Nottingham Forest look set to make a behind-the scenes appointment this summer as chief football officer Ross Wilson puts his stamp on the club.
According to The Athletic, in the coming weeks the Reds are expected to bring in Tom Stockwell, who recently stepped down from his role as head of player insights at relegated Southampton. He is someone Wilson knows well from his own time at the Saints.
Stockwell spent more than a decade on the south coast. He was promoted to his most recent post from the position of scout coordination manager in 2020 and is said to have been a “key figure” in recruitment.
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Wilson, who has also previously held roles at Huddersfield Town, Watford and Falkirk, has been at the City Ground for little more than a month. He made the move from Rangers as Forest moved swiftly to replace axed sporting director Filippo Giraldi.
The latter had only been at Forest for a matter of months, having been brought in last October. He established a good relationship with head coach Steve Cooper during that spell, and the Welshman outlined his desire to replicate that with Wilson when his appointment was announced.
“The club have made a change, with Filippo going and bringing Ross in,” Cooper said at the time. “I am a believer that the sporting director or chief football officer or technical director role is something the club needs. I think it will help the club's progress, both on and off the pitch, so I’m an advocate of that.
“I had a good relationship with Filippo, and I will work very hard to have a good relationship with Ross. We are working together on that.
“The exact rationale around the change, I’m not entirely sure, because I have been focusing on the players. But I think the role is an important one for the club, from a multi-disciplinary point of view in helping the club grow and progress to the club we want it to be.
“Obviously he’s got a lot to look at, which will take fruition over the course of time. I do know him already. We have met and spoken quite a few times, so it wasn’t a completely brand new introduction for us both. Myself and the team is of big interest to him, but there’s lots of other things as well. We’d met in normal football circles, sometimes on courses at the FA and in and around the game, at matches and training grounds.”
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