PETER RISDALE's Guide to Deadline Day
Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:02 am
Peter Ridsdale is best known for being chairman at Leeds United when they were a buying club, and Cardiff City when they were a selling one.
He has been behind some mega-money moves at the top of the Premier League, and also kept clubs afloat by thrashing out last-minute deals.
He is currently an advisor to League One side Preston North End, having also had roles at Barnsley and Plymouth.
Here is his guide to the transfer window and deadline day.
Use it to keep your club alive
At Cardiff we brought in almost £30m from selling players in five years. We were £30m in debt; we had no cash. My job was to sell at least £5m worth of players each year to keep the club alive. The challenge was to hold your nerve and get the highest price possible when we needed the cash.
When striker Michael Chopra went to Sunderland, the initial bid was about £1.5m-£2m and we eventually got £5m. That money kept the club alive that summer. The first bid for midfielder Aaron Ramsey from Manchester United and Arsenal was around £1m. Now I think I sold him on the cheap for £5m but he'd only played a few games at the time.
It was holding one's nerve - knowing that you needed to sell in order to pay the payroll at the end of the month. You had to weigh up at what point does the other club pull out versus you negotiating to get a higher price.
Chopra joined Cardiff from Newcastle for £500,000 in 2006 and left for 10 times that figure a year later to Sunderland. He rejoined Cardiff, initially on loan, little over a year later and signed permanently for £4m.
Ramsey was a Cardiff youth-team product who left the club for Arsenal after 22 appearances.
Be careful if you listen to the fans
One of the lessons I've learned over the years is nobody prepares you for the spotlight, profile and pressure of being in charge of transfers. When I was in charge of Leeds, I was far more responsive to supporters' needs and reactive to managers' demands than perhaps I should have been. I learned an interesting lesson.
During my five years at Cardiff, I took a view that if we were doing the right thing, I could live with myself. Whatever the external pressure, I'd learned my lesson. I did a far better job buying and selling players at Cardiff than I did, perhaps, in some of the occasions when I was at Leeds.
read more - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25951414
He has been behind some mega-money moves at the top of the Premier League, and also kept clubs afloat by thrashing out last-minute deals.
He is currently an advisor to League One side Preston North End, having also had roles at Barnsley and Plymouth.
Here is his guide to the transfer window and deadline day.
Use it to keep your club alive
At Cardiff we brought in almost £30m from selling players in five years. We were £30m in debt; we had no cash. My job was to sell at least £5m worth of players each year to keep the club alive. The challenge was to hold your nerve and get the highest price possible when we needed the cash.
When striker Michael Chopra went to Sunderland, the initial bid was about £1.5m-£2m and we eventually got £5m. That money kept the club alive that summer. The first bid for midfielder Aaron Ramsey from Manchester United and Arsenal was around £1m. Now I think I sold him on the cheap for £5m but he'd only played a few games at the time.
It was holding one's nerve - knowing that you needed to sell in order to pay the payroll at the end of the month. You had to weigh up at what point does the other club pull out versus you negotiating to get a higher price.
Chopra joined Cardiff from Newcastle for £500,000 in 2006 and left for 10 times that figure a year later to Sunderland. He rejoined Cardiff, initially on loan, little over a year later and signed permanently for £4m.
Ramsey was a Cardiff youth-team product who left the club for Arsenal after 22 appearances.
Be careful if you listen to the fans
One of the lessons I've learned over the years is nobody prepares you for the spotlight, profile and pressure of being in charge of transfers. When I was in charge of Leeds, I was far more responsive to supporters' needs and reactive to managers' demands than perhaps I should have been. I learned an interesting lesson.
During my five years at Cardiff, I took a view that if we were doing the right thing, I could live with myself. Whatever the external pressure, I'd learned my lesson. I did a far better job buying and selling players at Cardiff than I did, perhaps, in some of the occasions when I was at Leeds.
read more - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25951414
Re: PETER RISDALE's Guide to Deadline Day
Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:35 pm
If Tan reads that he'll probably hire him as a second advisor 