Chief scout.
What does that mean, did he listen to what the manager wanted and then present him with a number of possible candidates for assessment? Or did the manager say “I need a centre half” and Melville just went and got him one? I’m guessing both and all points inbetween. I think JEs recruitment plans went south with the introduction of the Chinese money. Carefully laid plans went out the window and they just went bonkers with the money burning a hole in their pocket? What they ended up with was a disjointed mish mash of players with big reputations and no substance. I’m assuming all led by Melville given the timeframes between the introduction of the money and the end of the transfer window, I doubt if JE would have had the breadth of knowledge regarding available options? It you recall it was left late to make the majority of the signings that summer, probably waiting to see if the cash turned up? And then when it did it was panic buy, buy, buy and from that we have never recovered. At least that’s what I’ve always assumed? That is all complete guesswork on my part, but I’d put my house on the fact that I’m not wrong.