Gillingham boss Peter Taylor praises the good work Peterborough United have done in the transfer market
00:00, 19 September 2014
updated: 07:06, 19 September 2014
Peter Taylor believes Peterborough United’s transfer policy is the way forward.
Taylor's men beat Peterborough 2-1 on Tuesday night.
But the London Road club have made a habit of turning promising players into big-money assets.
Peterborough sold Britt Assombolonga to Nottingham Forest in the summer for £5.5m, shortly after paying £1.5m for his services.
One-time Gills target Dwight Gayle also used Peterborough as a stepping stone to the big-time, as he moved to Crystal Palace shortly after Posh signed him from Dagenham.
Other players that Peterborough have cashed in on include Norwich's Ryan Bennett, Chatham-born George Boyd, now at Burnley, former Hull player Aaron McLean and Brighton’s Craig Mackail-Smith.
Paul Taylor moved to Ipswich for £1.5m after Posh signed the former Chester player on a free transfer.
“What you have to do is have a very good scouting network,” said Gills boss Taylor.
“I have no doubt Peterborough are not just lucky when they sign a player, it’s because they have scouted the player and have good scouts, probably all over England. I think that is the clue. You are not lucky.
“You don’t turn up on a Sunday and watch the Kings Head v The Queens Arms and find a player. Nine times out of 10 it’s a case of scouting. You have a good network, covering the divisions and teams winning matches, that’s what you have to do. Fair play to them.
“I think Barry Fry (director of football at Peterborough) and (manager) Darren Ferguson do a magnificent job and the chairman backs them.
“Of course they sell players. They just made a load of money on Assombolonga but all of a sudden they have reinvested in the Marcus Maddision fella, who looks a hell of a player and good luck to them.
“You would hope we could do that, eventually. We have catching up to do but that would be the plan.”
Over the summer Taylor recruited a number of young signings, including John Egan, Josh Pritchard and Luke Norris, all hoping to ignite their careers with the Gills.
“We are encouraging more young players to come in and have a go,” said Taylor.
