Peterborough United chairman on the 'old school' magic of 80 year-old Barry Fry

Fry’s relevance at a time when data has become a massive recruitment tool was questioned on a recent edition of ‘UpThePoshcast’, an emerging Posh podcast whose presenters clashed with the chairman on his own ‘Hard Truth podcast’ this week.

Macanthony admitted there was a succession plan in place for Fry, but he didn’t expect to have to implement it for many years. The chairman believes he and Fry make a great scouting and recruitment team.

MacAnthony dismissed the need for Fry to get bogged down in data detail. He believes a man he has worked alongside for the entire 19 years of his club ownership has some special ‘old school’ skills.

"Barry was out watching a game on Saturday,” MacAnthony revealed. “He was watching a player we will hopefully be acquiring in January. We have scouted this player for a while and the final eyes we use are always Barry’s. He doesn’t need to look at the data as I’d fed it into him before he went. He’s still sharp. He’s 80 going on 30 and still doing his job very well. I respect Barry’s eyes more than I respect anyone else’s.

"And I will tell you something else. Thirty minutes after the game had finished he had met the players’ father and he knew all about the player’s contract. That’s how he operates.

“He and I always talk about not being able to get anyone to a phone on Sunday. These youngsters coining into director of football roles or technical director roles don’t work on Sundays. They don’t answer their phone. Some of them don’t know how to pick up a phone and talk to people, or how to a do a deal.

"Barry knows all that. There is a succession plan in place which Barry knows about, but he’s a long way from stepping down and retiring. The plan will involve someone working under me for a year and through three transfer windows.

“Directors of football come and spend time with us because we are the best. We speak to parents because they are the ones who tell players like Brandon Khela and Declan Frith to come here because of our reputation for developing young players.”

Fry has been at Posh since buying the club in May 1996. He was first-team manager for the first 10 years.