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I dont think it matters which club you work for in regards to spotting talent. Its the clubs reputation, financial aspect and ability to develop that sees you get the actual players.
Your abilty to spot talent can be just as good.
I dont think it matters which club you work for in regards to spotting talent. Its the clubs reputation, financial aspect and ability to develop that sees you get the actual players.
Your abilty to spot talent can be just as good.
"Woodfine joined the Reds in October 2014 as Scouting and Recruitment Manager and went on to become Head of Football Projects and Scouting (from October 2017) and then Director of Loan Management (from December 2020)."
A busy three months ended with a design concept established and after receiving planning approval for the development from Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, the club ‘broke ground’ at Kirkby to begin the building process in September 2018.
The next phase of the process was managed by Martin Jennings from the club’s capital projects department, as building contractors McLaughlin & Harvey set about creating Liverpool’s vision.
“There have been so many people on site that you wonder how they are all managed and sequenced to make sure the build runs smoothly,” explained Edwards.
“That’s where Martin Jennings comes in really, I have a huge amount of respect for the job he has done in making sure the reality matches the plans. It’s not easy to balance so many stakeholders and to hit their expectations, especially when a few of them are trying to win football matches at the same time.”
Jennings’ primary link at Melwood was David Woodfine, an ex-naval officer and former head of analysis at West Ham United who joined the Reds as scouting co-ordinator.
In recent years, however, Woodfine’s efficiency in organisation and planning was identified as an ideal fit for wider football projects, too. So, when the vast challenge of moving the entire first-team squad and staff from one site to a completely new one arose, he was the man to handle it.
The pair worked tirelessly with KSS to turn drawings on a page into the structural reality of a training centre not only fit to house the world champions now, but futureproofed for the generations to follow them.
The team behind the AXA Training Centre: (Left to right) Rich Carpenter, Andy Hughes, Michael Edwards, Alex Inglethorpe, Martin Jennings, David Woodfine.
“I would like to say a special thanks to David – or Woody as he’s known here,” said Edwards. “Woody is our scouting co-ordinator, but more recently he has been in charge of football projects, this being his biggest one to date.
“Woody is probably one of the most detailed people I know, he loves process and order, so making sure that people’s requirements were met and communicated correctly to the training ground committee was vital.
“In something like this there are also a thousand small decisions to make. A lot of the time, Woody would be able to make those decisions for us because he knows the way I work, knows the way Jürgen and his staff work, and has worked in football himself for a long time so is able to give a football perspective to an architect, planner or builder.
“I’d also like to thank Alex Inglethorpe for his role on the committee and for balancing the first-team needs with the needs of the Academy boys. Alex always has a good perspective on things, he’s a deep thinker and always has the best interests of the young players at heart, so his input has been equally vital.”
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