MIXU PAATELAINEN today urged Hibs fans muttering at the lack of summer signings to trust his judgment as he insisted there will be new faces in place before the SPL season kicks off in a fortnight's time.
So far David Van Zanten, snapped up under freedom of contract from St Mirren, remains Paatelainen's only capture, leading to an increasing number of supporters voicing their frustration at the apparent lack of action.
Today Paatelainen insisted h
e is working flat out behind the scenes to strengthen his squad but again stressed he wouldn't be tempted to make signings simply to silence his critics.
He said: "It sometimes seems that people are saying that any player who is available we should sign but I am not going to make signings simply for the sake of it. They must be players who can strengthen and improve our squad.
"If only people knew how hard we are working. We are moving closer but unfortunately things aren't so simple. But it will happen and when the season starts we will be ready."
Paatelainen acknowledged there are financial constraints, but, conscious that could well be construed as an image of a penny-pinching club, he said: "Every business has limits, a framework within which it has to work.
"The chairman (Rod Petrie] and the board are running the club in such a way it won't get into financial troubles in the future and I am sure no-one wants that to happen.
"Good players cost a lot of money in terms of wages and, sometimes, transfer fees, sometimes figures you cannot match. That's reality." And, insisted Paatelainen, it is a reality which affects every club as he questioned whether Rangers boss Walter Smith would have been able to afford the likes of Brian Laudrup, Jorg Albertz and Artur Numan – who all played against his side for Clyde last night – in today's market.
Paatelainen was also adamant that he is getting the full backing of the directors as he continues his search for fresh talent, pointing out how they had given the green light for him to sign John Rankin, Ian Murray and Colin Nish within weeks of him becoming the manager.
He revealed, though, that one way of freeing up additional funds would be to reduce what he sees as an over-sized squad.
He said: "We have too many players at the moment and there have been signings made that I do not think are good enough for this club."
But again, it's a case of it being easier to say player numbers need to be reduced than to make it happen if the individuals concerned are reluctant to go, leaving Hibs obliged to honour their contracts.
And Paatelainen insisted there was absolutely no friction between himself and the board regarding the budget to which he is working. He said: "Ask any manager anywhere in the world and he'd tell you he'd like more to spend.
"But every manager is limited. I want to improve a good squad of players and I have to dig deep to make sure we find these players with the money we have available."
A "mixed" Hibs side beat Montrose 6-1 in a closed-doors match yesterday.
The full article contains 547 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
