Jeff Vetere - new chief scout.

[Eigentor]

Also some quotes from Vetere on the OS:

Houllier hails arrival of new chief scout Vetere

Boss hopes appointment of Jeff Vetere will help boost club's talent-spotting potential

By Dan Harrison

Gerard Houllier hopes the appointment of new chief scout Jeff Vetere will help cast Villa's talent-spotting net wider.

Houllier is delighted to secure the services of Vetere, who arrives with an impressive CV having worked at Real Madrid, Newcastle, West Ham and Charlton.

The Villa boss revealed a number of candidates were interviewed for the post, but the 44-year-old's multilingual skills and wide network of contacts stood out.

"He knows football inside out," said Houllier. "He's got a lot of people and a good network and can speak several languages because now you need to have scouts that can travel. He will work closely with me.

"I must say I was impressed because a lot of the people I interviewed were good, but the little details made all the difference."

Houllier is keen to improve the structure of Villa's player recruitment network in order to unearth hidden talents at home and abroad.

"We needed to have a structure and somebody who has got a network," added the manager.

"I'm not talking about the players that we know, but it is good to have someone who knows that this one is at the end of his contract, this one is available or we should have a look at this one.

"Initially I prefer to have English players, but English players are usually more expensive than the rest.

"If you look at some teams like Bolton and Blackburn they have players from everywhere in the world now, so you need to have networks practically in all continents."

Vetere was born in Luton to Italian parents and spent time as trainee at Luton Town before embarking on a semi-professional career in England and Spain.

After achieving his UEFA 'A' license, a low-key coaching career followed before he moved into scouting and player recruitment.

It is a job that has taken him all over the world, casting an eye on players for a variety of clubs.

Now he is relishing his new role as part of Houllier's backroom team, as well as expanding Villa's scouting network.

"It is fantastic to be at Aston Villa and I am very excited about working here," he said. "I have been here just over a week and I was at the Birmingham and the Fulham games.

"We have a good base of young players here through the academy who are pushing into the first team. It is a very good base that we can build on.

"We are in the process of setting up the overseas scouting system. It is an area that Villa can improve in.

"Even if you are going to sign English players, you need to know what the market is like abroad."

[pauliewalnuts]

"We are in the process of setting up the overseas scouting system. It is an area that Villa can improve in. "

Understatement of the century.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

"We are in the process of setting up the overseas scouting system. It is an area that Villa can improve in. "

Understatement of the century.

So from that statement, I can assume we never had one?

[Matt C]

"We are in the process of setting up the overseas scouting system. It is an area that Villa can improve in. "

Understatement of the century.

So from that statement, I can assume we never had one?

Exactly. Or at least we had one for a globe that ends at Glasgow.

[Bosco81]

"Now you need to have scouts that can travel",

It's this sort of attention to detail we've been lacking.

[Mazrim]

Vetere went on to say; "We found scouting reports from the last regime and they had to stop scouting at times because they got to some sandy bits which became very wet further out. The going was impossible. But now we realise that certain problems can be overcome by using specialist vehicles."

[pauliewalnuts]

Vetere went on to say; "We found scouting reports from the last regime and they had to stop scouting at times because they got to some sandy bits which became very wet further out. The going was impossible. But now we realise that certain problems can be overcome by using specialist vehicles."

Ian Storey Moore was last seen at Birmingham airport, wandering around the perimeter fence, pointing at planes and saying "FLYING METAL HORSE FLYING METAL HORSE" over and over again.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Anybody know if Ian Storey Moore has joined up with MON in Saudi Arabia?

[Ger Regan]

Anybody know if Ian Storey Moore has joined up with MON in Saudi Arabia?

Don't think MON has even signed for them yet, has he?

[PeterWithe]

Anybody know if Ian Storey Moore has joined up with MON in Saudi Arabia?

Will he need to go over there, cant he just stay in the east end of Glasgow?

[sfx412]

However poor the new guy is, he could be a complete wnker he'll still be 300% better than Mon's drinking pal without question, so why people are looking to criticise him is beyond me, post Mon depression probably.

The guy comes with a decent reputation and a huge contact list so hopefully the days of only buying English because we were afraid they might talk a strange language have gone.
That alone ensures the guy gets my recommendation.

[TheSandman]

Anybody know if Ian Storey Moore has joined up with MON in Saudi Arabia?

Don't think MON has even signed for them yet, has he?

He didn't even get the job. They changed their mind and gave it to some former Argentina international.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Ian Storey Moore convinced O'Neill that if he went overseas, he'd fall off the edge.
He also wouldn't fly in a plane as he was convinced that such unnaturally high speeds would turn your internal organs to jelly.

[Grubly Magoo]

"Now you need to have scouts that can travel",

It's this sort of attention to detail we've been lacking.

Laughed out loud at this one!

[Michel Sibble]

*bump*

Vetere has now left for Charlton, according to VT and the Daily Nazi.