Mansfield Town’s latest signing Baily Cargill says ‘everything felt right’ when visiting RH Academy and meeting with Stags’ staff before signing a two-year deal at the club on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old centre-back has gained promotion twice from Sky Bet League Two already in his career and, despite interest from the division above, says he’s ‘excited’ to join Mansfield following his departure from Forest Green Rovers.
Speaking at RH Academy - the club’s training ground - about what supporters can expect from him in an amber and blue shirt, he said: “To come in, be myself and do my job. which is defending.
“The support is great [here].
“Everything about the club felt right for me.
“Everything felt right after I came up here and met everyone last week.”
Stags’ RH Academy training base was particularly enticing for the defender.
“I’m really pleased to get it [the deal] done,” he said.
“I came up here [to the club’s RH Academy] last week and met the manager and all the guys [staff] and as soon as I met them, I was keen to get it done.
“Having seen the facilities, it’s not what I’m used to.
“At Forest Green they don’t have the facilities [that are] here so I’m really excited.”
The former MK Dons man already knows some of Mansfield’s playing squad.
“I played with Jord [Jordan Bowery] and Hiram [Boateng] at MK [Dons],” Baily added.
“I spoke to him [Bowery] quite a bit before I came up here and he’s helped me out and told me what’s good about the place.
“It’s nice to have someone that you know at the club already so you can get a feel for it.”
The ball-playing defender has gained automatic promotion from Sky Bet League Two with MK Dons and Forest Green. When asked about the key to those successes, he said: “It might sound a bit cliché but it’s the dressing room.
“Both times [I’ve been promoted] they’ve been the best dressing rooms I’ve been in in terms of camaraderie and off the pitch enjoying each other’s company.
“You end up wanting to run that extra yard for each other.
“I heard there’s a great group here and I think a lot of them have been together for a while now.
“You need to be competitive and work hard, fight for every point and fight for every ball.”
The AFC Bournemouth Academy graduate went on to describe his skillset.
“I’ve always been a ball-playing centre-half but as I’ve got older, I’ve realised defending is way more important,” he said.
“I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got, trying to organise the team as much as I can, and I’ll give it 100% every week.
“I’ll try and win my battles and I will try and pick a pass when I can.
“There’s not too many left-sided centre-halves that are left-footed, it’s always been a bonus that I am left-footed.
“Hopefully I can slot straight in and start enjoying it straight away.”
