Reach for the moon and you may just get the stars

An insight into current times at Barnet FC from Kirk Rayment

Kirk Rayment

Earlier this week Kirk and I were discussing putting together a Q&A session for you all to read and what started out as that turned into an unscripted piece which you can read below, sit back, grab a cuppa, beer or something else and have a few minutes down time with an excellent reading piece.

First, I’d like to thank Trevor for asking me to do a bit on his blog, very much appreciated and I hope you enjoy it.

Following on from a tough 6 days of travelling and 3 away games, myself, Dean and the rest of the staff and players would like to thank the crazy souls who have done Manchester twice in 4 days and then Chelmsford on Monday evening. During these hard and difficult times for some, those that follow us up and down the motorways, doesn’t for one second go un-noticed and every single one of us applauds you. Hopefully the 3 wins and another trip up to the North West next week, has made it worthwhile.

My role at the club? Where shall I start? Although down as head of logistics it’s probably more of a footballing operations role. Anything to do with the 1st team comes through me whether that be arranging travel plans, pre match meals, trialists, photo shoots, meet & greets, friendlies, scouting plans, discipline, somewhere along the line I’m involved. On top of that I also help on the training field, taking the occasional session alongside the gaffer or learning and taking tips of the experience of Tumble (John Dreyer) & Mel. I’ve also got 3 family businesses outside of football so my days are very manic and very long. Normally starting at 4am in the morning and working in football has no finish time (especially when Dean has your number!) but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Anyway, enough about me, let’s talk football. 

Season so far? I think it’s been bloody brilliant. Yes a few up & down results/performances but this division is relentless and unforgiving. After the 1st 2 games of the season NO-ONE had a 100% record, says it all. From where Dean took over last season 2nd bottom and things not looking great, to now, is a massive change and a massive step in the right direction.

Beginning of every season that I’ve worked with Dean (12th so far) he sets the lads a points target. Everyone knows what the aim is, so if we have a bad set of results the target doesn’t change, and everyone is still pulling in the same direction. Put it this way, IF we fall slightly short of the target, it will be a successful season. As the gaffer always says

“Reach for the moon, and you may just get the stars” (that’s the Irish in him)

Recruitment is the biggest and hardest thing to any manager & his staff. Last November is when me and Dean first sat down and started to put a list together. Fortunately working at this level for the last 4 seasons, we both have very good knowledge of the players in the league. Dean has a profile for each position and if a certain number of ticks aren’t met against that profile, the further down the list that player goes. We don’t go off CV’s or names, its attributes for the way Dean wants to play.

Once we have a 1,2,3 in each position (sometimes 4,5,6 & 7) we begin to do our homework.

Where do they live?

Social Media?

Family, Kids?

Personality & character?

References?

You may wonder why nothing about their footballing ability is on that list. We already know that they meet Dean’s profile, this is all about the character. For us that’s the biggest thing we look for out of everything.

Dean has his finger on everything and by the end of the process pretty much knows the player like they’ve been friends for years. 

‘Togetherness, will back their teammates, not going to sulk when rotated, fun to be around’.

We are with the players for longer than our own families at times. Nothing worse than being in an environment which isn’t fun or enjoyable. I enjoy coming in everyday into our little bubble, soon as I see the lads I’m smiling and laughing, it’s like a little family. When I bring my little one Luke into training during half term (he’s 8) the lads are unbelievable with him, treat him like one of the lads, he thinks he’s one of the lads, that’s the group we have put together. It’s on another level. Anyone that’s been around it picks up on it straight away, even some of the players have commented that they’ve never been in a group with such togetherness. That’s where I think Dean, Tumble, Mel, Kingy (Gary King) & myself can really pat ourselves on the back.

Back to the recruitment process, I read on Twitter etc when fans tweet sign this, sign that. We are constantly watching players or out at games ( didn’t see many others go in for Marvin Armstrong). We are always watching someone but, they must be right. We have a recruitment WhatsApp group where whenever we get players sent to us via agents or circulars from clubs, we put into this group for us all to see (Management team) it is constantly pinging. Players from Premier League Under 21s teams to players from step 7/8, its constant.

Therefore, we have such a thorough process on the recruitment. You’re judged on your signings, we have targets that we are negotiating with, but we can’t just sign anyone. They must fit the profile; the character must fit into our group. They must be an upgrade on what we already have otherwise it’s a pointless signing and could break that togetherness that we have, that’s what one signing can do to a whole group.

