As many Sacramento Republic FC fans are no doubt aware by now, Republic Head Coach/Technical Director Paul Buckle and Director of Football Graham Smith are in the midst of a two week scouting and best practices gathering trip in the UK. Indomitable City Soccer recently spoke with Buckle about the tour.

He stressed the importance of the trip to the club, saying that “all of this is geared for Sacramento Republic.” He continued by saying “we’re building a football club in Sacramento and to be going to the places like Liverpool… Southampton, Fulham, QPR, it’s going to be brilliant.”

Editor’s Note: To clarify, Fulham and QPR were not destinations to look at academy structure and were more for general scouting.

Buckle told ICS that looking at the academy structure of different teams is especially important to him as the Republic’s Technical Director. “I want to get the best ideas,” he said. “The key to coaching for me is to always be learning every year, trying to observe.”

Two academy programs that Buckle is particularly interested in are the Liverpool Academy and the Southampton Academy. “Southampton and Liverpool, they’re some of the most forward thinking clubs academy-wise,” Buckle explained.

During their three day visit to the Liverpool Academy, Buckle and Smith met with Alex Inglethorpe, head of the academy program and former colleague of Buckle’s from his days as an assistant coach at Exeter City.

 

The two also sat in on a coach’s meeting in which the academy’s style of play was discussed, something that was certainly a good learning experience for the Republic’s soccer ambassadors.

“We’re looking to bring lots of things back,” Buckle said. “Not only for our club, but for our coaches so we can all improve and give our [academy kids] the best opportunity to get into Sacramento’s first team.”

With the visit to the Liverpool Academy now over, the next item on the itinerary for Buckle and Smith will be a meeting with legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson at his home on Wednesday. Buckle told ICS that the meeting is something he is personally looking forward to, saying that there is a “great connection” between himself, Smith, and Ferguson.

On Thursday Buckle and Smith return to their tour with a trip to observe the Southampton Academy, a program that includes players like Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale and Arsenal’s Theo Walcott among it’s graduates. The two men will take in a Southampton U-16s match against Chelsea, watch the team train, and meet with club officials.

Friday will see Buckle and Smith return to a club that is familiar to both of them: Colchester United. Both played for Colchester during their playing days, with Buckle’s stint running from 1996 to 1999 and Smith’s from 1969 to 1972. The latter is even in the Colchester United Hall of Fame, inducted in 2008.

“It’s going to be nice, it’ll round out the trip,” Buckle said about he and Smith returning to their old stomping grounds. “We’re going to meet the owners, Robbie Cowling and Richard Cowling - great people - and then we’re going to watch them against Coventry on Saturday.”

The two men have also found time to squeeze in yet another visit into their already busy schedule, this time with Norwich City, a team that Buckle told ICS he nearly joined as a coach a year ago. Buckle and Smith will be visiting Norwich City prior to watching Colchester United face Coventry on Saturday.

Although the full schedule, match and training observations, and meetings with club officials have been keeping the two men busy, Buckle stressed that building relationships between the Republic and teams like Liverpool, Southampton, Norwich City and others is huge for the team moving forward.

The trip is also not only an opportunity to build relationships and study academy structure, it is also an opportunity to scout out potential players. Buckle recognized this opportunity and joked about the possibility that he could “put a couple in the suitcase and bring them back.”

While that certainly seems both unlikely and physically impossible, Buckle will surely be bringing back valuable knowledge and relationships back to Sacramento.

What do you think of Paul Buckle and Graham Smith’s trip to the UK? Should they concentrate on gathering best practices to bring back to the academy program here, or should they spend their time and resources trying to develop the technology to shirk down Alexis Sánchez to suitcase-stuffing size? Let us know what you think in the comments below.