The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
English wage cap may help – Mellon
Manager believes limits down south could make Scotland more attractive
Dundee United manager Micky Mellon believes the wage cap in the English lower leagues could help his club with recruitment.
Mellon has had a successful career coaching down south with Fleetwood, Shrewsbury, Tranmere and as caretaker at Barnsley. He knows that market extremely well.
Under his guidance the Tangerines signed central defender Ryan Edwards from Blackpool, and have Rochdale midfielder Florent Hoti on trial.
They are expected to make further use of that recruiting ground before the transfer window shuts.
Both the English Leagues One and Two voted last month to implement squad salary caps, with fixed ceilings of £2.5 million and £1.5 million respectively.
That could level the playing field for Scottish sides like United, who are keen to tempt talent north.
Mellon said: “At the minute my thinking is the wage cap in League One and League Two will help us financially because we don’t have the cap here.
“However, you still have to get the player to want to come north.
“It is the same way that English clubs have to get players to want to go south because, for it to happen both ways, people’s families have to want to move.
“But from the financial perspective, nobody knows how it’s going to pan out yet because it’s still a bit vague and not set in stone so we will have to see how it pans out.
“Nevertheless, from where we are sitting right now, it looks as though it may help Scottish clubs because we don’t have the same restrictions.
“Maybe that will make us a bit more competitive.”
United have been without star striker Lawrence Shankland for five of their six Premiership games now because of an ankle injury, his latest absence coming as they were beaten 4-0 by Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Mellon, who has been linked with a possible loan move for Ipswich Town frontman James Norwood, is continuing to look around for fresh faces.
“We are always on recruitment and it is not a distraction because it is part of the job,” he said.
“We talk about it every day. We monitor players and games all the time; that doesn’t ever change.
“We want to push and probe on recruitment all the time.
“I don’t think there is a hotspot for recruitment apart from when the window shuts.
“There isn’t a time during it where you think: ‘We will knuckle down on it now’. It is an ongoing process. We’re at it all the time, the work is always being done in the background and you just have to be ready to go when something you like pops up.”
Mellon revealed his phone has been busy, but it has to be the right player on offer.
“I’m taking calls from agents and scouts all the time,” added the Tannadice gaffer.
“That is the way it has to be when you are at a club that wants to be better. You always have to be looking to improve and doing that work.
“When you are bringing people in it has to be the right fit, be from the right recruitment pool and be the right characters.
“All the ingredients have to be there to make Dundee United better.
“You know what you can afford and what you can’t, and also where you have to look for players who would be interested in coming here. We know where we are shopping so it is about looking at the best options within that.
“It is not that we’re looking at 20 people – that is not the case – but you have to have the options there.
“So if something comes up and (United sporting director) Tony Asghar says to me: ‘Micky, what do you think about this?’ then we’re ready to react if it’s the right thing for us.”
Mellon revealed that he has yet to discover whether trialist Hoti will be the right thing, with the coronavirus keeping the pair at a social distance.
You still have to get the player to want to come north.
MICKY MELLON
He added: “Because of the Covid and the testing, I haven’t had a chance to see him.
“The rules say you have to stick to your group so he hasn’t been able to come over and I’ve not been able to get to his group.
“In fact, the guy who is telling me how he is doing can’t even come near us so I’ve got to speak to him on the phone to ask how he is doing!
“The reports have been good and seemingly he’s done well.
“So we’re going to get him tested for my group this week and that will let me have a decent look at him.
“He has been here before and it has been an ongoing thing.
“The guys at the club feel he’s done enough so I will have a look at him now – once we can get him into our group,” he added.