Cutting your cloth accordingto your measure' could wellbe the new buzz phrase inthe League of Ireland.

With many clubs struggling financially,managers are endeavouring to get thebest out of the resources made availableto them by hard-pressed committees andofficials against a touch economicbackground.

As he prepares for the kick-off of thenew domestic season, Sligo Rovers bossPaul Cook finds himself in such aposition.

Yet, Cook is loud in his praise of theRovers Management Committee for theirefforts in ensuring that he will have eightnew signings available when the actionkicks-off against Shamrock Rovers at theShowgrounds on Saturday night next."We are never going to have the budgetto bring in the best players," Cookacknowledged.

"The Committee has been tremendousin doing what they have done and inknowing what I was trying to do. In thecircumstances, the aim was to bring inlads who would be fit and give us that bitof quality.

"I was very conscious that you need toreach a certain fitness as a professionalfootballer and indeed as a group if youare to be successful.

"Just look at all the late goals that areconceded and change results.

"That is something we have worked onand I believe we have assembled a goodsquad that has worked extremely hard inrecent weeks and can only get better intime," Cook added.

"Ask any manager is he happy with hissquad and he will probably reply in thenegative, but I feel we have done well inthe players we have been able to bring tothe Showgrounds," said the manager.

Cook assesses his new recruits thus:

Iarfhlaith Davoren
"He has a lovely left foot and is a verymobile lad. He can get up and down thepitch and gives us a far better balance. Alot of the time we can be forced to play aright footed player at left back, DannyVentre a case in point, and players don'tlike doing that. Davoren is a naturally leftfooted player and that is something wewanted. His attitude has been excellentand he is a hard worker."

Gary McCabe
I believe the best is yet to come forGary. There is a great talent withinthe lad and in the weeks and monthsahead we will see that. Gary hasloads of ability."

Derek Foran
Derek reads the game very well at theback and is a very useful addition for us.He is a good passer of the ball and is thetype of 'leader' figure we wanted. He isstrong individual and we are delighted tohave him on board." Foran had anoutstanding year with Bray Wanderers in2009 and Rovers had to beat off stiffcompetition to secure his signature.

Padraig Amond
"I am firmly of the opinion that Padraigis the most natural goalscorer in Ireland.He takes up the right positions andfinishes well, not alone in games, but intraining and his attitude is also excellent.Again, he has worked hard here andhopefully he will become a firm favouritewith the fans. I am looking forward to hispartnership with Matthew Blinkhorn."

Paul Whelan
"The ex-Monaghan lad ticks all the rightboxes for us. He is a right back who isextremely fit and who gets up and downthe pitch literally for fun. His height giveshim an added bonus and he has thepotential to be a very, very good player."

John Dillon
"John was out of football for a year afterbeing a professional with CrewAlexandra. Critics might say that John istoo lightweight, but the lad is very similarto Gary McCabe. Football wise, his abilityis tremendous and he goes past people fora laugh. Again his talents are there andwe will work to bring out the best of themfor Sligo Rovers."

Mark Donninger
"Mark is a central midfielder who doesexactly what is says on the tin. I talked toother people about him and he is agoalscoring mifielder, which is somethingwe wanted. We have to get the balanceright in the middle of the park and thoughit will take time, I feel we have the playerswho can now achieve that."

Mauro Almeida
"It's good to have him back. He is one ofthe top four or five defenders in thecountry when fit. He is a huge addition tous and he gives us a presence we need.Hopefully he is over all his injuryproblems, as he seems to be, and thoughlacking a little bit in terms of matchfitness that will come with time."