Ferguson looking at bigger picture at Doncaster Rovers

Ferguson, in a frank admission at a time when Rovers were in freefall towards relegation to League One, said that wholesale changes to the club’s recruitment policy were necessary following a close season in 2016 which the Scot labelled as ‘disastrous’ – regardless of the club’s fate in the second half of 2015-16.

The Rovers manager’s desire for a more cohesive and co-ordinated transfer policy was obvious. It revolved around astute ‘value’ signings boosting the overall health of the club’s first-team pool, supplemented by a progressive and vibrant academy.

Already this summer, Rovers have brought in two signings with clear development potential. Defender Niall Mason, 20, fresh from an impressive loan spell at the club, has joined permanently from Aston Villa on a two-year deal, while Chelsea forward Alex Kiwomya, 21, has signed a three-year contract.

A loan deal to sign Sheffield United midfielder Ben Whiteman, 20, who had an excellent loan spell at Mansfield Town in the second half of last season, has also been agreed.

Rovers’ other close-season recruit so far – Grimsby Town defender Danny Andrew is at the older end at 26. But his credentials – he was player of the year for the Mariners in an ultra-consistent 2016-17 – point to clear value.

A squad that carried a fair bit of ‘dead wood’ 12 months ago is now fitter for purpose, although the recruitment is far from finished yet as Ferguson, supported by the club’s hierarchy, seeks to build a progressive and healthy squad. Short-termism is over, too.

Chief executive Gavin Baldwin said: “Darren has done excellently. We have got a board whose vision is not just to build a Championship club and have cup runs and play-offs and have a good time – but also looking at the next hundred years with the ‘Club Doncaster’ business model that will basically fund the football club. It will ensure that funding is a pleasure and not a chore.

“In Darren, we have someone who has the whole club approach. The players have never been so good in the community and the academy is being built so that we can supply players for the next two, three, four to five years. It gives a whole club approach, with the priority obviously being the first team.

“In Darren, we have someone who is passionate about the whole club. We have to tear him away from the youth group and the academy sometimes and tell him to go home! From the board, it is great to have the first-team manager and all of his staff all pointing in the same direction.

“The whole emphasis is recruiting our own and then supporting that with some very good players from outside and that is Darren’s passion as well. We are hopefully in a good position where everyone supports the vision and are doing everything to make it work.”

“Our recruitment will be specific to doing very well in League One next year, but should we be fortunate enough to get to the Championship, we would want those players to be with us there as well.”

In terms of 2016-17, it was very much a case of ‘job done’ for Rovers, even if the club’s disappointing run at the end of last season ultimately saw them relinquish their hold on the League Two title in slightly deflating fashion.

The main ‘non-negotiable’ aim of promotion was secured, but lessons can still be learned from the failure to seal the deal and clinch the championship.

Baldwin added: “Obviously, the end of the season was not what we had hoped. But the main thing about Doncaster Rovers is that we try and learn.

“We sat down afterwards, the manager and board, and talked about what we have learned from that as there is a lot of learning from it. There were some basic facts we would also say in mitigation as well, the manager had the second youngest squad in the league and we think that maybe the squad was a bit young.

“It is maybe something we will look at in terms of recruitment for next year.

“At the start of the season, we also had a load of injuries too. We had something like six players unavailable at times and Darren couldn’t freshen it up. His conclusion was that players were just mentally and physically on their feet after getting promotion.

“Our big thing was that Darren was keen to freshen up the squad to keep them fresh.

“We looked at how many minutes each player had played against every team in this league and our conclusion was that we maybe can learn from it, with a few more experienced players in there.

“Some of the players were dead on their feet and he couldn’t rest them when he wanted to.