Scouting Portfolio

Football scouting

Wolverhampton fc
 Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2

Components of Individual Player Report...................................................................................2

Opposition Report......................................................................................................................6

Holistic Match Report................................................................................................................8

Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9

References................................................................................................................................10

Appendix..................................................................................................................................12
Introduction
The Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, or Wolves for short, is an English
professional football team headquartered in Wolverhampton. The club plays in England's
Premier League, the top division. The Wolves employ a group of scouts that operate on a
regional, national, and even worldwide scale. Scouts mostly target youngsters aged 6 to 16
and then refer them to the Academy's recruiting team.

The Under-23 Wolverhampton Wanderers team is playing in Division 2 of the

Premier League 2 this season after being demoted from the top division after the end of the
previous season was determined on a point-per-game system (Sahala et al., 2020). As
Wolves' academy is a Category 1 club, the team is eligible to play in Premier League 2. Three
players above the age of 23 are permitted to participate in the league, despite its focus on
younger athletes. Kidderminster Harriers' primary home venue is the Aggborough, where
they host the majority of their home games.

Components of Individual Player Report

The Under-23 Wolverhampton Wanderers team is playing in Division 2 of the
Premier League 2 this season after being demoted from the top division after the end of the
previous season was determined on a point-per-game system (Mertens and C., 2022).
Because Wolves has a Category 1 academy, this side is eligible to play in Premier League 2.
Three players above the age of 23 are permitted to participate in the league, despite its focus
on younger athletes. Kidderminster Harriers' primary home venue is Aggborough.

In addition to Billy Wright, who captained England a record 90 times and was the first
player to gain a century of international caps, Wolves were also represented by Wolves
halfback Bill Slater, who won the Footballer of the Year Award in 1960. Wolves have seen
36 players earn full England caps throughout their history, including current captain Conor
Coady and club record goal scorer Steve Bull, who was the last of the club's England
internationals to compete in a major event. Several former Wolves players have won League
Championship medals, including Andy Gray, Emlyn Hughes, Paul Ince, and Denis Irwin
(Griffiths et al., 2022). Joleon Lescott ended up making 26 appearances for England, with one
goal. Robbie Keane eventually scored 68 goals in 146 games for Ireland, making him the
country's all-time best scorer.
 Over the course of its 32-year history, Wolves have had 32 different managers in
charge of the team. Club secretary was the official title for the first manager, George Worrall,
and he held that position until a modern-day full-time management was hired in 1922.

After 16 years in charge, Stan Cullis is Wolves' most successful manager. During his
time there, the team won three league titles and two FA Cups. Two previous managers, Major
Frank Buckley and Graham Turner, have also been elected into the Club's Hall of Fame. In
the late 1980s, Turner supervised two consecutive division championships, the Fourth
Division in 1987–1988 and the Third Division the following season. League Cup victories in
the 1970s and 1980s under the leadership of Bill McGarry and John Barnwell brought
Wolves their first major success (Kumareswaran and S., 2019). Dave Jones, Mick McCarthy,
and Nuno Esprito Santo have all guided the club to the Premier League in the 21st century. In
the 2013–14 season, Wolves won the English Football League (EFL) League One (Tier 3)
championship under Kenny Jackett and set an EFL League One (Tier 3) record with 103
points. Under former owner Steve Morgan, Wolves hired Norwegian Stle Solbakken as their
first foreign manager (Cura and T., 2021). Subsequently, Wolves hired Brazilian Walter
Zenga, Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo and Bruno Lage, and Spanish manager Julen
Lopetegui. Two former England national team managers, Graham Taylor and Glenn Hoddle,
have also coached Wolves.

C K Ap Mi Go Assi Y R Sp PS Aerials Mo Rati

Player
M G ps ns als sts el ed G % Won tM ng

18 12 1. 85.
1 80 14 4 - 6 - 0.8 3 7.00
0 60 9 1
Rúben Neves25, DMC

18 26 85.
2 72 3 - - 1 - - 2.3 - 6.69
7 0 6
Toti23, D(C)

3 17 60 1. 85.
69 8 - - 1 - - - 6.58
Pedro Neto22, 2 5 4 6
AM(CLR),FW

19 13 69.
4 84 15 - - - - - 0.2 1 6.57
2 50 9
José Sá29, GK

17 11( 10 0. 85.
5 61 - - 2 - 0.3 - 6.57
0 2) 00 7 8
João Moutinho36, M(C)
 C K Ap Mi Go Assi Y R Sp PS Aerials Mo Rati
Player
M G ps ns als sts el ed G % Won tM ng

6 13 0. 83.
0 0 15 - - - - 2.3 - 6.55
Maximilian Kilman25, 50 3 4
D(C)

7 18 2(2 21 0. 86.
83 - - - - 0.5 - 6.55
Leander Dendoncker27, 8 ) 3 8 7
D(C),M(C)

8 17 11( 98 0. 85.
70 - - 3 - 0.9 - 6.55
Jonny28, 5 1) 2 7 4
D(CLR),M(LR)

