Stephen Glass is clearly a man with a plan as he is wasting little time in reshaping his squad at Aberdeen.
It would have been easy for him to sit back and get used to his new surroundings before getting down to work, but the Dons boss is clearly a man in a hurry when it comes to having his team in place for next season.
It has been a busy week at Pittodrie with Stephen signing two players in Declan Gallagher and Gary Woods, while he also wants to give Mikey Devlin a chance to prove himself after a horrendous couple of years blighted by injury problems.
Their interest in former Don Clark Robertson and St Mirren’s Jamie McGrath has become known too and it is clear the talk of it being a busy summer for the club in the transfer market is not idle chat.
If Robertson does return to Pittodrie from Rotherham United and Devlin signs the short-term deal which he will be offered, then I do wonder what this means for Ash Taylor and Tommie Hoban.
The Dons already have Andy Considine and Gallagher under contract for next season while Ross McCrorie is another defensive option in the squad. If Devlin and Robertson put pen to paper, too, that gives the Aberdeen manager five central defensive options for the start of the new campaign.
Granted, Robertson, Considine and McCrorie can also fill in at full-back where Jonny Hayes is also an option, but I expect Calvin Ramsay and Jack MacKenzie will be two youth team prospects Stephen will want to push next season too.
Taylor and Hoban have good campaigns for the Dons and overall the defensive record of the team has been very good. There have been blips such as the Ross County game in Dingwall and the home losses to Motherwell in the league and the Scottish Cup exit to Dundee United, but across the season Taylor and Hoban have been mainstays alongside Considine.
I’m sure both will have offers on the table from other clubs and it will be interesting to see if they stay or move on to pastures new.
From the activity we’ve seen so far, it is clear Stephen is reinforcing the spine of the team. He has strengthened the goalkeeper, central defence and central midfield positions already and I am sure top of the list now will be the forward area.
With all due respect to the other new faces, it is goalscorers who get fans excited and that is the area I really want to see the Dons address.
I like the fact we know who these new players are and what they can bring to the team, but as a fan I’m always curious when I see a player I don’t know much about too. They are the characters who get pulses racing and build a sense of anticipation.
I’m sure the list of names on Stephen’s list is extensive. I can remember when I worked with Steve Paterson at Pittodrie how extensive his database was, and I can recall going through spreadsheets and having chats about various players during our time there.
It’s exciting, but stressful too as you just want to get your work done and have your squad in place so you can get down to work. Here’s hoping Stephen can get that at Pittodrie.
Not many at Ross County will be looking forward to tomorrow’s enormous game with Hamilton
I’ll be at Dingwall tomorrow for the biggest game of Ross County’s season.
I’m looking forward to the game against Hamilton, but I imagine I am in the minority as it promises to be a tense evening for Staggies chairman Roy MacGregor, manager John Hughes and the players.
Roy would love nothing more than to see Yogi and the players put this season to bed with a game to spare tomorrow, but for that to happen a few things need to go County’s way.
For starters they need to beat Hamilton and then hope Kilmarnock lose to St Mirren. It that comes to pass County are safe and it is left to Accies and Killie to play each other on Sunday to determine which club is relegated and which one will compete in the play-offs.
Given how unpredictable this campaign has been, I wouldn’t hang my hat on it all being tied up in a nice little bow tomorrow night, but certainly the fact County know automatic relegation will not happen if they beat an Accies side who have to go for broke ensures this one should be a thriller – for me if no-one else.
Busy summer ahead at Brora for renewed tilt at promotion
I was disappointed to see Brora Rangers fall at the semi-final hurdle in the SPFL play-off, but Kelty Hearts were clearly the better side across the two legs.
It looked fleetingly as if a comeback was on the cards when Brora took the lead on Saturday, but Barry Ferguson’s side ran out comfortable winners to win 6-1 on aggregate.
It looks ominous for Brechin City in the final, but as far as Brora boss Steven Mackay is concerned it is back to the drawing board.
He says he has learned a lot about his side and when the pressure came they were unable to perform in the dominant manner they usually do in the Highland League.
Given Brora want to be in League Two, I expect they will be busy this summer strengthening their squad for a renewed push next season.