Whilst it's still being reported by SSN that an offer for SW has been rejected, unofficial sources now confirming he has gone.
A few thoughts....
1. He has clearly gone to a bigger role as DoF which is a step up from Head of Recruitment/Assistant Manager. It does beg the question why we didn't consider making his DoF here. If I recall correctly, Jon Rudkin was made DoF when NP was here so it would have been odd to promote one of NP's 'line reports' to be NP's senior. Although JR wasn't made permanent until after NP was sacked so it may have been a missed opportunity to re-structure the club given SW's performance.
2. It's undoubtedly a blow, a big one. But have we moved on a little from being SO dependant on SW? He is good at spotting relatively Unknown (cheap) players in some less obvious markets. We may just have to become a bit more mainstream now and pay a little more. It's very frustrating but we will move on.
3. Where does this leave Shaky? Personally think he might also want to be a manager in his own right at some point, think he's just completed his final pro licence over the summer. I can see him here for a while but also wouldn't be surprised if we saw him go to test himself at some point.
4. I hope the club have a non solicitation clause agreed with EFC re our recruitment structure. I'd expect the club to have a succession plan (any business of our size should for all key roles) but the worst outcome is this structure being dismantled and taken up North. Let's hope we have agreed a 'Walsh and no one else' clause
5. NP must be having a little wry smile to himself tonight.
Onwards and upwards - when we seem to face adversity, King Power always seem to get it right - let's hope they handle this one carefully.
Walsh Gone...
posted on 19/7/16
On his bike it seems
posted on 20/7/16
I think people are overreacting somewhat to Walsh leaving. It's widely known he discovered Vardy and Mahrez but he's not been scouting in the same way he used to because he's set up a scouting network which is now in place and we have a team of analysts who collate the data on targets the scouts identify so his position is practically redundant now and as an Assistant Manager we can do without him.
In a DoF role at Everton he won't be off scouting anyone because that's not what a DoF does and any targets he may have already who are given a choice of Leicester or Everton, they'll probably be more likely to join Leicester right now.
I don't think we'll miss him anywhere near as much as people think.
posted on 20/7/16
I've heard it all now - Walshs position was redundant!? Is that why the club rejected Evertons approach and tied him into a huge contract only weeks ago??
Dear me........Steve Walsh had the final say on what players came into this club. That was his role. It's been confirmed many times. Yes, he built a fantastic recruitment network but they utilised stats to bring players to his attention to look at in more detail before discussing with Ranieri and Rudkin and making a final decision.
It is a FACT that Kante would not be at Leicester had Steve Walsh not been here. It wasn't Walsh 'discovered' him as such, he details in an interview that the scouting team brought the player to his attention, he watched him and did more research and - here's the key bit - he decided to bring him to the club.
Remember that Ranieri wasn't convinced by Kante, he thought he was too small, wouldn't be able to cope with the pace and energy of the prem - Walsh convinced Ranieri to take him on.
So no, Steve Walsh's senior and highly influential role within the club was not practically redundant at all. He wasn't sitting there letting other people do his work for him. He had a big say in the direction of the club and the absolute final say on players joining
posted on 20/7/16
And while you're at it Champions - do us all a favour and just admit you're arro. That the post is the most arro comment I've read in weeks. Pretending you're not him is becoming so dull....
posted on 20/7/16
comment by Blackstarr (U12353)
posted 5 minutes ago
I've heard it all now - Walshs position was redundant!? Is that why the club rejected Evertons approach and tied him into a huge contract only weeks ago??
Dear me........Steve Walsh had the final say on what players came into this club. That was his role. It's been confirmed many times. Yes, he built a fantastic recruitment network but they utilised stats to bring players to his attention to look at in more detail before discussing with Ranieri and Rudkin and making a final decision.
It is a FACT that Kante would not be at Leicester had Steve Walsh not been here. It wasn't Walsh 'discovered' him as such, he details in an interview that the scouting team brought the player to his attention, he watched him and did more research and - here's the key bit - he decided to bring him to the club.
Remember that Ranieri wasn't convinced by Kante, he thought he was too small, wouldn't be able to cope with the pace and energy of the prem - Walsh convinced Ranieri to take him on.
