Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Transfer plans still in play for McPake despite coronavirus shutdown
DESPITE the coronavirus shutdown, Dundee boss James McPake is still hard at work trying to shape his squad for next season.
With no real indication when this campaign might restart – or even if it will – and when 2020/21 might begin, there is obviously a high level of uncertainty.
However, that hasn’t stopped the Dark Blues staff continuing to identify potential targets for next season.
Dens boss James said: “That will continue because you can do that from home.
“Ideally, you go and watch players but I think we’ve seen enough of the ones we are targeting. That won’t stop.
“I did say in January that we were already planning for the summer.
“We were l ooking at what we need next season regardless of whether we get promoted or not.
“At the start we wanted to build a team that could be sustainable i n t he Premiership – that’s still the aim.
“We’ve already signed players we think have potential to play in the top flight.
“I’d use Jordan Marshall as an example – from the start I was a firm believer he could kick on.
“Finlay Robertson as well and Declan McDaid has played a little in the Premiership but we believe he can play at that level.”
The Dens gaffer is very happy with the work done in the last two transfer windows and is putting all he can in place to have another successful one come the summer.
What situation the Dark Blues might be in when matches restart or what division they’ll be i n if league reconstruction happens or the campaign finishes as is or is declared null and void, has still to be decided.
All of these options and others are still possible but James i s keen to plough on with transfer plans and then see what is happening with the Scottish game.
On his current squad, he said: “We also have ones like Kane Hemmings, Jordon Forster, Graham Dorrans and more – we believe we have a squad of players already that can hold their own i n t he Premiership.
“We are trying to build a squad that isn’t going to need a change of 10 or 12 bodies a year.
“That’s been ongoing for a while – even in November there were players we knew we’d never get them out of their clubs in January but could look to the summer.
“T h a t ’s the one department of my job that is still ongoing.
“The recruitment work between myself and Dave Mackay is still ongoing and that’s something we are really focused on – building a team for when we do start again.”