Q&A with Halifax Wanderers sporting director Matt Fegan

It's safe to say the Halifax Wanderers have defied expectations this season — just not in the way they'd have wanted.

Fresh off their first playoff berth and tied for second in the regular season, Wanderers sporting director Matt Fegan spent the off-season trying to insulate a core group of players which the club felt had championship potential. Some signings, like Ryan Telfer, have found their groove in Halifax while others have already packed their bags, quickly falling out of the club's plan.

So how does a player go from being freshly signed to out of rotation? And when is the right time to add a player when the squad is slumping? Or is it best to let the ebbs and flows of a season tell you what moves to make? For the Wanderers, Fegan makes those calls, as well as helping to manage several other aspects of the club.

Josh Healey of The Wanderers Notebook recently had the opportunity to speak with Fegan during training on Friday to discuss roster management, bringing in new players and developing player pathways across Atlantic Canada.

JH: Hi Matt, as always, I'm very appreciative of your time. We haven't really had the chance to speak this year but I think it's safe to say, the season hasn't gone the way that the club, or the media, for that matter, anticipated given how the Wanderers finished last season. The club is seven points outside of the playoffs at this time. What are your expectations for the remainder of the season and what this group can accomplish?

MF: Well, my expectations are still that this is a playoff challenging team. I still think on the balance of it, this team has the ability to make the playoffs, not just the players, but the staff as well, to come together and produce the results that we all expect from this great calibre of team.

I think, obviously, we've got a two game home stand now, and with that comes the opportunity to do even the most basic things like being at home in your own bed, which when you're on a road trip, can be a challenge if something in one game doesn't go right, that the knock on effect can be a bit more challenging to overcome quickly. But like I said, I think that the pieces are all here. It's just there are some small margins and some things that have not gone our way.

But that's football, and I think if the right things go our way — there is an element of fortune or there's an element of continuing to believe in what it is that we're building and what it is that we have at our disposal — that we have all the pieces here to do the job.

JH: As the sporting director, you spent the off-season adding to what is, I think, a very good core. You identify some holes, you bring in players like Julian Dunn, Christian Volesky and Ryan Telfer. But sometimes the best laid plans of mice of men, as they say, doesn't work out how you thought.

How do you decide the right time to make a move, be it to bring in a player like Clément Bayiha, and when is the right time to wait and see how the pieces mesh?

MF: I think every season we've gone into it trying to, or at least every season since I've been in this role, leave the opportunity to tweak things as things go. I think at every single level of football, there are additions made to squads, and some hit the ground running, and some don't and that's right up to Sir Alex Ferguson, who has a long list of players that didn't quite work out for him either, and he's still a phenomenal coach and essentially the equivalent support director, because he did all.

Now, I think that you have to be around the group first of all, enough to recognize the energy that's in the group, to recognize when maybe they need a bit of a lift positionally. Obviously, you've got some injuries that maybe you hope would be overcome quicker than others, so you need to kind of add to that position. I think, with regards to Clém (Bayiha), for example, we had a player that was joining the team going into this season that fit a very similar profile to Clém and for one reason or another, we ended up not signing them for the season. That left a little bit of a hole positionally and profile wise, something we knew we were kind of missing, which was some pace and someone, you know, that can stretch the game a little bit.

The reality is Clém is a player we've always shown interest in. Clém was never available. Clém became available, and we still needed that position to be filled, and we obviously needed to look at the realities of our squad at the time, and Tomas Giraldo was looking for more minutes than the first team coaches were capable of giving him. (The loan swap) was a natural fit in both directions. I think it's just one of those things where we all look at this and say that there's always going to be a moment where we have to retool things, sometimes even if it's just the basics of lifting the spirits around the group when they have a new face come in.

JH: That's really interesting. Are you able to give more information about the player that you almost brought in? Because it sounds like it was close.

MF: I don't want to dwell on it too much, only to say we had an agreement with that player and they had a life goal of going somewhere else and when that opportunity came up, they approached us. I like to think that we see the human element of this. As we've always said, if the right player has the right opportunity and they want to go to another level, we're not going to stand in their way. I'd rather have a squad that's 125 per cent dedicated to being in this program anyways.

I think everyone can attest to what Clém added. Unfortunately, he's dealt with a little bit of an injury recently, but he's come back into the squad, and I think he does bring a freshness, like a lot of the other guys that we've added during the season have done as well.

JH: We've already touched on a couple players that I want to bring up. Telfer, for example, wasn't necessarily penciled in as a No.9 to start the season. Dunn was giving an excellent showing of himself until he got injured. But someone I really wanted to ask about was Volesky, who didn't work out and was released by the club.

I spoke to Volesky in pre-season and he talked about his experience and how he wanted to win and how he hoped to maybe teach Tiago Coimbra a bit. He ended up falling out of the starting XI very quickly. I think he was in for two matches and then only came on from the bench after that. How much distress can that cause when a plan that you've made in the off-season goes awry in the first two matches? What are you thinking when he fell out of rotation?

