Peterhead co-manager Jordon Brown says the wheels are already in motion as the Blue Toon prepare for life in League Two next season.
The Balmoor Stadium outfit had their relegation from League One confirmed last weekend following a 2-1 defeat to Kelty Hearts.
Peterhead host Falkirk in their final game of their League One campaign on Saturday.
After an interim spell in charge, players Brown and Ryan Strachan have been appointed on a permanent basis and have been tasked with preparing the squad for League Two.
He says recruitment is going to be vital as the co-managers hope to have a core group of “14 or 15” players available for the start of pre-season.
There are currently 10 players signed to the club beyond this summer.
Brown said: “The process started halfway through our interim period – we were speaking to the board and identifying the players we want for where this club needs to be.
“It’s definitely well and truly started now and we’re working hard behind the scenes to restore the club to where it should be.
“The recruitment is going to be massive. We’ve learned the hard way over the last year – we came into this season with minimal bodies.
“We want to go into pre-season, which is only six or so weeks away, with at least 14 or 15 boys so we can really implement our values.”
Peterhead to recruit ‘outwith and evaluate within’
The season might have started with only the bare bones at Peterhead, but over the course of the campaign more than 40 players have turned out for the Blue Toon.
Brown does not want a repeat of that situation as the co-managers aim to create some stability within the playing group at Balmoor.
He said: “We were still turning up in October and trialists were about and then with the manager change a second wave of players came in around January.
“It’s not a nice situation for players or staff when you’re trying to build and sustain some kind of consistency.
“We’ve learned the hard way by experiencing it firsthand.
“Me and Ryan have experienced the good times here at the club and had good dressing rooms during our time at Cove and that’s something we’re looking to build here.
“There is a core group with 10 signed up for next season, so it’s a good start, but we want to be in a position come pre-season where boys are coming in and are raring to go.”
With 10 of the current squad contracted for at least next season, Brown says conversations will be had with other players to determine whether they have a future at the club.
He said: “It’s a discussion we’ll be having with the guys next week after we get the last game of the season out of the way.
“We’ve been assessing players as the games and training sessions have went on, especially over the last week or so.
“There’s recruitment to be done out with the club and evaluation to be done within.
“We’re dropping down to League Two, so it’s not as if we’ve got a lot of options to extend guys’ contracts where there might have been if we were still going to be playing in this league.
“We’ve got to look at who’s going to be here, who’s not going to be here and the targets we’ve got.”
Brown hopes Peterhead can stick to their roots as much as possible and have more north-east talent turning out for the club next season.
He said: “Ideally, we’d have a strong pool of players from the north-east, but we know it’s been getting harder year after year.
“Eight out of the 10 boys signed up for next season are north boys who are based in and around Aberdeen, so it’s definitely something we’re looking to do.
“We’ve put things in place already to try recruit in the area.
“We’ve got Andy McCarthy and Conor O’Keefe in the Central Belt, who will both be key players for us, so we can have a pool of players from elsewhere.
“But we need to get the balance right because we can’t afford to have too little players, but we definitely can’t have too many in the squad.”
Andy McCarthy, Jack Brown and player-manager Ryan Strachan are doubts for Peterhead’s clash against the Bairns.
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