New official AFCB podcast gets to the heart of matters

I was pleased to enjoy the first official AFCB podcast this week. While there was a lot of talk about 'Wyscout' which made fans feel that they had sponsored the programme, Richard Hughes tried to give the best answers he could about the slightly murky side of recruitment in the modern game. Even better was his recollection of his own career and some of the players and managers that helped him in his playing career.

Richard Hughes didn't miss playing when he gave it up.

Hosted by Kris Temple and Neil Perrett, the podcast is going to be a weekly feature when the season gets going. While the two presenters could get a lot of their questions answered, it was good to hear some fan questions as well. 

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The recruitment job at AFCB has never been an easy job and Richard opened up as much as he could about the memorable signings he has helped bring to the club. It appears that the Juan Iturbe signing, last time Bournemouth were n the Championship, was one he didn't like too much as it was extremely difficult with the language barriers and contracts, but he clearly had some favourites like the recent signing of Lloyd Kelly. Richard gave an in-depth outline of how the club scouts today and some of the difficulties involved, which have been made even harder with the COVID-19 pandemic. What was also clear is that there are a lot of do's and don'ts legally around recruitment which clubs have to follow, and Richard was careful to skirt around some of the places where the rules might be bent. There remains a lot that, I am sure in transfer dealings, stays behind closed doors.

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Richard's playing career was well covered and I liked the way he remembered Sean O'Driscoll's way with players, and even more so Kris Temple was keen to get across how difficult Sean could make it for journalists. Playing for teams like Arsenal and Portsmouth as well as Bournemouth, while starting his career in Italy, Richard Hughes gave away that playing pout of position as a left-back for at Southampton for 10 minutes got him his move to AFCB with Mel Machin when he had been playing more regularly as a midfielder for Arsenal's U18s.

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Anyway, without giving away all the fun elements of the podcast, it was great to hear from a former player, who still works for the club as technical director, and who has had so many years at the club. It will be interesting who is hauled in front of the microphone next time. I am sure we will hear from a few more former players and at some point from manager Jason Tindall. I hope we find out a bit more about the current crop of players and perhaps some of their hobbies that we haven't be told of before.

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If you haven't heard the podcast yet you can click on this link.

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