蒐羅天下英才的秘密--專訪球探長Steve Rowley(上) - 阿森納兵工廠足球俱樂部 Arsenal Football Club

Arsenal’s Chief Scout - Steve Rowley Interview - Part 1
http://tinyurl.com/4o6p54
（youngguns）
http://youngguns.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/wenger-friar-rowley.jpg
（右一：Steve Rowley，右二：新任財務長Ken Friar，這張西裝組的三人散步圖以前
看過就非常喜歡）

Arsenal’s diverse scouting network is one of the most well known in club
football, with Arsene Wenger and his team frequently finding young unknown
prospects and developing them into superstars.

One of the most important members of this system is Chief scout Steve Rowley,
who has the final say on potential signings, and creates reports and videos
for the boss to study. Speaking with the clubs official magazine, Rowley
speaks about all aspects of his work and why the network has become so
successful.

Steve Rowley球探長最近在官方雜誌上接受專訪談到了槍手球探網絡成功的細節，個人
覺得對想瞭解其中運作的話，是篇非常好的專訪，在此就簡要翻譯如下。

You can read part one of this interesting interview below, with the second
part coming tomorrow. He speaks about the unknown members of his team, as
well as his day to day activities. He also talks about Cesc Fabregas and
Carlos Vela, whilst touching on youth development and the importance of
loaning.

Q - Steve, tell us a bit about the scouting structure at Arsenal.
Q.請為我們介紹槍手的球探結構吧！

A. First of all let me say it’s a real team effort at Arsenal. I have 12
scouts based in the UK, and aside from that we have a worldwide network. We
have recently developed the Americas. We have our former left-back Danny
Karbassiyoon in America, and he covers Mexico too.Then we have Sandro
Orlandelli who looks after the scouting in Brazil, Argentina and the rest
of South America, along with Pablo Budner and Everton Gushiken. Bobby Bennett
does all of Scandanavia, where he has been doing a great job for seven years.
We have Francis Cagigao who does Spain and Portugal while Gilles Grimandi
does France and Switzerland. Jurgen Kost covers Germany, Czech Republic,
places like that. Then we have Tony Banfield in Italy, Slovenia and
Croatia. Finally we have Peter Clarke, another of our former players, who
is based in Holland.
A.首先我得說明在槍手這真的是團隊合作，我有12個在UK的球探，除此之外我們在全球
有一個完整的球探網絡，最近還發展了美洲分部。在美國以及墨西哥，我們有著前球
隊左後衛Danny Karbassiyoon在那；Sandro Orlandelli偕同Pablo Budner、Everton
Gushiken則負責巴西、阿根廷以及其他南美部分；Bobby Bennett則在斯堪地那維亞
半島有了七年很好的成就；Francis Cagigao則負責西班牙、葡萄牙。
Gilles Grimandi則是西班牙與瑞士區球探；Jurgen Kost的責任劃分則是德國、捷克
；Tony Banfield則負責義大利、斯洛伐尼亞、和克羅埃西亞；我們還有Peter
Clarke，也是我們的前球員，負責荷蘭部分。

Q. And what’s the process for finding players? Do you tell them where to
be or do they follow their own leads?
Q.能簡介一下尋找球員的流程嗎？你都是指示他們目標在哪，或是由他們自行設定呢？

A. Well these scouts are all responsible for their own countries, they have
built up a big network of contacts over the years. They have met players,
coaches, other scouts, so they all get tip offs, they then go and watch,
and then report to me via our database. If the report sounds interesting then
I will tell them to watch a couple more times, then I will send another scout
to look at the player, to get a fresh perspective. If they come back positive
too, I will go. But there is no set number of times we watch a player. For
Fabregas for example, you watch him once or twice and that’s enough. Other
players though may play in a poor league, so you need to watch them more when
they come up against a good team. So there is no set rule, basically I
trust my scouts and if they say ‘Steve, stop messing about’ then I’m
there.
A.嗯，球探們都對他們自己的區域負責，他們經年累積了相當廣的人脈，經由與球員、
教練，以及其他球探會面，他們得到很多消息，然後就會前往觀看某些目標，並且透
過我們的資訊系統向我回報。如果他們的報告看來很有趣，我會要求他們再觀察久一
點，然後我會加派一位球探加入觀察，以求尋得另一個不帶成見的新穎觀點。而如果
這些加派的球探的回報也是正面的，我就會親自前往觀察。當然，看一個球員你永遠
不知道應該看幾次，像是法布雷加斯，看過他一次兩次，你就知道已經足夠。有些球
員可能在一個較差級數賽事中踢球，所以你需要對他們碰到強隊時多觀察。在我們這
行，永遠沒有既定成規，基本上我相信我旗下的探子，如果他們對我說「Steve，別
在那裡龜毛了」，也許我就直接過去了。

