Good morning. Tomorrow evening we welcome our good friends from Boston United to the Mangata Developments Stadium, Meadow Park. May I wish their Directors, Manager, players and supporters an enjoyable evening with us and a safe journey home.
Well, it’s fair to say both clubs this evening have started the season well. Both clubs have strong squads, both clubs are ambitious and both clubs have two very good managers.
On the player front, we also have great news to report, as both Zak Brunt and Tom White have this week signed new long-term contracts. It’s all part of my, Charlie’s, Luke’s and the Club’s long-term vision to create another period of sustained success and improvement on the pitch, aligned with the continued investment within the stadium and facilities off the pitch.
OK, now feels like the right time to give you some up-to-date transfer news. In truth, other than at the recent Club Q&A, I’ve stayed very quiet in terms of Abdul Abdulmalik and this drawn-out transfer saga because, as a father and grandfather, I genuinely understand Abdul’s frustration and, yes, of course I’m aware that it’s an all-consuming saga for Abdul, his family and his advisors.
For me, it’s not a saga, a drama or even an all-consuming issue, as in my capacity as owner it must be seen as business as usual and, as such, we must, as a club, act smartly, unemotionally and for some very good reasons.
Firstly, at 64 years of age and having enjoyed 28 seasons here in the Chair, I know our supporters want an experienced owner to stand up to outside noise, to see passive-aggressiveness for what it is and not allow anything, except my own good conscience, to dictate what’s right for our dressing room and our football club.
As such, my conscience is very clear, I’m sleeping well and I’m very happy regarding both my and our Club’s overall behaviour regarding all things Abdul-related, from his arrival here, his first season, our promotion and winning the National League Cup, through to losing at Wembley and up to the time of writing these notes.
I, of course, understand the new agent, player, family and advisors are not happy, as they are only thinking about Abdul and themselves, but that is very much their concern. I’ve now watched the behaviour of those concerned up close over the last three weeks. I’ve seen the constant leaks to Sky Sports and the press, but that’s out of my control.
I do understand that some people will think those press leaks will put me under pressure (they don’t), but what I will say is that these things are unhelpful to all concerned, as they unsettle the player unnecessarily and just add to the noise, the me, me, me culture and poor behaviour.
I’m old school and always believe that a transparent transfer negotiation must firstly begin with the interested (buying) club making contact with the parent club (us) in good faith. Only if those initial conversations between the clubs are positive can a deal further down the line be done.
If a transfer is being initiated at the start by an agent or by a buying club using an agent, then one club (us), in this case, is usually kept in the dark before an offer is suddenly sent through. Remember, at that point the agent and the player have already agreed their deals, even though NO deal at that point has been struck between the two clubs.
To be even clearer, if a potentially interested club knowingly contacts a contracted player through an agent, without his parent club’s permission, and negotiates his deal, that could constitute an unauthorised approach under the relevant football regulations.
A transfer in normal circumstances is genuinely not rocket science. However, put simply, if an unauthorised approach to a player is made before either an initial agreement with the selling club has been reached or permission to talk to the player has been given, then simply talking to the player, either directly or through his agent, could constitute an unauthorised approach.
If that happens, a player on most occasions has already had his head turned long before the parent club (us) even knows that the player has accepted his deal and long before a low-ball offer is on its way to the parent club. Hope the above makes sense?
Of course, these things do happen and will continue to happen in football, possibly because it’s now become common practice and perhaps because agents don’t make the monies they want if the market is quiet?
In our defence, we had made it very clear after our Wembley defeat to eight or nine of our players’ agents, who we knew might look to attract interest from other clubs, that as a club we had our own ambitions this season and we were not looking to sell certain players here at any price.
I felt we were respectful and very open with every agent and every player, and I was crystal clear on our stance. I now feel I’m being made out to be the bad guy here and slightly held hostage, as it’s very late in the transfer window and I’m now forced into negotiating a transfer because the said player, on advice from others, has downed tools.
In truth, I’m not happy with that, nor the silly press leaks after we stayed respectfully quiet and agreed to negotiate in good faith. However, with Abdul now once again downing tools, I’m slightly backed into a corner and feel I need to set the record straight to our loyal supporters by being very honest, while still not airing too much of our dirty washing in public.