9 17 18 1. 83.
0 2 - - 1 - 1.5 - 6.52
Morgan Gibbs-White22, 1 0 5 7
AM(CR),FW

18 5(1 45 0. 86.
10 73 - 1 1 - 0.5 - 6.50
0 ) 1 3 7
Hugo Bueno20, D(L)

11 19 10 89.
0 12 - - 2 1 - 1.3 - 6.50
Nathan Collins21, 3 23 7
D(CR)

12 17 7(3 66 0. 82.
70 - - 1 - 0.7 - 6.48
Rayan Aït-Nouri21, 9 ) 7 7 7
D(L),M(L)

13 18 11( 86 1. 81.
78 - 1 1 - 0.7 1 6.46
Matheus Nunes24, 4 1) 2 3 2
AM(C)

14 16 12( 10 1. 69.
58 2 - 3 - 0.3 - 6.46
Daniel Podence27, 5 3) 22 6 5
AM(CLR),FW

15 17 6(6 62 0. 73.
86 1 - - - 1.4 - 6.44
Adama Traoré26, 8 ) 1 7 1
M(CLR),FW

16 17 8(4 69 1. 75.
68 1 1 1 - 0.6 - 6.38
Gonçalo Guedes26, 9 ) 3 6 1
AM(CLR),FW
 C K Ap Mi Go Assi Y R Sp PS Aerials Mo Rati
Player
M G ps ns als sts el ed G % Won tM ng

19 2(1 21 2.
17 76 - - - - 71 2.3 - 6.34
0 ) 1 3
Raúl Jiménez31, FW

18 17 8(5 67 0. 81.
67 - 1 3 1 0.5 - 6.31
Nélson Semedo29, 7 ) 9 1 8
D(LR),M(R)

19 18 4(4 38 0. 80.
67 - 1 2 - 0.9 - 6.29
Boubacar Traoré21, 3 ) 2 4 2
M(C)

20
20 93 1 46 - - - - 1 50 1 - 6.22
0
Sasa Kalajdzic25, FW

21 17 3(8 32 0. 72.
77 - 1 - - 0.1 - 6.15
Hwang Hee-Chan26, 7 ) 2 5 7
AM(CLR),FW

18 5(1 41 2. 72.
22 83 - - - 1 2 - 6.11
8 ) 5 7 3
Diego Costa34, FW

23 0(5 0. 82.
0 0 69 - - - - 0.4 - 6.07
Chem Campbell19, ) 4 1
Midfielder

24 17 0(1 10
74 1 - - - - - - - 6.00
Connor Ronan24, 8 ) 0
M(CL)

25 17 0(3 0. 83.
0 78 - - 1 - - - 5.96
Joseph Hodge20, 2 ) 3 3
Midfielder

26 0(1 81.
0 0 22 - - - - - - - 5.88
Dexter Lembikisa19, ) 8
Defender
Mins: Minutes played
Goals: Total goals
Assists: Total assists
Yel: Yellow card
Red: Red card
SpG: Shots per game
PS%: Pass success percentage
AerialsWon: Aerial duels won per game
MotM: Man of the match
CM: Height (in cm)
KG: Weight (in kg)
* Players shaded are players who are not currently active in

Opposition Report
The Black Country Derby is Wolves' most famous and heated rivalry, played annually
against West Bromwich Albion. There have been 162 matches between the two teams, who
are just 11 miles apart (Kelley and M., 2021). The first of these matches was an FA Cup
encounter in 1886. The Football Pools conducted a nationwide study and determined that this
rivalry is the fiercest in all of English football. Both teams are Football League charter
members, and in 1953–54 they battled it out for the league championship, which ultimately
went to Wolves.

Since the nineteenth century, Wolves' history includes several encounters against
Aston Villa and Birmingham City, two Birmingham teams with whom they share a fierce
rivalry (Griffiths et al., 2022). Even though Walsall is geographically closer to Wolves, the
two teams have seldom played at the same level, therefore the rivalry is mostly academic.
Wolves' rivalry with Stoke City is considered a Staffordshire derby since Wolverhampton
was previously located inside the county.

However, for the first and only time in its history, Wolves played in the Premier
League as the region's lone participant in 2018–19 due to West Bromwich Albion's relegation
at the conclusion of the 2020-21 Premier League season, Wolves will only have Aston Villa
as a West Midlands opponent in the Premier League in 2021-22 and 2022-23 (Cura and T.,
2021).

