Talks with potential new recruits at Gillingham have already started.
Head coach Stephen Clemence doesn’t want to hang around this summer as he looks to add the players he feels will turn around their poor goal return.
Clemence has also been speaking with his own squad, including those who he feels won’t be part of his plans next season.
Only a handful of senior players are set to be out of contract this summer and that list is understood to include young midfielder Dom Jefferies, who would still command a fee because of his age. He’s a player Clemence has spoken highly of.
The Gills have struggled for goals over the past three seasons and Clemence knows it’s something he has to fix if they want to be successful.
He said: “I know there is a lot of frustration around the football club and I really do get it, a couple of seasons ago the club scored 35 goals and last season was 36. We’ve only managed 44 this season.
“I think to finish where you want to be in this division you need to be scoring at least 70 goals and if you want to finish in the automatic promotion places you need to be scoring 80. We need to make sure that we fix that problem, that is the aim, and we are working really hard on that at the moment.
“(Last summer) I was very fortunate to watch and coach Manchester City’s young pros, between the ages of 20-24. I was there for five or six weeks.
“I got to meet (manager) Pep (Guardiola) and I was lucky to get some time with him. I said that I was thinking about going into management and any advice for me and he said ‘sign good players!’ He said with the Barcelona team he had he could have managed them blindfolded!
“We have a big summer ahead and it’s my job to sign some good players at the football club that will make us better.
“There are changes that need to be made. Defensively we haven’t done too bad in the division, but we are short in creative and short in numbers going forward, there needs to be more competition in that area of the pitch.
“If I look at the left side of my pitch, I probably had Jonny Williams to choose from at times, that’s all I have had. Jonny doesn’t mind playing on the left but he probably prefers to be more central but I haven’t had lots of options.
“I don’t want to sound like I am making excuses, but a successful side is where the squad has competition and I think we need to add a more competitive nature to this squad, where there is pressure on players to perform and to play well so that they keep the shirt. I don’t think we have had enough of that this season and it’s something that we have to improve on.
“I have been here six months but to be honest there has probably only been one change to the team, that has been Remeao Hutton who has played on a regular basis.
“Unfortunately, Josh Andrews has only played the last few games and hasn’t been fit enough. They are the two permanent signings I have made at the club and I think it takes time to build a team.
“Mansfield, Stockport and Wrexham and all the teams that are in the top seven, six of them have had their managers there for a period of time. You need some continuity at the club and after every window I am looking to make this team better and I believe I can do that.
“I am working hard now, with the people in the club who can help me, and I know we will be better next season.
“We are already talking about pre-season with the staff and I have a way that I want to play. I am trying to recruit players that fit into that system and that is exciting.
“I have got a long list of people to look at, out of contract players, on loan players and players who are going to cost a fee and then you are trying to fit that into the budget you’ve been given. We are making good progress.
“I have good help around me, some experience who can help on budgets etcetera. Finances probably isn’t my area of expertise but I am getting the hang of it.
“The list of players is getting shorter by the day, there are already players getting spoken to. We are already working hard on that now so that we can get them into the club as soon as possible, so we can get working with them as soon as possible.
“If there are going to be changes you want them in as early as possible and also they get settled and are ready to go at the start of the season.
“There are players out of contract. I have already had conversations with a number of players about their futures, and how I see it going forward. They are not easy conversations to have with people, when they know there is no future for them here anymore.
“There have also been conversations with people who are under contract and I don’t see they are going to play every week at the football club and it’s probably only fair for them to move on too.
“It’s not easy for them, or a head coach to deliver that either, but I always want to look someone square in the eye and then at least you’re doing it man-to-man. People have more respect for you when you do it that way.
“I am giving it my absolute all to make sure that we have a better team next season, that’s not to be critical of the players I have got (now), but they realise they need help to make them better. They want to be successful, that is my aim now.
“We want to win at the weekend but the summer won’t be about getting my flip-flops on and having eight or nine weeks off, I will be here every week, working hard to make the team better going forward.”
