Paul Mitchell To Leave Saints

[Turkish]

Is there a transfer window for back room staff? Baffling that a member of staff being wanted by the at best third club in London would make nationals.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

This.

I too know of a number of people who took lower paid jobs rather than move.Too many variables to go into detail.

Did they all work for Southampton City Council?

[Bucks Saint]

Can't see why Mitchell would want to leave us for Spurs tbh, with our scouting team flourishing and theirs crumbling he'd have a big old job on his hands - why give yourself the trouble?

 

Plus the joys of living and working in N London versus the New Forest etc

[farawaysaint]

Is there a transfer window for back room staff? Baffling that a member of staff being wanted by the at best third club in London would make nationals.

 

This was my immediate thought as well. Short of the manager or chairman, why is the movement of backroom staff national news?

[CityRanger]

The question all the Levy's, Woodwards and their ilk want the answer to is: "How do they (Saints) do it, what is the secret?". Like the Colonels chicken flavouring and the Coca Cola recipe they all want to know! And maybe one if our staff will spill the beans and coat their dirty clubs with a bit of our stardust... They wish.

[RedWillie]

Tottenham are a club in crisis, a chairman not supported , perennial under achievers and a fan base quite deluded with where they should be in the football hierarchy. Smells of panic , but then this is Totemham who ,well panic. About time for a new manager isn't it?

[Pastor Patrón]

Considering Pelle, Alderweireld and Tadic were Koeman signings, what gems has he discovered anyway? Forren and Mayuka?

[Appy]

Considering Pelle, Alderweireld and Tadic were Koeman signings, what gems has he discovered anyway? Forren and Mayuka?

 

We had already highlighted Pelle and Tadic as targets before Koeman was appointed.

[Goatboy]

We had already highlighted Pelle and Tadic as targets before Koeman was appointed.

 

And Toby.

[aintforever]

We had already highlighted Pelle and Tadic as targets before Koeman was appointed.

 

We might have highlighted hundreds of players, fact is they are here because Koeman wanted them. Just like Osvaldo was here because Pochetino wanted him.

[trousers]

http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/36850/

[Pastor Patrón]

We might have highlighted hundreds of players, fact is they are here because Koeman wanted them. Just like Osvaldo was here because Pochetino wanted him.

 

Yep, the recruiting isn't what makes us good anyway imo. None of our players are world beaters, if Fonte and Bertrand etc were elsewhere they'd probably be a bit pants, were just exceptional at getting the best out of players and getting them playing perfectly as a unit. Teams win games not individuals

[the_emu]

So points of interest (for me atleast):

 

- Given the sensitive nature of his work, would someone like Mitchell have an extended notice period and be put on gardening leave if he were to leave?

 

- Southampton it seems has a lot of IP with the software they've developed which I do hope is commercially protected.

 

- I can understand Mitchell eventually going to pastures new, for a different challenge, but Tottenham? Having a laugh - everyone knows Levy keeps private counsel on who ultimately stays and who goes, not the manager or director of football or lead scouts, so it will be a thankless task working for him.

 

- Extend on the fruits of your labour at a club where something special is germinating or start over at a toxic club? Hmmmm

 

- What exactly is Spurs template for recruitment - a players price tag?

 

Conclusion, think it's all a bit of ball aches.

 

Food for thought.

[St Chalet]

I'd be more worried if they went after Les Reed.

 

We've got enough experts on players on here that we could lend the club if required.

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Spurs casting desperately around for magic beans. Hilarious. We are laughing at you Pochettino.

[CityRanger]

This.

 

They're well and truly panicking and looking for an instant answer. I doubt anyone is going anywhere until the final whistle at the Etihad has blown and our fate is sealed!

 

This is a really enjoyable season so far.

"We've got this Argentinian manager, he's all the rage you know. Now, how do work him then..."

[Pedro]

I notice the girl was not on the bench on Saturday, don't know where she has gone and Matt Radcliffe is at Manure so backroom staff on the move the same as in any industry.

[Bucks Saint]

Yep, the recruiting isn't what makes us good anyway imo. None of our players are world beaters, if Fonte and Bertrand etc were elsewhere they'd probably be a bit pants, were just exceptional at getting the best out of players and getting them playing perfectly as a unit. Teams win games not individuals

 

Getting people who will settle in quickly, both on and off the field, and adjust to their team mates quickly and have the right character has plenty to do with it. Just ask Liverhampton. Thats a big part of what the recruitment team do.

