from their home leagues more easily? The timing on this....two years of searching before approaching the club last year matches up with the whole sordid BREXIT shebang kicking off...makes it pretty likely someone sees something they think they can drive a lorry through. Perhaps the plan is for DAFC to become a sub-property of a higher level German side and work as a farm team, allowing easier entry to the UK and EU markets through some obscure provision? It would certainly seem reasonable that some provisions are installed in whatever agreement is finally reached that acknowledge cross border companies and entities.

[Hamish's Passenger]

Hamish French Resistance
Andy Schmidt

[Chubbychops]

Audi Tod

[vikingTON]

2 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

 

I know Ross McArthur is not stupid and these German guys clearly haven't thrown their money in the ring for laughs so I presume they know exactly what they are doing but I'd have some concerns at this point about exactly how easy it will be to bring players to the UK in a post-Brexit environment in the longer term. Anyone who has ever tried to get a player registered from a non EU country previously will know what an absolute administrative and costly nightmare it is. The thing about the EU was it allowed free labour movement within it to French, German, Dutch players etc could come and go as they pleased. We're currently in a transitional arrangement where that's still pretty much allowed but I'm unsure what the longer term procedure will be to obtain work permits for European nationals to play in Scotland presuming they don't have a UK passport.

That's certainly a potential issue down the line but the alternative is what exactly, compete in the same market as every other Scottish club so the ones with either a richer benefactor or more prize money take their pick first? That's been the grand strategy of the majority of Scottish football clubs for years and it partly explains why the standard is so dung and the league positions are fairly predictable year on year. If you're a second tier club towards the bottom of the full time food chain then you absolutely should be looking to a different market.

 

[RandomGuy.]

Folk presenting the idea of "scouting Eastern Europe and signing young talents from there", as if professional football clubs are purposely ignoring the next Hagi to sign some dross no mark from Ebbsfleet. 

Sorry to disappoint, but I doubt many 18yo kids are traveling across Europe to live in Greenock, on the off chance performing in the Championship gets them a move to the EPL. 

[HoBNob]

10 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Folk presenting the idea of "scouting Eastern Europe and signing young talents from there", as if professional football clubs are purposely ignoring the next Hagi to sign some dross no mark from Ebbsfleet. 

Sorry to disappoint, but I doubt many 18yo kids are traveling across Europe to live in Greenock, on the off chance performing in the Championship gets them a move to the EPL. 

That's definitely it. 

 

Well that or clubs don't have much scouting resources for Eastern Europe. 

[vikingTON]

11 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Folk presenting the idea of "scouting Eastern Europe and signing young talents from there", as if professional football clubs are purposely ignoring the next Hagi to sign some dross no mark from Ebbsfleet. 

Sorry to disappoint, but I doubt many 18yo kids are traveling across Europe to live in Greenock, on the off chance performing in the Championship gets them a move to the EPL. 

I don't really care about your doubts because you're a tragic loser who thinks that paying for a Wyscout subscription gives you an inside scoop on the game tbh. 

[TxRover]

6 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Folk presenting the idea of "scouting Eastern Europe and signing young talents from there", as if professional football clubs are purposely ignoring the next Hagi to sign some dross no mark from Ebbsfleet. 

Sorry to disappoint, but I doubt many 18yo kids are traveling across Europe to live in Greenock, on the off chance performing in the Championship gets them a move to the EPL. 

True enough, except that the name of the game is exposure and experience. You get snapped up by Bayern or City and you enter a youth system with tons of others, and you play through their system with little exposure, just a part of the machine. The odds are long, and you likely end up released for others to pick over. Scottish Championship football isn’t exactly high level, but it is competitive and certainly easier to break into. If DAFC starts to use say 4 youth a year, and plays one or two some while loaning the others out to League One or Two, they become attractive to young players who want exposure and chance to play rather than being a cog in the gears at Barca. DAFC, in exchange, gets some youth talent that is likely to turn up a nice piece now and then, and a gem on occasion. The Eastern Europe note is more of an acknowledgment of the lower pay expected by those players.

[Guest Axle Grease]

Just now, virginton said:

I don't really care about your doubts because you're a tragic loser who thinks that paying for a Wyscout subscription gives you an inside scoop on the game tbh. 

Yeah, but Greenock... Come on min

[Hedgecutter]

59 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Which was exactly what I was asking about, is there some twist that would allow foreign owners of a Scottish team to import player from their home leagues more easily? The timing on this....two years of searching before approaching the club last year matches up with the whole sordid BREXIT shebang kicking off...makes it pretty likely someone sees something they think they can drive a lorry through. Perhaps the plan is for DAFC to become a sub-property of a higher level German side and work as a farm team, allowing easier entry to the UK and EU markets through some obscure provision? It would certainly seem reasonable that some provisions are installed in whatever agreement is finally reached that acknowledge cross border companies and entities.

WM will end up scuppering it all by introducing some law in which any new footballers have to be on at least ~£25k p/a to qualify for a  visa.  

[RandomGuy.]

