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Archived News from February 2021

ANDY BURGESS ON LAST YEAR'S DEADLINE DAY
1st February 2021 19:33


Football blog written by former footballer & #EFL head of recruitment Andy Burgess.

twitter Megs Are Better Than Goals @MegsAreBetter

NEW BLOG - DEADLINE DAY MANSFIELD STYLE

A look back to last years winter transfer deadline day as head of recruitment at #MTFC. An eye-opening experience.

http://megsarebetterthangoals.co.uk/deadline-day-mansfield-style

Deadline Day Mansfield Style
Andy Burgess - Feb 01, 2021

Deadline Day, 2020

Friday 31st January, 2020 - the final day of the winter transfer window. As Head of First Team Recruitment at League Two Mansfield Town, it's an important day, and one that would turn out to be somewhat eventful.

At that stage, Mansfield as a football club, was quite unique in the sense that it had no director of football, no sporting director and not even a director on the ground in Mansfield to make quick or decisive decisions. The owner and chairman, John Radford, and his wife Carolyn who then acted as CEO, live in Portugal - and every decision had to go through them; to say that contributed to a nightmare of a deadline day is an understatement. It was on the back of this day that John appointed David Sharpe, initially as director of football before handing the running of the club over fully and installing him as CEO, with Caroyln moving to joint-chair. A very good move.

Anyway - deadline day 2020 meant a 4:30am departure from my house in the north west for the 2 and a half hour journey into the training ground in Pleasley, Mansfield. Arriving at 7am, I was first in and on my way in, had already taken a handful of calls from agents - its the last day for a few months that they can make any proper money so its a non-stop continuation of phone calls, WhatsApp messages and text messages just 'touching base'.

We had a fairly new manager in Graham Coughlan, and the performance of the team that season was far from expectations and a reflection of the money the chairman had invested in the club. The budget was without a doubt top three, and the position in the division certainly wasn't a positive reflection of the amount of money being invested.

Graham was very organised when it came to transfer targets, and although we were clear what we wanted, we doubted it would be as easy as going to get what we wanted. There were also a couple of players making noises that they wanted to go out to play games - so there was to be outgoing movement as well.

The early part of the day as the head of recruitment is about getting my ducks in line, preparing for every eventuality, knowing that at any stage the manager could say 'right, we need a left back'. As the calls and messages come in, each name is noted down, just in case. The Gaffer is in early, quickly followed by his assistant, Joe Dunne, analyst Enda Barron and first team coach, Jamie McGuire.

The plan for the day is to bring in a centre back and a central midfielder, and the main targets in both circumstances are players we'll need to buy, meaning the dialogue and lines of communication with chairman in Portugal will need to be clear and constant. Knowing the chairman, that could cause an issue.

The two main targets are Rollin Menayese at Bristol Rovers, and George Maris at Cambridge United. The Gaffer had just left Rovers and therefore knew Rollin and his agent well, and Joe had managed Maris at Cambridge, again knowing him and his representatives. Both players had been teed up and were ready for something to happen, with the Gaffer and Joe onto their agents from the start of the day. I was still fielding calls and lining up other options, just in case.

On the outgoing list was Andy Cook, who had made it clear he wanted to play games and was finding it difficult to move Nicky Maynard and Danny Rose out of the team. Having been signed 6 months ago from Walsall for a 6-figure sum, the chairman was going to allow him to leave without recouping at least a proportion of that fee.

The day was slightly different in that it was also matchday -1, the common term used in football clubs for the day before a game. So the manager and coaching staff were also planning that days session ahead of what was an important game in just 24 hours time.

So as the coaching staff headed out for training, I was left with a list to call the chairman on, and see if we could move forward with some business.

Three calls to Portugal, no answer. Excellent. Phones calls from Andy Cook's agent were totting up as he was wanting to get him moved.

Finally, a returned call. "I'm just going into the gym Andy, I'll call you back later". Right. Again, with no director in England to bounce off, it was a hugely frustrating situation we found ourselves in, but it was what it was.

By the time the coaching staff had come back in from training, I still hadn't had any sort of business conversation with the chairman, much to the annoyance of the manager. "I'll try him", he said taking it into his own hands. No answer. The Gaffer's phone had been ringing off the hook also, and Otis Khan's agent had left a couple of messages with him asking if Otis could leave on loan. "Call Otis' agent and see what he wants", asked the Gaffer.

Not an agent I was familiar with, I call him, and confirm Otis wants to leave, probably on loan, and can it happen... a further question to ask the chairman.

Eventually the chairman calls back, and we are now early afternoon in, with little direction or information about where we can or can't go.

He details what he wants for Andy Cook from Tranmere, who have come in to take him on loan until the end of the season. A loan fee, a goal fee and a non-relegation fee plus full recovery of his wages, appearance and his goal bonus. Easy!

He gives the go-ahead for Rollin Menayese for a fee, and what he is prepared to pay as a contract. Rollin is told to jump on a train up to Mansfield, and his a formal offer is put into Rovers.

We are at around 3pm, and Joe is still in contact with Maris' agent over what a deal for him would look like. Eventually, he says 50k should get him out. "Burge, call the Chairman and see if we can pay 50k for Maris". So I put another call into Portugal "If we put 10k in now, with another 20k in January..." "Just put it in a text to me Andy" snapped the chairman.

"Oh, and can we hurry up with all this, I'm about to have a glass of wine".

