Quote Originally Posted by Enoch Mort View Post
The decision making recruitment team of Tan, Dalman, Choo and the manager is well publicised but how do players that might suit us come to the notice of the club ? Undoubtedly MM will have empirical knowledge of other players but how did we find out about Watters for example? Do we employ scouts? Are Scouts self employed and we commission them to scour certain leagues for a player in a particular position and likely to be in a certain price range ? The transfer committee has come in for some stick as not, apart from the manager, being very experienced but how players get to be considered by them for transfer in the first place has to be the most important link in the chain.
This WOL article from January partly answers your question - but leaves a lot of gaps. It doesn't describe the current scouting system, it doesn't explain the way the club identifies or assesses potential recruits (Brentford cited as a positive example) and it doesn't cover the way the club sifts names put forward by agents and others.

In this digital age I assume a lot of early work can be done on potential recruits without an ex player hiding in the stands with a notebook - and not just relying on YouTube videos of world class strikers somehow overlooked in the Conference! The main bit (apart from the Academy recruitment which is the main focus) is this:

So, how does a transfer get done?

Players are identified and sourced through the recruitment operation, headed by Beadell, and the manager, now Mick McCarthy.

That recommendation is put through to the transfer committee, which comprises Ken Choo, Steve Borley, the manager and committee chair Mehmet Dalman.

The committee are then tasked with the negotiation side of the deal and finding the funds to complete the transaction.