Iron manager Brian Laws admits the loan market will play a big part in his recruitment drive ahead of the 2013-14 season.
The club’s finances dictated that seven players (Paul Reid, Akpo Sodje, Karl Hawley, Andy Barcham, Damien Mozika, Josh Walker and Robbie Gibbons) were released when the retained list was announced a fortnight ago – and the budget remains tight as Scunthorpe prepare for life in League Two.Nevertheless, Laws and assistant boss Russ Wilcox, have been working diligently throughout the last three weeks since the 2012-13 season finished, and will continue to do so as they look to make their side competitive.
He admits though that it won’t be until later in the summer when the effort they’ve been putting in to secure players on loan bears fruit.
“We will definitely be using the loan market, there is no question about that,” Laws told Scunthorpe-United.co.uk.
“When we talk about bringing permanent new players in, there might only be two or three. That situation depends on who stays out of those players presently with us who we’ve offered new deals to.
“The rest, if we do bring any extras in, will be on loan.
“That’s an absolute fact and we’ll have to be patient because loan players won’t come into the club until the week before the season starts.
“That is because clubs won’t let them out until then, because they have to train with their current clubs.
“Therefore, we can’t push too hard.
“However, we have already highlighted a couple of players who we’d like to get on loan.
“The other clubs are quite keen but in a couple of months’ time it might be a different story.
“We are certainly getting some positive vibes coming back from the parent clubs though.”
Laws has enjoyed previous success with long-term loans during his past spells as manager, with Steven MacLean enjoying a fruitful season-long spell from Glasgow Rangers in 2003-04 particularly.
“It’s proven and it works,” Laws added.
“Supporters will be frustrated because they want to see players coming in straight away but unfortunately we haven’t got the money to do that because if you want early signings you pay premium prices.
“We’re working in a small pool of players and it will likely be in the later stages when they come available.”
Laws admitted it was tough to release seven players, but it was a decision that had to be made.
“It is difficult to release players but that is the nature of the beast I’m afraid,” he continued.
“It’s not a nice part of the game but this is the reality that we live in. The players know that.
“They know we can’t afford their salary and it’s purely a financial decision.”
United are in the process of offering new deals to Jimmy Ryan, Michael Collins, Tom Newey, Eddie Nolan, Matt Godden and James Severn, but Laws admitted: “I’ve got to be honest, I’ll put my hand on my heart, I’ll be delighted if we got two or three to re-sign but I’m not expecting them all to come through.
“We’re keeping our options open by looking elsewhere and that’s something we’re working on constantly.”