St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright won’t be in a position to bolster his squad in time for their Europa League qualifiers against FC Luzern.
And he doesn’t know when or indeed, if his signing embargo will be lifted. Aberdeen snapped up David Goodwillie over the weekend while the Perth boss had his hands tied.
After a conversation with chairman Steve Brown, the situation remains the same no new business can be done.
Wright said: “I’m disappointed because I spoke to David on Friday and at that stage he was coming back in this week.
“The Aberdeen thing happened Friday/Saturday. I got a call from his agent while I was in Switzerland asking if we could make an offer. But we couldn’t.
“We are not in a position to make any offers at the minute to any player. I still think we could have got Goodwillie.We were asked to make a reasonable offer and we could have got him. But we couldn’t make any offer. That is football.
“At the moment we can’t add to the squad. That might disappoint fans but that is the reality.”
He added: “I spoke to the chairman and even though we cut the budget by nearly 30% last year we were a bit unfortunate with some of the injuries we sustained and the cost of having to replace injured lads like Murray Davidson and Tam Scobbie. Hopefully those were exceptional circumstances.
“Injuries are part and parcel of the game but that added to our costs so even though we cut the budget we spent more than we expected last year.
“And with the increases in wages for players we signed up again, and hopefully securing Stevie May on a new deal, I’m not in a position to make an offer for any player. I would hope it changes.
“I spoke to the chairman again this morning and he reiterated that we can’t do anything.”
The concern for Wright is the lack of depth in his squad should injuries start to kick-in, and the over-reliance on youngsters that would be the consequence.
“At the end of the season I wanted to work on the basis of 16 senior outfield players and boost that with youngsters so we had at least 20 outfield players with the likes of Scott Brown, Liam Caddis, Chris Kane, Gareth Rodger, Dylan Easton and Craig Thomson pushing for places,” he noted.
“Some of them might have to go out on loan but you would want four around your first team squad.
“I wanted three players – a box to box midfielder, a striker and a left sided midfielder. I don’t think that was too much of an ask but at the minute we can’t do it.
“That was the basis we were to work on. But plans change in football and we have had to reassess where we are.
“It is unfortunate but that’s where we are. Luckily we have everyone signed up and we have a good squad of players here. It is up to the young lads to do well because they will be needed.
“If Murray gets fit there will be a deal for him so that covers the box to box player. I am prepared to wait on Murray and see how he goes by the end of August. I do feel I need someone in but the chairman is saying no and that’s fine.
“We have the nucleus of the squad which won the cup but I’d be concerned if we picked up injuries like we did last season to senior players in key positions.
“I can only take players to the chairman that I think can improve the team but if the money’s not there that’s the way it is. That’s not a problem.”
Wright always understood that Scottish Cup earnings wouldn’t come his way.
He said: “After the cup final everyone was saying I would get money to spend. I warned back then that St Johnstone isn’t that type or club.
“There’s a lot of work to be done with the stadium infrastructure. We did say that right after the final. We are looking to improve our training facilities and upgrade parts of the ground.
“Just because we won the cup I’m not all of a sudden going to see a massive change in my budget. I am comfortable with that.”
Wright will continue to have a look at trialists so he is ready to move if new transfer funds are released.
To that end, powerful Greek striker Tomas Tisas (22), will be training with the squad this week.
Wright said: “I have told the chairman I will keep banging on his door and he will keep trying hard to find me money for a player or two.
“The deadline is Thursday so we won’t have anyone new in for Europe. I don’t think Europe is the problem. It’s the depth of the squad which could be an issue and that is a gamble.
“Kane for instance is an unknown quantity at this level despite doing very well on loan at Dumbarton. But the indicators are that he can do a job for us.
“But for the last two or three seasons the depth of our squad in terms of experience has been important to our success.
“We need four strikers and I still think we need a left sided midfielder but if the funds aren’t there we have to go with what we’ve got.
“I will keep looking and we have another trialist in this week. Hopefully at some stage there will be money available. But if there isn’t we still have enough to cope with Europe and if we are fortunate with injuries there is still enough to handle the league campaign.”
There is also nothing to report on his own new contract.
He said: “There has been two meetings. The chairman has been busy the last couple of weeks. But there is going to be more contact in the next day or two. I want to stay. The chairman, I believe, wants me to stay so I don’t think there’s going to be a problem. It hasn’t happened yet but there hasn’t been any fall-out. It just requires a bit of to-ing and fro-ing.”