Archived News from August 2016
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STAGS SIGN DARIUS HENDERSON
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Stags sign experienced striker
mansfieldtown.net, 3rd August 2016 We are delighted to announce the signing of vastly experienced striker Darius Henderson on a free transfer. The 34-year-old spent the second half of last season at Coventry City and manager Adam Murray has swooped to bring the frontman to One Call Stadium with the start of the season just three days away. Henderson has spent 16 years as a professional after beginning his career at Reading and has since played for 10 different clubs, mostly in The Championship. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/stags-sign-experienced-striker-3222951.aspx#ctXZIsoJ1pijpz55.99 Boasting over 120 professional goals, Henderson was part of the Watford side which won promotion to the Premier League in the 2005/06 season. After spending three seasons with Watford, including a season in the top flight, he joined then-Championship club Sheffield United on a four-year deal for a fee of £2,000,000. The London-born striker left Bramall Lane following the Blades’ relegation to League One and went on to sign for Millwall where he scored 26 goals in 55 appearances. Henderson remained with the Lions until January 2013 when he signed for Nottingham Forest on a short-term deal until the end of the season. Following a successful spell with the Reds, Henderson agreed a new two-year deal to remain at the City Ground, however he left a year later to join Leyton Orient after leaving Forest by mutual consent. After spending a season with the then-League One outfit, Henderson spent time with both Scunthorpe United and Coventry City, before leaving the Ricoh Arena at the end of last season. After signing at One Call Stadium, the 6ft 2in striker told mansfieldtown.net: "I'm very pleased to have put pen to paper and I look forward to meeting my new team mates and also the season's opener on Saturday. "I am as hungry for success now as I was 10-15 years ago, when I began my career and have come here to be a part of a winning team." The deal will be completed subject to EFL ratification. ------------- Veteran frontman still eager for success mansfieldtown.net, 3rd August 2016 New signing Darius Henderson has said that he’s still ‘hungry for success’ after more than 15 years as a professional footballer. The 34-year-old striker put pen-to-paper on a deal at One Call Stadium earlier today following positive talks with manager Adam Murray and chairman John Radford. And the frontman says that his hunger to succeed is still as raw as it was when he first turned professional for Reading in 2000. “For me personally, I’d like to reiterate that I am as hungry as I was 10/15 years ago, that’s never changed. I’m coming here to be a part of a winning team and I’m hungry for success, still, and I’m looking forward to it,” Henderson said. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/veteran-frontman-still-eager-for-success-3223618.aspx#JhFLUxSj7oLFfSsE.99 “I’ve said it on many occasions, speaking to the manager and the chairman, that I am hungry for success and when I join the lads, tomorrow I believe, it’s hard work and that’s how I’ve always approached football and the hard work has to be done.” The experienced forward has been without a club since leaving Coventry City at the end of the 2015/16 season, but Henderson has been working hard to stay as fit as possible. “Having not had a pre-season I’ve done what I can. [I’m] maybe a little bit behind the lads that have been in six weeks and training every day and so on, but in terms of health and fitness, I’m in a good place. “I think the fundamentals of lifestyle have to be correct and like I said to the manager earlier, I’m as fit as I was ten years ago so I’m just looking forward to get going and see what the season brings. “I’m going to obviously be sitting down with the manager and talking about the next few weeks in terms of a programme as I have missed pre-season.” With the 2016/17 season just three days away, the former Watford striker is looking forward to getting his first taste of Sky Bet League Two. “I think [it’s] the same in any league - it’s going to be tough. If we’re going to get promoted, we’re going to have to have a good team spirit and everyone’s got to perform extremely well and if we can do that, we’ve got a chance. “There’s many variables to successful and unsuccessful teams so speaking to the manager, the boys that are here already are raring to go and I’m just looking forward to meeting them and being a part of that.” Supporters can view Darius Henderson’s first interview after signing at One Call Stadium on Stags PlayerHD. ---------- Stags' boss encouraged by Henderson's hunger for success mansfieldtown.net, 4th August 2016 Stags’ boss Adam Murray says new signing Darius Henderson’s ‘drive to win’ confirmed to him that the frontman would be a good addition to his squad. The 34-year-old striker signed a deal at the club yesterday after chairman John Radford and chief executive Carolyn Radford reached an agreement with Henderson following positive discussions. And the manager says that Henderson, who turned professional with Reading 16 years ago, showed great hunger to continue to be successful in a meeting between the two parties prior to his signing. “It’s took a little bit of time to get both parties to meet an agreement - the chief exec and the chairman must take the credit for that - they’ve worked tirelessly on this one for me,” Murray said. