OK, I’ll take the bait.

I’ve been thinking the same for years. Transfer window after transfer window all we seem to bring in are players from the English league or ones that are already known to the manager. On the rare occasion we do take a chance with a foreign player they are often a flop – probably because they have not been thoroughly researched. Perhaps we buy them on the basis of a Youtube compilation or an agent’s recommendation. Let’s just look at our transfers in since we’ve been back in the Premier League.

Season 2013-14 we brought in 18 players in total – 16 had been playing in England or Scotland and the two surprise packages were Jose Campana and Florian Marange. They worked out well.

Season 2014-15 we brought in 13 players – 11 from England plus Shola Ameobi (ex-Newcastle) and Pape Souare, who was quite a surprise, but for many the honeymoon period is now well over.

Last Season it was 7 players. We were over the moon with Johan Cabaye, but again he was ex-Newcastle. Most were also pleased with the acquisition of Connor Wickham, but again all were with or had been with English clubs.

On the plus side, our finances are being managed carefully and it’s good to have a solid core of home-grown players because of the PL rules, but that shouldn’t stop us finding and acquiring a talented player from abroad. However we never seem to identify anyone who is not already being looked at by several other clubs. Where is that hidden gem that we can bring in from under the radar?

I know there aren’t many decent players out there who are both available at a price we can afford and ones that their clubs are willing to let go. It’s true that there is a limited market as far as we are concerned, but the signs do seem to indicate that our scouting “network” (it it exists) leaves quite a bit to be desired.

"Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt."
Mark Twain.

The club are making strides to improve it since the US investment but it takes time. Over the next few seasons expect to see more.

Mandanda, is an early example of a player who has never played over here. We had been looking at a defender from French League 2 before the Tomkins deal I am told. If these William Vanquier rumours are true, that's another one.

It's happening, it's a slow process

who needs a scouting network when you can use football manager!

I agree we need to do a lot of work on the scouting team to get it up to PL standard. However, at the present stage of our development to becoming an established side at this level overseas players do not appear to be a large part of our plan.

We are looking to acquire British or overseas players who have Premier League experience. Many of these players are already known to the manager which means he rates them and knows their personalities will fit in with the dressing room.

To me this seems like an eminently sensible squad development policy. Every player effectively hits the ground running. Many overseas players take a year to become accustomed to this league and some (for example Erik Lamela at Spurs) even longer.

Souare is our only outfield player who had no previous experience of playing in England and he had been linked to us for well over one year before signing.

As we get a deeper and better squad then getting one, two or more overseas players in will not be so much of a risk and they will have time to adapt.

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. Groucho Marx

Our Scouting network is that of a Championship club, like most of our infrastructure. Transition is happening so i'm sure it's one of the things we're working on and will be imporved in due course. It is frustrating that teams like Stoke sign Shaqiri, Bojan, Arnoutavic - cementing their top 10 status; and we can't even locate an affordable creative number 10 in Europe.

I think we are trying, but the reality is that it isnt easy. Far cheaper to sign players from abroad and in truth their is a lot of quality out there.

Dont let Cabaye go