Paintin: Don’t take short cuts
BLUES should not fall into the trap of bringing players in for short-term gain, according to their former chief scout.
Bernard Paintin has left Blues after nine years to link-up with Steve Bruce at Wigan Athletic on a part-time basis.
And Paintin said that Blues and new chief scout/head of recruitment Paul Montgomery must learn from some mistakes of the past.
Paintin said he was proud of his work for the club and two managers, Bruce and Trevor Francis.
“You look back on some of the players you were involved in, and you can be satisfied,” said Paintin.
“The players that were really good were the domestic ones, the players you scouted diligently and did your homework on.
“People like Matthew Upson and Stephen Clemence, who helped us stay in the Premier League that first season and Jermaine Pennant who, although we knew there was a risk element with him, we felt it was worth the chance.
“Maik Taylor, Jamie Clapham, Mr Savage.
“Seb Larsson, for instance, we had watched for a long time. We knew about him, having seen him in Arsenal’s first team and their reserves.
“There were also players that, in hindsight, it would have been better not to have taken. It’s better left unsaid who they were, but some of the ones who came from abroad were not scrutinised as well as domestic ones. And that’s a danger.
“Also, when you are bringing in players in the hope of short-term gain, it generally doesn’t work. It didn’t at Birmingham, it doesn’t elsewhere either.
“There were players who came in the other summer who we never did the right job right on. Some we had not seen properly for three years.
“I do feel that when we performed the due diligence, we didn’t have a problem at all. When we made the decisions carefully, it paid off.
“When, though, there were short-term reasons, when, due to circumstances, there were a shortage of bodies and umpteen players were on the agenda and you’d sign two or three, that’s a road fraught with danger and there were a few disappointments.”
Alex McLeish has been pressing the board for more resources to be poured into the scouting network. Blues haven’t had the financial muscle to cover the ground as well as rival clubs so, inevitably, there were going to be hits and misses.
“The budget was always tight, we all knew what the score was, so I’m not going to complain now,” said Paintin.
“Alex and Paul are absolutely correct to open up the catchment area and add more staff. It’s something we proposed, myself and Eric Black, under Steve but the club didn’t seem inclined to do it.
“I think now, though, that Paul will be employing more part-time people on retainers to do the domestic football and he will oversee the European stuff himself, which is his forte. He has good contacts and I’m sure he will be bringing over some very capable foreign players.
“The club should move on and be all the better for it, something that should have been done long ago, to be honest.”