So between us we put together what we think the chairman will bite on with Maris, a fairly complex, detailed offer that was split into 4 different payments across 4 different windows and reflected performance of player and team. I send across on WhatsApp and despite a blue tick almost immediately, it's almost an hour before he gives the nod. The offer goes into Cambridge...

In the meantime, Otis has been given a green light to sort a move out, and his agent has Newport County lined up. Cookie is on his way to Tranmere, although the details of that move are far from agreed. Tranmere, desperate to stay in League One, have offered the full recovery of wages, goal and appearance money, aren't keen on a loan fee or a non-relegation fee at the level we are asking. Various offers come in, with the chairman rebuffing all over them. "They're not taking the piss out of us, he'll stay". The offer from Tranmere eventually is £2,500 short of what the Chairman wants, and it's the 'final' offer from the Wirral. Again, Mr Radford turns it down. Bare in mind we are around 6pm now so the glass of red had probably turned into a few. Cookie's agent can't quite believe what he is hearing, but goes back to Mr Palios and tries to squeeze the final bit of money out of him.

With still no news from Cambridge, a phone call from Portugal comes in. "Andy, I don't like doing things on tick, just offer a straight £40k for Maris and I'll pay it in one". Sound, but couldn't you have said that 3 hours ago... So that goes into Cambridge.

We're edging towards 6pm, and the calls are still coming from agents desperately trying to move their players. An agreement is made with Newport for them to take Khan on loan for the rest of the season - someone else who had cost the club a 6-figure fee. I make a point of mentioning that we've lost two midfielders in Khan and Jacob Mellis, who was released a few days earlier, and if Maris doesn't go through, we will need a midfielder. "What are the options"... I pull out the ducks I had lined up just in case, and the big screen goes on with pre-organised clips of possible midfield options.

And with that - Cambridge turn down the offer for Maris and state he's not for sale in this window. We're going to need this midfielder.

Jack Clarke at Aston Villa and Jack Evans at Swansea City at the top options. With 3 hours left in the window, a decision is going to need to be made.

Eventually Tranmere offer what we are asking for Cook, and Menayese, who has arrived from the West Country via train, is taken to a hotel to meet our Physio for a medical. Whilst the fee has been agreed with Rovers, his appearance fee is yet to be agreed with his agent, although the two figures are extremely close.

We're somewhere around 8:30pm now, and the club secretary, Diane, based back at OneCall Stadium, is working like the clappers to stay on top of the paperwork.

Evans, who is a free loan, is preferred to Clarke and I jump onto the phone to the Swansea City loan manager, Leon Britton, who is at The Liberty Stadium trying to move on some of his players at - almost - the 11th hour. At around 9:30pm, that agreement is confirmed and Diane is commissioned to speak to Swansea to get the paperwork sorted... although to say she is spinning plates at this time is an understatement, and as now the only individual left at the ground, has nobody helping her.

So, where are we... Otis Khan to Newport County on loan, Andy Cook to Tranmere Rovers on loan, Rollin Menayese in from Bristol Rovers for a fee on a permanent and Jack Evans in from Swansea City on loan. The outs are in hand and paperwork is being pushed through. Meanwhile, neither our chairman or Rollin's agent are budging on the rest of his appearance fee, although we are confident it'll be agreed.

So it's 10pm, and myself and the Gaffer jump in our cars to head home, with Joe, who is staying in a club house close to the ground, takes Rollin to the OneCall to sign his paperwork when its eventually agreed.

I receive three phone calls in half an hour from Leon at Swansea, panicking it won't go through - I call DIane to check it's in hand to be greeted by the rumblings of a crazed women - bless her, she's fire fighting to put it nicely. Menayese is in the next room and the chairman is on the phone to Diane telling her not to let him sign anything at the figure he wants - the club aren't going to pay the additional £50 he wants in his appearance fee - yes, £50 is what it's stalling on.

As 11pm creeps closer, I'm heading up the M1 hoping the two incomings go through in order to keep the Gaffer happy. The phone goes at 10:50pm and it's Diane - Jack Evans is done, can I let Swansea know. I call Leon and let him know, with Jack to report to watch tomorrow's game. Sorted. In 4 hours we had identified, agreed and signed a young, talented footballer.

Then, at 11:05, Joe Dunne, the assistant manager calls. "Deals off". What!! Menayese has fallen through at 10:57pm. Over £50 in his appearance fee. Neither party would move. It certainly wasn't that our chairman couldn't afford it, but he didn't want to be beaten.

A good trait in an owner as a club look to progress, or a stubbornness that holds their club back? You be the judge, but it was certainly an eye opening deadline day, that could and should have run a lot smoother. I guess it comes back to the fact its his club, he'll do what he likes.

Both Rollin Menayese and George Maris became Mansfield Town players in the following summer transfer window, and as previously mentioned, David Sharpe was installed the run the club on the ground in Mansfield.

Graham, and myself, have since left the club, with Nigel Clough taking the managers job and his brother Simon taking over as the head of recruitment.

Hopefully today is less stressful for them in Nottinghamshire.

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follow-up tweets from Andy Burgess in answer to comments from fans:

Everything is set up at Mansfield to take off... a passionate chairman, a brilliant, young, dedicated CEO, a very experienced and knowledgeable manager, a great ground and magnificent training ground. They'll be in L1 in the next 18 months, then who knows.

The clubs in a great place under David and Nigel. Expect it to fly.

I left #MTFC in November and am still receiving messages from agents trying to move their players...
I wonder if I can get someone a three year deal and them knocking on the training ground door for a medical before 11pm...

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