Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre has been told how much money will be available to him to strengthen his squad for their return to the SPL.
The Pars boss met with his chairman, John Yorkston, yesterday afternoon, who revealed there will be a bigger transfer kitty than there was 12 months ago.
One of McIntyre’s first priorities will be tying up a number of out of contract players before he embarks on recruitment.
Yorkston said, “Jim will have more money than he had last year. It will be up to him to make sure he brings in the right players.
“As has been shown by winning the first division, Jim’s got the nucleus of a good squad.
“He only has six or seven players under contract so it’s now up to him who he wants to offer new deals to.
“Callum Woods, for example, is one who I know Jim has been speaking to. Callum wanted to wait to see which league we would be in next season before deciding on his future.
“He’s an SPL quality of player and we’ll hope to tie him up soon. We’ve also got a few good players coming through the ranks and hopefully they’ll get the chance to progress in the top division as well.”
Yorkston would have taken promotion however it came, but the fact that the Pars won the league playing an attractive brand of football makes the taste of success even more sweet.
He said, “This season has been a really enjoyable one. Jim’s Dunfermline team has been one of the better ones I’ve watched.
“When he first told me how he wanted his team to play I thought, ‘that’s the Dunfermline way’.
“Long ball football with eight foot tall players isn’t the type of football I want to watch.
“There has been attacking football to watch even when we haven’t won games. I’m thinking of the likes of Stirling away, which we drew 1-1 but had over 30 shots on target.
“As a young manager I’m sure Jim will learn a lot over the course of next season.
“It might be that he has two different formations one for playing the Old Firm and one for the rest.
“He’s already shown that he’s been able to set his teams up in more than one way.”
Promoted first division teams have got a proven track record in recent years of staying up the following season, and that is the sole target McIntyre will be given by his board.
“That’s obviously the priority,” Yorkston pointed out. “We want Dunfermline to become an established SPL club again.
“I’m not going to get carried away talking about top six or anything like that at this stage.”