Fresh Doncaster Rovers transfer update as head of recruitment outlines new area of focus
Lee Glover says Doncaster Rovers are developing their scouting network further afield in both Britain and Ireland.
A rejig among the coaching staff saw Glover move 'upstairs' last summer, to become head of recruitment. Speaking in an in-house interview on the latest episode of Rovers' 'A coffee with...' Glover says the club are looking to tap into the Scottish and Irish markets.
"We're trying to develop the scouting network in Scotland and Ireland because there's a couple of clubs in our league that are doing that," he said. "It's about trying to bring players in to complement the group we've got.
"We develop a holistic approach where we look at everything really. We (try to) get as much information on a player as we can to build up a dossier on them. That's what we've tried to do and it's an ongoing thing. There's that much information you have to streamline it to what really influences a decision, and then go from there."
It was revealed at the Meet the Owners event last month that slight tweaks are set to be made to the recruitment department this summer, with Glover in discussions with analytics firms to see what data tools can be used to support recruitment.
Despite the advances in technology and the ability to effectively watch endless clips of players online nowadays, manager Grant McCann has always maintained that nothing beats seeing a player in the flesh. Glover firmly concurs.
He added: "You pick up stuff and knowing people (who watch them) allows you to ask 'what's he like?' and so getting eyes on them and getting that personal touch helps.
"I enjoy going to different grounds. Sometimes I get back in the early hours and then we're back in for the meeting at 8am the next day so it can be long days. But I enjoy getting about and I've got a lot of contacts in the game now which helps.
"There wasn't any scouting network (at Rovers) when we came in, as such. And I don't want to be disrespectful, but we've tried to build it. We did it last season and we want to grow it again and make it so that it gets to a stage where we're really at the forefront of player availability."