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"It's Genius!" Adam Smith Amazed By AFC Bournemouth's Recruitment Model
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- "It's Genius!" Adam Smith Amazed By AFC Bournemouth's Recruitment Model
Adam Smith Amazed By Bournemouth's "Genius" Recruitment Model
There may be few people better placed to judge Bournemouth's remarkable recruitment model than Adam Smith.
The long-serving defender has watched the club evolve from the League One and the Championship into an established Premier League side, while seeing countless teammates arrive, develop and eventually leave for some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
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Yet even after all those years inside the club, Smith admits there is one part of the AFC Bournemouth operation that still leaves him scratching his head - how they keep finding the players who make the whole process work.
REUTERS/Toby Melville
In an extensive chat with Ben Foster's Fozcast, recorded at the home of AFC Bournemouth's U21 Development side , Wimborne Town FC - the club stalwart was asked about the club's ability to repeatedly replace big-name departures, and his answer was simple, yet equally revealing...
"I don't know how they do it. But that's something that I'm going to find out for sure when I'm retired because the recruitment side of it is, yeah, it's tough".
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It is a striking admission from a player who has had a front-row seat to the process, but also one which perhaps suggests that he'd like to follow in the footsteps of Simon Francis and Matt Ritchie when his playing career comes to an end.
Smith has witnessed Bournemouth repeatedly lose important players for significant transfer fees, only to find replacements who eventually become valuable Premier League players themselves. Smith pointed to the example of losing Milos Kerkez and immediately bringing in Adrien Truffert, while also reflecting on the number of other departures the club has successfully absorbed - including Semenyo being replaced by Rayan.
Whilst his faith in the recruitment is stronger than ever, his belief in the process however - was a slow burner, as he admitted that when Dominic Solanke left Bournemouth, there were questions within the squad about whether the club could replace such an important player. But repeated examples of the recruitment team getting it right, in Dom's case - the signing of Evanilson - have gradually removed those doubts.
REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
"So now if it happened, like this summer, all the lads just trust the club to just replace him and they'll just be just as good".
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That trust has arguably become one of Bournemouth's biggest strengths.
Smith was there when the club lost four of its back five, recalling that he was the only member of that defensive unit left. Yet rather than seeing the departures destabilise Bournemouth, the club simply went back into the market and continued... and the recruitment hasn't necessarily involved signing obvious household names.
Smith admitted that some of the players Bournemouth bring in are so under the radar that even the existing squad sometimes doesn't know who they are.
"Obviously you see it on social media sometimes that the players we're going for and yeah, you think, 'He seems a promising player'. But then sometimes, like, none of the lads have even heard of him, you know? So you're like, 'I don't even know who this guy is.' But yeah, as soon as they come in, they're just top-notch."
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Whilst Antonio Silva is one of the latest recruits that has caught Smith's eye, before that, Junior Kroupi and Rayan are prime examples which particularly stand out to Smith. The Bournemouth captain was clearly blown away by Kroupi's ability, while he was equally impressed by Rayan's maturity.
REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
"I don't know how they found Kroupi and Rayan because Kroupi is one of the best players I've ever seen, mate. His ability is off the charts. Even Rayan, like, he's 19, 20 and his maturity level is like a 28-year-old, you know?"
Smith believes Bournemouth have created a model which benefits both the club and the players, and he suggested that young recruits understand that Bournemouth will not necessarily stand in their way if one of Europe's biggest clubs eventually comes calling.
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"It's good about Bournemouth that, like, they don't hold these young players back... I think the club's very fair that the young lads that come in, they're like, 'Look, if a big club comes in for you and pays the right money, we'll let you go.'"
Smudge also believes that understanding could itself be part of the reason Bournemouth are able to attract such talented young players: "I think that's why we get a lot of good young players because they see that we don't make it very difficult for these young lads to move on to bigger and better things... these players, they want to play in the Champions League. And I think that's where maybe Bournemouth get an edge over getting these young talents".
There is also a sense that Bournemouth have become incredibly efficient when the inevitable sale arrives, as Smith believes the club does not allow transfer business to become an unnecessary saga. If the right price is reached, the player moves on and the replacement is quickly brought through the door.
Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
"If that's the price and someone comes to it, then they let you go".
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Asked why Bournemouth rarely seem to become embroiled in lengthy transfer sagas, Smith simply replied: "No, they don't. That's what it is. It's efficient, you know? It doesn't really drag on, you know. They just get it done and then they add the replacement straight away".
Perhaps most fascinatingly of all, Smith is now studying sporting directorship himself. Having completed a two-year PFA Sporting Directorship diploma, he admitted that Bournemouth's recruitment operation is something he would love to understand more closely once his playing career eventually comes to an end.
For now, though, even as someone on the inside - he remains fascinated, and when Foster suggested that Bournemouth must have an extraordinary scouting network capable of identifying talent across the globe, Smith's response perhaps summed up the whole conversation better than anything else.
"It's genius. It's absolute genius".
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And after watching Bournemouth repeatedly sell their best players and somehow come back with another group capable of filling the void, it is difficult to blame him for still being amazed.
