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CLB Pathway | Player Pathway

@clbpathway

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Players First. People First. Always.
Pathway | NXT | Staff
Visibility. Access. Opportunity.
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INTRODUCING CLB STAFF. 🤝

Football talks a lot about players and their next steps. But what about the people behind the game?

First-Team Managers, Sporting Directors, Technical Directors, Heads of Recruitment, senior scouts and other established football professionals also face uncertainty when one chapter ends and the next opportunity doesn’t come around as expected.

I’ve experienced that myself.

After leaving my consultancy role at AC Milan, I assumed my experience and CV would make finding the next opportunity relatively straightforward. It wasn’t. Despite applying for numerous roles, I found myself questioning what came next and having to rethink how I approached my career.

CLB Staff is about providing a different kind of support for established football professionals navigating their next career opportunity.

It’s selective, personal and relationship-led. We take the time to understand someone’s experience, ambitions and the type of role they’re looking for. Where there’s a genuine fit, we’ll look to make relevant connections and introductions through our network.

No fees. No subscriptions. No success fees. No percentage of your salary.

CLB Staff is not an agency, and we cannot guarantee employment. It’s about using relationships, understanding the football landscape and helping good people access relevant opportunities.

This isn’t about promising the next job. It’s about making sure experienced people aren’t left wondering where to turn when their next chapter begins.

CLB Staff joins CLB Pathway and CLB | NXT under one shared philosophy:

PLAYERS FIRST. PEOPLE FIRST. ALWAYS.

Supporting the people behind the game. 🤝

#CLBStaff #Football #FootballCareers #FootballRecruitment by @clbpathway

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5 days ago

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22 days ago

ONE THING I WILL NEVER LOSE WITH CLB PATHWAY IS THE HUMAN SIDE.

Every player who comes into the pathway matters to me.

Not just because of what they can do on a football pitch.

Because they’re people first.

Sometimes a player needs an opportunity.

Sometimes they need an honest conversation.

Sometimes they need another perspective.

Sometimes football simply isn’t going the way they hoped.

I don’t believe my responsibility to a player ends when an introduction is made, a trial finishes or they move on.

Relationships matter.

That’s why I listen.
That’s why I remember.
That’s why I’ll challenge players when they need challenging and support them when things aren’t going well.

And sometimes, months later, an opportunity comes up and you immediately think:

I know someone who could be right for this.

That’s what CLB Pathway means to me.

It’s not about collecting names.

It’s about people.

There will be times when I can’t create the opportunity they want.

There will be times when I have to be honest and say something isn’t right.

There will be times when football doesn’t go their way.

But one thing shouldn’t change.

I’ll still care.

Because for me, being player first isn’t a slogan.

It’s the whole point.

CLB PATHWAY

PLAYER FIRST. ALWAYS. 🤝 by @clbpathway

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24 days ago

REINTRODUCING MINDAUGAS NIKOLIČIUS | CLB STAFF

Some of football’s most experienced people can find themselves facing uncertainty about what comes next. CLB Staff exists to help them navigate that next step.

We are pleased to reintroduce Mindaugas Nikoličius as part of CLB Staff, our initiative supporting established football professionals as they navigate their next career opportunity.

Mindaugas brings around 20 years of experience in senior football, having held executive and Sporting Director positions across Europe, including roles with Heart of Midlothian, Žalgiris Vilnius, HNK Gorica, HNK Hajduk Split and Widzew Łódź.

His career has encompassed sporting leadership, squad building, recruitment and significant transfer activity. His CV highlights more than €40 million in profit from outgoing transfers during his first three years at Hajduk Split, alongside domestic cup success and a second-place finish in the UEFA Youth League.

CLB Staff is built around a simple principle: people deserve support when navigating the next chapter of their careers.

Our approach is selective, personal and relationship-led. We take the time to understand each professional’s experience, ambitions and potential fit, then work to identify relevant opportunities and make appropriate introductions through our football network.

No membership fees. No subscriptions. No success fees. No guarantees of employment. We are not an agency.

Just a commitment to supporting good people and helping them access opportunities where they can make a difference.

Mindaugas was the first professional to join our original football professionals initiative in March. Today, we are proud to continue that relationship under the CLB Staff identity, with a clearer purpose and direction.

Players First. People First. Always.

#CLBStaff #FootballLeadership #SportingDirector #FootballRecruitment #FootballIndustry by @clbpathway

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4 days ago

The Game Behind The Game | Episode Ten

Ten episodes in, I wanted this one to be a little different.

Throughout my journey in football, there are people who have helped shape the way I think about the game, recruitment and most importantly, supporting players.

