Bernard Morley admits that he and joint-manager Anthony Johnson will have to be 'ruthless' with their recruitment this summer after looking set to miss out on their initial target of the National League North play-offs.
The Chester FC bosses had hoped to keep a nucleus of around 10 to build on for next season but that number will likely be significantly less after the Blues missed out on the play-offs and have looked a shadow of their former selves since Christmas.
Chester were thumped 6-0 at home by Stockport County last week in an alarming capitulation but did rally to pick up a point against York City in a 2-2 draw at the Swansway Chester Stadium on Saturday, coming from behind twice.
But that result, and results elsewhere, mean that Chester sit six points off the top seven with three games remaining and will almost certainly be playing their football in the National League North again next season.
And with heavy collapses occurring on more than one occasion this season, Morley and Johnson, whose side could well be adopting a hybrid model next season, know that they have work to do in the close season to improve their side and turn them into title challengers as opposed to also rans.
Said Morley after the draw with York: "It's going to be a new squad and I'll be honest with you, it looks like there are going to be more players going out and more players coming in. But it's never healthy as a manager as you want to add three or four to an existing squad.
"Me and Jonno, we've put our cards on the table and, being honest, I think there is going to be the same kind of transformation as last season.
"We may retain five or six and if we are give it a go next year then we have got to be ruthless with our recruitment and there is no room for sentiment anymore.
"The pain of the past couple of weeks in terms of not reaching our goal hurts more than it does releasing a player, so we have got to be ruthless and make sure we get our recruitment right next season and believe we can go on and compete (at the top end).
"We potentially thought we had a squad of 10 as a platform to build on next year but that has shrunk to maybe six or seven after this week. There have been some questions hanging over our head and we've seen two or three (against York) and we don't learn and what we expect is players to learn from mistakes and they simply aren't doing that.
"I deem it unacceptable, as does Jonno, the supporters and you guys (the media). You have to learn from mistakes if you want to move forward, and moving forward is key for me and Jonno."
With the season all but done Chester have three games in which to at least build some momentum and give some cheer to Blues fans heading into next season.
They travel to Ashton United on Friday (3pm) before a home encounter with Brackley Town on Bank Holiday Monday.
And Morley says that he and Johnson could experiment with fringe players and admitted that some who had been afforded a chance to shine have simply failed to do so.
He said: "I don't think we'll disrespect the supporters by going to Ashton on Friday and fielding a team that we don't think can win the game.
"In terms of players who have been on the fringe throughout the season and where we have deemed other players stronger than them mentally and physically, now is the time to say that those players haven't got us to where we want to be and we might start to experiment with one or two fringe players.
"We did that today. One or two have come out good, the other two are what they were before we played them today.
"There are lots of positives to take out of this season but a lot of negatives. If we start building towards next season over the next three games then so be it."
