BRENDAN RODGERS has met the supporters, said all the right things at his first press conference and now the hard work begins.

Celtic’s new manager has £15million to spend, that’s over and above any funds which could come his way through the transfers of players out the club, and he is going to spend it.

What is the point of a warchest, perhaps the most wrongly overused word in Scottish football, if you don’t empty it?

Celtic need a striker, maybe even two, one creative midfielder and arguably a centre-half just for starters. Rodgers and the club board will not have much downtime over the next month and beyond.

So here we look at what will be in Rodgers’s in-tray when he starts his new job.

He needs to trim (actually take a scythe to) the playing staff

There were 31 players who ended the season with squad numbers. There are eight due to come back from loan when they all meet up again in June.

There are some kids in there, such as Jack Aitchison, but most would be get changed in the first-team dressing room at Lennoxtown – if there was any room.

Rodgers’s preference is to have a “trim” squad. He has some homework to do on his holidays.

Tyler Blackett will be on his way back to Manchester United, Emilio Izaguirre has all-but admitted he is leaving but many more must be moved on. James Forrest is actively looking for a club down south but too many on good contracts will take some shifting.

The problem is who will want the likes of Carlton Cole, Nadir Ciftci and Stefan Scepovic? You add the name of Efe Ambrose to that lot.

Martin O’Neill, who Rodgers has been understandably compared to, in his first weeks in Glasgow quickly worked out the likes of Mark Burchill, Vidar Riseth, Olivier Tebily, Rafael Scheidt, Eyal Berkovic and Stephane Mahe were not his kind of players.

They were sold on quickly. A similar cull is needed this summer.

What does he do with the old guard?

Scott Brown, who he favourably name-checked on Monday, Charlie Mulgrew and Kris Commons are all in their thirties and have had injury problems over the past six months.

Does he keep all three given their age and fitness? It seems unlikely. Of this trio it might be Commons who makes way after it has to be said a superb Celtic career.

Does he give the fringe guys a chance?

And, by Jove, there are rather a lot of them.

There was no point in Scott Allan, Ryan Christie, Saidy Janko, who to be fair had an injury for a spell, plus one or two others sticking about if they are not going to get a game, which was so often the case last season.

There are always going to be players not stripped on match-day but there were far too many of them under Ronny Deila.

This is hardly Rodgers’s fault but it is now his problem. He has to make his mind up on quite a few in a short space of time.

The good news for Allan and the like is their new boss will at least give them all a chance to impress.

Formation is vital

Surely under such an attack-minded manager Celtic will no longer go with one striker at home against the team bottom of the Premiership.

At Swansea City and Liverpool, Rodgers more often than not went with a 4-3-3 and this is what Celtic fans want to see. There is no reason not play such a system in all domestic games.

Leigh Griffiths in the middle, Patrick Roberts on the right and AN Other taking up position on the other wing (Anthony Stokes could play there if he brings Saturday’s performance back with him to the club) is a strong front three.

There would be a back four, one sitting midfielder (Nir Bitton, perhaps) and two more creating midfielders (take your pick from 20).

That just might be a team worth watching

Does he go for one big name striker?

Now this is an interesting one.

Rodgers is going to do seriously to improve on Griffiths. No individual player at the club has enjoyed a more sensational season since Henrik Larsson was in town.

Celtic were fortunate in a sense that Griffiths did not get injured because there is not much in the way of back-up.

Surely Cole, Scepovic and Ciftci won't be seen again - there is also Colin Kazim-Richards in case anyone had forgotten about him - but the club needs better. A lot better.

Does he get one centre-forward to play alongside Griffiths or someone to play off the No9?

And even then one more striker is needed in that squad, unless Kazim-Richards can get himself going.

Does he stick or twist with the defence?

If everyone is fit then the first choice back four is made up of Mikael Lustig, Erik Sviatchenko, Jozo Simunovic and Kieran Tierney.

As back-up there is Janko, Mulgrew, Dedryk Boyata and young Irish central defender Fiacre Kelleher who is highly thought of.

That actually isn't bad.

It's just that Simunovic has hardly had any game-time and so there remains doubts over him.

With the money he has, Rodgers could go out and get one more commanding centre-half. At least he will have the funds to do so.