MARTIN ALLEN

I only want players who are hungry

MANAGING IN THE REAL WORLD Martin is boss of Chesterfield (his tenth club)

There’s no transfer deadline in our world. You can buy and sell at any time in the National League. so we have been busy in the loan market in the last week, still looking for the right players to get us on track after two successive relegations, knowing very well that we have to make every penny count.

We don’t have scouts on our staff. There’s just me, my first team coach Carl Muggleton and assistant Adrian Whitbread getting around. Carl gets to two games a week, Adrian and me one apiece, from Northern Premier to Premier League academies. In our world, you’re also relying on contacts in a way that’s not necessary for the clubs who people read about, week-in week-out.

By chance, I met a manager on saturday at the hotel where we stopped for our prematch meal on the way down to Dagenham and redbridge, who told me about a player at a level below ours who we should sign. I’ll get him watched this week.

recommendations usually come from ex-players of mine and ex-staff. It’s why I always try to keep in touch with people. relationships get you players.

Take Tom Denton, the striker we signed this week from Alfreton Town, a level below us. he was a 20-year- old when I brought him on loan from huddersfield to Cheltenham. It was probably a bit too early for him. he’s 29 now, has filled out, has more experience, more confidence and when he played for Alfreton against us in pre- season our central defenders couldn’t get near him. he scored twice.

I had him watched three times by my staff and people I know who said, ‘sign him.’ Tom was a plasterer until last Wednesday. he was in the middle of a job when we signed him. he wanted to finish the job. so he signed for us on Tuesday, finished that job on our day off on Wednesday, trained on Thursday and started for us at Dagenham.

Lee shaw, who we signed from Grantham this summer, had been packing boxes in a factory. You wouldn’t believe the time he puts in after training, working on his inside-the-box finishing.

There is an element of risk, of course. You can never know until they play. And you need to give them a little bit of time. But an interview that really resonated with me was with the Lincoln manager, Danny Cowley, who said that signing players from lower levels helped because they were hungry.

Danny’s words came back to me when I approached a couple of well-known former Championship players who currently have no clubs. I invited them to train with us and see if they fancied being a part of our set-up. Neither of them wanted to come. No clubs, no games — but they didn’t want to come. Perhaps it was for the best that they didn’t, if money really entered the equation that much.

Tom had a good start at Dagenham. he tired a bit, which is to be expected, but he’s 6ft 5in tall and in the last 10 minutes he was back helping us defend setpieces. We need more goals to get us out of this difficult spell and I believe Tom and Lee will help us with that. We have mid-table Gateshead and Maidenhead up next.