Dirty TackleLeague One manager wants fans to be Twitter scouting system
Most football managers are a bit wary of Twitter since it provides a way for their players to blast out their unfiltered thoughts directly into the eye holes of the public, but the manger of League One side Yeovil Town sees it as his scouting department. Terry Skiverton, who took over as player-manager in 2009 before hanging up his boots in 2010, is 35 years old, yet he looks like he's 12. So obviously he's down with Twitter, YouTube, and wispy Justin Bieber haircuts. And now, he's revolutionizing the way football clubs scout for players. Or something.
From the BBC:
[Skiverton] told BBC Somerset: "It's not a bit of fun for me - it's serious business.
"I can't afford a scouting system. I've got 1,700 followers [he has over 2,000 now thanks to this.] and out of that I've got quite a few names and there's been some interesting ones."
He continued: "There's been so many players who have come through and we are following a couple of those leads.
"There was one or two that I had glossed over, that I've come back to.
"I think it gives the supporters a bit of fun as well as I've had supporters go through non-league annuals, going out and watching games saying 'what about this player?'.
"I'd like to thank the supporters for adding a bit of amateur scouting, it's worked out really well for us."
Skiverton added on his Twitter page that he's "looking to have deals with one or too from your suggestions." So it looks like this approach is paying off for Yeovil. Or that Skiverton's grammar is as confusing as my own. Also, I now expect him to get inundated with tweets telling him to sign Lionel Messi and/or Mr. T.
Whether the players Yeovil find through doing this actually help the club remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain...Twitter: It's serious business.