[Alwightmush]

I notice the girl was not on the bench on Saturday, don't know where she has gone and Matt Radcliffe is at Manure so backroom staff on the move the same as in any industry.

 

She's left.

Has a coaching opportunity at her home town club she couldn't turn down apparently. But sounds like she loved the club and was sad to leave.

[Redslo]

Paul Mitchell leaving Southampton to work at another Premier League team taking over what would be Les Reed's job at Southampton makes sense. Assuming, Mitchell is not just interested in getting a big pay raise, Tottenham is not that place.

 

He would need to go to a club with some stability, an owner willing to spend on money on infrastructure that will not immediately benefit the team on the field, and an owner who is committed to a long term plan. There are such teams--Arsenal, Manchester City, and Swansea come to mind, but none of them have a need for someone like Mitchell right now.

 

What about the other teams?

 

Chelsea is doing fine. Man United will view themselves as too big and would not give him the authority he would need. Newcastle and Aston Villa fail the ownership support and stability test--although a new owner at either team could do worse than hire someone like Mitchell. Newcastle has everything that is needed to become a big team again under the right owner.

 

Everton is going with the Martinez plan and it seems unlikely things will change there (either for the better or for the worse) while he remains manager.

 

Burnley cannot believe they are going to stay up so setting up something like this right now would be financially hopeless.

 

Setting up a system like Southampton's is exactly what I would have expected the ownership of Liverpool to do given their Moneyball inclinations. I think they believed they had done so with Rodgers, but depending upon what happens this year, they may be ready for a reboot at the end of the season.

 

West Ham is a reasonable candidate, but I doubt they would make the change now when things are going well. If they have another disappointing season maybe. Certainly, their upcoming new stadium and the London location would make them an attractive place to build a new style of team.

 

For that matter, the other London teams, Crystal Palace and QPR, would be good candidates for implementing a good new Southampton-like system. However, QPR's owner needs to be convinced to be rational and patient and Crystal Palace would need a new owner--which might be happening.

 

Stoke and Sunderland would be decent candidates for this sort of plan--I can't speak to whether they already have the people there they believe can do the job or whether they might want to hire an outsider. I do remember reading the Sunderland and Stoke boards after our recent games with them and the fans wanted to know why their teams--which they viewed as comparable in status to Southampton--couldn't do what Southampton was doing.

 

The owners of Hull and West Brom do not appear to be a suitable candidates for this type of approach.

 

Leicester could do it, but they need to know whether they are staying up first.

 

To boil it all down: I would not be surprised if Paul Mitchell were to leave Southampton next summer to run another premier league team but it would make no sense to leave now or to go to Tottenham.

Edited 12 November, 2014 by Redslo
reducing mistakiness

[shurlock]

Surprised no simpleton on here has shouted out 'moneyball'. It seems to be the response to everyone of our signings.

 

Of course, if we are in fact playing moneyball, the fate of Paul Mitchell or for that matter any other scout is less essential than imagined. After all, moneyball effectively replaces human intuition for statistical analysis, machine over man which will crank on regardless of who is here. On the other hand, the role of moneyball might just be a figment of the mongboard imagination, one that has trouble with basic terminology.

 

Wouldn't be surprised to see Mitchell leave - after all, most transfer rumours that circulated over the summer turned out to be bang on the money, leaving the conspiratorially-minded with egg on their face. Tinfoil hats should be the dresscode for the Lambert departure thread and other summer gems.

 

Don't think it's a bad move by spurs -leaving aside the curious fact that the mongboard brain trust, at least, up until the summer, dismissed many of the signings that took place on Mitchell's watch as failures. Perhaps Levy realises that his squad is an accreted and incoherent jumble of different managers visions and is now willing to stand by MP and invest big in his ideas, provided there is a bit more structure and accountability. Getting someone with whom MP is friendly splits that difference. One might even conclude that it's a vote of confidence for MP, despite dire predictions that turkeys would be enjoying a more comfortable Xmas.

Edited 12 November, 2014 by shurlock

[naiser]

I'd be worried if Spuds get their hands on insider info to build their own Black Box.

 

Oooooh dear

[adrian lord]

They can buy a few disloyal staff but they can't buy a culture.

