01 Jun 2026 16:23:46
Genuine question, not just a complaint as usual - does anyone actually know what the deal is with our scouts (specifically the ones who scout strikers) ?
Have we had the same ones for years, or are we as bad at finding good scouts as they are at finding strikers, and keep rotating the team to no effect?
If I, or my team, recommended my company spend £5m on Sandro, we'd have been shown the door - not allowed to continue recommending players like Maupay, Rondon, Kean, Tosun, Niasse, Barry etc.
I can't think of any other context such incompetence would be tolerated, unless it is just a case that we keep firing and hiring staff and they're all useless?
01 Jun 2026 17:23:15
My guess (a guess) is/was the same ones we have had for ages, of course I don't know. I base it on comments such as scout recommended. I don't think they are lazy, just perhaps have different criteria than some of us. Then, of course, there are advisors and the inevitable fingers in pie agents.
01 Jun 2026 17:24:42
I'm not sticking up for our scouts, no one could, but I sometimes think I only hear about the successful players at other clubs because I don't follow them as closely. Surely every player Brighton and Bournemouth buy isn't a success? Either way, I'd certainly agree that they should be held accountable. What other role do they have than to highlight players to buy?
01 Jun 2026 17:30:04
I think Toson and Sandro actually looked decent before we signed them, and Keane looked good and has been decent since.
I genuinely think the style of play doesn't help - pretty easy to put a centre half on a lone striker to head all the long balls away, and, as we are desperate for success, a lot of pressure on strikers from the off.
It's concerning we have next to nothing coming through the academy in any position.
01 Jun 2026 22:13:44
DM, I don't think they're lazy, I think they're just bad. I would normally understand the 'different criteria', but our criteria at this point should just be 'competent'.
JB, I generally agree, but I think other clubs do have failures we don't hear about, but with us, it's only failures.
Lukaku was frustrating at times, but I genuinely think he is literally the only competent striker we've had in 20 years.
The only club with a comparable record is West Ham.
02 Jun 2026 08:53:58
Alex, I'm wondering if we even need scouts anymore. It seems these days that the club just deal with agents, and they tell them how good the player is.
I mean, we have player stats on everything they do these days, so when looking at players they already have a head start.
If I was the manager, I would give them a list of positions where we are weak, and say find me someone who is better than him. Not someone who can play in multiple positions but someone who is a specialist in that one position we are weak in.
02 Jun 2026 09:39:50
Agree. Brass should be looking at players who are very good in one position, not good in a few.