While Jurgen Klopp's departure earlier this year may have been the spark that ignited Liverpool's behind-the-scenes transformation, the club has been in a state of flux for nearly two years.
The exit of then sporting director Michael Edwards in 2022 saw Julian Ward step into the role, only for the Aintree-born analyst to resign later that year alongside Dr Ian Graham, Anfield's director of research at the time.
Jorg Schmadtke's tenure as temporary sporting director was brief, lasting less than a year of his 12-month agreement. Klopp's end-of-season exit announcement was followed by the return of Edwards and Ward, specifically to the Fenway Sports Group fold. Richard Hughes was appointed as sporting director and Arne Slot took over from Klopp as the club's first 'head coach'. Edwards's return marked a significant step back for FSG president Mike Gordon as the club's day-to-day owner, with Hughes bringing Mark Burchill from Bournemouth's scouting department, reports the Liverpool Echo .
Slot brought with him a host of his own coaches, including John Heitinga, Sipke Hulshoff and Ruben Peeters, further reshaping the backroom staff. Fabian Otte was appointed as the club's head of goalkeeping and Aaron Briggs was recruited to bridge the gap between the academy and the senior setup. Liverpool's recruitment team has seen a whirlwind of changes, but the club has reaped the rewards from the stability provided by Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter. These two key figures are shrouded in mystery, yet insiders credit them with playing a pivotal role in Liverpool's transfer market triumphs over the past ten years.
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In a heartfelt 2021 message to the fans on Liverpool's official site, Edwards highlighted their contributions: "Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter joined Liverpool the year after me and they have been integral in building a world-class scouting department."
He offered a glimpse into the lesser-known Barry, saying: "For those who don't know Barry and there can't be many he was a hard-hitting Northern Irish centre-back who has a contacts book that reads like a who's who of football. He is always on the go and could put away more food than the average male elephant." Edwards also praised Dave's unique talents: "Dave is simply Google, I've never known anyone with a memory like his or an ability to think outside of the box when innovative solutions are required."
It's been a dozen years since the dynamic duo began their journey at Anfield, with LFCHistory.net confirming they took up their roles on 12th September 2012. This marked the birth of what would soon be known as the 'transfer committee' at Liverpool, a term initially seen in a negative light and often used to criticise the club when transfers didn't pan out.
Under Brendan Rodgers' reign, this phrase became synonymous with the ideological differences between Graham and his data analyst team, and Rodgers, whose traditional approach often clashed with the data-driven methods. Fallows joined from Manchester City, where he was the first-team scouting and recruitment co-ordinator, following a stint at Bolton Wanderers.
"The traditional role of a scout, where they went to a match and kept all the knowledge in their head rarely exists in modern day scouting structures," Fallows has previously stated. While at Bolton in 2010, he explained: "My role is primarily to co-ordinate all aspects of our scouting department, which includes liaising with scouts, fixture planning, managing the constant stream of reports coming in and effectively linking everything together."
Back in his Bolton days, he was a fixture in what Sam Allardyce and his team would casually call 'the War Room', earning him the moniker 'Fingers Fallows' from none other than the ex-Trotters boss for how often he was spotted deep-diving into stats on his laptop.
Sam Allardyce had high praise for this pivotal space, writing in his autobiography that "The War Room was where we planned our strategy and analysed our data on a big screen," even dubbing it "the Oxford University of football". For Allardyce, Fallows was crucial in making the War Room the legendary hub it became.
Hunter's history spans an international career with Northern Ireland, a local stint with Crusaders, followed by key moves to Wrexham in 1993 and then Reading, shelling out a hefty £400,000 in 1996, where he crossed paths with Brendan Rodgers. Hunter took on the scouting mantle at Blackburn Rovers in 2006 and shifted to do similar work for Norwich City before docking at Manchester City in 2008.
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While with City, he scoped out talent chiefly in Italy, Switzerland, and Russia. Now at Liverpool, his job involves chasing up leads from regional scouts and compiling comprehensive dossiers on targets the Reds have their eyes on. Speculation is that both he and Fallows moved on from City because the gigs at Anfield presented a chance to chase players with a vision for longevity, contrasting with City's historical penchant for snapping up the stars of the moment.
Like every member of Liverpool's recruitment team, they tend to ignore the external chatter and focus on their own work. Back in the summer of 2019, Liverpool were the reigning European champions and there was a growing demand for them to splash out on their already formidable squad as the transfer window progressed.
However, instead of chasing several high-risk, high-cost players to add to a squad that had just amassed 97 Premier League points, Liverpool's first signing as Champions League winners was a 17 year old Dutch defender with minimal senior football experience.
Fallows and Hunter were instrumental in securing the £1.3m deal for Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle in the summer of 2019, beating off stiff competition from Bayern Munich to sign the young player. Five years later, he was sold for a fee that could potentially reach £25m after only four senior appearances, two of which were essentially youth teams.
Four years before Van den Berg joined, Fallows and Hunter teamed up to bring James Milner from their former club Manchester City on a free transfer, just a few months before Klopp himself arrived at Anfield. Steven Gerrard's impending departure from the club made it clear to the duo that James Milner's mentality and standards would be invaluable to Liverpool's first-team squad. They believed he was significantly undervalued at Etihad, and Milner eventually left in 2023 after serving as vice-captain during a period when the Reds won every major trophy.
Over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day of 2022, they backed Julian Ward as the club negotiated with PSV Eindhoven to secure Cody Gakpo for £37m. It is also said that Hunter's determination was instrumental in finalising a deal for Joe Gomez in the summer of 2015. Perhaps most notably, Jurgen Klopp publicly credited Fallows and Hunter for their role in Mohamed Salah's early days at Liverpool. The Egyptian began his Merseyside career in spectacular form, and Klopp was eager to acknowledge their efforts in persuading him to sign the now legendary No.11.
"The scouting department was really behind me, and wanted to do it even earlier so that nobody could jump in! " Klopp declared in 2017. "We were sure he can help us. Michael Edwards, Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter, they were really in my ear and were on it: 'Come on, come on, Mo Salah, he's the solution!'". As the club's top scorer in the Premier League era and fifth on the all-time list, trailing only Billy Liddell, Gordon Hodgson, Roger Hunt and Ian Rush, Klopp's praise for Fallows and Hunter only grows with time.
The frequent staff changes across different departments over the past two years have been balanced by the enduring work ethics instilled at the club by Hunter and Fallows, who command immense respect from colleagues across the board.
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