Evans' magic will entice the cream of available players says Stags assistant boss

Mansfield Town assistant manager Paul Raynor believes Steve Evans will '˜work his magic' in pipping rival clubs to the best players available for next season.
Mansfield Town's Manager Steve Evans with his assistant Paul Raynor - Photo by Chris HollowayMansfield Town's Manager Steve Evans with his assistant Paul Raynor - Photo by Chris Holloway
Mansfield Town's Manager Steve Evans with his assistant Paul Raynor - Photo by Chris Holloway

Raynor said the Stags manager has a knack of getting his man once he’s got him as far as a face to face conversation.

“We have to entice the better players that all the clubs in and around us will want to attract, so it’s about the gaffer working his magic and enticing them here,” said Raynor.

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“He is very good at that. One to one, he’s got that charisma and can sell them the dream of what we are trying to do here and the project we’re trying to start here.

“If he gets them in front of him, generally he works his magic.”

Raynor said they were still in the market for 10-11 new faces.

“We are not ones for having massive squads,” he explained.

“We like 20-21-22 with a couple of youngsters as well. So we are looking for 10, maybe 11 more.

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“So it’s a really busy summer but also an enjoyable one as well.

“We’d like to get out main targets in as soon as possible. We tend to get it all done early.

“We don’t like taking in a lot of untried youngsters. We like experience and people that have done it in the league above or have won things in League Two and have that pedigree.

“We’re not saying they are all going to be of that ilk, but we do like to recruit from above. We need that extra bit of quality – our league position shows that.”

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Already keeper Conrad Logan and defender Zander Diamond have signed on the dotted line and Raynor admitted: “It’s been a very busy week.

“As soon as we came out of Crawley it was full steam ahead, making some tough decisions and speaking to agents, speaking to players, having meetings, starting to put things into place.

“It never really stops. It’s a crucial period of the season in terms of improvement.”