Keith Wyness puzzled by Brighton U-turn – ‘I don’t get it’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted he was “very surprised” to see Brighton dispense with the majority of their full-time scouts.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – admitted the Seagulls have “something special” under owner Tony Bloom but insisted there is still a need for “a mix of data and humans” to recruit successfully.
The Telegraph reported on 12 November that Brighton have dispensed with three full-time scouts as part of an overhaul of their recruitment team, representing a significant U-turn on the strategy which has had recent success in the transfer market.
The report quotes a well-placed source as saying: “Useable data offered by humans isn’t as good as Tony’s data. At least, that’s what it seems like. It looks like he trusts data more than humans.”
Brighton have exclusive Premier League access to data from Jamestown Analytics, an offshoot of Bloom’s Starlizard gambling consultancy firm.
The south coast club have sold the likes of Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Ben White and Marc Cucurella to English clubs for huge fees in recent years.
Wyness taken aback as new Brighton recruitment plan emerges
Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “I was very surprised when I saw this news.
“It’s three scouts they’ve let go, so it’s not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things. Given the profits the current system has made for Brighton, I was very surprised they wanted to change it at all.
“Why change something if it isn’t broken?
“But it just goes to show that Tony Bloom really believes in his analytics. They’ve got something special.
“Brighton use a company called Jamestown Analytics, it’s top secret. They seem to have the secret sauce.
“You cannot argue against the results, but why change it? I really don’t get it.
“I still believe that you still need a mix of data and humans to interact and check up on these players properly.
“Everyone’s got different connections and access in football.
“I would have thought with Bloom being a great gambler, he would’ve wanted as much data as possible.
“I wouldn’t bet against him, he’s a winner, but I was very surprised.”
In other news, West Ham make decision on move for Brighton star.
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