Six months after my article highlighting the absence or at best the severe weakness of scouting in my country, I am writing another piece with little to show in terms of progress. I’ll be direct: journalistically it might not be perfect, but I hope it’s professionally sound. I’m presenting my own viewpoint and opinion some will agree, some won’t—but I’m always open to discussion. I believe that’s exactly what the leaders of clubs in my country lack. They’re used to head-nodding and groupthink.

First round: the club from Andorra, for the second time, has shown how easily it handles clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Koper from Slovenia was underestimated in its tie with the BiH representative, yet it still advanced without major difficulty. All of this makes me wonder what direction is professional football in our country going?

Let me return to the beginning: what has changed in terms of scouting over the past six months? I’d say nothing. Still, only one or two clubs have functional scouting departments, and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s football market is dominated by agents. Agents aren’t the problem I cite the sporting director of Olimpija Ljubljana: “Agents can be a good filter if you’re not under influence.” Whether club executives are under that influence, you can judge yourselves. I’ve seen sporting directors in BiH who also run agencies and it’s certainly not a coincidence that many players ended up at their clubs. Is it merely chance?

From my personal experience, I’ve done scouting with limited financial resources but also access to quality apps. In both cases, I’ve discovered players who now play for very respectable clubs and those transfers have brought profit to their clubs. You can always check this on my Instagram page this serves as a short promotional insight.

I believe BiH is an ideal springboard for undervalued players from Africa, Asia, North and some from South America due to their affordable cost. Our league can develop young players and talented foreigners. Yet, we still rely on experienced domestic players and lower-tier regional talents and that’s where development ends. Of course, I’m referring to the majority of clubs, with a few exceptions.

Another thing that bothers me: opportunities are given almost exclusively to former players. I don’t object to that, but I often wonder why nobody is willing to take a chance on young individuals with a gift for this kind of work even those like myself without significant playing careers. I’ve met many such people who have modern ideas, visions, and who follow trends. Why not apply working principles? There are many questions I don’t have answers to—and I’d love to hear them from those who shape club systems and policies.

Subjectively, I’m not happy with the direction this is heading: recruiting players based on “old acquaintances,” players whose career peak was two or three years ago, fulfilling agent-driven “1+1” contracts, and so on. Is anyone willing to take a risk or will we stay stuck with, “Do you know how much paperwork you need to register a foreigner?”?

So that’s a brief summary of how I feel and what I personally think after the first round of European qualifiers, in which we came up short. I don’t know whether my journalistic skills have improved or remained at the level of our scouting in BiH that’s up to you to decide. I’m always open to discussion and want my article to reach a wider audience so we can ask ourselves: why can others succeed and we can’t? Let’s overcome what holds us back—our egos. Let’s learn from others and spread knowledge.

Until the next authored piece with hope for positive change.

Sporting regards!

Skauting Bosne i Hercegovine – drugi dio
 

Šest mjeseci nakon mog članka o nepostojanju, odnosno značajno slabom, skautingu u mojoj zemlji, ponovo pišem članak bez naročitog napretka. Biću direktan, novinarski možda neperfektan, ali se nadam strukovno kvalitetan. Iznosim, naravno, svoj stav i mišljenje neko se slaže, neko ne, ali uvijek sam otvoren za diskusiju. Mislim da upravo to nedostaje čelnicima klubova u mojoj zemlji. Navikli su na klimanje glavom i jednoumlje.

Prvo kolo: klub iz Andore po drugi put pokazuje kako lako izlazi na kraj s klubovima iz Bosne i Hercegovine. Koper iz Slovenije bio je potcijenjen u dvomeču s predstavnikom BiH, ali je opet bez većih poteškoća prošao dalje. Sve me to navodi na pitanje u kojem smjeru ide profesionalni fudbal u našoj zemlji.

Vraćam se na početak: šta se promijenilo po pitanju skautinga u proteklih šest mjeseci? Rekao bih – ništa. Još uvijek tek jedan ili dva kluba imaju funkcionalne skauting službe, a fudbalskom pijacom BiH dominiraju agenti. Nisu oni problem citirao bih sportskog direktora Olimpije iz Ljubljane: „Agenti mogu biti dobar filter, ako nisi pod uticajem.“ A da li su čelni ljudi klubova pod tim uticajem, možete procijeniti sami. Vidio sam sportske direktore u BiH koji su istovremeno i vlasnici agencija – i sasvim “slucajno” mnogi igrači su završili u njihovim klubovima. Da li je to samo slučajnost?

Iz ličnog iskustva, radio sam skauting i s ograničenim finansijskim sredstvima, ali i uz pristup dobrim aplikacijama. U oba slučaja nalazio sam igrače koji sada nastupaju za veoma kvalitetne klubove, a transferi tih igrača donijeli su profit klubovima. To uvijek možete provjeriti na mojoj Instagram stranici – ovo je, doduše kratka reklama za moj Instagram profil.

Mislim da je BiH idealna polazna stanica za igrače “ispod radara” – iz Afrike, Azije, Sjeverne i neke iz Južne Amerike zbog njihove cijene. naša liga može razvijati mlade igrače i talentovane strance. Ali, ono čega se još uvijek držimo su: iskusni domaći fudbaleri i manje kvalitetni igrači iz regiona, i tu se razvoj uglavnom završava. Naravno, govorim o većini klubova, uz poneki manji izuzetak.

Još jedna stvar koja mi smeta pružanje prilika gotovo isključivo bivšim igračima. Nemam ništa protiv toga, ali pitam se zašto niko ne želi riskirati s mladim ljudima koji imaju dara za ovaj posao, kao što sam i sam radio, bez nekih značajnijih igračačkih karijera. Upoznao sam brojne takve, s modernim idejama i vizijama, koji prate trendove. Zašto ne primijenimo principe koji zaista funkcionišu? Mnogo je pitanja na koja nemam odgovor, a volio bih da ih daju oni koji kreiraju sisteme i politike klubova.

Subjektivno, nisam srećan u kom smjeru sve ovo ide: dovođenje igrača po „nekadašnjim poznanstvima“, igrača koji su bili u zenitu svoje karijere prije dvije-tri godine, ispunjavanje „agentskih formata“ 1+1 i slično. Da li je neko spreman na rizik ili ćemo i dalje ostati na mrtvoj tački: „Znaš koliko papirologije moraš da obaviš da registruješ stranca“?

Eto, to je ukratko ono što osjećam i što lično mislim – nakon prvog kola evropskih kvalifikacija, u kojima smo ostali „kratkih rukava“. Ne znam jesu li se moje novinarske sposobnosti popravile ili su ostale na nivou našeg skautinga to prepuštam vama na procjenu. Uvijek sam otvoren za diskusiju u želji da moj tekst dopre do šire narodne mase i da se zapitamo: kako to drugi mogu, a mi ne? Da pobijedimo ono što nas najviše sputava – ego. Da učimo od drugih i širimo znanje.

Do nekog narednog autorskog teksta, s nadom u promjene na bolje.

Sportski pozdrav!