George Burley has said that his players are aware that he will be bringing in new names in the summer. The manager is pleased with the way his lads have performed this season, but admits that he will be looking at the transfer market in the summer.
The Town manager said: "The players have shown astonishing quality and consistency this season. But they know I'll be looking to bring in one or two new players and hoping we can do well in Europe."
Chairman David Sheepshanks has already promised Burley money to spend, but both manager and chairman are keen not to discard the principles that have served Town so well in recent years. It is unlikely Town will splash loads of cash, instead looking to bring in players at lower fees and mould them as the club has done with players like Matt Holland, Jamie Clapham and Jermaine Wright.
Burley has also said that he will initially looking at players based in the UK and then players based abroad, although it is likely there will be a number of foreign trialists, with French-based Moroccan Gharib Amzine, one rumoured to be on his way for evaluation at Portman Road.
Town have brought in an Education Projects Manager to develop the use of Portman Road and the club as an eduacational resource for local schoolchildren. Sacha Frost is a former primary school teacher and hails originally from Colchester.
Frost said of her appointment: "The football club already has a strong community team, with parties coming to Portman Road and a big out-reach programme into schools. This takes things a stage further. You can see the excitement when youngsters walk into the stadium, We can use the medium of football to help the work on their literacy, numeracy and ICT."