[whelk]

I'd be worried if Spuds get their hands on insider info to build their own Black Box.

 

Oooooh dear

 

He might have to mysteriously disappear. Once that is out we are ****ed.

[benali-shorts]

The Times reporting it as a done deal:

 

Mauricio Pochettino boosted by recruitment of former Southampton aide

 

Mauricio Pochettino’s position at Tottenham Hotspur was bolstered yesterday when the club moved to bring in one of his former aides at Southampton.

Paul Mitchell, the south coast club’s head of recruitment, is expected to follow Pochettino to White Hart Lane in a move that will raise questions over the future of Franco Baldini, the club’s sporting director.

Mitchell has been widely credited with masterminding Southampton’s successful transfer policy over the past two years, which has taken them up to second in the Barclays Premier League despite losing many of their biggest names last summer.

The 33-year-old former Wigan Athletic and MK Dons midfield player began his scouting career in Milton Keynes after being forced to retire with a broken leg at the age of 27, setting up a recruitment division at the club before joining Southampton two years ago.

Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, is determined to overhaul recruitment as a result of the limited impact made by the signings financed by Gareth Bale’s £85 million move to Real Madrid last summer, the majority of which were masterminded by Baldini. The Italian seems set to stay at the club, but Mitchell has made it a condition of his recruitment that he will not report to him directly when he joins Spurs.

Mousa Dembélé has said that he has received no explanation for being left out at Spurs and will be further frustrated to learn that the club are confident of landing Fabian Delph, the Aston Villa and England midfielder, in January.

[pap]

That deal doesn't look quite done to me. We'll see. Looks advanced tho.

[sotonist]

We had already highlighted Pelle and Tadic as targets before Koeman was appointed.

 

the players were in the system and were not qualified out. koeman wanted players and the system was OK with them. That doesn't mean the system selected the players.

 

We might have highlighted hundreds of players, fact is they are here because Koeman wanted them. Just like Osvaldo was here because Pochetino wanted him.

 

yeah that.

[St Chalet]

Most of the broadsheets reporting it as a done deal. I presume he will have a reasonable notice period.

[hypochondriac]

Most of the broadsheets reporting it as a done deal. I presume he will have a reasonable notice period.

 

Very disappointing. F*ck him.

[Saint Charlie]

Bit of a blow. Shows (again) that despite what happens on the pitch, Spurs are just a bigger club than we will ever be.

 

Hopefully with the great setup we can find a good replacement. Bit of a worry that he will know our summer targets though and be well aware of the situations re Clyne, Jay Rod and Schneiderlin, although most would be.

 

Wonder if the club have bigged him up too much of late in public?

[lifeintheslowlane]

We will have cover and the next bright prospect in recruitment identified and ready to step in to make it a seamless transition. Good luck to Mr Mitchell (if he goes) hope he signs a long contract.

[Mallagroth]

Robbing bastards at it again. We don't buy success we breed it.

[SuperSAINT]

Well losing him would be a massive blow.

 

Who's our head of recruitment for the head of recruitment?

[Foxstone]

Bit of a blow. Shows (again) that despite what happens on the pitch, Spurs are just a bigger club than we will ever be.

 

Hopefully with the great setup we can find a good replacement. Bit of a worry that he will know our summer targets though and be well aware of the situations re Clyne, Jay Rod and Schneiderlin, although most would be.

 

Wonder if the club have bigged him up too much of late in public?

 

It's not about them being a so called bigger club at all - It will be money, pure and simple!

Levy has this theory that he can just chuck money around and all will be fine - Sometimes as we have seen so far this season it does not always work that way!

 

If he goes for 100% pay rise, who can blame him - But I hope he will be happy in a currently very unhappy club!!

[the_emu]

Pretty sure if we have a succession plan for our manager, our chief scout isn't going to be irreplaceable.

[DT]

This is Levy's strategy all over: buy, rather than nurture. Which is why he is a twonk

[Killers Knee]

Not fussed. Before the Koemans joined we were very hit and miss in the transfer market. There was a Gaston, Osvaldo, Mayuka, Vorren for every Jose, SRL, JRod etc.

[Big Bad Bob]

The question all the Levy's, Woodwards and their ilk want the answer to is: "How do they (Saints) do it, what is the secret?". Like the Colonels chicken flavouring and the Coca Cola recipe they all want to know! And maybe one if our staff will spill the beans and coat their dirty clubs with a bit of our stardust... They wish.

