Just listened to the meeting from last night and I can't seem to warm to Darren Kelly (sorry) and what he actually does adds real value.....

The summary of his duties:

- Watch football matches as a scout.

- Arranges friendlies for the fringe squad players against local FL teams

- Created a unique spreadsheet with 2,000 players which he updates every Monday.....Couldn't he just use the latest Champ Manager for this!?!

- Speaks with loan player's managers on the phone.

- Hire 25 scouts which he can ask to go to games at his request.

- Conducts player negotiations (This might be useful in January so James can concentrate on the matches instead of the phone ringing)

I really hope I am proved wrong and he is making improvements to our infrastructures. We have an oversized squad with players brought in to this "development" squad that are mostly below par and in my opinion Kevin Ellison's coaching practice. I can see the positives of a development squad as a bridge between the academy and first team (something that needs to be in place if we go up the leagues) but the Pizza cup games these players would play anyway regardless of the development team tag or not and these friendlies could also be arranged to give the fringe players match time (Something Flynny did last season).

ulkraineinthebahrain wrote: November 26th, 2021, 1:13 pm Just listened to the meeting from last night and I can't seem to warm to Darren Kelly (sorry) and what he actually does adds real value.....

The summary of his duties:

- Watch football matches as a scout.

- Arranges friendlies for the fringe squad players against local FL teams

- Created a unique spreadsheet with 2,000 players which he updates every Monday.....Couldn't he just use the latest Champ Manager for this!?!

- Speaks with loan player's managers on the phone.

- Hire 25 scouts which he can ask to go to games at his request.

- Conducts player negotiations (This might be useful in January so James can concentrate on the matches)

I really hope I am proved wrong and he is making improvements to our infrastructures. We have an oversized squad with players brought in to this "development" squad that are mostly below par and in my opinion Kevin Ellison's coaching practice. I can see the positives of a development squad as a bridge between the academy and first team (something that needs to be in place if we go up the leagues) but the Pizza cup games these players would play anyway regardless of the development team tag or not and these friendlies could also be arranged to give the fringe players match time (Something Flynny did last season).

I tend to agree but no one could deny we need a scouting system and I suppose only Rowberry can attest to Kelly’s usefulness to him in other matters ; time will tell.

I was listening about his system and thought of the film Moneyball

MisterB wrote: November 26th, 2021, 4:32 pm I was listening about his system and thought of the film Moneyball

Best of luck getting money out of this club, the only one I know who got out with a profit was Jerry Sherman - he still owes me a pint!

Gotta be honest I am hoping, if possible, he would do a podcast or something going into his time going to clubs and academies across Europe.

Last I heard we didn't like the board, the manager, the agency link ups, the lack of youth progress, the football style. I think this new structure is as promising as it gets at face value.

I hope we can find out more about DK and his system and beliefs.

lowandhard wrote: November 26th, 2021, 4:44 pm

MisterB wrote: November 26th, 2021, 4:32 pm I was listening about his system and thought of the film Moneyball

Best of luck getting money out of this club, the only one I know who got out with a profit was Jerry Sherman - he still owes me a pint!

Its not about getting money out, true story and well worth a watch

MisterB wrote: November 26th, 2021, 7:30 pm

lowandhard wrote: November 26th, 2021, 4:44 pm

MisterB wrote: November 26th, 2021, 4:32 pm I was listening about his system and thought of the film Moneyball

Best of luck getting money out of this club, the only one I know who got out with a profit was Jerry Sherman - he still owes me a pint!

Its not about getting money out, true story and well worth a watch

Thanks I’ll look it up, presumably an American film. My favourite sport film is “ Any Given Sunday “

lowandhard wrote: November 26th, 2021, 8:45 pm

MisterB wrote: November 26th, 2021, 7:30 pm

lowandhard wrote: November 26th, 2021, 4:44 pm

MisterB wrote: November 26th, 2021, 4:32 pm I was listening about his system and thought of the film Moneyball

Best of luck getting money out of this club, the only one I know who got out with a profit was Jerry Sherman - he still owes me a pint!

Its not about getting money out, true story and well worth a watch

Thanks I’ll look it up, presumably an American film. My favourite sport film is “ Any Given Sunday “

Yep American

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneyball

I am surprised that the board allowed Flynny to just rely on his own agent for signing players,a conflict of interests for sure,no scouting system at all.This will now improve matters,not sure we will be signing European players just yet or Scottish but then if you don’t try you will never know.His role is exactly as I expected it to be so surprised some on here are underwhelmed,he was never going to be the managers boss.He is there to assist the manager and to free him up to concentrate on the job.Flynny used to spend hours answering phone calls speaking to players in transfer windows,this is Kellys’ role.

In my view there was always an unhealthy link between Flynn and Elite Management. The Board cancelled an apparent arrangement that this Club had with Elite, but an explanation as to what that exactly amounted to has never been forthcoming.

The dismantling of that cozy arrangement, along with the arrival of Darren Kelly, could have been the catalyst for Flynn spitting his dummy out in the post playoff interview and subsequently walking out of the Club.

There is definitely more to this than meets the eye, but at least now with Darren’s appointment there is increased visibility, transparency, and accountability.

Taunton Iron Cider wrote: November 27th, 2021, 5:44 am In my view there was always an unhealthy link between Flynn and Elite Management. The Board cancelled an apparent arrangement that this Club had with Elite, but an explanation as to what that exactly amounted to has never been forthcoming.

The dismantling of that cozy arrangement, along with the arrival of Darren Kelly, could have been the catalyst for Flynn spitting his dummy out in the post playoff interview and subsequently walking out of the Club.

There is definitely more to this than meets the eye, but at least now with Darren’s appointment there is increased visibility, transparency, and accountability.

Don't pretend to have much knowledge or insight in the best way of running/administering a EFL club, but ultimately his and the managers appointments will be judged on whether or not they are are to match or better 2 play off finals during their tenure. Anything less will ultimately be viewed as a failure.

This has been said before but if we guess that the SD is the equivalent of one player on the wage bill, he only has to steer us off one dud agent-driven transfer a year to start paying his way,

George Street-Bridge wrote: November 27th, 2021, 10:20 am This has been said before but if we guess that the SD is the equivalent of one player on the wage bill, he only has to steer us off one dud agent-driven transfer a year to start paying his way,

I agree with you but that is easier said than done. The difficulty is that agents have stables of players. I suspect that in order to sign player A an agency will make that signing conditional on signing player B.

Can agencies impose that sort of condition on transfers? Clubs hold the registration and IIUC there are serious penalties if control actually lies elsewhere. Like the mess around Carlos Tevez.

I can see that an agent can have an unhealthy influence in pushing his clients when a club should fish a bigger pool, but that's well short of control. Clubs dictating that they will only sell player A in a package deal, or they'll only buy your player if you take player X as a makeweight, is a different issue.

George Street-Bridge wrote: November 27th, 2021, 12:42 pm Can agencies impose that sort of condition on transfers? Clubs hold the registration and IIUC there are serious penalties if control actually lies elsewhere. Like the mess around Carlos Tevez.

I can see that an agent can have an unhealthy influence in pushing his clients when a club should fish a bigger pool, but that's well short of control. Clubs dictating that they will only sell player A in a package deal, or they'll only buy your player if you take player X as a makeweight, is a different issue.

What you are forgetting is that Newport County seldom sign players who are contracted to other clubs. Most activity at our level is the signing of players when their contracts end.