Scouting prep: Getting ready for the new season

What is the scouting equivalent of pre-season training?

The new season is fast approaching. Next week pre-season fixtures begin. Pre-pre-season training is well underway. Fixture lists are not far off.

What does that mean for me?

I’ll be skipping the rondos in favour of my desk, and a few ideas I wanted to try out. Things that might help make things smoother when the season begins.

I have five things in mind as preparation. Some are analysis-based. Other are those things that will make life easier when it gets busy.

Here’s the list. If you’re interested you can read more on each below.

• Getting a close look at every team

• Getting the right tools

• Getting the right process in place

• Getting to know players

• Getting the right templates

Here’s what I mean by each…

Getting a look at every team

This goes back to something I wrote about a few weeks ago. Studying a team in detail unit by unit. Going through video multiple times to understand how a team works. You can read about what’s involved in that here.

Start with looking at every team for ten minutes in detail.

But to take the idea further, I’m thinking whether I can apply this to every team in our league next season.

There’s an obvious problem with this approach. There’s such a churn of players at this level that a team can be unrecognizable from one season to the next. Trying to analyze how a team will play this season will be impossible if based on how they played in the last.

But there is still the manager to factor in. Yep, there’s churn with them too, but less so than players. So how did a manager organize his side last season? That might provide some insight into what to expect in this one.

Getting the right tools

I’ve updated my software package after at least two seasons of getting by with the basics.

There are some very detailed packages out there. If you have the means you can get Carragher-esque powers of annotation and animation. But that’s well beyond my budget, to say nothing of overkill. But there’s plenty of software out there that works on a more affordable level. I have one of those.

It’s easy to get carried away with this stuff…

My plan is to work out the intricacies of how my new software works. This will replace my usual technique of throwing the instructions away and seeing how I get on. I’m hoping that unveils a few features I wasn’t aware of, and which make the whole package easier to use.

If there’s any interest in this I’ll write about the software I use at some point in the future.

Getting the right process in place

For a while now I’ve wanted to automate aspects of scouting. I’d like to make each report less terrifying.

When I first started every report felt like re-inventing the wheel. I had no systematic process of looking at a team. It was a blank slate every time. This created a level of chaos I still shudder to remember.

Over the years that system has become a bit more routine. But there’s room to improve. I don’t mean to completely standardize things, removing any nuance. There’s always room to try different things. But a process of analysis that covers everything, and in as much detail as needed.

I'll report back on this at some point as well.

Getting to know players

This has been a weakness of mine for too long.

It comes from having a focus on teams rather than players (that’s what I tell myself). The men running around on screen become numbers or positions instead of names. There are a few exceptions, and when players stand out you tend to remember them. But too often when I check a line-up, most players are strangers to me.

Who are these people?

This year the plan is to keep track more and get better acquainted with a team’s starters. The only snag is I’m not sure how yet. If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them. But I’d like to have some familiarity with every team in the league.

Getting the right templates

This is not a big one. But it takes a surprising amount of time to prepare images of club badges. To have everything formatted, resized, to make putting reports together quick and easy. There’s always one club that doesn’t have a version of their badge online somewhere that’s easy to work with. Or it’s they appear to have six badges. Or a new one.

The same goes for the templates I use. They all need to be set up, tweaked, improved, and made to look pretty. I want the players who see my reports to lean forward when they appear on the screen. That means reports have to look good.

Also, I’m at a new club this season. I've overhauled my Tonbridge Angels template. Gone is all the blue, replaced with the amber (orange?) and black of Folkestone.

Conclusion

Anyway, that’s the list. It remains hypothetical for now. Especially with the summer getting started and holidays to look forward to. But while the end of season always brings with it a couple of months off, they go by fast. And my habit is to start the season feeling ill-prepared.

Will this be the first season that’s not the case?