After being appointed as Head of Recruitment, Martin Foyle sat down to give his thoughts on his new role.
Speaking to CUTV, he said: “I’m very excited to be here. I know things haven't been right for probably the last two years and there's been a big review, so it's an exciting time to come in for myself personally. It's an exciting project, so I can't wait to get my hands dirty and get to know everybody.
“I've had a brief chat with Mark [Hughes] already and I'm meeting up with him on Friday so I can just get a good feel of what he's thinking, what he wants, and then it's a case of really what I can do. But I've known Mark before. He's obviously got good football pedigree and it was a case of we were just chatting away and he was trying to sell me a bit by bit, and I just got hooked on it and that's why I'm here.”
On how the department will work, alongside Recruitment Analyst Jacob Blain, Martin explained: “It was nice meeting Jacob. I've heard good things about him, but I'm a little bit old school. I'm quite easy going, you know, and I'm not going to step on Jacob's toes.
“We're certainly going to work together because at the end of the day, it's about what players we can bring in to make us stronger and if we can do that then the manager will be on board, won't he? So, if we can keep the manager happy, that'll be a very good start.
“A lot of people see scouting in different ways. You know, a lot of it is done off computers now and I'm not sure that I actually agree with it because there's lots of traits and bits and pieces that you miss when you're there.
“I’ll be focusing on live scouting. Jacob wants to go out to games too, so we’ll have a look at our scouting network, and see what we're going to do. I haven't really spoke to the club about finance, but we've got to realise we're in the National League, so everything might have to get cut a little bit here and there, but we want quality rather than quantity.”
Regan Linney and Morgan Feeney have already been signed, and we asked Martin what the next priority was: “We're looking at every area, midfield runners, maybe a couple of wide players. But that's why I need to sit with Mark and I've got to get an idea of his profile of player because it's no point me trying to get a little five-foot-six left winger when he wants someone who is six-foot-one, or someone with pace who might be a crosser of the ball, might take set pieces. There's so much to cover, it's not a panic, but we need to start getting bodies in.”
On the Head of Recruitment role, which he first took up for Northampton in 2015, he said: “I probably stepped into this role because my contacts are good, but it doesn't always get you a player. It helps, but you get a good insight into what a lot of people can't see on data and other bits and pieces.
“I love football, I played over 600 games, I was lucky to manage three or four clubs. So I think I've done every role, probably except yours really, and the kit man! In my role it’s about learning how different managers work in different ways.
“Some managers take a real, real interest, some don't. I'm not saying it's right and wrong, but there's so many ways. But sometimes you have to present in front of managers, sometimes the managers want to come to you.
“Steven Robson was absolutely fantastic to work with, he wanted to go to games, we’d be up in Scotland and he’d say, come on, where are we going, what are we doing? So sometimes you have to take that. I did that as a manager, I always wanted to go out and go games.”
On working with Mark Hughes, he said: “That conversation on Friday is going to be interesting because I know he's a good person, I've met him before, so it’s just about working out what he wants. I went down to Stoke to watch him train, he invited me in, so I’ve met him before. I probably know Glyn more than Mark, so I’m looking forward to working with them both.
“Once it's announced and it's out there, then I can actually answer back to these agents who have been chasing me for the last 24 or 48 hours. They’ll be ringing thinking I’m at St Mirren, now I'm actually at Carlisle, but I wish St Mirren all the best. They're a good club with some really, really good people there.
“Now I’m just looking forward to getting my teeth into it here and making those connections with people.”