So no, Steve Walsh's senior and highly influential role within the club was not practically redundant at all. He wasn't sitting there letting other people do his work for him. He had a big say in the direction of the club and the absolute final say on players joining
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He didn't have the final say though and if you had seen the interview where he said he kept saying "Kante Kante" to Ranieri every time he walked past him you would know that Walsh doesn't have the final say it's Ranieri.
posted on 20/7/16
Your obsession is getting really dull.
posted on 20/7/16
comment by Champions of England (U21032)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Blackstarr (U12353)
posted 5 minutes ago
I've heard it all now - Walshs position was redundant!? Is that why the club rejected Evertons approach and tied him into a huge contract only weeks ago??
Dear me........Steve Walsh had the final say on what players came into this club. That was his role. It's been confirmed many times. Yes, he built a fantastic recruitment network but they utilised stats to bring players to his attention to look at in more detail before discussing with Ranieri and Rudkin and making a final decision.
It is a FACT that Kante would not be at Leicester had Steve Walsh not been here. It wasn't Walsh 'discovered' him as such, he details in an interview that the scouting team brought the player to his attention, he watched him and did more research and - here's the key bit - he decided to bring him to the club.
Remember that Ranieri wasn't convinced by Kante, he thought he was too small, wouldn't be able to cope with the pace and energy of the prem - Walsh convinced Ranieri to take him on.
So no, Steve Walsh's senior and highly influential role within the club was not practically redundant at all. He wasn't sitting there letting other people do his work for him. He had a big say in the direction of the club and the absolute final say on players joining
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He didn't have the final say though and if you had seen the interview where he said he kept saying "Kante Kante" to Ranieri every time he walked past him you would know that Walsh doesn't have the final say it's Ranieri.
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He's confirmed in an interview that he does have the final say. He's not just a scout, not even a chief scout, he is head of recruitment.
He wanted to convince Ranieri because even if he brought Kante to the club, he wants Ranieri to play him. Therefore, it's in his interest to get Ranieri on board as well.
The fact remains though that without Walsh, there would be no Kante and no premier league title. So how is his role practically redundant? That's a ridiculous thing to say. Without him, who is going to make the final call on whether we bring someone that the scouts identified into the club or not? Who has the experience that he has? He brought Essien and Drogba to Chelsea FFS!
Based on the Kante story, it sounds like we may need someone other than Ranieri who admits himself his primary job is to coach the players......
If you're not arro, which lets be honest EVERYONE on this forum thinks you are, then looking at your profile history you are clearly a plastic Leicester fans that's just jumped onto the champions bandwagon and is now making himself out to be some kind of club expert.
It's pathetic - find another site....
posted on 20/7/16
If Walsh had the final say then he would have signed without him having to convince Ranieri and Kante didn't start the season so your argument is totally flawed.
You can call me a plastic if you want and if it makes you feel better you go for it. I don't have to justify myself to you or anyone else and to my knowledge you're not the forum police but correct me if I'm wrong.
posted on 20/7/16
comment by Champions of England (U21032)
posted 5 minutes ago
If Walsh had the final say then he would have signed without him having to convince Ranieri and Kante didn't start the season so your argument is totally flawed.
You can call me a plastic if you want and if it makes you feel better you go for it. I don't have to justify myself to you or anyone else and to my knowledge you're not the forum police but correct me if I'm wrong.
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How can you be this thick?!
The Walsh argument has been done to death on here and in the end people pulled out excerpts from interviews and even his job description to prove that he does have the final say on what players join this club.
But as anyone with half a brain can work out, it doesn't make sense for the head of recruitment to push ahead and bring in a player that the manager isn't going to play does it?? Therefore it makes sense to work in partnership with the manager where possible and thankfully Ranieri listened.
None of this however supports your pathetic argument that Walshs role is practically redundant in the club. It's embrarrassjng to even suggest that. Because you've said something so obviously stupid, you're naturally now trying to take the argument in a different direction because you can't justify your earlier statement.
Let me draw this in crayons for you NO WALSH, NO KANTE, NO PL TITLE. Do you want to have another go at trying to justify your embarrassing comments that the guy just doesn't have a role to play at the club anymore?
Thought not.......now go and swat up on the clubs history so you can pretend to be a real fan
posted on 20/7/16
Right I've had 20 mins to think about this and read my responses back.......
I was way over the top champions - I apologise. I'm not sure why certain opinions wind me up so much, but I shouldn't have reacted the way I just did even if I do strongly disagree.
I stick to my comments on Walsh and strongly disagree that his role was redundant but i shouldn't have had a go at your support of Leicester. Even if you do sound a lot like arro at times.....