Swansea City's backroom team received a major boost recently with the arrival of Lil Fuccillo as the club's new chief scout.
Swans chairman Huw Jenkins described his appointment as the "missing link" created when Kevin Reeves vacated his post for a new role at Wigan.
But Jenkins was delighted to recruit the highly respected Fuccillo from Newcastle United where he was also chief scout.
"To secure the services of someone with Lil's knowledge, experience, contacts and network of scouts is a massive plus for the club,'' declared the Swans chairman. "He will work closely with Paulo on player recruitment and match scouting.
"We realise the importance of the role and it was crucial we brought in the right person for the job. We believe we have now found that person and we will be looking for Lil to continue recruiting the right players to keep Swansea City moving forward.''
And having been brought up "playing football the right way'' under David Pleat at Luton Town for 10 years, Fuccillo believes he has landed the "perfect" job.
Despite the fact that the former Luton and Peterborough player and manager left a "massive" club in Newcastle, the Italian speaking scout admitted that it didn't take him long to cross the border once the call came.
"I probably could have stayed at Newcastle and earned myself more money,'' explained Fuccillo. "But it's not about money for me - it's the job.
"Obviously there is a lot of turmoil and instability at St James's Park at the moment and you didn't know where you were from one week to the next.
"But three factors made Swansea an obvious choice for me. Watching the way they played the game at Coventry; the chairman and the manager.''
Fuccillo explained: "I watched Swansea play at Coventry and they were a joy to watch. I couldn't believe how much football they played - and in every area.
"I spent 10 years of 'Total Football' under David Pleat at Luton. We played some great football during that time and when I spoke to Paulo about the game he came across with the same philosophies.
"Everyone knows about the great things Paulo achieved as a player. Now as a young manager he is very forward-thinking in his approach, which I like.
"People are already asking me why I left a massive club like Newcastle. Well, simply, the Swansea chairman sold me the club and I could see his passion in the directors box at Coventry.
"The club is financially sound and stable, which is extremely rare in the modern game, and I liked what he said and the way he is trying to do things.
"He knows the importance of getting the right team off the field to help achieve success on it. If I can play a part in that then I will be delighted.
"It's important to find the right players off the field as well as on it. It's important to get players with the right characters as well as footballing abilities."
To do that, Fuccillo has already started confirming a scouting network that will see three key scouts situated in the north, south and Midlands areas.
In brief . . .
Pasquale 'Lil' Fuccillo was born in 1956 in Bedford to Italian parents and joined Luton Town from school where he spent over 10 years and helped win the Second Division title in 1982.
He also played for Tulsa Roughnecks in the North American Soccer League, Malta, Southend United and Peterborough where he also had a spell as Posh manager and assistant.
After a spell as a coach under Barry Fry at Birmingham he became a scout for Sheffield Wednesday and then John Still's assistant at Barnet.
He eventually returned to Luton in 2000 as a scout before being promoted to assistant-manager to Ricky Hill.
Fuccillo decided to concentrate his efforts as a scout after that and worked for Everton, before becoming chief scout at Leicester City in November 2006 and then Newcastle in March 2008.
