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Back on Monday, the Fire announced that Frank Yallop would be heading over to Europe to scout clubs first hand. This may be a different story than we have heard with the past regime, who primarily preferred to go to the southern hemisphere to scout for talent. What will we see come of this trip? Who knows! - but I'll try to shed some light on what I'm expecting to see.
In the season-ticket Town Hall meeting, Frank Yallop said that he would be making definite stops at Norwich City, Tottenham Hotspur, and our "World Partner" Atletico Madrid, along with visiting with scouts and other unnamed clubs.
I’ll be going to a number of clubs, Namely Tottenham and Norwich – where there are people I know well and I’m just looking at young players that we’d have the possibility of signing or getting on loan. I’m going to [Fire Team for the World Partner] Atletico Madrid as well and just looking for players.
Visiting Atletico to me seems more of just a formality than anything - I just don't see this "World Alliance" really paying dividends in the end; but I could see his trip to England paying off, as it has in the past. From 2011-2012, San Jose was able to get Simon Dawkins on loan from Spurs. This was while Yallop was in charge of the Earthquakes, and Dawkins went on to make 53 appearances for San Jose, scoring 14 goals. Could this happen again? Sure, why not? The coach is familiar with the player, and Dawkins was playing with the Spurs reserves before going on a short term loan to Derby County. Is this a player that we need? Probably not, but he could improve our depth at forward.
Yallop right now has 21 players on the roster according to the team's site. He already has two keepers, seven defenders, eight midfielders, and four forwards. We can assume that the fifth forward on the roster will be Harrison Shipp, which will leave Yallop six to eight spots to fill, with at least one more keeper being in the mix. He stated he will be looking at young players while on his trip but that doesn't mean he will be looking for a Designated Player while over there.
What do i expect from his little excursion over there? Well, first, I'm not expecting a DP to join us before the season starts. Over the past few years, the DPs the Fire brought in have always been in the summer transfer window - with the exception of Frederico Puppo, but he really worked out for us, huh? The summer is when I would expect Yallop to make a move. Yes, it would be nice to bring in a DP for preseason, but I don't see it happening. What I do imagine could happen is Yallop offering trials to young players on the youth and reserve teams of the clubs he visits. I would expect that negotiations for these young players will initially be for loans, if they work out, then for permanent transfer.
We may see players from Spurs and Norwich, but don't be shocked if we pull something off with Queens Park Rangers or any other Championship club. It has been said that Yallop and Harry Redknapp have a good relationship and that is partly why San Jose was able to get Dawkins on loan. Overall, building this club through youth is never a bad thing and trying to find players from more established clubs is a good way to go.
What do you think? What kind of players would you like to see brought in?
