He may still only be the “interim” Dundee boss but John Brown admits he is already looking ahead to next season.
The 51-year-old presented a dossier to the club board on Friday, detailing his overall assessment of the playing and coaching staff since he took over at Dens from Barry Smith.
However, Brown was keen to stress that despite outlining what he believes is needed to take the club forward, he will not be pressurising the directors for a decision on his own long-term future.
He said: “I just put over everything I have seen since I came in, the playing staff, the coaching staff, what’s needing to be done about scouting and the youth side of it.
“They asked me when I came in to give a report for the first board meeting so I have given them that and an idea about who would be good enough to stay at the club,whether it is Premier League or First Division and whether they would be capable of getting us straight back up if it was the First.”
When asked if there had been any hint from the directors that he would be put in charge at Dens on a permanent basis, Brown said: “There was no indication from the board on Friday. All I was asked to do was take it as an interim appointment until the end of the season so I will not be putting pressure on anybody else to come out with an early answer.”
“I have been given the task to take the club to the end of the season and it gives them time,” said Brown.
“I am delighted to be here and I am happy with the players’ attitude.”
Brown added to his squad at the weekend after snapping up Andy Barrowman, one of the players made redundant by Dunfermline administrator Bryan Jackson last week.
The Dens boss admitted that if the striker impresses, he will be given the chance to extend his deal beyond the end of this season.
Brown added: “We made contact after they had gone into administration. I think he had a couple of other options but I had him as a kid at Rangers.
“He started off in the youths there so I know a bit about him anyway. And from what I saw from him in training this morning, he will take the ball in, link play and score goals. He has scored a lot of goals for Dunfermline and I think that we have lacked goals.
“Looking back on Saturday, we created chances against Motherwell but we didn’t take the opportunities when they came our way. The other guys have had opportunities this season and nobody has come up to the mark so it is a chance for Andy.
“It allows us to see him between now and the end of the season and if he looks the part, we will try to get him tied up. It adds to the competition for places and you could see how lively the other strikers were today in training.
“We brought Steve Simonsen in after Rab Douglas picked up an injury and the board have now sanctioned Andy’s arrival so a couple of new faces will freshen things up and give everyone a boost.”
Barrowman is one of four Pars released last week to have found new clubs, with Jordan McMillan and Andy Dowie joining Partick Thistle and Joe Cardle moving to Raith Rovers.