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The Heart of Bristol City's Recruitment

Discussion in 'Bristol City' started by wizered, May 13, 2021.

  1. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    The unseen figure at the heart of Bristol City's recruitment as Robins weigh up transfers
    Sean Gilhespy is currently presiding over the club's recruitment as new appointments made.

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    As we consider the legacy of Mark Ashton at Bristol City, it's apparent that few key senior people have remained at the club over the last six years - from the Steve Cotterill era right through the Lee Johnson years to now under Nigel Pearson.

    Brian Tinnion, Scott Murray and equipment manager Phil Tart are three, but City supporters may not know so much about a fourth (see the picture above and how many backroom staff remain at Ashton Gate).

    One such club servant is Sean Gilhespy, one of the last men standing in Bristol City's recruitment team after head scout Adam Griffin left during this season, following Sam Stanton - who helped with linking the club's playing philosophy into the recruitment process - leaving last summer, and that after head scout Mervyn Day departed in 2019.

    Recruitment specialist Gilhespy has carved out a role in the transfer operations at the club and has impressed sufficiently in helping City to identify targets over the last years, with the head coach - now manager - always having the final say on who came in and out at the club.

    He has risen to the position of head of technical recruitment over the years, and he is now playing a pivotal role with CEO Mark Ashton leaving for Ipswich Town and head of football operations Luke Werhun to join him in the near future.

    Bristol Live understands that Gilhespy is handling all recruitment enquiries and offers currently while the club looks to add further backroom staff.

    Players are being offered to the club for this summer, with enquiries handed in at Gilhespy's door, including a Premier League striker in recent days.

    Gilhespy, who went to Gordano School and is an avid golfer, was nicknamed 'closet' in jest by one former Bristol City manager, as his role was office based, but the current recruitment chief is not always in the plush new offices at the Robins High Performance Centre, where the club have built top-of-the-range video facilities.

    He also travels to some games and, for example, was in attendance at the Vale Hotel in South Wales as the club took on Aston Villa last summer, a match that Nathan Baker was injured in and which ruled out the centre-back for much of the campaign.

    "Sean's been at the club a long time and is Bristol City through and through. He's very loyal to the club," one senior Bristol City official told Bristol Live.

    "He's really grown and developed in that role, and he's become top drawer at what he does."

    But Gilhespy can't do it all alone. The Robins also employ three recruitment analysts in Chester Perks, Simon Cozens and Dan Calcot, who use various software and video analytics to track transfer targets, to be combined with scouting them in real life.

    Bristol City are also weighing up bringing in more senior help, however. And a final decision is yet to be made on whether to bring in a new head of recruitment or director of football, alongside the new CEO, with talks underway on who may replace Ashton.

    While City take time to become fully operational this summer, the knock-on effect is that the club are falling behind other sides who know who they want and have people in position ready to conduct negotiations and complete deals when the transfer window opens.

    Externally there are concerns that City are being left behind due to a lack of clear organisation and staff at the club. The appointment of a new CEO and staff can't come soon enough, though the club would argue that despite an exhaustive six-week recruitment drive last summer before Dean Holden was officially appointed, the Robins were not hampered in their transfers then, bringing in most of their top targets for the window.

    "You look to fill the gaps and the best way to do that. We operate in a way where we have a recruitment model and I don't think it's a safe place anywhere where you have one person who dictates everything," explained Jon Lansdown on the systems in place at the club recently.

    "But at the same time you're never going to sign someone that the manager doesn't want because what's the point. It goes back to the collective responsibility. We will look to replace with something that best fits with what we've got," the club chairman added.
    https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/unseen-figure-heart-bristol-citys-5409108
     
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  2. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    Never knew this guy existed and now he is handling all recruitment, while the club looks to add further backroom staff.
     
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    Last edited: May 13, 2021
  3. Redprintt

    Redprintt Well-Known Member

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    Jon Lansdown

    'But at the same time you're never going to sign someone that the manager doesn't want because what's the point'.

    1For........Supcon.......

    Answers on a post card.
     
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  4. oneforthebristolcity

    oneforthebristolcity Well-Known Member

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    From a selection provided.....who's to say any of them are as good as the players departed? Pick the best from 3 bad eggs. Pick one or go without!!
    It's like saying. who's been our best manager out of SoD, Pulis or Benny Lennartsson.....<doh>
     
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  5. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    Well, the players departing have had more than enough chances and have singularly failed and some have shown an amazing lack of professionalism. I know you are happy with a team that can win 'some games' (barely a third of the last 92) but the vast majority of fans are not.

    But here is the most important point, you were in business, if you took over an ailing business, after the honeymoon period, would you carry on employing people who were part of the problem? or would you bring in your own people to at least have the opportunity to live or die by your own failures and not somebody else's?
     
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  6. oneforthebristolcity

    oneforthebristolcity Well-Known Member

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    The proof will be in the pudding who NP recruits......A good majority on the list hardly featured....so not surprising TBH..
    The answer to your question is to find better to replace...that is key..one's you hope will gel......that's been our problem IMO....doesn't help, when the key players that you rely on gets pulled..
     
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  7. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    At least if he fails, it will be his failure.

    I wouldn't have relied on many in that list of outgoings.

    + the list of available players is just a list prepared by Mcgee for the BristolRag, he had to write something.

    PS:- The proof will be in how they perform as a team, not who he recruits. I never try to pre judge signings like some fans, I always give them the chance to disappoint me on the playing evidence.
     
