It has been revealed this week by chairman Peter Swann this week that the club are looking at bringing Lee Turnbull back into his old role as chief scout.
Russ Wilcox used his press conference on Tuesday to confirm the pending appointment of a man he knows so well.“We are looking at bringing Lee back in as chief scout and it’s something we’ve been looking at since I came in with Brian Laws,” he said in an interview which can be seen on The Iron Player.
Having managed without a chief scout this season, Wilcox has noticed the absence in the position as he has an increased workload in managing existing players, as well as looking at the recruitment aspect.
He stated: “We still get scouting reports but there’s nothing like having someone there to watch a game, come back and give you strengths and weaknesses of the opposition - it will be great to have him on-board.”
Turnbull has over 300 professional appearances under his belt and that will be vital for his job when running the rule over the opposition and potential players.
He was part of the successful Nigel Adkins set-up in the same position.
“Lee is very experienced, so he knows what’s required and he’ll help us on the recruitment side of it too," stated Wilcox.
“We’ve known each other for around 20 years and he did the same job under Nigel Adkins and that shows the success he helped bring to the football club.”
Wilcox also admitted how his job has been harder without someone in the role this season:
“As a manager, you get judged on the recruitment side more than anything, so you have to get it right and with big clubs with big budgets in next year’s league, we will have to make sure we are right with that side of things," he said.
“It has been tough without someone as you have to do both jobs and you can sometimes only recruit the names you know and hear about and it’s difficult to get out every night to watch someone as you’ve got to be ready for sessions with the current players to keep the atmosphere correct within the camp.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox on The Iron Player.