Norwegian link

[theonlywayisup]

What are your thoughts on the Norwegian link?

In the Scotsman article regarding the possible signing of Runar Hauge they state "it is understood that Hibs were made aware of his availability over the weekend, thanks to chief executive Ben Kensell’s long-standing relationship with the Norwegian club’s academy manager Gregg Broughton, who formerly fulfilled the same role at Norwich and the club have wasted little time in making their move."

Whilst the signings of Runar Hauge and Elias Melkersen have generally been viewed as positives, they are only 20 and 19 respectively with only Hauge having played in the Norwegian top division and both been on loan last season to 2nd division teams. However, they have both played for the Norwegian teams below the full international team. They are obviously ones for the future, but as we know some players don't progress to the next level. Think about players like Ollie Shaw and Alex Harris, plus many others.

I am slightly nervous about this being the product of a long-standing relationship. Is there a chance that this can cloud Hibs judgement when deciding whether to recruit or not. What does this say about our conveyor belt of younger players for our own Scottish players.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Let's hope it all works out well.

[Big_Franck]

What are your thoughts on the Norwegian link?

In the Scotsman article regarding the possible signing of Runar Hauge they state "it is understood that Hibs were made aware of his availability over the weekend, thanks to chief executive Ben Kensell’s long-standing relationship with the Norwegian club’s academy manager Gregg Broughton, who formerly fulfilled the same role at Norwich and the club have wasted little time in making their move."

Whilst the signings of Runar Hauge and Elias Melkersen have generally been viewed as positives, they are only 20 and 19 respectively with only Hauge having played in the Norwegian top division and both been on loan last season to 2nd division teams. However, they have both played for the Norwegian teams below the full international team. They are obviously ones for the future, but as we know some players don't progress to the next level. Think about players like Ollie Shaw and Alex Harris, plus many others.

I am slightly nervous about this being the product of a long-standing relationship. Is there a chance that this can cloud Hibs judgement when deciding whether to recruit or not. What does this say about our conveyor belt of younger players for our own Scottish players.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Let's hope it all works out well.

I'd be surprised if it was Ben making the decisions on players. That's maybe where the original link came from but I'd imagine these players will be assessed by our recruitment team before then being presented to Maloney.

[J-C]

What are your thoughts on the Norwegian link?

In the Scotsman article regarding the possible signing of Runar Hauge they state "it is understood that Hibs were made aware of his availability over the weekend, thanks to chief executive Ben Kensell’s long-standing relationship with the Norwegian club’s academy manager Gregg Broughton, who formerly fulfilled the same role at Norwich and the club have wasted little time in making their move."

Whilst the signings of Runar Hauge and Elias Melkersen have generally been viewed as positives, they are only 20 and 19 respectively with only Hauge having played in the Norwegian top division and both been on loan last season to 2nd division teams. However, they have both played for the Norwegian teams below the full international team. They are obviously ones for the future, but as we know some players don't progress to the next level. Think about players like Ollie Shaw and Alex Harris, plus many others.

I am slightly nervous about this being the product of a long-standing relationship. Is there a chance that this can cloud Hibs judgement when deciding whether to recruit or not. What does this say about our conveyor belt of younger players for our own Scottish players.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Let's hope it all works out well.

Surely it's a positive that Kensall has this link in Norway, it means we can cherry pick some of the better talent before bigger clubs down south, develop and sell on.

[Vault Boy]

Surely it's a positive that Kensall has this link in Norway, it means we can cherry pick some of the better talent before bigger clubs down south, develop and sell on.

His link to Middlesbrough that led us to Nathan Wood wasn't ideal. :greengrin

But I do agree in this case. Bodø/Glimt's academy seems to be incredibly, almost disproportionately good, so it's a potentially fruitful connection to have.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

What Does the reindeersBollocks Twitter dude make of it?

[Springbank]

A good way of working out if you've got a good deal is what Norwegian press, managers & rivals say about it.

Their gut reaction to Melkersen was they thought Hibs had absolutely stolen him for the fee we paid (they thought he was worth double) and it's all positive about Hauge.

That suggests smart business here, not an old pals act, but it's never a bad thing to ask the question the OP is asking

[Hibbyradge]

The more links the better, imo.

Hopefully it'll start a chain reaction.

[Jones28]

Neither of these guys have kicked a ball for Hibs yet and we’re questioning policy? Teams from Scandinavia regularly beat us in European competition, they always like fitter, better technically and faster than we do. If we can tap in to that then I’m more than happy to do it.

[Anthony Soprano]

What Does the reindeersBollocks Twitter dude make of it?

https://twitter.com/reindeerhotdog/status/1486759826705334272?s=21

[dchibs]

The more links the better, imo.

