Keith Curle on the final weekend transfer window activity
Manager Keith Curle spoke to us about the final day of the transfer window at his Tuesday morning press conference.
“To be honest, we didn’t really get close to pushing any deals over the line on deadline day,” he said. “We had a few conversations with people but I think players are happy to sit on some of the contracts they’re on or get paid astronomical amounts of money for, in my opinion, their real value. That’s why we didn’t get any further than just having conversations.
“I think you’ll find that negotiations between myself and players will take a little bit longer because I want the right characters at this football club. It’s not about money or the logistics of getting here. It’s about buying into us going forward.
“I know I’ll miss out on some players because of that. I’m confident that there’s enough good players out there who will fit into what we are trying to build here. It’s very important that we don’t lower our standards or pay money for people who can’t produce the level of performances I require.”
“We don’t necessarily have any gaps to plug at this moment in time,” he insisted. “I had a conversation with John Nixon and he asked if there was anything I was desperately in need of. I think the acquisition of Charlie Wyke filled a hole, and Nathan Buddle is one for the future.
“There are people coming back on the fringes of the squad, like Billy Paynter, Danny Kearns and Gary Dicker, who are getting fitter. They are three important squad members who have a lot of experience, talent and ability. If I can get them back in with the right mentality then they will be good for us to have at our disposal.
“Gary obviously has done a certain amount of work and we’re fairly confident he will be back in full training in a week to ten days time. These lads haven’t had the game time they require but they are getting there and the extra work they’re doing is benefiting them. Billy is just coming to the end of his fitness reconditioning work but he hasn’t been able to do the football part because of the weather. What we need now is to get him involved with the football side of it and we can push on from there.”
“We’re mindful of the fact that the loan window will be there should we have any loss of form, injuries or suspensions,” he said. “We have a constant eye on every position and we have people we can go to should we need to.
“In terms of players going out, we did have some contact, but nothing which really interested us. There was a bid from a Championship club for Brad Potts but their valuation was miles away from ours.
“It wasn’t even a case of us being able to get into negotiations. This club has invested a lot of time, money and effort into some players and I see a market value on them because of that. We’re not saying we want millions but we know what it would take to make us consider something seriously.
“We had no interest in Kyle Dempsey at all during the window. The last talk about him was about six weeks ago and it wasn’t followed up. We’re still talking to both of these lads about staying with us but things have got to be right for all concerned. We were locked in talks with them last week and I'm sure that will continue.
“No line has been drawn in the sand by either party but we will continue to talk. We’re trying to incentivise the players who are with us so they earn more money if they hit targets on the field and off the field.”
On the interest in Beck and Amoo, he said: “That interest started just before deadline day. A couple of clubs asked if we would be prepared to let them go out on loan. That was met with a straight no because of the contribution they wanted to pay to their wages. That was increased until eventually the clubs said they wanted to pay the full amount of their wages and they were willing to negotiate a loan fee.
“It wasn’t considered as an option by me. I took it to John Nixon, for him to put to the other stakeholders, and I was backed again when they told me there was no need for those players to leave the football club.
“If you look at David Amoo, he has an impact for us. Mark Beck is the same. He’s also getting his goals in the reserve games and the work he’s doing is starting to pay off. I think both players are going to be an integral part of the squad and of what we need to do.”
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