Julian Winter has gone back to his old hunting ground of Huddersfield to recruit Welshman Josh Marsh a thirty year old who has been described as an important figure in the terriers promotion to the premier league in 2016.
Marsh has earned his stripes in the field of club and player recruitment at Huddersfield and is widely regarded as one of the brightest upcoming characters in this area of football expertise. Prior to Huddersfield Josh was with Southampton and Wolves. Speaking on his appointment to the official swans site he said "It is an honour and a privilege for me to accept this opportunity at Swansea City, a club which has such a strong identity and history of success,” said Marsh. From speaking with ownership, Julian and Russell, it was clear to me that there are some real positives at the club and a strong desire to progress and be successful. I’ve been fortunate to work at three fantastic clubs with some great people. I am now looking forward to applying the knowledge and experience I have gained to this role and working together with Julian, Russell and the wider team.”
The crucial part for Marsh was being able to speak with the ownership group prior to being offered terms to come to Swansea. Clearly wanting to gather as much information on the clubs finances and their expectations he was extremely happy to accept those financial terms. A lot of what the swans want to do this summer relies heavily on those players not in Russell Martin’s plans moving on. So called ‘big earners’ like Jay Fulton and Ryan Bennett will hold any progress up if they do not move on. With June now with us no club in the market like to pay a months salary if they don’t need to. Fulton has already declined moves to other clubs during the last transfer window. Freeing up their salaries will allegedly save in the region of £120,000 a month.
A student at Hartbury college in Gloucestershire Marsh played forty five reserve games for Wrexham before moving in to the football recruitment arena. He has enjoyed relative success. The appointment has come out of the blue for the majority with the supporters trust having some knowledge prior to today. It’s obvious Marsh won’t be on anywhere near the salaries of Mark Allen or any of the previous roles filled in this capacity. A huge saving again for the swans. Speaking to a source within the club we have been told they believe the actual process of recruitment was an in house move, the belief is if he is coming in, then that’s final anyway.
That’s the ownership groups decision.
These type of roles seem to have a life span that only covers the knowledge of the person appointed. After that a reliance is placed on their connections, and if these connections are exhausted the person generally moves on. It’s no job for long term employment, in most modern day cases anyway.
Obviously we welcome Josh Marsh, he is pivotal to this summers recruitment, and he comes with the endorsement of Julian Winter. So both will desperately be looking to hit the ground running, and that requires an element of luck, and with that their expertise, we can only hope it’s the right move for everyone.