Click here for answers 1-8.
Click here for answers 9-20.
Click here for answers 21-30.
Click here for answers 31-40.
Click here for answers 41-50.
Click here for answers 51-60.
Click here for answers 61-70.
71 – What’s happened to the Underhill clock? Can we have it on display somewhere at The Hive?
My recollection is that it went faulty whilst we were at Underhill and was left behind but I can’t exactly recall where it is now.
72 – Could you please explain the difference in the role and responsibilities of “Football Operations” and “Technical Football” matters?
In very quick simple terms, Football Operations involves staff recruitment, secretarial, administration, commercial, marketing, PR, academy and ladies football structure, club development etc. Technical Football advisor involves playing style, managerial recruitment and liaison, first team recruitment, first team coaching and pathways.
This is not meant as either a comprehensive or exhaustive list but just to give you a flavour of the variance in the roles. We will provide more detail when we release the structure chart which should help you all to better understand how your club works but I am a little disappointed we have not previously communicated all this better, an area in which we need to improve.
73 – When Mark McGhee was announced the news item on the web site announced the arrival of “Mark McGhee as first team manager.” In one of his interviews Mark did mention that the original intention was to be Director of Football, but following the decision of Rossi Eames to step down from the head coach role there was a change of plan. In your first answer you mention that Mark was recruiting for a head coach. When the head coach is recruited who will be in charge of team selection and tactics, the head coach or Mark McGhee? Was it always the intention to appoint another head coach when Mark McGhee was recruited and if so why was this not made clear in the announcement of his appointment?
I interviewed and appointed Mark in the Technical Advisor role I have described. Things moved very quickly with Rossi standing down so I had to ask Mark to make a quick change to our original plan and at the time we did not want to overcomplicate the announcement or go into much detail on what was going on behind the scenes.
74 – Could you please elaborate on why so much of the clubs summer transfer activity was compressed into deadline day, ending in the failure to make the deadline for both an ingoing and outgoing transfer when we had a whole summer to address the teams need?
This drives me and my staff absolutely nuts every year! Put simply, it’s the negotiation with players, agents and clubs all exploring alternatives and brinkmanship right up to the last minute. Remember, we are all fishing in the same pool.
75 – Taking the recruitment of Dave Tarpey as an example, could you provide some insight into the timeline of the transfer? Specifically when did the club first make a firm decision that Dave Tarpey was a player they wanted to recruit, when was the first approach to Maidenhead United made and when did contract negotiations actually start?
We had a deal break down at the last minute and I was speaking about it with John Still, he knows everyone and everything going on in the National League. He hinted to me that we might be able to nip in and sign Tarpey, so we went for it….the rest is history.
76 – I think it would greatly improve the supporters understanding of what goes on behind the scenes if key members of staff occasionally communicated what they are working on. I would very much like to hear from our “Head of Football Operations”, “Director of Player Development”, “Head of Player Recruitment” and yourself a couple of times a season. It doesn’t need to be a big overhead, but would it be possible to ask each of them to write an article or be interviewed for the website once or twice a season outlining what they have been up to.
Seems a good idea and what we should be doing so let’s see if our media department can get this organised.
77 – Would it be possible to improve the coverage of the youth and U23 team on the website? All I am looking for is advance notice of the fixtures (preferably more than a couple of days in advance) and a brief report on the games.
I don’t see why not, please write to tellus@barnetfc.com and they will forward your ideas to the media department.
78 – While I support the sentiments in the recent “club statement” on supporters behaviour, my understanding is that it was a response to an incident(s) that took place after the Cheltenham fixture. Why did it take the club more than a fortnight to issue the statement?
This wasn’t just one incident but a growing problem amongst certain individuals that has now escalated and been brought into focus. The statement may not be worded as I would have preferred but this behaviour is not acceptable.
79 – Do you agree that the first team squad is now too large and if so how has this come about?
It’s is far too large but this is what happens when you have managerial changes, injuries and lots of kids coming through at the same time. The cost is considerable so we need to trim in the summer.
80 – Have you or anyone else from the club phoned “Mad Dog” about the vacant head coaching position? I’m starting to miss him!
Martin and I are in regular contact and he wishes us all well.
