http://m.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/hibs-scout-steve-marsella-reveals-his-secrets-1-3228379
God I hope I got the quote right.
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http://m.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/hibs-scout-steve-marsella-reveals-his-secrets-1-3228379
God I hope I got the quote right.
This happens everytime I fail to embed something, cheers!Quote:
Originally Posted by Doddie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leishy1995
You're welcome.
Good article; I can't imagine driving those sorts of distances in that sort of time period, but Steve seems to be bang on the ball.
Another good one here:
http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.co...ings-1-3228383
Good news about James McPake there - the op seems to have gone well and Butcher's expecting him to be back at training in the New Year. Jake fully fit and in form would be a huge boost to the club.
i hope these players begging to be part of the famous Hibees realise East Mains is no longer a holiday resort :greengrin
An excellent insightful article. Perhaps some players may now take note of the sacrifices the coaching staff are making and buckle down to some hard work.
Chances of KT leaving in January and us bringing in a replacement :hmmm:
That's some amount of travelling and commitment. :agree:
You can feel the envy from the coaching staff in Gorgie:greengrin
Hearts have received 100 messages from players in the last week too.
They're all from Sparky and the message each time is :giruy:
Can someone copy and paste article.....crashes my works machine everytime i go onto Evening News website (no a bad thong)
Early days but there is a proactivity and self belief that I like from the management team. I also like the attention to detail and hard work. Lets hope it comes off.
The 'tache has had Marsella's new company car delivered:
http://www.motorstown.com/images/lad...-estate-02.jpg
I'm not surprised it crashes if you're looking at bad thongs.......Pervert!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by butchersdug
Here ya go...........
Steve Marsella was saying a fond farewell to an old friend today. For the past three years they’ve been practically inseparable, spending hours together as they’ve travelled the length and breadth of the UK, although their final destination has often been far off the beaten track.
But now, with a spanking new club car sitting outside his home in [COLOR=#446688 !important][COLOR=#446688 !important]North [COLOR=#446688 !important]Berwick[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], it’s time for Hibs scout Marsella to bid goodbye to the motor which has also been a mobile office and, on a number of occasions, a makeshift hotel room as he’s grabbed a couple of hours’ kip on the long journey home.
Bought with only 11,000 miles on the clock three years ago, the BMW’s odometer now shows an astonishing 179,000 miles, testament to Marsella’s dedication to his job as are the seemingly never-ending string of players he managed to lure north to Inverness Caley Thistle.
Think Gary Warren from Newport County, Billy McKay who was playing for Northampton’s reserves, [COLOR=#446688 !important][COLOR=#446688 !important]Marley [COLOR=#446688 !important]Watkins[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] at Hereford United, Aaron Doran from Blackburn Rovers reserves and Dean Brill, Luton Town’s reserve goalkeeper, to name but a few.
An impressive list in anyone’s language, players who have helped Caley rise to second place in the Scottish Premiership with a second successive League Cup semi-final to look forward to, but for Huddersfield-born Marsella the search for fresh talent goes on, the only difference being since moving to Easter Road to be reunited with Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas he no longer has to negotiate that final lap up the A9. Combining his scouting duties with being goalkeeping coach to Ben Williams, Sean Murdoch and Paul Grant, Marsella’s role is possibly the most unconventional in Scottish, if not British football. He explained: “After a game on a Saturday I am down south to England as there’s always a game to watch.
“I can take my time coming back up on Monday morning because we don’t train until noon, I coach that afternoon and the Tuesday, but then it is back in the car to watch a Tuesday night game then two more on the Wednesday. I leave Yorkshire at four on the Thursday morning to be here at eight for training and that’s me until after the game on the Saturday.”
This week’s routine, however, changed slightly. Having taken in an unspecified match last night, Marsella was leaving his car to be auctioned down south before enjoying the luxury of a train journey home – but it won’t be long before he’s back behind the wheel seeking out those rough stones which can be polished into diamonds.
