|
GA
I have been speaking to Paul Heffernan for a number of weeks now, he is a terrific lad and he lives in Doncaster and he has had the opportunity to sign for Sheffield Wednesday and he has chosen to do that. So people need to know the level of player, the type of player we are looking at, and the reason we have lost him I think is self-explanatory to be honest with you.
I don't think we need to go into that too much, but he rang me personally to thank us for our interest and thank us for the way we are trying to do things and he wished us all the best. Hopefully we bump into each other in the future and things don't work out so well for him and he maybe comes to us, another day another dollar sort of thing.
But that is the type of player that we are trying to go for, it is not always going to happen but we are going to try. We have been talking to Paul for over three months, as early as December, and I think if Sheffield Wednesday hadn't got relegated then we would have got our man.
I know he was, I have got to be careful what I say on the situation, because I know that he was choosing us above other interests he had and it was down to us and Sheffield Wednesday. That was a blow when they went down because that is a tough club to compete with, especially with him living in Doncaster, which is about 20 minutes from Sheffield Wednesday's ground.
The type of the club that he is going to, they are another Leeds United really aren't they, they are going to have 25,000-30,000 people on the terraces if they are in the top parts of the league.
So it was a bit of a blow because I knew straight away when they came down I thought we could have a problem because you always know that they are going to have to get the type of players in there that are proven at League One level. Heffs definitely fits that bill so we were a bit upset when Sheffield Wednesday got down, Crystal Palace wouldn't have been such a major problem.
It must be slightly frustrating for the people out there not to have anything to announce, but it is probably slightly frustrating to me because I wanted to do it all as quickly as possible. But it is never going to be as easy and as uncomplicated as that, but I am sitting here not feeling under too much pressure at the minute because I am happy enough with what is going on.
We have lost one or two targets, we have got further down the line with one or two other targets and things are progressing very much as I thought they might be. So there is no need for anybody to get over-excited or too despondent just yet.
PN
We have spoken in the past about what you would be prioritising in your targets this season, whether it is experience or potential. Has that altered at all given the availability of players at the moment?
GA
Listen, you would love a black and white scenario. You would love to say to the fans this is exactly what we want to do. Football doesn't allow you to do that because what I want is I want a mixture of youth, I want a mixture of youth and experience and I want different types of players in different areas of the field.
I want us, the whole package, the whole squad eventually then once I have got my mixture of youth and experience and different types of players, to then be much, much better than we were this season and go on and have a much better squad. It doesn't always happen as easy as that, you might find yourself with a couple of players older than you would have liked or a couple of players younger than you would have liked.
But I am still sticking to my gameplan of trying to get a blend of youth and experience together so we have got an energy and an enthusiasm and an experience and a player in the club that can help the younger players along.
PN
I know we have talked in the past about the situation with Manchester City and their reserve side, and young players effectively not being given the opportunity to progress. One or two have been released this week, including young striker Jack Redshaw, is he on your radar at all? Is he somebody you are aware of?
GA
You don't want to talk about other players, about potential players, I have talked about Paul because he is one that has been and gone but I am not going to talk about any other targets.
I am going to tell you that there is a comprehensive list of players young and old, experienced, inexperienced, and tall, quick, small, big. So there are lots and lots of different players on that list and I am continuing research to try to bring one of them in that is going to make us better.
PN
As a manager does there become a point where you might start to worry and might start to panic if there is not much activity?
GA
I am in a good position because I know what is going on. So because I know exactly what is going on I am not ready to start panicking and worrying right now, there is no need for that. Because I am comfortable that enough work has gone on to make one or two things happen.
I have just said that I want to try to bring in the very, very best and if those players decide to do other things then we will look at other things that I have got, and I have been trying to keep warm through the summer. So I won't be pressurised into making signings for the sake of it, I won't be pressurised into making signings that I think aren't the right ones.
I have got to give myself every chance to get the best possible squad together for the coming season, and that is what I am doing. I don't feel too worried at the moment but in an ideal world I would have one or two wrapped up, but there are other clubs and other managers sitting in a far worse position than I am.