MF: I don't know if we've ever signed a player and said that one player is going to make or break what we're trying to do, right? You always need to add players that have versatility and add a range of different pieces as well that make you stronger. And I think with Ryan (Telfer) coming in, I'll be honest, like he's turned into one of the best No. 9's in the league, if not, at times, been the best No. 9 in this league. But there are a number of factors that go into a player also not hitting the ground. And it's funny, I don't think there is a true science to it in all of this. You look at a player who's done the rounds in a very comparable level and won titles and scored a lot of goals, and you think, okay, I guess whenever you're trying to assign a player, you try to minimize your risks. But sometimes there's other factors that play into it that are life things as well, that unfortunately, on the outside, we don't dwell too heavily on or try to talk about too much.

The reality is as well, that it takes time for people to adjust to new environments. If somebody picks up a knock in pre-season, and all of a sudden the rest of the team is just trying to understand their movement off the ball and with the ball and they don't get that momentum, then form is such a dictator of involvement in a game. All of a sudden, somebody else comes in, takes the spot. I look at what Dan Nimick has gone and done. Dan got his break off an unfortunate injury for another player who we went into the pre-season (last year) thinking he would get more minutes and didn't. All of a sudden, we found a gem in Dan.

As it relates to Christian, it's just one of those things where it was a number of factors and we all just kind of looked at it and agreed that we would rather just give each other a new opportunity and a new start. I don't think that we've looked at it and said, 'My goodness, like we are where we are this season, because one player didn't work to the level we all hoped it would'. There's a lot of different small pieces that add up to that. The fortunate piece is that other people have gained opportunities. Tiago now has three goals this season. He's a big piece of what we believe can be the future of this team. He's not just a player who has technical ability and the body for this level but he's a player who wears this club on his shirt. I think that's also a tremendous attribute for Tiago as well.

JH: Yeah, I don't think anyone was doubting how much Tiago cares after his goal celebration at the Wanderers Grounds last home match. I chatted with him afterwards and he spoke about his injuries and how much it meant to him to score at home.

MF: For sure, and we've got a number of players like that.

A huge thing that we look for in a player is somebody who isn't just here to like, you know, come here for six months and then just get out. Because while they are here, they are all in and, and I think that's a lot of the players that we have here, if not all of them.

JH: Another player I wanted to talk about is Sean Rea. Obviously, he's already made an impact in his short time here but you were able to crucially sign him for next season as well. How big of a piece will he be for the club going forward?

MF: We see it every year where there's a certain profile of player who becomes available, and Sean's somebody that we, naturally, followed for a long time and always had an aspiration that if the right opportunity presented itself, we'd love to have him in Halifax. He's another player who I think excites fans but also has a pedigree and a calibre that can really lift the level of team.

We get offered other players, and they ask, 'Can I just come in for three months?' And I'll be honest, it's a no for me because that's not what we're about. We're not a parking spot for teams or for players. Sure, if they come in and destroy the league in a couple months, like we've seen with someone like Kwasi Poku, and the right opportunity presents itself, we'll 100 per cent help to move them on.

But there's a commitment level from both sides and I think that's what we've seen in Sean's short time here. He brings experience with him, even though he's only 22 years old. He's had some great experience along the way, and I think that, again, raises the level of the group.

JH: You mentioned Poku there. Last year, we spoke about how although the club is trending in the right direction and has added some key pieces, no one's satisfied. The club is still hunting for its first trophy. We also talked about how there was real interest in some of the squad, including Zachary Fernandez, which I reported last year. I also heard this off-season that there were offers on the table for Cale Loughrey and Nimick. Firstly, can you confirm that the club has indeed received offers for these players? And second, can you talk about the balancing act of keeping players to remain competitive and moving them on?

MF: I can definitely tell you that Dan and Cale 100 per cent had offers on the table and they were both involved in being made aware of that via their representation.

With Dan's particular situation, I want to be clear that, sometimes, there's presenting an offer and then there's presenting a ridiculous offer that is a bit of an insult. And I think you always want to help a player go on to a next level. But the nature of, you know, when you have a response to somebody and say, well, actually, this is how we value them, and it's totally fair market value, and then there's no counter offer that it just comes across a little bit more as tire kicking versus anything else.

You do have a decision to make whether you can recoup from your investment in a player from a transfer fee or if they can be more valuable by just having them with you to try and help you challenge for certain things but you're always going to have to try and strike the balance right.

Listen, there's always been interest in other players but it hasn't materialized. You know, we have had transfers out of the team like with Callum Watson, who moved to Chattanooga. It wasn't just go for nothing, there's value tied to it as well. And likewise, Sam Salter obviously went before.

I think again, there's so many different factors in all of this. Dan's particular situation is that the (Vancouver) Whitecaps drafted him, and even though they didn't sign him, they still own his MLS rights so if another MLS team is offering a certain amount of money to us, they also have to work something out with the Whitecaps too, and that makes it a bit more challenging.

I haven't for a second had any sense that any of those players whatsoever have remorse on that and they just continue to do their jobs. They're professionals, and they do the job right and that's a huge credit to them. And they've been nothing but fantastic and committed to everything this season as well, for sure.