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/manager-sucked-in-by-hendersons-drive-to-be-successful-3224453.aspx#9dXSVP6pzaSXJ27x.99 “But it’s a fantastic signing and we met up with Hendo [on Tuesday] night with the chairman and Carolyn and after ten minutes, the hunger and his drive that he’s got to win and to be successful and the passion about the way he plays, it really 'sucked me in'. “The fact that, gauging him early on in the conversations with him, he just wants to win. He’s got such a drive to win, that rubbed off on me and it sealed the deal with me to be honest.” Murray believes that his senior strike-force - Matt Green, Danny Rose, Pat Hoban and Darius Henderson - is the strongest and most diverse that the club has had in ‘many years’. “I’d say on paper it’s the best strike-force the club’s had in many years, not just in my time as a manager, but like I say, the paper bit it does look good but it’s on the grass where it matters. “We’re very confident in the strike-force we’ve put together now - we think it’s got a little bit of everything; we’ve got experience, we’ve got youth in there. For young Zayn (Hakeem), you’re not going to get a better forward to learn from. “It gives us all different kinds of 'weapons' now that we can use; we’ve got brains, intelligence, pace, power, 'beast-mode', and it’s up to us choose the right ingredients to win every game.” The gaffer believes that Henderson, who won promotion to the Premier League with Watford in the 2005/06 season, will be able to use his experience to help the other players at the club. “I think he’s one of these guys that, because we are such a tight-knit group, I had to make sure in the meeting that I gauged his character. “I gauged the personality and what I felt he could bring to the group and it was all very, very positive. He’s a very strong-minded, big character, very open, very honest, but he’s all about the team. His first thing was: ‘I want to help the team’ and that’s great to hear. “The guy’s been in successful teams, he’s got teams promoted, he’s got that much experience, it would be foolish of me not to pick his brains at times. We are a relatively young squad so to bring someone like Hendo into the environment, common sense tells you that he’s going to help that.” Supporters can view Adam Murray’s interview after completing the signing of Darius Henderson on Stags PlayerHD. ----------------- Mansfield Town boss Adam Murray happy with squad balance by Matt Brooks, chad.co.uk, 4 Aug 2016 Adam Murray declared himself “happy” with his squad ahead of Mansfield Town’s 2016/17 season opener at Newport County. The Stags boss moved quickly to bring in Darius Henderson this week after Adi Yussuf’s exit to Crawley Town on a six-month loan. And, while delighted with that capture, Murray believes he now has the right balance of youth and experience in the ranks. He said: “We’re happy where we are now. You’ll hear that from a lot of managers over the next day or so and the next thing you know they’ve signed six players. Read more at: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/mansfield-town-news/mansfield-town-boss-adam-murray-happy-with-squad-balance-1-8052404 “But I think we’ve got a tight-knit group, team spirit is very high - which we’re big on, and we’ve got some quality in there. As it stands there’ll be no more coming in.” Experienced front man Henderson joined the club this week and Murray revealed the 34-year-old’s passion for the game still burns brightly. “It’s one heck of a signing for the football club,” said Murray. “He brings a lot of experience and a lot of know-how. It’s a little bit of the jigsaw we’ve felt we’ve missed over the past couple of seasons, so we’re happy it’s been done. “We’ve got to get him up to pace now, which we’re confident we can do quickly. He’s in great nick already so we’re chuffed to bits. With the strikers that we’ve already got in the building, I think he could be the perfect foil for them. “I think we’ve got a lot of pace and a lot of movement. We’ve got Pat (Hoban), who’s a very clever player, Hendo - I spoke to his last three or four managers and one of the comments they all came out with was ‘he can move’. He’s got a tag over the past few seasons that he gets injured a lot but we’ve done our homework. “When speaking to him came out with a comment ‘it’s the nature of the beast, I’m a physical player and I’m bound to get bruises here and there’. When you look at his game time over the past couple of years it’s not been massively high, but if you go through the squads he was an unused sub a lot of the time. “It wasn’t as if he wasn’t in the squad. He’s coming to us fresh. We’ve obviously got to get him up to max tempo but he’s in very good nick at the moment.” Henderson has played in the Premier League with Watford and has been tormenting defences up and down the country for the past 16 years. ------------------- |
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