New Swindon Town Manager David Flitcroft has revealed that plenty of hard work is being done to bolster his team as he looks to strike the perfect balance.
Following the club’s relegation from the Sky Bet League One last season, a number of players have departed The County Ground in recent weeks although a strong core still remains intact.
And, following his appointment on Monday, Flitcroft has been tasked with building a squad capable of challenging for promotion from League Two in 2017/18 and the Reds’ new gaffer shed some light on what qualities he’ll be looking for in his new recruits.
“It is a balancing act. You’ve got to make sure that you’ve got the balance right between age, experience and youth in the team,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk.
“That is the key balance.
“You’ve got to have leaders within the team because there are young players in there and you’ve got to make sure that the spine of your team has got leaders in it that want to lead and that want to be out there.
“That is the critical position at the minute and that is our top priority looking at those key positions.
“We also want some enterprise, we want some excitement, we want some pace and we’re currently again looking at those areas.
“Man management is key in terms of how I manage the experienced players and how I manage the younger players, but certainly that is something that I’m really excited about.
“It is just getting the balance right now.”
With the current Town squad thin on the ground in terms of bodies, reinforcements are top of the list of priorities and Flitcroft has currently got a team of people working day and night to ensure that the Reds are bolstered significantly in time for pre-season.
“The work has started already on a massive level and we’ve got some very good people working behind the scenes that are helping us for no money,” he continued.
“They’ve come in and they are helping on recruitment and we’re making every phone call possible and we’ve got clubs helping us, so there are a lot of people that will do a lot for us now I’m back in work.
“We’re putting together lists and making sure that we know where they stand in the food chain and that is something we are doing 24 hours a day – I can’t tell you the amount of work that is going into that at the minute.
“We are trying to make sure that we have enough options as we go forward and then we will start looking at the balance, but certainly it is a case of getting the right options.
“I’m speaking to players all the time and some are away, I’ve spoke to a couple of players this week who are getting married at the weekend and people are away on holiday, so it is difficult to communicate but with modern technology now it can be made a lot easier.
“We’re currently doing that and trying to build up a list of players but the main thing is that they want to come and play for Swindon.
“That is the main question I’m asking. Do you want to come and drive a cause? Do you want to come and drive a competitive environment? The agents always want to speak to you but I always make sure that I speak to the player first and interview the player so that they fully know what I want.
“We then talk the figures and I’m trying to sell what we are doing, so a lot of work goes into that and it is hours and hours of due diligence, hours and hours of follow ups and that’s what we’re currently prioritising.”
Look out for plenty more interviews with our new boss over the next few days, including his thoughts on pre-season plans and what attracted him to the Town job!
