Managers & Coaches Network (MCN)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🗣️ Tony Pulis: "I am going to sound like a dinosaur again here, but I signed hundreds of players during more than three decades as a manager, and not one of those signings was data driven - unless you count the database that existed in my own head." "That database was based on my own information I gathered each week, watching live league, reserve and non-league games, and making contacts with different scouts and managers from every level." "In those days, being at training at 8am each morning and getting home past midnight was expected, and most managers then did the same." "We had a network of scouts in different parts of the country but we still did a lot of travelling to speak to people about players they had seen, young and old." "If a player was recommended to me, I would always try to follow it up by watching him at least three times, with two of those occasions being away from home because I always believed that if he was a good character, that aspect would shine more in away games." "In those pre-internet days, the Rothmans Football Yearbook was my bible, and it was priceless for identifying information on players from every team in the league." "I started out as a player-coach at Bournemouth under Harry Redknapp and he showed me the value of having that knowledge." (@BBCSport)