Tottenham Hotspur's Bad Scouting Behind Transfer Problems says Damien Comolli

Former Tottenham Hotspur sporting director Damien Comolli has identified the club's faltering scouting network as the reason behind their current failures.

Mauricio Pochettino's side's defeat to Stoke City was their fourth home league loss of the campaign and sees the club already off the pace in pursuit of a Champions League place.

Since the sale of Gareth Bale during the summer of 2013, Tottenham's operations in the transfer market have been heavily scrutinised and have included several uncertain additions including Erik Lamela, Federico Fazio and Benjamin Stambouli.

And Comolli says the reason behind Spurs' troubles is the dismantling of their scouting system, which used to see them scour the globe for new signings but now doesn't include a single personal approach for a player.

"If the board or the chairman feel the club is not functioning properly it's up to them to sit down and review the situation," the former Tottenham chief who spent three years at the club from 2005-2008, told Talksport.

"From the outside, what I can tell you is that among the top 20 clubs in the world, in terms of wealth, Spurs are the only ones who haven't got a scouting network.

"They are clearly understaffed in this aspect. It has become a kind of joke in the scouting community. They say, 'have you seen a Spurs scout?' You don't see them. I don't think they've got any.

"[When I was at Tottenham] we had 12 full-time scouts. We had a great scouting staff. The scout we had in Italy at the time is now the sporting director at Sampdoria after being sporting director at Monaco.

"The one we had in Spain is now head of recruitment for a big club in Spain. The one we had in Argentina is now head of recruitment for a club in Italy. So we had a strong scouting network which allowed us to sign all those players. Now it doesn't seem to be the case."