As such, I’ve decided, rather than do an external interview with the many, that I’d quietly set out my thoughts in these programme notes, as I’m the person who controls these types of things here. I’m making it crystal clear that we have negotiated in good faith with a club, but we will not relent on the present asking price, as we have already lowered our asking price by £350k.
When the time is right, I might go into more detail about the real truths behind these press leaks, the downing of tools, the player’s conduct, the nonsense and the behaviour of some characters within this transfer saga. But for now, “least said, best mended” is my stance. That said, until the window has closed, the ball is now firmly in the buying club’s, player’s, agent’s and advisors’ court because if our valuation is met, then Abdul can go.
For clarity, as far as I’m concerned, the transfer fee is agreed. It’s now simply about reaching agreement on some add-ons based on the buying club’s league and UEFA success while Abdul is at their club. There are some appearance add-ons, a simple international clause should Abdul become an international (which would increase his worth tenfold) and a fair sell-on. That’s pretty much the saga/story in a nutshell.
At the moment, Abdul is refusing to train with us or play, though he is still very much our player and has two years left on his contract. My gut feeling is that the buying club might decide not to come back to the table, but of course I might be wrong? If I was a betting man, and I’m not, I would expect, when the transfer window closes next Tuesday, that an unhappy Abdul will still be with us, but what do I know?
Anyway, enough of that drama and nonsense for at least this evening. All I can say to our loyal supporters is, forget the noise and let me deal with that. Your job is to attend the game, enjoy tonight, enjoy this squad, enjoy this team, enjoy their talent, enjoy Zak and Tom’s contract extensions and enjoy our very positive start to the season, as it’s joyous.
As I often tell you, “God loves a trier”, so with a bit of belief, a fair wind, a little bit of luck and a win this evening, we could be celebrating being top of the league by 10pm tonight. Trust me, our Club is well run, it has a local man at the helm and really does know itself.
I can also honestly tell you this: we are not a one-man team, which I think Saturday’s performance at FGR perfectly demonstrated. So please forget the noise. Our valuation is set, it is fair and we will not be lowering it any more than the £350k that we already have over the next five days.
It’s now a very simple equation. If the buying club wants to agree the add-ons and finalise a transfer agreement, then let’s get on with it, as I’m ready and waiting. If not, trust me, I’ll be even happier as the window will be closed and we’ll still have Abdul.
For clarity, Abdul, in his position, is the best in this division and the division above by a country mile, hence why he is valued highly. If he stays, he will of course help us enormously with our promotion push and EFL ambition.
That ambition started with me a long time ago. It now continues through my staff, our manager, our dressing room, our sponsors and my partners. It is also now driven by you, our loyal supporters, by our town and by our wider community, as our dream is the EFL. I ask any one of you: how do I put a price on that?
Well, since our Wembley loss, the last few months at the Club have been very exciting, and the last two weeks have seen the South End Project really begin to take shape. The dream of building an EFL ground is now more than real. Work has begun but will begin in earnest on 14th September, and the finished design really is quite exceptional.
It will include new groundworks, drainage, utilities, roads, new changing rooms, a new officials’ room and a new office area. It also includes a new lighting design, signage and landscaping, which will all be in situ and completed well before Christmas this year (phase one).
The new Away Fan Zone will be complete with new pathways, fence lines, gates, signage, seating, lighting, turnstiles, toilets, an away bar and catering units. We will also build a new maintenance unit and grounds building. This, we hope, will be completed by February 2027 (phase two).
From February 2027 to July 2027, we will then complete the new South Stand, drop in a control room, build additional pathways, add a gantry and service road, build a new rehab and community Astro pitch, complete further fence lines, a wheel wash, CCTV, Wi-Fi and all things in between, ready before the start of next season (phase three).
As always within my programme notes, I’ve tried to give our fans an honest update and appraisal of where I believe we sit at present. All I ask in this most important of seasons is that you continue to get behind Luke and the dressing room in the normal way, and let’s hope we get a memorable team performance tomorrow evening and a table-topping end to the night.
Finally, whoever you support, let’s hope for an open, attacking game and may the best team win.
Take care,
Danny
