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England star wanted 'ridiculous amount of money' says PREM coach
By Neil Fissler
Alex Sanderson admits he has missed out on several high-profile transfer targets because he refuses to let players and agents take the ‘p***’ during negotiations.
While the Sharks announced the signing of former England centre Joe Marchant for next season, they have missed out on Alex Mitchell, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South and Emeka Ilione.
Sanderson revealed last month that he had a budget for ‘four or five world-class international players’ burning a hole in his pocket as he aims to transform the club from contenders into consistent trophy winners.
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But he has found that having the budget and being able to spend it are two different things, especially when he tried to take Cunningham-South from London to Manchester because he wouldn’t pay over the odds.
“We have had a couple of instances of players and agents coming back and asking for over and above the market value. We are not naive enough to be held to ransom over the fact that we have the resources to build a squad.
“We are not going to get the p*** taken out of us, basically, and that has had an effect on some of the players we could have signed. (Chandler) Cunningham-South is one of them.
“He just asked for a ridiculous amount of money, and we just weren’t prepared to go there. Market value, yes, but players at all costs because we have the resources, no.
“We got advanced enough for repeat meetings and interviews, and numbers being expressed. I’ve started to realise it’s a bit of a numbers game.
“Clearly, it might not be us because it’s good enough for a lot of our players that we have managed to retain. It’s obviously more difficult trying to take players from a club they are already at.
“That’s been shown a couple of times, or you are in competition with another club of pedigree. But we are going to have a better squad than what we have got in years to come,” he said.
Missing out on so many players has prompted Sanderson, who is constantly seeking to improve his approach to his job, to reflect on whether he is doing anything wrong.
However, he also states that the time to judge him on the Sharks’ recruitment for next season isn’t now, after missing out on targets, but later in the season when he has got more players through the door.
“After missing out on a few players, you have to look at your own strategy, and could I have done it better? Could I have handled or performed my interview process better?
“And I look in depth at that as I do my coaching methodology, but I just want the world to know how ambitious we are in respect of building a team that is able to win cups.
“I don’t think there is any shame in mentioning that, because when people understand it’s not just a case of filling ranks and spending what we have.
“Instead of creating a team and looking to have some success over a few years. I want them to buy into that as well. But we will look back at the end of February and judge my tactics then,” he added.
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