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    Last edited: May 14, 2021
  8. Redprintt

    Redprintt Well-Known Member

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    Utter gobbledegook.
    3 bad eggs, pick one....it's like saying.....
    How many times do you have to be told.

    Stay on track.
     
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  9. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    The machinations of a desperate man.
     
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  10. AshtonRed

    AshtonRed Well-Known Member

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    Looking again at the retained list there is one hell of a job to do. I just hope with so many new faces ( we must get at least 5/6 surely) that’s a heck of a turn over. We need to start bringing them in ASAP in order they’ll have time to gel as a group. In this climate it’s going to be difficult as we’ll be looking to offer as little in wages as possible , therefore players are likely to want to hold out hoping for better offers.
     
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  11. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    They will be offered what we can afford, which I suspect will be more than some of our rivals, apart from the parachute payment clubs of course. I would say any player holding out for better offers will be playing a dangerous game, some clubs under transfer embargo until July 1st are almost certainly in more financial strife than they are actually letting on.

    I also believe that one or two others at least may well be on the move for either fees or maybe even swap deals, I am not convinced the clear out has ended.

    We shall see.
     
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  12. oneforthebristolcity

    oneforthebristolcity Well-Known Member

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    Ohhhh the hatred.. <laugh>...you just can't let it go...of course that's what happened....did well to keep us where he did in the league, with all those players he had pulled from him...let's hope we don't repeat the situation with our new manager, gel a team together, then have the spine ripped away..either way, it will still be LJ's fault by the few!! :emoticon-0105-wink: hang onto it for as long as you can RP..:emoticon-0148-yes:
     
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  13. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    As I said before, the penny should have dropped with him in January 2018, when any chance of promotion/play offs was ruined by a totally pathetic window and the result was 4 wins from the last 22 matches.

    When he signed his new contract in May 2019, he became totally willing and complicit patsy to his inevitable sacking and carrying of the can, from that moment on it was self inflicted, the cynical side of me would suggest that his motivation by then was money.

    The ultimate failure is by the owner who allowed his CEO to have far too much power in the decision making of the football side of the business, but the moment LJ signed that 2nd contract he became a willing participant and not the victim that you try to portray him as.
     
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  14. oneforthebristolcity

    oneforthebristolcity Well-Known Member

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    Who's to say what promises were made to him?? Do we know? What structure was laid out? I guess we will never know the in's and out's within.
    From how it continued with Deano in charge, it seems to me, not a lot.......Only now, after being in free fall, changes have been imposed with Ashton & co departing and a reshuffle of players OOC.. I imagine that NP has insisted that he and he alone will bring in the players he requires for him to sign on the dotted line for 3 years..
     
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  15. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    Who's to know indeed? but there were more than enough clues and January 2018 should have been the clincher. LJ would have to have been Forest Gump to not realise the lay of the land but he still signed that contract.

    The 'he alone' quote is I suspect part is a little wide of the mark, I would hope he has the final say and that is exactly how a professional football club should operate.

    And for record the spine 'ripped away'? really?. Who held the gun to their heads? Ashton? or did they leave for 6 times the wages the 'spine' were being paid at BCFC? that must have a really tough decision for them.
     
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    Last edited: May 15, 2021
  16. RedorDead

    RedorDead Well-Known Member

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    Diony the season before smashing in the goals, and had a high profile. Ryan Kent was and is a good player. They just didn’t work for us. Hindsight is a fantastic thing and we now now they were crap loanee’s for us, but at the time looked good on paper.
     
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  17. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    You really should check your facts. The season before he scored 5 goals in 30 games, in total he scored 7 goals in 58 games over 3 seasons at St Etienne including zero in 12 games in his first season. He has reached double figures twice 11 goals both times in French ligue 2 with Dijon and believe me French ligue 2 is about on a par with the EFL league 1. St Etienne could not wait to get rid having shelled 7mil for him and probably could not believe their luck when they found mugs like BCFC.

    Hindsight is indeed a fantastic thing sadly not used with this signing and if reports are correct we agreed a fee of 10mil for this guy if the loan worked out and as we know it didn't and we only won 4 out of 22 games, that's the facts of the matter.

    Yes Ryan Kent was and is a good player but wasn't for us, a lot to ask of a young player to be the catalyst for a final promotion/play off push.
     
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    Last edited: May 15, 2021
  18. AshtonRed

    AshtonRed Well-Known Member

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    He seemed a bit “billy big bollocks too”, seemed to think he was the bees knees
     
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  19. Jiffie

    Jiffie Well-Known Member

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    To be fair to him he claimed after he left us that he was and had been suffering with deep depression, the St Etienne fans are full on and he was getting dogs abuse from them.
     
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  20. bcfcredandwhite

    bcfcredandwhite Well-Known Member

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    I'm assuming you are referring to Kent, not Diony(?)

    Kent, to me, seemed like that 'quite skilful player with talent' type - but nobody wanted to play on his side. We've all encountered those types. It used to infuriate me when he would try and go on mazy runs with the ball instead of making the simple pass and inevitably lose it.
    He was the sort of player I encountered at amateur level, who you knew that as soon as he had the ball he would either score (unlikely), or you would soon have some defending to do, so you'd better get back into position ready for the inevitable attack - there was no point in getting into a position to receive a pass!!!!
    Diony looked simply out of his depth. I can only assume he must have been ok in training in order to get onto the pitch ahead of others, but it soon became plain to see that he wasn't up to the job. I also did read that he was suffering from depression, which couldn't have helped - the club should have worked with him on that (if they actually knew at the time - some people with depression hide it very well).
     
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