Hopefully it'll start a chain reaction.

That would be supreme.

[truehibernian]

Neither of these guys have kicked a ball for Hibs yet and we’re questioning policy? Teams from Scandinavia regularly beat us in European competition, they always like fitter, better technically and faster than we do. If we can tap in to that then I’m more than happy to do it.

Totally agree, they’ve invested heavily in football in Scandinavia and it’s paid dividends with regular international qualification and some impressive club achievements in Europe given the size of their leagues. The mentality point you make is true and very important- Melkerson already sounds like a very confident lad.

Cannot fathom people questioning the signing policy with Maloney only 6 weeks in the door. We’ve not even seen all the new signings play yet. Incredible.

[04Sauzee]

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere but a decent read on Melkerson.

https://enrgsport.net/2022/01/10/what-hibernian-can-expect-from-elias-melkersen/

[Hibbyradge]

That would be supreme.

Excellent.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

Perhaps stories like these need to be qualified as links or just discussions. There was a modicum of excitement / interest when something was supposedly in the air with Brighton, but I don't know if that lead to anything with substance or not.

[Jones28]

That would be supreme.

Boooooooooo





:wink:

[Hibbyradge]

Boooooooooo





:wink:

Good to see you didn't boo my first one. :thumbsup:

[Jones28]

Good to see you didn't boo my first one. :thumbsup:

A pun in hindsight is not a pun :cb

Just Stop

[Mick O'Rourke]

That would be supreme.

They were not as good when Ross left

[heid the baw]

as we know some players don't progress to the next level. Think about players like Ollie Shaw and Alex Harris, plus many others.

I am slightly nervous about this being the product of a long-standing relationship. Is there a chance that this can cloud Hibs judgement when deciding whether to recruit or not. What does this say about our conveyor belt of younger players for our own Scottish players.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Let's hope it all works out well.

I share this concern. Another way to look at it is that Broughton is doing his job for Bodo Glimt by selling on young untried players for a good return. He is using his contact, Ben Kensell in order to do this. It could be the tail wagging the dog for all we know. I would rather Hibs stuck to recruiting from Scotland or England where you can easily scout players from a young age.

Alex Harris is a fine example and don't forget he didn't upsticks either.

I may be wrong, this is purely an opinion

[Mick O'Rourke]

[QUOTE=Jones28;6833820]A pun in hindsight is not a pun :cb

Just Stop......


.....in the name of love

[Jones28]

[QUOTE=Jones28;6833820]A pun in hindsight is not a pun :cb

Just Stop......


.....in the name of love


:aok:

[Jones28]

I share this concern. Another way to look at it is that Broughton is doing his job for Bodo Glimt by selling on young untried players for a good return. He is using his contact, Ben Kensell in order to do this. It could be the tail wagging the dog for all we know. I would rather Hibs stuck to recruiting from Scotland or England where you can easily scout players from a young age.

Alex Harris is a fine example and don't forget he didn't upsticks either.

I may be wrong, this is purely an opinion

You're going to have to expand on that comment re Harris, AFAIK he started brilliantly, got a nasty injury and was never the same for us? Not sure where that comes in at all.

[Since452]

The link is great but i'm sceptical as to why this Broughton chap would be trying to get shot of a player instead of trying to get him into his clubs first team? If Steve Kean was trying to flog one of our top youngsters to another team there would be an uproar. Just doesn't seem right.

[heid the baw]

You're going to have to expand on that comment re Harris, AFAIK he started brilliantly, got a nasty injury and was never the same for us? Not sure where that comes in at all.

Other than the goal against Falkirk, an injury followed by a pretty average career. Many players get that type of injury and push on after it, especially if they are young. The best thing he did for Hibs was being part of the deal that brought Boyle to the club.

[Jones28]

Other than the goal against Falkirk, an injury followed by a pretty average career. Many players get that type of injury and push on after it, especially if they are young. The best thing he did for Hibs was being part of the deal that brought Boyle to the club.

I'm still not seeing where he comes in to the argument about two Norwegian players joining the club? You're suggesting its some sort of "jobs for the boys" link up when neither of the two players involved have pulled on a Hibs shirt in anger yet - one of whom hasn't actually even confirmed signing.

We've scouted in Scotland for a very long time, and it hasn't exactly been fruitful - we got very very fortunate to have the Golden Generation team but that was nearly 20 years ago, the only other player breaking through worth a mention is Porteous in that time. Several, like Harris, Forster, Handling, Caldwell and numerous others have shown promise but not one of them is playing at a higher level than Hibs. So why shouldn't we take a gamble on bringing young players from abroad?

[heid the baw]

I'm still not seeing where he comes in to the argument about two Norwegian players joining the club? You're suggesting its some sort of "jobs for the boys" link up when neither of the two players involved have pulled on a Hibs shirt in anger yet - one of whom hasn't actually even confirmed signing.

We've scouted in Scotland for a very long time, and it hasn't exactly been fruitful - we got very very fortunate to have the Golden Generation team but that was nearly 20 years ago, the only other player breaking through worth a mention is Porteous in that time. Several, like Harris, Forster, Handling, Caldwell and numerous others have shown promise but not one of them is playing at a higher level than Hibs. So why shouldn't we take a gamble on bringing young players from abroad?

It's gamble for sure but it's also the path of least resistance. We are recruiting from one club from one small foreign league. If yer man Broughton had got a job in Denmark, Lithuania or Iceland, these 2 players would not be on our radar and some other laddies would be taking their place.

Like I say it's just an opinion

[SlickShoes]

Yes this guy in Norway has sold us a couple of duds, Ben has fell for it, hibs are mugs, we have done this at the expense of Tait and Mackay, the media have been manipulated to sell the fact that people thought melkerson was a good player, there is definitely a conspiracy here and we are being used. Embarrassing to be a hibs fan right now.

[ancient hibee]

I'd be surprised if it was Ben making the decisions on players. That's maybe where the original link came from but I'd imagine these players will be assessed by our recruitment team before then being presented to Maloney.

Who are the members of our recruitment team?

[SlickShoes]

Who are the members of our recruitment team?

Ian Gordon, Head of Recruitment
Calvin Charlton, Head of Performance and Recruitment Analysis
Euan Fotheringham, First Team Performance Analyst
Luke Griffin, Recruitment Analyst

and probably also other staff involved too.

[worcesterhibby]

We need to be picking from as big a pool as possible when we are recruiting, If Ben's links mean we get the inside track on good players who are available on affordable deals ahead of our rivals then that's a good thing. Of course we should be looking at young scottish and English players too, and of course we are, as this window has proved.

Scandinavia has long been someone I wish we looked more often when recruiting. They have similar weather and conditions, high rates of fluency in English amongst the young and their teams produce excellent technical footballers. Yet the Top teams in Norway struggle to get crowds anything like we get at Hibs and although their TV money is better than ours (because almost all matches are on telly) it means we can compete with them financially and the prospect of playing in front of up to 20,000 fans at home and 60,000 away must also be a draw. That coupled with the route into English football, and riches, means that we are an attractive proposition to young Scandinavian talent.

Let's look to recruit the best talent at the best price wherever we can find it !

[Dalianwanda]

So many calls to spread our search looking for talent and now we’re doing that (as well as signing young scottish talent) folk start querying motives!? I’m glad there’s a connection as it means we’re not going into deals blindly and working with people who can be trusted.

[JimBHibees]

So many calls to spread our search looking for talent and now we’re doing that (as well as signing young scottish talent) folk start querying motives!? I’m glad there’s a connection as it means we’re not going into deals blindly and working with people who can be trusted.

Exactly the Scandinavian market is exactly where we should be looking. Delighted we have contact there.

[04Sauzee]

Again not sure if it's been posted already but this is a great read and listen from the Norwegian teams academy director?

https://trainingground.guru/articles/gregg-broughton-youth-development-lessons-from-bodo/glimt

[Hibbyradge]

A pun in hindsight is not a pun :cb

Just Stop

Hindsight?

[Jonnyboy]

We need to be picking from as big a pool as possible when we are recruiting, If Ben's links mean we get the inside track on good players who are available on affordable deals ahead of our rivals then that's a good thing. Of course we should be looking at young scottish and English players too, and of course we are, as this window has proved.

Scandinavia has long been someone I wish we looked more often when recruiting. They have similar weather and conditions, high rates of fluency in English amongst the young and their teams produce excellent technical footballers. Yet the Top teams in Norway struggle to get crowds anything like we get at Hibs and although their TV money is better than ours (because almost all matches are on telly) it means we can compete with them financially and the prospect of playing in front of up to 20,000 fans at home and 60,000 away must also be a draw. That coupled with the route into English football, and riches, means that we are an attractive proposition to young Scandinavian talent.

Let's look to recruit the best talent at the best price wherever we can find it !

Top post.

[stantonhibby]

I'm still not seeing where he comes in to the argument about two Norwegian players joining the club? You're suggesting its some sort of "jobs for the boys" link up when neither of the two players involved have pulled on a Hibs shirt in anger yet - one of whom hasn't actually even confirmed signing.

We've scouted in Scotland for a very long time, and it hasn't exactly been fruitful - we got very very fortunate to have the Golden Generation team but that was nearly 20 years ago, the only other player breaking through worth a mention is Porteous in that time. Several, like Harris, Forster, Handling, Caldwell and numerous others have shown promise but not one of them is playing at a higher level than Hibs. So why shouldn't we take a gamble on bringing young players from abroad?

Hanlon & Stevenson too I would say.

[007]

We need to be picking from as big a pool as possible when we are recruiting, If Ben's links mean we get the inside track on good players who are available on affordable deals ahead of our rivals then that's a good thing. Of course we should be looking at young scottish and English players too, and of course we are, as this window has proved.

Scandinavia has long been someone I wish we looked more often when recruiting. They have similar weather and conditions, high rates of fluency in English amongst the young and their teams produce excellent technical footballers. Yet the Top teams in Norway struggle to get crowds anything like we get at Hibs and although their TV money is better than ours (because almost all matches are on telly) it means we can compete with them financially and the prospect of playing in front of up to 20,000 fans at home and 60,000 away must also be a draw. That coupled with the route into English football, and riches, means that we are an attractive proposition to young Scandinavian talent.

Let's look to recruit the best talent at the best price wherever we can find it !

Great post.👍

[Jones28]

Hanlon & Stevenson too I would say.

Of course, what an eedjit. :doh:

[lord bunberry]

I'm still not seeing where he comes in to the argument about two Norwegian players joining the club? You're suggesting its some sort of "jobs for the boys" link up when neither of the two players involved have pulled on a Hibs shirt in anger yet - one of whom hasn't actually even confirmed signing.

We've scouted in Scotland for a very long time, and it hasn't exactly been fruitful - we got very very fortunate to have the Golden Generation team but that was nearly 20 years ago, the only other player breaking through worth a mention is Porteous in that time. Several, like Harris, Forster, Handling, Caldwell and numerous others have shown promise but not one of them is playing at a higher level than Hibs. So why shouldn't we take a gamble on bringing young players from abroad?
I think the point trying to be made is that these young Norwegian guys are at a similar stage in their careers as the likes of Harris. We’re paying transfer fees for potential that could end up not developing a bit like with Harris. There’s no doubt we’re taking a risk paying what is big money for us for these young guys. A better comparison would be O’Brien and Makalamby, 2 guys we paid a bit of money for based on potential but turned out to be duds. Personally I like us taking a bit of a risk as we could end up with something really special on our hands.

[Jones28]

Hindsight?

It read to me like it only became a pun when someone else punned, if I was wrong I do apologise - and salute your superior wit! :hibees

[offshorehibby]

I'm not sure how close a relationship the guy Broughton and Ben Kensell have. If people think that Broughton is just punting all his duds to us then fine. If he were and he was doing it on a regular bases to Hibs and other teams then his reputation would be in tatters and wouldn't do him or Bodø/Glimt any favours in the long run. It might do us the world of good to have a different pond to fish looking for talent than the english lower leagues.

By all accounts Bodø/Glimt academy is excellent. Just going by European qualification then Bodø/Glimt are ahead of us and i am sure i've read one of the recent articles saying the pathway to the Bodø/Glimt first team is tough. The couple of youngsters need to make a step up and hopefully this is their path.

Out of all the signings Melkerson is the one i'm looking forward to but i'm more than willing to give him time to settle.

[theonlywayisup]

Totally agree, they’ve invested heavily in football in Scandinavia and it’s paid dividends with regular international qualification and some impressive club achievements in Europe given the size of their leagues. The mentality point you make is true and very important- Melkerson already sounds like a very confident lad.

Cannot fathom people questioning the signing policy with Maloney only 6 weeks in the door. We’ve not even seen all the new signings play yet. Incredible.

No-one is questioning the signing policy of Maloney 6 weeks into the job. However, I was trying to gauge people's thoughts on the Norwegian link. I'm not being critical of the link, just have no informed view of whether it's a good thing or not. Hence, why I was trying to seek the views of my fellow posters on a forum where we like to discuss all things relevant to the Hibees.

[Greenbeard]

To put a positive spin on the Melkerson work permit delay, Hibs signing Hauge must mean they are very confident that the permit(s) will be issued.

[Callum_62]

To put a positive spin on the Melkerson work permit delay, Hibs signing Hauge must mean they are very confident that the permit(s) will be issued.Melkerson has his work permit already

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

[Greenbeard]

Melkerson has his work permit already

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk
Missed that. When was it confirmed?

[WeeRussell]

They were not as good when Ross left

Now that’s guid 👏

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Hindsight?

Heindseit plays in the 2nd division for Lilleström