Player Identification Quotes

My view is that the signing of players should be a simple process. The chief scout identifies them, the manager decides who he wants, and the chief executive is dispatched to do the deal. It really is as simple as that.

Maybe it's old-fashioned, but I've always preferred to see players with my own eyes than on a video or going on somebody else's recommendation. If that means getting up early and taking a flight, then so be it. Our success at Everton came from having a great recruitment team who I made sure were out watching the players.

When you're a general manager, you don't get to see every single player, so you have to rely on your scouts.

Sometimes it takes a few years to land that special player.

I used to play a lot of chess and competitive chess and study chess and as you get to the grandmasters and learn their styles when you start copying their games like the way they express themselves through... The way Kasparov or Bobby Fischer expresses themselves through a game of chess is it's astonishing. You can show a chess master one of their games and they'll say "Yeah, that is done by that player."

I think the hardest part, and where we have to stay the most disciplined, as much as you want a player, you can't invent him if he doesn't exist.

I don't see why you reporters keep confusing Brooks (Robinson) and me. Can't you see that we wear different numbers.

I don't get involved in recruitment like people think I do. There's a myth that I look at YouTube and choose players. I don't. Having an eye for players is an art. I have no interest in doing that.

My job is to bring in players I think can help this team, regardless of where they're playing.