In my field (Policy Analysis/Program management) staff having confidence is essential, overconfidence can be dangerous, but self-belief to the point of papal infallibility is catastrophic. Anyone who told me they'd never been wrong in any of their assessments would never get past the first interview.

I've had candidates tell me they wanted my job eventually (kudos to them). But I've never had anyone say that through brilliant management they could make my organization among the best in the world in 10 years because they have a gift for the business

I suppose unparalleled and unearned self-confidence can be a big asset on the pitch, but I'm not sure that's true in the boardroom.

Though I would love to read about Manager Mattteo taking Dulwich Hamlet up the National League South table through incisive purchases of unheralded talent and sound financial management.

I'm assuming you took that 1 in 3 reference from wikipedia (correct me if I'm wrong). His wikipedia page has not been updated in more than a year and says 16 goals for Brest in 50 matches.

The correct assesement is the one I posted about him above : 31 goals in 66 matches (he has 15 goals in 17 matches this season!). Not saying that 1 goal in 2 matches in the French second division automatically makes you Premier League top scorer over night, but at 23 years old it's damn good and I was comparing his under 5 million price with that of Maupay who is valued at 20 m.

Moussa Kone and Habib Diallo are playing in te German and French second leagues because they are 21 and 23 years old. There is a natural order to a player's development. They won't be playing there for long. In 1-2 years they'll be in the top divisions of Germany and France, scoring goal and by 25-26 they will be sold by their teams to even better team for many millions. Where do you think most strikers score at 21-22 years old? Where was Lewandowski was playing at 22? At Lech Poznan in Poland, easily the same tier as 2.Bundesliga or Ligue 2.

I was more trying to say that you can't touch him with that than compare his value to Cristiano's. He's valued by transfermarkt.com at 35 million, the most an attacking midfielder or winger from Germany who is not playing for Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund or Bayer Leverkusen costs. Starting attacking player alongside Rakitic, Modric, Mandzukic and Perisic for Croatia, World Cup finalist. Not that he's godlike tier in performances, he's godlike tier that you can't touch him without 50 million (which MU offered).

You can find him here on page 8: [Link]

See how many attacking players more expensive than him play at lowly teams. None

It's actually much harder to do it with a 6th division league team because you don't have access to information, videos of players, statistics. You can only get talent by driving hundreds of miles in your car and seeing players play with your own eyes.
It's easier at this level when you have all the above. You only have a few hundreds of options, but you have to apply certain values and parametres in order to choose the right ones and to deduce their future.

It's even easier for clubs at the highest top. Do you think it's very difficult for Real Madrid to decide if they want Hazard or Neymar or Mbappe and which is better of them? That's it for them, 3-4 options. Hmmm...

Mattteo, I know that you and I don’t see eye to eye on many things, but it pains me to see that you defeat yourself before you even try.

You say you have a gift for spotting players, you certainly know more than me about it and you have a passion for it. It costs very little to set up a company, so why don’t you look into giving it a whirl?

You certainly have the indefatigable spirit needed for running a business, and entering into debates on a forum is not really going toprove your ability. If you really think that you have what it takes then get out there and prove it.

Now back to Maupay, I would rather we didn’t!!

Mate of mine from a council house in Downham, Harry, no contacts In football.
Started helping out at Chelsea with a youth team, ended up managing the under 8s. Left Chelsea as he couldn’t see any way up the ladder , went to Millwall to manage their under 10s done a few years there , making contacts in football along the way, had a meeting with the management about his future progression and all paths seemed blocked. Got scouted by Southampton and West Ham , had the choice and went to Weat Ham, although he’s a Millwall fan.
Can’t have a night out with me tomorrow as he’s at a tournament in Germany, first game v Bayern Munich.
Very likeable fella with innovative coaching styles , Scott Parker has said that he wants him with him, when he gets a number 1 job.
He got married last year to one of the Palace ladies team, all football people there, his best man is Gerard’s first team coach at Rangers, previously had the under 21/23s at Anfield and was a first team coach at Sao Paolo after that.
Harry’s had Rafa Benitez watching/commenting on his coaching techniques at Cobham, he thinks out the box , had all his youngsters hold a quaver whilst they are playing and sees at the end who plays less stressed and still has the crisp in tact.
Could have rested on his laurels as there’s a good chance he will crack on well in professional football. But he’s started up a football academy, they are in more than 20 schools and also set up a scholarship for players that have been released by pro clubs. His team play all the top clubs as he has loads of contacts. Just done a tour of the midlands with them , Forest, villa etc. Regularly has pro clubs ring him asking if he has a decent left back etc and is getting youngsters back into pro clubs. Employs over 20 coaches now and his mrs works with them full time (good for the firm as she plays for Palace and is an international for Northern Ireland , also nice to look at so on all the flyers. )
He’s earning a fortune now, a small bit of it coming from his coaching the pro youth teams, but has many angles to get to the top in the pro game either as a coach (which is his passion), management, agent etc
Very likeable , knows when to listen, when to talk , have a laugh be serious , he’s sympathetic but don’t suffer fools.
May not make it but won’t be for a lack of trying , still in his 20s and all from start as a scaffolders son from a council estate in South East London.
There’s always an excuse that you couldn’t do something.

Not sure of what he thinks about Maupay, I’ll ask

I’d do 4 dossiers on players , one for each division, get the contact details of the head scout/ owner (whoever you want to direct it to ) of all 92 league clubs. Everyone would get one, I’d hand deliver as many as I can. Outside the transfer window I’d do the same every now and then with updates/new suggestions.
Do this every transfer window.
Did a similar thing when started building , went to the council to try and get a contract, as realised that their work isn’t down to affordability so is pretty recession proof. Got told no , went there every time I drove past, we’ll over a hundred times, always gave them a business card and was polite, always asked the staff their name etc
18 months later, got a call from them to plaster a ceiling. 15 years ago, that work see us come out the recession with more plasterers than we started it with. Turn over about 250 grand a year now on that contract.
Still polite, grateful and humble to everyone, Matteo maybe hold back on the 5 year to win the champions league plan and keep the ‘everything I say is right’ comments to a minimum.
Good luck.
Not sure about Maupay

Thd problem we have is that we are rarely in thd position to 'trial' youngsters in our first team. We are almost always fighting relegation and are almost forced to play 'experienced' players. How often do you hear 'we need someone to hit the ground running' no point getting young strikers from Europe's lower leagues if they're just going to play in the u23s.