Services
Three engagements. Each one answers a question a board is already arguing about.
From €8,000 · 6 to 8 weeks
Why do we keep signing players nobody wanted?
In nine cases out of ten the scouting is not the problem. The problem is that three people each believe they have the final say, it has never been written down, and so the signing that gets made is the one nobody objected to loudly enough.
- The decision-rights map: now against proposed
- A review of the last twenty signings with cost and return
- A written role description for each person in the chain
- One board session, and three months of implementation
From €6,500 · One season of data
Is the academy worth what it costs us?
Almost every club measures its academy by how many players reach a professional contract somewhere. That is the number that flatters. The number that matters is the share of your own first team's minutes played by players you trained, against what comparable clubs manage.
- Your four productivity measures, benchmarked against five peers
- Ten-year academy return against ten-year academy cost
- The age band where the pathway actually breaks
- A recommendation on produce-to-play against produce-to-sell
€2,400 / month · Retained, monthly, cancellable
Who tells the board what nobody inside can afford to say?
Retained rather than project work: a monthly call, a written note before each board meeting, and availability in the weeks when a decision is actually being made rather than the weeks when it is being reported.
- A written note before every board meeting
- A monthly call, and availability in both windows
- A second opinion on any signing, in writing if you want it
- Cancellable on a month's notice, without a conversation
Questions
Will you name us as a client?
Only with written permission, and most clients decline. That is normal, it does not affect the work, and it is why there are no logos on this site.
Do you take interim roles?
Occasionally, for a defined period and a defined objective, agreed in writing at the start. I do not audition for permanent jobs through consulting, and I will say so if that appears to be the arrangement on offer.
What size of club do you work with?
From semi-professional upwards. Below that the honest answer is usually that you do not need me — you need one experienced person full time, and the fee for this work would pay a meaningful part of their salary.
Do you take a percentage of transfers?
No, and I will not work alongside anybody who does on the same engagement. Advice paid for by the transaction it recommends is not advice.
How confidential is this really?
Interviews are unattributed in every document, including to the president. That is agreed before the first conversation, and it is the only way the third week produces anything the club did not already know.
What if your finding is that we do not need you?
Then that is the finding, and it has happened. It costs you a conversation and it costs me an engagement, which is the correct way round for a business that depends on being called back.