Monday 23rd May 2016
FOR the next week, Stevie Farrell is the man in the hot seat at Dumbarton.
While gaffer Stevie Aitken is on holiday in Turkey, his right hand man is overseeing the building of the squad for the 2016/17 season.
And the process is one which he is confident will bear fruit – maybe even this week.
Stevie F is optimistic that deals can be done with existing players soon – and that the main signing targets are still on course.
He said: “It’s still a game of snooker that’s getting played, which is what happens at this stage of the year.
“But we’re happy with where we are in terms of players. We’ve spoken to a number of them in the last week and have left a number of contract offers out there. We are waiting to hear from these players and their agents.
“We are confident all of last season’s squad who we have offered deals to will return – and we hope they will do so this week.
“We’ve been planning this since three weeks from the end of the season. We went through potential candidates we would like to bring in.
“There is always a plan B, but we haven’t had to invoke that yet as plan A is still on track. We are just waiting on responses and we are confident we can make one or two signings soon.”
Although Stevie A is now hundreds of miles away, Stevie F is still expecting more than just postcards from the gaffer while he keeps things ticking over at Dumbarton.
He added: “There’s only one manager here!
“Stevie is away, but he’s not away. He only left today and we’ve already been in correspondence twice.
“That’s just the way we work. Whenever either of us is away, we’ll always stay in touch on what’s happening with the squad.
“With me being here, it’s easier to communicate with players and hopefully discussions can have some results this week and help Stevie enjoy his holiday a bit more!”
Andy Galloway