The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
New manager faces race against time to get squad together
Smith has only seven recognised first-team players under contract
New Raith boss Barry Smith admits he faces a race against time to have a full squad in place before the start of preseason.
The 43-year-old was formally unveiled as the new Stark’s Park manager on Tuesday afternoon, tasked with taking the club back up to the Championship at the first time of asking.
Following this season’s relegation he has only seven recognised first-team players under contract: Kevin Cuthbert, Kyle Benedictus, Ross Matthews, Ross Callachan, Bobby Barr, Mark Stewart and Lewis Vaughan.
He will begin trying to bolster his roster before training starts in earnest in just three weeks.
“I am a worker. That’s one thing the fans and the players will get to know – I work hard in whatever job I do, and this will be no different,” he said.
“We will all have to work hard to make sure we are up there challenging for promotion because it is a tough league.
“We will try to add some quality to the players we already have under contract.
“If we do that we should be in the right place.
“I haven’t spoken to any of the players yet as I thought it was best to leave it until everything was official.
“So I will be trying to speak to them all, over the next couple of days, just to see what their thoughts are as well.
“We need to get a squad assembled for pre-season training that starts in three weeks’ time.
“That’s the priority but it is going to be challenging.”
While there is much work to be done on bolstering the senior squad, the club has a promising crop of youngsters in place who were crowned Development East Champions this season. Smith praised their coach Craig Easton for the job he is doing and is now looking forward to working with him and his players. He said: “Craig has done a great job. “I watched them at the tail end of last season and there are a lot of players with potential. “It is up to them to fulfil that potential. “If they are good enough they are old enough, but it is a case of me coming in and seeing them on a daily basis to see what I can get out of them.
“Craig has done an excellent job up until now and will continue to do so.
“But they have to be of a quality that I think they can come into the first team.”
Smith will also have to put together his back-room team, and is looking for versatility.
He added: “I am talking to a few people.
“It will probably be a player/coach or player/coaches just because of the way I want to work things.”
We need to get a squad assembled for preseason training that starts in three weeks’ time. BARRY SMITH