Computers ditched for flat caps in Aston Villa scouting revolution

A major overhaul of the club’s recruitment department following the arrival of technical director Steve Round last September has seen the club’s former reliance on data and analysis for tracking players give way to a more balanced approach.

Though modern methods remain very much in use at Bodymoor Heath, Round has also overseen a return to more traditional methods with dozens of scouts now out watching players in the flesh.

“In terms of recruitment and scouting, the last regime had a big reliance on computer analysts,” explained chief executive Keith Wyness.

“With Steve Round’s development we’ve gone to a much greater balance and taken back a lot of the flat-cap brigade as well as the mixture with the analysts.

“We’re getting people who understand and watch thousands of games and really understand players. We’re getting that mix back of real football people as well as the computer side. It’s that blend we’re trying to get into – which I think is the right way to go.”

Villa’s former head of recruitment Paddy Riley was known to prioritise the use of statistical data when scouting players but this led to some high-profile blunders in the transfer market.

Wyness believes the new approach means the club are able to better assess a player’s character as well as their skills.

“We’re getting a different assessment of the players,” he said. “Whereas before a lot of the European players coming in looked fantastic on the computer but couldn’t do it.

“We’re getting that assessment of the player’s character more than anything else as well.”

Wyness reckons the infrastructure developed by Round will begin to pay serious dividends as Villa enter the second year of Tony Xia’s reign.

The Beijing businessman walked into Villa Park following his £76.2million buy-out of Randy Lerner last June with ambitions of making the club one of Europe’s best.

And while Wyness is quick to acknowledge a 13th-placed finish in the Championship fell well short of everybody’s expectations, he feels Villa will benefit from a more stable environment moving forward, with Steve Bruce the club’s first manager since Paul Lambert to serve for more than one transfer window.

“The season was not what we hoped for at all, 13th is not good enough,” he said. “As Steve said it is the lowest he has ever finished in his career.

“But there was just too much change. Last year we only bought the club on June 15. Then there was a bit of a rush of appointing a manager, bringing in players.

“There was still confusion as to the top level of management here.

“This year we haven’t got that. On purpose we are not going on tour, we are letting Steve do everything proper football-wise so there is a stable, properly-planned, properly-drilled pre-season.”