One of Middlesbrough's most important signings of the season could prove to be off the pitch, with new head of scouting Chris Jones "driving standards" and playing a major role in Kieran Scott's recruitment vision.

With Scott working on developing Boro's scouting department, the club's head of football was delighted with the September appointment of Jones, who he knows well with the pair having previously worked together at Norwich City, Huddersfield Town and Wolves.

Honest Scott says Boro "need to catch clubs up in the scouting and recruitment world" but believes they're now on the right path.

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Jones, says Scott, "will put a bit of accountability on everyone" but the head of football also stressed the importance of the club's scouts working closely with Michael Carrick, who, he says, is "so specific" in terms of what he's looking for in a player.

Scott says: "Chris is someone I've work with at previous clubs. He's what I call a proper scout. There's nothing he doesn't know about a player.

"If I was to pull a game up from 18 years ago in League Two and asked who scored the winning goal, he'd be able to tell you and the minute he scored.

"He's that type of guy. He's a very knowledgeable football person, he knows a lot of agents, he knows a lot of contacts at clubs. He brings a lot of experience, he's worked for a long time in the game.

"He drives standards. There's nowhere to hide with him, there'll be nowhere to hide for the scouting department.

"He will put a bit of accountability on everyone, including myself. We need that here, we need Chris to bring more people like him into the building and we need to catch clubs up in the scouting and recruitment world, because we're not there yet. But we're building again and Chris is a major cog in what we want to do."

Carrick, Scott, Jones and club chiefs are all working hand-in-hand on recruitment and plans are already in place for the January window.

Boro's new-look scouting department work closely with Carrick so they know exactly what the head coach is looking for.

Scott said: "We're developing that department (scouting) quite strongly. There's been a couple of guys who've moved on and some new guys coming in.

"It's predominantly domestic based. We have explored foreign-based, to help on expenses more than anything – if they’re already in the area, save a lot of money on flights, hotels etc.

"But ultimately they (scouts) have to be good enough and they have to bring something to the table.

"We have the scouts in quite a lot talking and asking questions. How do you know what you're looking for if you're not finding out what Michael wants? Otherwise you just end up being a scout for yourself.

"The more they're in, the more they understand that. Michael is so specific in what he wants, which is really useful. A player leaps out at you quite quickly when it's that specific.

"Daniel Farke was always really specific with me (at Norwich) and it made it a lot easier for me when you're out scouting, you knew a Daniel Farke player.

"That's what we need to get here, where it becomes 'that's a Michael Carrick player or a Middlesbrough player'. The more they (the scouts) are in here, the easier it will get, so that's where we're at at the minute."

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