One year on, John Robertson is loving his role as sporting director at Inverness Caledonian Thistle
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JOHN Robertson believes the synergy between him and Billy Dodds in player recruitment is giving Caley Thistle the best possible chance of a push for the Premiership.
Marking the first anniversary of his appointment as club sporting director, Robbo shed light on how he and head coach Dodds work together in talent identification.
While the set-up borrows from European-style systems where technical directors hold sway, the former Hearts goalscoring great stressed that Dodds always has the final say on players.
Unique challenges, financial and geographical, require Caley Thistle to be resourceful and imaginative in the transfer market.
Robertson, who stepped aside as manager in February 2021 during challenging personal circumstances, said he was “in a good place” and enjoying life in a role designed to ease for Dodds some of the strains and burdens he encountered as the current manager’s predecessor.
Robertson’s new remit encapsulates a broad swathe of duties, including overseeing a scouting network stretching across the UK, Ireland and parts of Europe.
Those volunteers and contacts are crucial in assessing finer details such as player temperament and character, before Robertson makes his own assessment on ability and affordability.
“It is a simple process. No player will ever be signed unless Billy wants him,” Robertson said. “But having seen what happened to myself, we’re trying to take as much pressure and nonsense away from Billy as possible.
“Abroad, a head coach may suggest targets but is generally told ‘there’s your players – go and coach them’. At Caley Thistle, we’ve kept the Scottish bit. If I identify a centre forward, but Billy doesn’t fancy him we don’t sign him.
“Similarly, Billy may get players put to him by agents and he will send them on to me. The Wyscout platform is exceptional in showcasing everything about a player.
“If he is from within our scouting area, I can find more about the ones I feel are of the quality we’re after. I try to make sure I know they’re affordable before I send them to Billy because the last thing I want is to have Billy saying ‘wow, I really like him’ and then be told we can’t afford the player.”
Robertson and Dodds are quietly confident recruitment, so far this summer, has been strong.
“The most important thing is to allow Billy to totally focus on coaching,” Robertson said. “He will still get his own recommendations.
“The perfect example is our new attacker Nathan Shaw from AFC Fylde. Billy felt he was a good one. I did the background and then we did the deal.
“For defender Max Ram, our scout Dougie Bell saw him, I checked him out and Billy really liked him.
“From our experiences last season and this summer, it seems to be working well. The most important thing is we try and get the best players we can in for Billy.”
