Pompey yesterday appointed a new chief scout with Ray Clarke coming in to replace Ian Broomfield, who of course deserted us like so many others to join, yep you guessed it, Spurs…
Paul Hart, speaking to The News, was more than happy with his appointment: ‘we’ve just appointed a new chief scout in Ray Clarke, which is another fantastic appointment, in my opinion.
‘He worked with Gordon Strachan at Celtic and left when Gordon left. He is a great acquisition as far as I’m concerned.’
Some will look at the likes of, with all due respect, Swindon, Mansfield, and Brighton and ‘groan’…but others that he has worked for in his career include Spurs, Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax, Club Brugge, Newcastle and Celtic – so, some pretty impressive names there. If he was good enough for them he must be good enough for us!
Clarke is more than happy to be here and is looking forward to the task in hand as he told The Pompey Site, also saying there is no ‘doom and gloom’ about the club as everyone seems to think there is: ‘I got a call asking if I’d be interested in coming to work for a Premier League club and obviously I said yes.
‘I came down to meet with the manager and the chief executive and everything was agreed.
‘It’s been a hectic period with the transfer window closing. I started work last week and managed to have a bit of an input.
‘I’ve been very impressed with the club. It’s a friendly place and everyone’s been first class. There’s no doom and gloom at all.
‘I actually worked with goalkeeping coach David Coles at Southampton. I should probably apologise for working there.’
Welcome aboard Ray, we will forgive you, now help us to find some gems…
Another appointment that we desperately need to make is that of an assistant manager to work alongside Hart.
He says looking to sign players took priority over this – but with the transfer window now closed this is what we are looking to do but ‘it’s just about getting the right one. If you get the wrong one, it’s like a millstone round your neck.’
Yep, we must get the right person in but this is something that needs to be done soon…
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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