Newcastle United complete position-specific scouting team
Ciaran Hughes will head up the team as Lead Video Analyst
Written by Simon Austin — May 23, 2023
NEWCASTLE UNITED have completed their new position-specific scouting team with a number of new hires.
As TGG reported in January, the Magpies have moved to the position-specific model that Technical Director Dan Ashworth implemented when he was in the same role at Brighton.
This means staff scout positions rather than being allocated to a certain geographical region, as is the traditional model. Newcastle have appointed five Positional Analysts, who will provide video analysis and “occasional live game analysis” for potential target players “focusing on specific positions.”
They will “analyse prospective target players through a variety of games at varying levels around the globe" using mainly video and also data and live scouting.
The team will be headed up by Ciaran Hughes, who has joined from Manchester City as Lead Video Analyst. Hughes has joined from Manchester City, where he had worked for four years and was Performance Analyst for their Elite Development Squad.
Reporting into him are five Positional Analysts:
- Josh Appleyard: Joins from Norwich City, where he was Senior First Team Performance Analyst.
- Oliver Slater: Joins from Blackburn Rovers, where he was First Team Performance Analyst.
- Graeme Tiffin: Joins from Middlesbrough, where he was Senior Scout.
- Chris Nix: Internal appointment from First Team Recruitment Analyst.
- Peter Clark: Worked for Arsenal for more than 16 years, including as Head of UK Scouting.
The position-specific team will report into Steve Nickson (Head of Recruitment) and Andy Howe (Head of First Team Technical Scouting), with Technical Director Dan Ashworth overseeing the whole department.