LEAGUE POSITION: 12th

SEASON BREAKDOWN: 9W - 7D - 10L
MANAGER: Nuno Espírito Santo
KEY PLAYER(S): Pedro Neto, Ruben Neves

PREDICTED XI
 However, This season has not gone as anticipated for Nuno Esprito Santo's troops.
After falling just short of a European ticket by three points previous season, the rejuvenated
Wolves entered the new campaign as a dark horse chance for a top four finish. However,
since game week eleven, the Molineux side has been in the bottom part of the standings
(Jiuyao et al., 2020). The much-touted defensive stability seems to have dissipated. While
they allowed 40 goals at season's end after 38 games in 2017–18, they've already given up 33
in 26 games this year.
 Some crucial players not being on Nuno's roster might be to blame for the team's
recent slump. Star striker Raul Jimenez suffered a season-ending, maybe career-ending brain
injury in the middle of this season, while right wing back Matt Doherty was moved to Spurs
in the summer (Kumareswaran and S., 2019).

The team has made an effort to replace the players that have left, but their successors have
not lived up to expectations. Fabio Silva, a teenage striker prodigy who was signed for a
record £37 million, has only scored twice in 20 appearances since joining the team.

Holistic Match Report

The Wolverhampton Wanderers, who lost Nuno Espirito Santo at the conclusion of
the previous season, anticipated that their incoming manager will have the drive to return the
club to Europa League contention. Bruno Lage may not have been the most glamorous hire,
but the Portuguese manager has done an excellent job, turning Wolves into one of the
league's top defensive teams (Mertens and C., 2022). With just 14 goals scored in 19 league
games, Wolves are in eighth position with 28 points. This is largely because to Bruno Lage's
team's superb tactical equilibrium, solid defensive structure, and universal buy-in to his
philosophies. Here's a look at how Bruno Lage's Wolves might do strategically.
Bruno Lage has picked up where Nuno Espirito Santo left off in many respects. They employ
a style similar to 3-4-3 when Santo was coach, and Lage has utilised a tiny group of just 18
players this season (Vincent et al., 2019). Even while in a COVID world this may be
disastrous, it has proven to be a huge boon for the Wolves, who have been able to build a
strong sense of teamwork and camaraderie thanks to the players on each line knowing exactly
how to help the others out.

Conclusion
It can be concluded that Wolves have replaced Rui Patricio, one of the worst
goalkeepers from last season, with Rui Pereira, one of the best from this. Jose Sa has been
excellent in goal, with an incredible save percentage of 85.3% and a whopping 8 clean sheets.
Overall, Wolves' defence has been solid, allowing only 14 goals this season, second fewest in
the league only behind Manchester City's meagre total. Sa has played a significant role in
that, while the combination of captain Conor Coady, bulldog Romain Saiss, and former futsal
man Max Kilman in the defence have been rock solid. Strangely enough, both Kilman and
Saiss like their left feet, yet the bulk of Kilman's long passes come from the right side, where
he is more comfortable. Willy Boly, Wolves' third captain, has been absent from the team this
season. The Ivorian is desperately needed. A serious problem may arise for the Wolves if one
of their starting defenders were to be hurt. Only the back three outfielders have started every
game thus far, and Leander Dendoncker is the only other player on the 18-man roster with
any real experience at the position.

While the Wolves' consistent form and roster have been huge factors in their success,
Lage's squad would be in serious danger if they lost a key player like Raul Jimenez or Conor
Coady. Without Jimenez, they struggled mightily last year, and the loss of any one of their
other important core players could easily derail their season. In their current 3-4-3 shape, the
Wolves have been quite effective. They have one of the greatest defensive records in the
league. Let's go into an in-depth analysis of the Wolves' performance this season and how it
has been orchestrated by head coach Bruno Lage.
 References
Cura, T., 2021. A rapidly converging artificial bee colony algorithm for portfolio
optimization. Knowledge-Based Systems, 233, p.107505.

Griffiths, J. and Bloyce, D., 2022. ‘If you haven't got the contacts… you have no choice’: A
figurational examination of unpaid work in football scouting in men's professional
football in England. International Review for the Sociology of Sport,
p.10126902221086119.

Jiuyao, J., Jichao, L.I. and Kewei, Y.A.N.G., 2020. Weapon system portfolio selection based
on structural robustness. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 31(6),
pp.1216-1229.

Kelley, M., 2021. Women's tennis collegiate coaching portfolio.

Kumareswaran, S., 2019. A Three-Year Marketing Plan (Doctoral dissertation, Master

Thesis, Business Administration, Business School, University of Wolverhampton].
https://www. academ ia.
edu/40047401/A_three_year_marketing_plan_for_the_development_of_the _Wolve
s_ brand_in_Sri_Lanka).

Mertens, C., 2022. Inclusive Education Going Digital: The Education of “Digital Scouts”.
In International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs (pp.
369-376). Springer, Cham.

Sahala, A.P., Hertono, G.F. and Handari, B.D., 2020, June. Implementation of improved
quick artificial Bee Colony Algorithm on portfolio optimization problems with
constraints. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2242, No. 1, p. 030008). AIP
Publishing LLC.

Vincent, L.M., Blissmer, B.J. and Hatfield, D.L., 2019. National scouting combine scores as
performance predictors in the National Football League. The Journal of Strength &
Conditioning Research, 33(1), pp.104-111.
Appendix