The 10 most pressing issues waiting in the new Peterborough United manager's in-tray

It will be a tough act to follow club legend Darren Ferguson and the new man will walk into a club rock bottom of League One, currently five points adrift of safety and with a squad low on confidence.

He will have to work quickly as Posh battle to preserve their League One status after a poor start to the season.

These are ten of the most pressing issues the Peterborough Telegraph has identified for the new man (in no particular order):

Putting the ball in the net- Posh have a fantastic reputation for goals, especially at this level, but the days of 100+ goal seasons are a distant memory. Posh have scored 10 league goals this season and no one single player has more than three. Harry Leonard has yet to find the net which has grown into a huge concern. Jimmy-Jay Morgan has shown himself to be a capable finisher when given the service, but this has been in short supply. He limped out of Saturday’s game in some pain apparently. The struggling Lindgren is the only other senior centre forward on the books and it would simply not be right for the development of young Bolu Shofowoke to throw him into this side. If Morgan’s injury is serious, where do Posh turn?

Find a formation that fits- It would be very easy to follow up scoring with keeping the ball out of the net, only Plymouth have conceded more goals this season (23 to 22) than Posh but I won’t. Instead, the new man needs to find a formation and a way of playing that suits these players. Is that wing backs? It’s hard to imagine so with Harley Mills the only recognised left-sided option who is fit and his form has hardly been strong this season. George Nevett better suits playing in the middle of a three but the injury he picked up on Saturday could lead to the return of a four. Going forward, how can Posh best ensure international midfielder Matt Garbett gets the opportunity to show his best and how can Posh deliver more frequently and better quality to the forward line?

Getting to grips with the squad- Posh’s first-team squad has close to 30 members. I hope the manager’s office door is sturdy as there will be plenty of players knocking at it asking for a second chance after being frozen out, transfer listed or just falling out of favour under Ferguson (Johnston, De Havilland, Lolos, Lindgren to name just a few). The new man will have to quickly assess if any are worthy of a re-evaluation or whether their exile can continue. This could make the early team selections a real challenge.

Getting the fans back onside- This shouldn’t take too much work (although I can think of a few candidates who’d have an uphill battle). The atmosphere in the stands has taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks. Ferguson used the word ‘toxic’ to describe the terraces at Burton. It is understandable given the football and results that has been served up but it is never nice to see. Hopefully the next appointment can bring in an injection of hope and positivity.

Instilling confidence- This is unchartered territory for Posh. It was been decades since Posh were in the third tier with a genuine threat of relegation but past successes need to be put aside. This is a team is at its lowest ebb for a long time and slowly shuffling into League Two if nothing is done. A quarter of the season is gone and Posh are rock bottom, five points adrift of safety. An injection of confidence into this squad is the least they need.

Assessing training- Implementing his own style of training will be one of the very first things the new boss does of course, but one thing that he will need to make a judgement on is have Posh just been suffering bad luck with injuries or is there something more to it. Cian Hayes, Jacob Mendy, Declan Frith and further players stretching back to last season have all spent sizeable spells on the sidelines after picking up training ground injuries, often late in sessions, prompting questions from fans regarding preparation.

Assembling a new backroom team- At the moment, all we know is that Ferguson is gone. There is no word yet on the future of his assistants, Kieran Scarff and Kevin Russell. Both are close friends of Ferguson, Russell was brought back to the club by Ferguson this summer to try and turn the ship around while Scarff was promoted from running the club’s academy in 2023. Scarff would appear more likely to stay on than Russell but in what role? These decisions would need to be made. Almost any chosen candidate is going to want the freedom to choose his own staff.

Getting more from the back-ups: The good thing about a new manager is that it gives everyone a clean slate and boy do some of these players need it. 79 minutes into the game yesterday Posh had not made any tactical changes, which on the surface of it makes little sense, but I had some sympathy for Ferguson when he looked behind him. Whether you say he assembled the squad or not is besides the point, he looked back and Odoh, Lindgren and Klaidi Lolos were his attacking options. How many fans can genuinely say they were excited at the prospect of any of those coming on? Can a new man do anything to get a tune out of the back-up boys? You suspect he will have to.

Establish a good working relationship with the boss- By all accounts from those that have been there, the Posh owner is not always the easiest to work with. MacAnthony and Ferguson had a great working relationship and the new man will need to foster something similar to have any chance of success. No manager not called Ferguson has achieved this though.

Think about January now- January is only two months away, plans need to be in place for the transfer window. MacAnthony has always been quick to point to how much Posh have spent over the last two season to prove that he has backed Ferguson, but the problem is, there has been little to show for it. The chairman may be reluctant to get his chequebook out again, but he must weigh the need to do so against what potentially going into League Two would do to the club. The new man needs to quickly identify where he can get reinforcements as it is already seems as if it would be a minor miracle if he could steer this exact group to safety.