Let’s take Idris as an example –

8th August I went and watched Peterborough U21’s vs QPR U21’s. I initially went there to watch a player for QPR that we had interest in. Rang Dean & said about Idris as he stood out, got chatting to Barry Fry to find out all the who, what, why, where’s.

Dean then went and watched Idris another 2 times, while in the background we have got character references etc. 1st September we officially announced his signing, that’s over 3 weeks from start to finish. We must do our due diligence and make sure they are the right person, we get offered players hourly.

This week Idris turned down the opportunity to play for Sierre Leone in Dubai to stay and stick together with the staff and the lads, he scored the winner Monday night. That’s what we’ve built here, that’s the sort of stuff that no one sees. That’s also the sort of stuff that wins those sorts of games. TOGETHERNESS, HARD WORK, DETERMINATION.

Losing Ephron would be massive to any team but how far have we come as a team now. Sitting in the play offs and 2nd round of the FA Cup, that’s some turnaround in a year!!

Having worked with Dean for 12 years but known him for 20, we really do have that trust & loyalty for one another. If he’s off scouting a player who we’ve been recommended, he knows that the running of the ship back at The Hive is in good hands and can go watch and not have to worry. Same on match days he’s so engrossed in a game that I try and help out with the other side of it and make sure defensively we are in the right shape, or set up correctly for attacking set pieces. (and also try and keep his emotions in tact) I can go to a game and know within minutes of watching a specific player whether he’ll fit into a Dean Brennan team.

Within the last year we’ve been very lucky to be able to add the experience of Tumble & Mel, they do the side of the game that’s so important. They offer unbelievable support & advice through their 1,089 years in the game between them, which allows me to watch the game from a higher view point and let them deal with Dean’s outbursts, Kingy is another vital cog in that wheel.

Young Robbo, our analyst is unbelievable. His eye for the game at such a young age and the hard work he puts in, he’ll have a successful career in the game and higher up the leagues. (hopefully with the bees)

Jade Doran has really dug us out in the last month, helping us massively while our other physio is off work. Working 7 days a week to make sure that the lads are looked after. Got back to The Hive from Oldham at just before midnight on Saturday and back in at 7am the following morning helping the players with recovery ahead of Monday, before heading off to Hackney to be pitch side for the London Bees.

In the last few weeks Dean has received personal handwritten letters & thank you cards from supporters thanking him for bringing the good times back. Not much leaves Dean lost for words, trust me, but these did. We always aim to make the fans part of the football team. The door is always open for fans to pop in for chat or watch training.

I always make sure I say hello to my little buddy every match day, Village is part of the furniture. Seeing people like Carla, Max, James & Bert, Gran, James, Doreen, Joe, Charlie, Nick, Trev (plus many more, recognisable faces just not names, so apologies) making these journeys home & away.

Then people behind the scenes like Dan Martin, Natasha, Alex, Christian, Nikki & the Chairman really does make it all so enjoyable. Football really is a special gift to so many people. Enjoy whenever you can because there’s always more downs than ups in football.

Trevor has asked a few more questions of which answers are below:

Who has the best Tash for Movember?

Tumble – Was a slow starter but he’s now getting comments on how it suits him. So hopefully it stays a little while longer.

Who has the best taste in music?

Other than me, probably Smudge. All his songs your feet end up tapping and singing along too. Some of the other music played by some of the lads is horrendous, but when Luke gets home and grabs my Spotify to play what he heard in the changing rooms, let’s just say his Mum wasn’t too pleased.

Who has the worst taste in clothes?

Michael Phillips – Came in the other day wearing some awful brown tracksuit with crocs. Totally unacceptable.

Does Sean Shields hair always look that good?

Yeah, and he smells great!

Remember our door is always open and free for anyone, don’t be shy to pop down and watch training or pop in and say hello, we like to see you.

Get behind the team, they will always give 100%, sometimes they’ll be s**t, sometimes we’ll get it wrong but just remember it’s YOUR club we are representing, and these boys will go through brick walls to hit the target set.

Sometimes if things aren’t going right in a game, you lift the volume that extra 10% can really make a difference, breeds confidence and trust me when I say this – the lads will not let you down.

Enjoy the lead up to Christmas, some really exciting games but first we have Torquay at home which is our sole focus.

My huge thanks to Kirk for penning this piece, what started out as a set of questions turned into this fantastic read and I hope you all enjoyed the full article.