Ed Norvall sat down with Director of Football, Brian McDermott and Head of Technical Recruitment Calvin Charlton to understand the complexities and common misconceptions behind player transfers.
You can read the full article in the latest edition of HQ Magazine!
In the article, McDermott detailed some key steps in the recruitment process - giving the summer signing of Dylan Vente as a good example.
Ed Norval writes...
Club’s are doing increasingly more to optimise the efficacy of their recruitment operations. For McDermott, a crucial factor of this is cultivating a culture of openness and honesty. With recent signing Dylan Vente, the Director of Football spent time with his family and his girlfriend, alongside his agent, to make sure that all parties had a comprehensive understanding of what to expect.
How did McDermott get the former Roda attacker to the capital? Tell the truth. Selling the concept of Hibernian as is, with a clearly emerging and distinct style of football, McDermott didn’t have to do much persuading:
"When you’re telling the truth it’s easy. When I first met Dylan Vente, I spoke to him, got on well with his agent. I thought it was a difficult deal to make happen, but one we wanted to do.
"One of the first things I said was that ‘Hibernian is the perfect move for you’. If I felt it wasn’t right, I would tell them that."
This disarming honesty is a personal attribute that allows McDermott to thrive in his field. It means that players and agents know what they’re getting and who they’re dealing with.
The final part of the puzzle is making Vente, and all other players brought in by the club, feel at home. On this, McDermott thrives in the collaborative process:
"We’ve got people who look after players, making sure that they’re happy, their family is happy and their girlfriend is happy. It’s a pleasure to make sure that they’re settled and that I’m available. The agents will ring me and they know that I’m always available."
Availability is another part of openness and a part of McDermott’s personality that feels inherent to who he is as a person. Combining his people-first approach with the recruitment department's data-driven methodology led by Charlton, ensures that every signing is right for the club. This also means that it has to be right for the player.
In this complex equation, where the subjective and the objective come together, a recruitment department operates as a well-oiled and highly orchestrated organism, adaptive, reactive, agile and constantly seeking evolution.
