Well I guess it helps Dave's recruitment that a larger than usual number of our top earners have left over the past 12 months (Lowe, Davis, Guthrie, Hollands, Turton, Nugent possibly Ray) as well as Bingham, Saunders and a couple of others. We haven't had to pay a fee for any of the 3 signings, other than a signing-on fee maybe, so even if the budget isn't much bigger he has had more flexibility. I also suggest that the younger players, being a year older and better, has made it easier for Dave to identify where the big gaps in the team are and the gaps he needs to fill.
What has impressed me more is that he has clearly assessed the existing squad, decided who to release and identified his target signings early. Whether he has got his first choices or not we will never know, but he is happy with making such early decisions, as should we be. A couple more to come, I suspect (3 if Ray decides to leave) and maybe a loan player or two to supplement the attacking options and we're good to go.
Happy (or happier!) days.