15 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

That's definitely it. 

 

Well that or clubs don't have much scouting resources for Eastern Europe. 

There's plenty of scouting tools to find players, plus a scouting agency (Stellar) who deal with plenty of Eastern European players/clubs, and have Scottish links as John Inglis and Allan Preston.

There's a reason no club goes down that route. 

13 minutes ago, virginton said:

I don't really care about your doubts because you're a tragic loser who thinks that paying for a Wyscout subscription gives you an inside scoop on the game tbh. 

Thats fine. I'm happy with what I know, you continue convincing yourself youve stumbled onto some gold mine plan that everyone else in the country is ignoring, presumably as it makes you feel clever.

[HoBNob]

2 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

There's plenty of scouting tools to find players, plus a scouting agency (Stellar) who deal with plenty of Eastern European players/clubs, and have Scottish links as John Inglis and Allan Preston.

There's a reason no club goes down that route. 

1) While you no doubt enjoy wyscout, managers aren't going to go out on a limb and offer big terms to a player they'll have never seen or have any knowledge about outwith the stats they're putting out on wyscout, you're then in turn trusting the information that wyscout is actually collating. You could fire players over for trials but that in turn still tends to cost the club money. 

 

2)Theres a scouting agency, big woop. That would in turn add more to the transfer etc I take it? If you've not got a good relationship, or any relationship with the blokes you've mentioned you're hoping that they've got the best interest of your club, rather than themselves, aye right. 

There are reasons, the main one is resources, that's it. 

 

[vikingTON]

9 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

There's plenty of scouting tools to find players, plus a scouting agency (Stellar) who deal with plenty of Eastern European players/clubs, and have Scottish links as John Inglis and Allan Preston.

There's a reason no club goes down that route. 

Thats fine. I'm happy with what I know, you continue convincing yourself youve stumbled onto some gold mine plan that everyone else in the country is ignoring, presumably as it makes you feel clever.

Which is, to be clear, absolutely nothing at all.

[vikingTON]

11 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

1) While you no doubt enjoy wyscout, managers aren't going to go out on a limb and offer big terms to a player they'll have never seen or have any knowledge about outwith the stats they're putting out on wyscout, you're then in turn trusting the information that wyscout is actually collating. You could fire players over for trials but that in turn still tends to cost the club money. 

 

2)Theres a scouting agency, big woop. That would in turn add more to the transfer etc I take it? If you've not got a good relationship, or any relationship with the blokes you've mentioned you're hoping that they've got the best interest of your club, rather than themselves, aye right. 

There are reasons, the main one is resources, that's it. 

 

When Morton were in the middle of our previous and highly successful cost-cutting exercise in the summer of 2013 our then manager Allan Moore had to pay his own expenses to head out to Slovakia to watch and sign two third division players for absolute buttons. They were even happy to share a flat in Port Glasgow as part of the deal FFS. One of them got a move to Ostersunds in January 2014, the other briefly moved up to Livingston and neither were anywhere near as bad as the parade of jobbers Moore could afford in the usual market: Jonathan Page; Marc Fitzpatrick; Kabba Modou-Cham etc. With a little bit more effort and resources the club could have got players from the Slovak top flight instead.

The advance of scouting programs hasn't changed that economic reality nor encouraged English clubs to take a stack of risky punts on players from countries they've never heard of when they can just take Nicky Cadden or Vaclav Hladky from north of the border for f**k all.

Edited September 4, 2020 by vikingTON

[RandomGuy.]

24 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

1) While you no doubt enjoy wyscout, managers aren't going to go out on a limb and offer big terms to a player they'll have never seen or have any knowledge about outwith the stats they're putting out on wyscout, you're then in turn trusting the information that wyscout is actually collating. You could fire players over for trials but that in turn still tends to cost the club money. 

 

2)Theres a scouting agency, big woop. That would in turn add more to the transfer etc I take it? If you've not got a good relationship, or any relationship with the blokes you've mentioned you're hoping that they've got the best interest of your club, rather than themselves, aye right. 

There are reasons, the main one is resources, that's it. 

 

I mean, all you're doing here is backing up my point that this huge unearthed continent of diamonds is being "ignored" for a reason, so constantly bemoaning your club not signing players from there is moronic, so im not entirely sure why your tone is coming across as if I've been claiming the opposite.

All I meant was its not impossible to find players of interest, and then get further information on them, without having to spend money on flights etc.

[HoBNob]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

.

All I meant was its not impossible to find players of interest, and then get further information on them, without having to spend money on flights etc.

And that'd be it, they'd have information, not enough to buy the player with but they'd have information. 

Most managers at this level, and in general want to get eyes on a player and see him in action, or have someone they trust, to do that they would either need to get the player over to the UK, which would cost money, or they themselves need to go over, which again costs money. 

While we had AJ he wouldn't sign a player unless he had seen the player multiple times, that's not going to happen if they're playing in Eastern Europe is it? 

[D.A.F.C]

Does anyone know of previous examples of German lower league talent moving to bigger clubs abroad?