After i’ve watched the player I will compile a dossier for the manager,
and also a video which contains the player’s good and bad points. The
manager is so, so good at assessing a player that he can say straight away
whether he likes what he sees or not. Then he will get onto his own
contacts around the world to find out more about the player’s background, so
it’s not just down to playing ability. When he’s made the decision, we move
quickly to seal the deal.
當我觀察完一名球員，我會整理好一份資料，包括展現這名球員優缺點的錄影帶給溫
格。教頭擁有判讀一名球員的絕佳能力，看完這些資料，他能馬上說出他對於一名球
員喜歡與否。然後他就會啟動自己的人脈，去瞭解這名球員的背景，所以我們簽一名
球員不只是看他的個人能力而已。最後要是教頭決定了，我們就負責很快把交易搞定
。

Q. Arsene Wenger has a reputation of signing lesser known names, so do you
tell your scouts to focus more on those type of players?
Q.溫格擅長挖掘一些較不知名的好球員，你是否告訴你的球探多尋找這種類型的球員？

A. Well we know about the bigger names too of course, we knew about Messi
when we knew about Cesc obviously because they were in the same team, but
we couldn’t do anything about it because he is Argentine. Generally
though, yes the prices are more competitive when they are relatively unknown.
I think the gaffer likes the fact that they are not going to cost millions
and millions, but I also think that what’s important to him is that it gives
him more scope to develop the player through his own coaching methods. At the
same time if we bring a 16-year-old in through our scouts, I fully expect him
to be able to train with the first team and not look out of place. They
have to be of a very, very high standard.
A.當然我們也對很多名氣大的傢伙很瞭解，我們也知道梅西，當我們已經知道法布的時
候，因為他們就在同一隊裡。但是我們對梅西不會想動什麼腦筋，畢竟是他拿的是阿
根廷護照。一般來講，在這些球員比較不知名的時候，價格上總是比較具有競爭性（
應該就是比較便宜吧！）。我想教頭喜歡一件事，就是這些球員不會去花他好幾百萬
好幾千萬的鈔票，而且對他來講也很重要的是，這給了他更多以自己的執教方式去培
養球員的空間。在此同時，我也希望我所簽下的16歲小子能夠跟一隊一起訓練，並不
會簽進來就像荒廢在那，當然他們必須要具有非常高的水準。

Q. What was it that made Cesc Fabregas stand out for example, when you
first saw him play?
Q.舉例而言，當你第一次看法布的時候，他有什麼特別的地方嗎？

A. It’s a combination of things. The boss loves intelligent players,
physically they also have to be of a certain level. Midfielders have to
have great stamina and with Cesc, even at 15, you could see he would run
all day. He had the basic requirements, added to great intelligence and great
technique, just as every player we bring in has. We also look for that
winning attitude. People like Cesc, Denilson - all of them in fact - they
have the right mentality. There are also players we scout who are undoubtedly
very talented, but you know that for whatever reason, they will not be a
success in England. Can they adapt to this league? It’s a big question.
A.這結合了很多原因。教頭喜歡聰明的球員，此外，也希望他們在肢體達到某個程度。
中場球員需要有充沛的體能，而法布在15歲的時候，你就可以發現他這小子可以整天
跑個不停。他達到所有基本的要求，而且看起來非常聰明，技巧非常的好，就像我們
帶回來的其他優秀球員一樣。我們也觀察球員求勝的態度，像是法布、德尼爾森，這
些球員都擁有很好的心理素質。有很多球員無疑的都非常具有天分，但是因為心理因
素，你知道無論如何這些遺珠之憾不能在英格蘭生存。

Q. Did you have scouts at the Africa Cup of Nations looking at systems and
players?
Q.你們是否在非洲國家杯的時候觀察他們的球員跟組織？

A. We had scouts there, but only looking at players, not systems and so on.
Africa is an interesting market, and the boss has very good contacts in
Senegal and Ivory Coast, so he helps a lot on that side. He’s usually
already heard of the player when I tell him I have just had a
recommendation.
A.我們有派球探去那，但只有觀察球員，沒有針對組織。非洲是一個很有趣的市場，而
教頭在賽內加爾跟象牙海岸都具有很好的人脈，所以他對於我們在那裡的球探工作幫
助很大。很多時候我向他推薦一個不錯的非洲球員的時候，他早就已經聽說了。

Part two of the interview to come tomorrow, with thanks to Gooner-Chris for
typing this interview up.
（待續）
Article By - J.Sanderson


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