Some have opened doors, challenged my work, given me opportunities and shared advice that I still carry with me today.

Scott McLachlan was particularly influential in helping me find my direction in recruitment, but each person featured has contributed to my journey in their own way.

From recruitment and scouting to player transition, mental resilience and life beyond football, each brings something important to the game.

They’re people I trust, respect and believe are doing things for the right reasons.

This episode is about recognising that, and giving them their flowers.

Thank you for the opportunities, the advice and the lessons along the way. 🤝

Ten episodes. Ten people. A lot of lessons.

THE GAME BEHIND THE GAME. by @clbpathway

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9 days ago

THE STANDARD MATTERS.

As CLB continues to grow, we’re becoming increasingly deliberate about how we assess players, understand markets and build relationships with clubs.

We don’t believe good recruitment is about volume.

It isn’t about how many players you can put in front of how many clubs.

It’s about judgement.

Knowing the player. Knowing the level. Understanding the market. Knowing the clubs and the people within them. And knowing when an opportunity genuinely makes sense.

Because an introduction is easy.

The right introduction isn’t.

At CLB, we’re building a recruitment approach around that principle.

Every relationship matters. Every introduction carries our name. And every player we support deserves more than simply being passed from one contact to another.

We want the clubs we work with to know that when a player comes through CLB, there is a reason we’re putting that player in front of them.

And we want our players to know that we’re not looking for the quickest opportunity.

We’re looking for the right one.

As we continue to develop CLB, we’re putting greater structure behind our player assessment, recruitment process, market knowledge and club relationships.

The ambition is simple.

To build something players trust.

Something clubs respect.

And something that stands for a level of professionalism that reflects the people and relationships behind it.

Quality over quantity.
Relationships over reach.
The player over everything else.

This is CLB.

Player First. Always.

Visibility. Access. Opportunity.

#football #clbpathway #playerpathway #trust #playerfirstalways by @clbpathway

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13 days ago

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16 days ago

The Game Behind The Game | Episode Nine

YOUR PASSPORT CAN CHANGE THE MOVE.

One thing I’ve learned working around player recruitment is that sometimes the biggest factor in a potential move isn’t actually football.

It’s whether the move can work.

Since Brexit, UK players looking to play professionally in Europe can face different requirements because they’re generally treated as non-EU players.

The Netherlands is a good example.

For a player aged 20+, the published 2025/26 salary criterion for this route is €629,740 per year.

That can completely change how a club looks at a potential signing.

The player can be good enough.

The club can like them.

The opportunity can make sense.

But if the wider situation doesn’t work, the move might not happen.

And there’s another thing players should think about.

If you have the ability to qualify for another nationality, particularly an EU/EEA or Swiss nationality, it’s worth looking into.

It can make a huge difference when looking at certain European markets.

This is the sort of information that isn’t always obvious when you’re looking from the outside.

Sometimes it’s not about whether you’re good enough.

It’s about understanding the market you’re trying to enter.

That’s the game behind the game.

CLB PATHWAY

Visibility. Access. Opportunity.

PLAYER FIRST. ALWAYS. 🤝 by @clbpathway

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18 days ago

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20 days ago

A NEW CHAPTER.

We’re really pleased to announce a new partnership between CLB Pathway × The Lost Dream.

Two brands with different identities, but a shared belief in what is possible when people are given the right support, opportunity and belief.

This partnership is about more than putting two logos together.

It’s about creating something meaningful around the people at the heart of it.

The dream is only part of the journey.
The pathway matters too.

More to come.

CLB Pathway × The Lost Dream by @clbpathway

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a month ago

The Game Behind The Game | Episode Eight

Football is a relationship business.

Talent gets you noticed.

Trust gets you listened to.

Knowledge tells you where to look.

And timing tells you when to make the call.

I’ve learned over the years that some of the most important moments in football happen away from the pitch.

The introduction nobody sees.

The conversation nobody hears.

The door that only opens because someone trusted you enough to knock.

That’s the game behind the game.

#clbpathway #football #recruitment #scouting #gamebehindthegame by @clbpathway

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a month ago

Football still runs on relationships, trust, knowledge and timing.

That’s something we’ve understood from day one at CLB.

The relationships have been built over years.

The experience has been earned through football.

The trust comes from putting our name behind the right players.

We’re speaking to clubs every day. We’re getting approached by players. We’re having conversations across different markets and different levels of the game.

The job isn’t to put every player everywhere.

It’s to understand the player, understand the opportunity and know when the two make sense.

Sometimes the answer is yes.

Sometimes it’s no.

Sometimes it’s simply the wrong time.

That’s recruitment.

Visibility. Access. Opportunity.

CLB by @clbpathway

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a month ago