He said: “In the past two seasons at Caley I did something like 117,000 miles, but without that mileage we wouldn’t have got the players we did. Of course, there are wasted journeys, but it’s far less costly to spend money on a tank of fuel.
“Now I don’t have to travel as far. I can finish watching a game in Birmingham at ten and be back to North Berwick in four hours, whereas at Inverness I’d be getting back at six ready for training at eight. That’s not good.
“I think in the last three years I’ve probably slept in the car about 30 times. If I was leaving London for Inverness I’d stop at Perth for a kip, have two hours sleep, get back to the club, have a shower and then go training. I lived an hour past Inverness so there were times it was easier to stop at the club and have a few hours sleep on the sofa in the office than go home.”
Unsurprisingly, Marsella, who has spent the past 22 years coaching at clubs such as Huddersfield, Barnsley, Grimsby Town, Notts County, Brentford, Crewe, Accrington Stanley and Queens Park Rangers, as well as in Iceland, has built up a massive list of contacts, revealing he has the numbers of more than 400 agents on his phone while, of course, he finds himself rubbing shoulders with managers, coaches and fellow scouts from all over at matches, whether they be in non-league football, League One or League Two.
And since he arrived in Edinburgh, he disclosed, he’s had more than 100 emails from players in England asking if “there’s any chance” he can get them up to Hibs, on top of the 40 plus texts from footballers congratulating him on his new job, with many of those messages ending “keep me in mind.”
Not that he’s yet been ordered by Butcher to find him new players with the January transfer window now only a few weeks away. Marsella said: “The manager has not said ‘I am looking for this or looking for that’. He’s giving everybody here the opportunity, saying ‘This is what we are doing, are you going to buy into it?’.
“The ones that do will stay, the ones that do not might have to move on. That’s the way it is at every football club when there is a change of manager, but at the moment I am not going down looking at players for certain positions.”
Marsella, however, will have a list of names between three and five for each position at his fingertips should Butcher ask although, as always, affordability will be the key word. Revealing he’d managed to lure the likes of Watkins, Vincent and Draper to Caley without a penny being paid in transfer fees, he said: “There’s a couple of players I have enquired about on loan at a League One club who, between them, are on £7000 a week.
“You have to be realistic. There’s no point going looking at a player four times to then find out he’s well outside my price range. I don’t think the chairman would be too happy if I asked him if I could bring in a couple of players, but it would cost him seven grand a week.
“I have a budget, how much I have for a certain player and if I can save a couple of quid on that player I have a bit more for the next one and that goes on and on.”
Marsella, though, insisted that sometimes it wasn’t simply about hard cash. He said: “At Inverness when I sat down with a player I’d tell him: ‘I’m going to offer you less money than you are on’ and they’d be looking at their agent, looking at their wife. But I’d say if they were to sign for the other team in League One or Two then that would be the wage they were going to be getting for the next four or five years.
“However, sign for one year at Caley, have one good season playing against Celtic, Hibs, and Rangers at the time, and it’s a great shop window and there’s a few who have since moved on.”
Hibs’ budget will allow Marsella to target players “with a bit more experience” than he could at Caley, but having revealed the obvious interest already from players elsewhere, he said: “It’s not just a case of ‘he is available, why not go for him?’ Are they the right players for Hibs?
“If I say to Terry ‘I want to sign Joe Bloggs’, he would look at Joe Bloggs, then probably ring ten different people and if he were to get bad vibes from one or two of them then that is a ‘No’. But to be fair, I think every player I have brought in for him he as got good vibes.
“And here at Hibs, I’d make sure that if the player’s wife was in the car, we’d take a detour through the town centre, stopping at every traffic light to let her have a good look and then take him down to East Mains where the facilities are absolutely brilliant, the chef turns out amazing food and what the people in charge of the kit don’t have you don’t need.”
Some of Marsella’s gems:
Billy McKAY: Northern Ireland internationalist McKay, right, is undoubtedly Steve Marsella’s best find. Languishing in England’s League One with Northampton Town, McKay turned down an offer of a new deal and joined Inverness after Marsella recommended him to Terry Butcher. Has scored 37 goals in 74 matches for the Highlanders and won a first full cap for his country when at Inverness.