 

All they are likely to get is :-

 

[Redslo]

If it happens, it makes my earlier post wrong--unless Mitchell is just leaving for the pay increase. But I see no signs that the Spurs ownership is willing to yield the authority and have the patience that would be necessary to make a system like Southampton's work. Absent that, all they are buying is Mitchell's personal scouting talent and knowledge base and it seems unlikely that is so special and unique that it would make a big difference.

[Chalkboy]

So if he leaves for Spurs does that mean he'll also take some of the staff that work with him too?

I enjoyed the recent video of what happens behind the scenes, the black box etc, but I also felt a little uncomfortable about displaying our "know how" so publicly. It's like showing off your really nice house in a neighourhood of burglars.

[Roger]

Not fussed. Before the Koemans joined we were very hit and miss in the transfer market. There was a Gaston, Osvaldo, Mayuka, Vorren for every Jose, SRL, JRod etc.

 

Koeman had nothing to do with recruitments. I don't understand why when anyone comes in for anyone at the club they leave. We can't just keep losing everyone. He was a huge person for our sucess. I hope we've tried v hard to keep him.

[scotty]

So, he'll be installed in time for the january window, with a working knowledge of our own transfer targets.

 

Great.

[Redslo]

Koeman had nothing to do with recruitments. I don't understand why when anyone comes in for anyone at the club they leave. We can't just keep losing everyone. He was a huge person for our sucess. I hope we've tried v hard to keep him.

 

I don't think we do. I just think we only hear about it when they leave or come close to leaving.

[KingdomCome]

The recruitment team is not one man.

If he feels he's single-handedly capable of turning them around then replace and evolve.

[KingdomCome]

Very odd though. In any other business he would have clauses in his contract stating that he can't work for a direct rival in this type of role.

[Depressed of Shirley]

Surprised no simpleton on here has shouted out 'moneyball'. It seems to be the response to everyone of our signings.

 

Of course, if we are in fact playing moneyball, the fate of Paul Mitchell or for that matter any other scout is less essential than imagined. After all, moneyball effectively replaces human intuition for statistical analysis, machine over man which will crank on regardless of who is here. On the other hand, the role of moneyball might just be a figment of the mongboard imagination, one that has trouble with basic terminology.

 

Wouldn't be surprised to see Mitchell leave - after all, most transfer rumours that circulated over the summer turned out to be bang on the money, leaving the conspiratorially-minded with egg on their face. Tinfoil hats should be the dresscode for the Lambert departure thread and other summer gems.

 

Don't think it's a bad move by spurs -leaving aside the curious fact that the mongboard brain trust, at least, up until the summer, dismissed many of the signings that took place on Mitchell's watch as failures. Perhaps Levy realises that his squad is an accreted and incoherent jumble of different managers visions and is now willing to stand by MP and invest big in his ideas, provided there is a bit more structure and accountability. Getting someone with whom MP is friendly splits that difference. One might even conclude that it's a vote of confidence for MP, despite dire predictions that turkeys would be enjoying a more comfortable Xmas.

 

Lots of misspelt c**p here, and a lack of understanding about how our recruitment system works. It may not be Moneyball, but it is about statistical analysis.

[Roger]

Why do they all just go to spurs! Surely we are almost just as good a prospect??

[Dan Johnson]

I very much suspect this is a direct response to former Spurs sporting director Damien Comolli's interview on Talksport Monday Morning, where he said that Spurs scouting network is a "Joke"

 

http://talksport.com/football/exclusive-tottenhams-scouting-network-joke-around-world-claims-comolli-141110123688

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this was a PR leak to try and appease the fans who are turning on both Levy & Poch due to their poor start.

[ratio_decidendi]

Given Southampton's success, the position left vacant by Mitchell will no doubt see some good quality applications. I doubt the club's progress will be hindered in any substantial way.

[Matthew Le God]

Given Southampton's success, the position left vacant by Mitchell will no doubt see some good quality applications. I doubt the club's progress will be hindered in any substantial way.

 

As you say, the club will be in a good position to get a high quality replacement. But I think the main worry is that Paul Mitchell knows Southampton's transfer targets for the next few windows, if he leaves he'll take that knowledge with him and Spurs might be bidding rivals for those players.