Stoke City boss Tony Pulis
says the average fan is as good as any scout for picking out
talent.
The Potters boss revealed: “If I’m serious about a player I
never, ever go in the directors’ box to watch a game.
“I might do that if I want to look at a team we are going to
play, or just to take in a match, but I learned a long time ago
that sitting among the other scouts doesn’t tell you too much.
“I’ll go and buy a ticket among the home fans, or with the
travelling supporters, and just sit there and ask questions.
“I’ll go, ‘The number 16, he looks a good player’. And then I’ll
instantly get all the feedback you could ask for.
“They’ll say, ‘Yeah, but his left foot isn’t all it should be
and he’s rubbish in the air’. Or if he’s always hanging round the
clubs in the city and out late drinking they’ll know that too.
“Of course you make your own judgments, but the moment as a
football manager you start to imagine that the supporters don’t
understand the game you’ve got it so wrong.
“They see players week in and week out, they live among them,
and they know everything good or bad.”