Jonny HAYES: Winger arrived at Inverness after meandering around several clubs in lower leagues of England, including Reading, Forest Green Rovers, MK Dons, Leicester, Northampton and Cheltenham. Became one of the most threatening players in Scotland’s top flight and won a move to Aberdeen last season.
GARY WARREN: Ever heard of Mangotsfield Town? Well, that’s where Inverness’ strong defender Warren started his career. The 29-year-old also starred for Team Bath and Newport County before pitching up in the Highlands.
AARON DORAN: Now one of Inverness’ key men, he was mooching around in Blackburn’s Reserves and going on loan to Leyton Orient before Marsella spotted him.
JAMES VINCENT: Finding a replacement for [COLOR=#446688 !important][COLOR=#446688 !important]Andrew [COLOR=#446688 !important]Shinnie[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] was never going to be easy, but Vincent, previously of Kidderminster and Stockport, was a revelation for Caley early on this season before injury struck.
Isn't the picture, Shefki Kuqi?
iphone predictive text - it's cropQuote:
Originally Posted by butchersdug
That was a good read!
His dedication to his job is unbelievable.
I wonder if one of those 100 players, was Deek? :greengrin
It's a good read and gives a little insight into the work ethics of our new management team. I genuinely believe that under TB, MM & SM the future is bright for Hibs
What a work ethic Marsella must have. Lets hope he unearths a few gems for as.
What a great read that was..A man truly dedicated to his job, He will do a fantastic job at Hibs ive no doubt.
wish i could blame the iphone.....was sitting at my desk in work :cbQuote:
Originally Posted by VivaPalmeiras
I was putting in my monthly mileage claim today Would hate to have to do his.The man deserves a medal for that level of dedication .So at least we know no stone will be left unturned in our search for new talent . I honestly don't think we have had that for a long time Hence all the dross we have had to endure over past few years with one or two exceptions of course . Looking forward to First Transfer Window with a level of excitement and expectancy now that would not of been there under wee pat.Quote:
Originally Posted by HibbyAndy
He does appear to have quite a lot of contacts in the game down England, he could well be the star man in the management team.
I got 99 players but Deeks aint one:greengrin
Reading this, I'm delighted that SM has joined TB and MM. Very much a team, and his presence at ICT has obviously been massive.
I love they way that those guys are all so excited about the set-up and facilities, and determined to seize the opportunity to maximise the club's potential.
thats what I meant but said more elegantly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dashing Bob S
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Originally Posted by FalkirkHibee
Either that or he's married.
This :agree:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dashing Bob S
:tee hee: Well I thought it was funny!Quote:
Originally Posted by pacorosssco
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenStar
If so, is their any chance that we could get Claros back?
Anyways, really good read. Tremendous dedication. I hope Marsella can find us some real gems like he's done for ICT.
LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Corstorphine Hibby
Can just imagine a conversation in the SM household.
"Where are ye goin?"
"Fitba"
"When are ye back?"
"The morn's morn"
"WTF!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by hfc rd
That or one of his compatriots. A friend has a rather obsolete Honduran flag at the moment.
"More than 100 players have been in touch" - Marsella
And these are just the ones from Hearts
No another Deek thread :greengrinQuote:
Originally Posted by Gettin' Auld
Theyve no got 100 bob never mind 100 playersQuote:
Originally Posted by GreenLake
Deek was the first name in ma heed :)
Deeks number is call barred at east mains !Quote:
Originally Posted by Gettin' Auld
It explains his sizeable girth - way too much service station / footie kiosk grub :agree:
Seriously good effort - maybe a camp bed at EM & Rod can deduct board and lodgings of his wages :greengrin
Get yourself a motorhome Steve, go for an Adria sport 571 sp. With two ever-ready double beds, kitchen and toilet you are well fixed. Just don't ask Rod to pay for it. :wink: