Bradford City head of recruitment Gent has no time to waste

The transfer window may have closed last week but there’s no chance of City’s head of recruitment putting his feet up for a while.

“There’s no rest for the wicked,” he smiles, “you’re already looking towards January and then next summer.

“Now it’s an opportunity to get across everything, players and teams.

“I’m getting round the league now, going to games and watching them on Wyscout, getting to know the teams and the players.

“I’ve got a database of players that I refer to and that’s constantly growing. The work never stops but I prefer it like that.”

Bantams fans would forgive Gent wanting to take a break after overseeing a summer market that brought in 17 new faces.

It has been a whirlwind start for the head of recruitment who only took up the post at the end of last season.

Speaking exclusively to the Telegraph & Argus, Gent felt the club’s first window under Mark Hughes went well.

“I’m really pleased with what we’ve done. I’ve heard a few people comment that, on paper, this is the best Bradford City squad they’ve seen in a number of years.

“For me, only time will tell. Our objective is to obviously get promotion and the players should be judged over the course of the season, not after seven, eight, 10 games.

“There were a couple of targets who we didn’t get for whatever reason. You look back and think about what we could maybe have done differently.

“But it was only one or two and that’s why you have a list. If target A doesn’t come off, then you look at B and then C.

“The main thing, from my point of view, is that the manager is happy and he’s got the tools to do the job.

“We know how tough the league is. It’s going to be a long season with plenty of twists and turns but I do believe we’ve certainly built a squad to get us up.”

Gent was presented with pretty much a blank canvas when he took the job after 13 years working his way up at boyhood club Middlesbrough in various scouting, analyst and recruitment roles to become a key member of the backroom staff.

“I looked at the squad when we first spoke about it and the players I knew would be leaving.

“With respect, Bradford had finished 14th and 15th in League Two in the last two seasons.

“Yes, it’s been a massive turnover of players and we don’t want to be doing that every summer and we won’t be.

“We’ve brought in six loans but the rest are all two or three-year deals.

Stephen Gent was appointed in the recruitment role in May

“Speaking with Ryan (Sparks) and the manager, the club needs assets and we’ve had to have that.

“I’ve gone in and presented how I believe we can move forward in that regard because this is a self-sufficient football club. It generates its own income.

“One way to do that is bring in players who are assets. Hopefully they’ll come on the journey with us but if that’s not the case, you can move them on and reinvest that money back into the squad.”

City may be well-stocked for every position right now but Gent’s task remains to line up potential replacements. In the fast-moving world of football recruitment, it pays to be prepared to avoid being caught on the hop.

Gent said: “If Harry Lewis, for example, has a fantastic season for us, which hopefully he will, he’s going to have interest.

“Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t want to lose him but it’s part of the game. If a club come in with an offer that financially we can’t refuse, then we wish him all the best.

“But then I’ve got to find a replacement and that’s what I’m doing now.

“It’s not a case of thinking he’s not good enough but of who the next goalkeeper will be should Harry Lewis go.

“It’s the same with someone coming after Matty Platt or Timi Odusina, these lads are at an age where if they do well in League Two other clubs will be interested.

“We don’t want that to happen. But it’s football, it’s a business, and if it does happen we’ve got to have adequate replacements for each player.

It will be my head on the block. They are my recommendations and I’ll live or die by that.

“If Ryan turns round to me in January and says we’ve had a bid from a Championship club and we’re going to accept it, then it’s my job to show who we’ve got lined up to take their place.

“That’s what we would do at Middlesbrough, continually be out there looking for players. Even though the window’s shut, you’re still working towards the next one and maybe the next one after that.

“I’m pretty much the modern-day head of recruitment, so to speak.

“I won’t go to a game, see a player and say we should sign him just like that.

“There will always be substance in terms of data, information, character checks, everything.

“Every player I presented over the summer to Ryan and the management team, it’s never been on a whim.

“I will find out everything I need to know before that player goes in front of Mark Hughes and Ryan.”

Gent’s background at Boro, he feels, has given him a more rounded approach to the recruitment post. He has seen the operation from different angles.

“I was exposed to a lot of different things. It does shape you to move into the head of recruitment role.

“You’re not only out there identifying players but dealing with agents, negotiating deals. You do get the full package and I’m really grateful to have had those different experiences.

“It was a bit of a wrench to leave. I’m from the area, I’ve supported Middlesbrough since I was a boy and had a season ticket for a number of years.

“My dream was to play for the club, I didn’t get there but the one after that was to work for them in a footballing capacity. I had a lot of successful years there and experiences working with some great people.

“Working in different parts of recruitment, analysis, and obviously finishing being the loans manager certainly stood me in good stead.

“It was a step into the unknown coming here. But where I wanted to go with my career, the size of the club, the project on offer and the chance of working with Mark Hughes was all very appealing to me.

“I wanted to prove to myself more than anything that I could do it. So far, so good but I know, like the players and the management team, I’ll be judged over the season.

“I will take full responsibility for every player, good, not so good, indifferent, that has come into this football club for as long as I’m here as head of recruitment.

“It will be my head on the block. They are my recommendations and I’ll live or die by that.

“I’ll certainly be going into the next summer window, hopefully when we’re a League One club, looking back on what we’ve done and learning from it.”

Part two: Gent discusses his relationship with Mark Hughes and Ryan Sparks and the family link that helped attract Richie Smallwood

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