DAN THE FAN: New signings show Di Canio's ambitions

Now that the one-year tour of League Two is over, its time to once again start planning our way back to the Championship after a 12-year absence.

Town’s pre-season got underway on Wednesday when the players turned up for their first training session of the 2012/13 season.

The new look squad for this season will included Andy Williams, James Collins, Gary Roberts, Alan Navarro, Tommy Miller, Jay McEveley and Troy Archibald-Henville.

Of course whenever a new team is put together that means some players have to move on, Phil Smith, Callum Kennedy, Mark Scott and Lander Gabilondo have all already left with their contracts coming to an end.

Lukas Magera and Mehdi Kerrouche have both left the club by mutual consent.

Alan Connell, Jonathan Smith, Lee Cox and Mattia Lanzano have all been transfer listed by the club and won’t be joining the rest of the squad at Lake Garda.

Billy Bodin's future is still up in the air after he was told he won’t be a first team regular this season.

But it's looking very likely he will move on, with Torquay looking like the favourites to sign the young striker.

I’m pretty certain we can all agree that last summer was a special one at Town; the arrival of Paolo Di Canio gave the whole club the lift it needed after relegation.

But after seeing the players that have arrived over the last two weeks, this summer is now looking even more important in the history of our great club.

Firstly Paolo Di Canio signed a new deal, he is the clubs best signing by a mile, and then we see players that could easily walk into most Championships squads signed for the upcoming season.

Gary Roberts has won Huddersfield Town’s player of the year in consecutive seasons and he played over 40 games last season in their successful promotion campaign.

To sign a player of his caliber tells you everything you need to know for the upcoming season and what the clubs ambitions are over the next year.

This also applies to all the other new signings who all add something key to the squad.

It will be interesting to see who makes the starting eleven in the clubs first competitive game of the season against Brighton in the Capital One Cup, especially up front.

After Paul Benson’s excellent start to his career at Swindon I can see him still being key in Di Canio’s plans, so it’ll be who starts alongside him, either Collins or Williams.

Initially I think we’ll see Benson and Collins given the chance to shine early on.

The battle for a starting place in midfield will be just as intriguing on August 14th.

Hopefully we’ll see Matt Ritchie and Simon Ferry still around in August, and lining up in the starting eleven.

Roberts will join Ritchie on the wings but with Di Canio liking to switch players from their normal positions, I think only he knows which side they will be playing on.

The big question will be who will join Ferry in central midfield, either Navarro or Miller.

Obviously this will change regarding the opposition, but I have a feeling Navarro will be first choice early on.

In defence we’ve thankfully still got are key players at the club, Jay McEveley should carry on his good work at left back, but it’ll be a lot harder for Troy Archibald-Henville to earn a starting place.

From what I’ve read about him from Exeter fans he’s a quality addition and will be an important player, but displacing either McCormack or Flint from the starting eleven won’t be easy.

Of course with over a month away from the start of League One, I’m sure we will see a few more new faces, say goodbye to others and have to reject bids from other clubs for some of our key players.

But whatever happens I’m fully confident that the team Di Canio puts out against Hartlepool on the opening day of the League One season will be good enough to make a promotion challenge a realistic aim for this season.

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @danjohnson_stfc

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