JH: That's not me second guessing, that's not the aim of the question. It's just one of those things where you hear about players in the league having opportunities and it seemed the Wanderers opted to keep their players. Everyone has seen what Dan and Cale were able to do last year. Fernandez, as well.

For me, it's interesting to see the methodology of managing the roster. Which brings us to my next question. I believe Nimick, Fernandez and Lorenzo Callegari are all out of contract next year. You're obviously always trying to map out the roster, especially if these three leave or you're unable to resign them, and ensure there's still consistency. What's it like managing expiring contracts and trying to keep the level high?

MF: As we said earlier, you can't predict anything about next season. We had an unfortunate situation where Julian (Dunn) gets a mid-season injury, and a pretty significant one, ruling him out for the rest of the year. We brought in Jefferson Alphonse. We're not bringing in Jeff to say, you'll be here until everyone else is fit again. You're bringing them in to build. He's a young player who I think has stepped in at this level really strongly.

I would say we've done better this year adding mid-season pieces that are here, not just for this year, but that we're also building off as  a starting point for next year as well.

JH: What are some lessons you've learned from this year, one which has seen the club have a historically poor start followed by a bit of a rally in the middle of the season?  You've talked about being better at adding players. Is there something else to take away from this football season so far?

MF: I think patience is a virtue.

I genuinely feel that this team has all the pieces and the capability within it, when you look at the league across the board, the depth that we have, all the pieces are here to achieve what our targets should be. Year after year, there are any number of factors that play into something not quite clicking. Even a single moment in a game can be the difference in momentum, in confidence, you know, a red card here, like, I think we're leading the league on acknowledged mistakes or incorrect decisions in games from referees. That's human error. That's not like anyone's out to get us, there's no vendetta. It's just the reality of football is sometimes those things come along in groups, and sometimes you also go through a season where you can look back and be like, man, we got really lucky a lot of times.

I think that sometimes you just have to acknowledge that there are other factors here. All you can do is try to control your own destiny. We have that in front of us right now.

JH: Switching gears a little bit, I wanted to touch on the International Summit Series. You got a couple of clubs to come over from the U.K. and held matches across Atlantic Canada. I was at the friendly between the Wanderers and Ipswich Town in St. John's. Is this series something the club can see growing moving forward?

MF: 100 per cent, this project is a mainstay and a huge growth opportunity within the entire football operations department. It's something that really does excite me. We've talked about creating an environment and putting the pieces in place to get six players from this region around what's now a 30-person first team squad. We want to get players from this region because we do believe that if the team could be a reflection of, you know, the faces from the local football community, then we're at that level.

I would say that I personally believe that we've shown the most commitment across the league in ensuring that if a player is not ready to make the step to the first team, that we are creating competitive environments for them. It amounted to a 20 game U-21 season this year, with friendlies and the International Series. I think we had somewhere upwards of like 40-plus players who came through from this area into first team training at different points throughout pre-season and into our season. It’s also about the opportunities we've created to bring in local coaches that aspire to go to this level, the connections we've built by jumping on a plane and flying to St. John's, N.L., with not just a young squad, but also players and staff from the first team trying to build those connections. I think that the International Series is just kind of like a very obvious and visible reflection of our dedication to putting money into creating more development pathways.

I'll continue to say it, I think in the league, we have shown the most commitment to getting opportunities structurally built, year on year growing and, not just saying we have an idea of doing this, we've actually gone and done it. I think it's a testament to everything we're trying to build here.

JH: The proof is in the pudding, right?

MF: Exactly right, Josh. And we may not see the  outcome or the benefit of that tomorrow, but where we can see ourselves in five, six years, I strongly believe whoever is in the seat doing this is going to see that they are helping the club meet its goals of trying to, as I say, play in a region that is developing better players. It's an awesome thing and we're proud of it so far.

JH: Thank you for that. Is there anything you'd like to add?

MF: I think the reality is we are where we are because of a number of factors with the way the season is. There are still 10 very important games to go. It's going to take everybody from every single level of this club to pull together in the right direction to get the results we know we're capable of. There's no better place than playing at home but with that comes the need for unity as well.

As exuberant as we are wanting the end result to be there, it's also about sticking together through good times and bad. When things don't click immediately, it's not just that all of a sudden everything is a disaster. It's like okay, what are the things we can fine tune so that we can make things a little bit better. Hopefully the results take care of themselves.

JH: As always, thank you for your time, Matt. Best of luck with the rest of the season and see you at the Grounds tomorrow.

MF: Thanks, Josh.

Editor's Note: This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Further reading:

• With road losses piling up, the Wanderers now look to a lengthy homestand to right their season
• With road trip losses to Cavalry and Forge, the language around the Wanderers has changed to ‘must wins’ and ‘now or never’
• 8 CPL Thoughts: Pacific’s goal scoring woes, Gabriel Bitar interest, Kian Williams injury news and more

Cover Photo Credit: Halifax Wanderers FC