They were giving away chilli peppers at a garden near me. I took home the hottest one for the novelty. Curiosity got the better of me so I tried the tiniest amount humanly possible. I am already regretting it, sweating with a feeling of impending doom.

One of the hardest things in football is keeping perspective. Players get written off after a few games in a new team. A defeat after a run of success means the world is ending. It happens with fans but also within clubs and is really disruptive. It is really hard for those under public scrutiny

Philogene is a cheat code at this level

Nothing lasts in football. Huge departmental restructures every 12-18 months with almost complete churn of staff are almost ubiquitous. Continuity is THE most underrated thing a club can have.

Just putting my T-shirt on and a massice HORNET is inside it and stings me on the arm. Great start to the day.

Great strike, terrible goalkeeping.

Prosper Peter (Angers) is worth a look.

You see some really, really beautiful internal player target presentations at clubs that have clearly had a lot of time put into them. But if your decision-makers are so remote from the process that you have to pitch to them should they be the people making the decision?

The sheer amount of time that goes into getting invoices paid in this industry is unbelievable. Luckily we have a nice client base who pay on time but there are some people/clubs who I would never work with again.

Cheering myself up at the state of the world by watching Botswana suddenly being so good at athletics.

It's finally happened. I've been on here long enough to self- congratulatory repost my correct takes from the past.

What a hattrick from Philogene.

Football has a way of constantly surprising you with just how crazy decisions can be made. Heard some genuinely staggering stories this week. A lack of basic ethics and morals abound in this industry.

Wages (and clauses) generally make up 50-100% of the cost of transfer but aren't public domain. So much of good player transfer work is minimising downside risk on the new contract.

Fame at last

If you are interested in how the FA reached their verdict in the Lucas Paqueta case you can read the full FA panel report here www.thefa.com/news/2025/se... I am pleased that our evidence (some would say "compelling"!) was helpful to the FA in reaching what we believe was the correct verdict.

Scienza sounds like a fun story. Third division regional footballer at 24. £8m Southampton player at 26. www.transfermarkt.co.uk/leo-scienza/...

Price anchoring is real. Much easier to sell a player for £10m if someone else has previously paid £20m for them. Even if they have shown nothing like the form to be worth £10m.

My once a year Sky Sports News viewing. Why are the men dressed in overly tight 3 piece suits with no ties?

Everon's reinvention as the league's great entertainers is going to take some getting used to. Grealish / Ndiaye / Dibbling / KDH / Armstrong Now Rohl too. Not sure where he'll play (Merlin won't play CAM a lot*) to be honest but looks another fun footballer *stolen joke

Championship teams dropping €20m+ on single players. Madness.

Dibling gives Everton a very exciting attacking lineup. And at least they work together on paper well with left/centre/right dribblers Clearly an excellent young player, great to finally have an asset. Base of midfield and fullback choices will have to reflect what is in front of them.

A few days in Germany / Austria One of my favourite regions in the world.

I wonder if the world football authorities would consider moving the transfer window so it doesn't mess up my family summer holidays every year?

I need a new word for this definition; "An addiction to trading players regardless of whether it makes the team better or worse"

I read a critical thing about our company today that got me thinking...."they seem to use event data which is so old fashioned" We definitely still do use mainly event data. It isn't that we don't know how to use other 'newer" data...it just doesn't seem to add much colour.

This was always going to be the issue. Every club knows every player. Your scouts aren't going to "come up with a gem" nobody else knows. And if by some miracle they do a PL club will be quoted, and end up having to pay £20m anyway.

On a work trip around Europe, I need an intervention to stop me eating kebabs.

Loads of new followers all of a sudden and I have no idea why.

Scott Twine special.

One I was hoping Everton would have been in form

Exactly 5 years ago one of our then clients got Dewsbury-Hall on loan and were so close to a perm deal for a few hundred k. He was great for them and has been very good since. Is 28m a good price? Probably not but there are very few bargains now.

The "stats men" collected data for the 1974 World Cup. Via @statsperform.optajoe.com: Franz Beckenbauer won possession more often than any player, and he completed the most passes into the attacking third.

Google AI answers are plausible slop. My kid asked me to Google where a car number plate was from. AI very confidently told me it was a 1997 UK number plate. Even breaking down what each part of the plate was. Completely wrong (it was Dutch) and the format was nothing like a 97 UK. Not even close.

When looking up whether VVD was considered fast when at Celtic I wanted to look at articles from the time that referenced his pace. The Google AI response was completely different if I used the word 'speed' (apparently he wasn't regarded as fast) or 'speedy' (he was praised regularly for his pace).

In an anecdote about how VVD was rejected by analysts at Palace as the data said he had no pace (pace data wasn't available at the time afaik) Warnock and the writer of the article conclude that Beckenbauer would be missed by "the stats men" as he doesn't tackle enough.

stopbunching.blogspot.com/2019/06/scou... The only scouting report I ever wrote on my blog was for Dan Ndoye. Glad to see him appear in the PL.

Nice time capsule or my childhood at my parent's house. Audi Quattro scalextric, my prized remote control car and an Everton lineup circa 93/94. I clearly had high hopes for Gary Rowett as a creative 10.

One interesting thing I've found (behind the scenes) in football is how long it can be between you signing a player and the actual deal being announced. Weeks can pass sometimes.

Fascinating to see how Gyokeres gets on in the PL. Probably the most polarising player in the industry with whether people believe he is an elite talent or not.

Turning down £65m and giving a player a club record new deal is some show of faith in MGW. Total cost to Forest of keeping him got 3 years is £85m. That is a lot of financial eggs in one basket.

Six year company anniversary this year. By far the hardest year with a lot of headaches and disappointment but very much positive now with lots of exciting things happening.

I don't really want to submit a copy of my passport to open a DM about the efficiency of inswinging corners.

Spanish clubs are increasingly tapping into the African market. Juma Bah Yan Diomande Christian Kofane Every club below the elite should be trying their very best to find their equivalents.

Time to resurrect my twitter boasting. The data always shows the way early.

Remember when Everton were finally able to spend some money after years of austerity and then signed 27 year olds for £30m on contracts that meant they were unsellable?

I see so many pitch decks and brochures from companies claiming to have "overseen" or "run" recruitment at football clubs. When you speak to the actual decision makers at those clubs you find out they were a temporary data supplier or did some free project with some player suggestions.

The sort of player who is excellent to watch due to just how unorthodox his style is. He runs and moves in a way I've not really seen before.

I have changed my mind on loans. Used to think that "zone of proximal development" was the way. Playing at a level just above your level so you can climb up. Now I'm of the view you need to go and smash it at some level. Drop one level down and gain the confidence you get from being good.