THE days of over-the-hill players coming to Sixways for one last pay-day are now a thing of the past, according to the Warriors’ acting chief executive Anthony Glossop.

With Worcester never having been able to break the shackles associated with being a relegation-threatened Premiership outfit, their hands have often been tied in terms of recruitment.

No self-respecting player with international ambitions would consider Sixways as a sensible destination, but that is beginning to change under director of rugby Dean Ryan.

Although a season in the Championship is looming, which will set the plan back at least a year, Warriors are now looking to spend their salary cap on up-and-coming youngsters to fill out a squad based around a core of seasoned campaigners.

However, Glossop insists the club will no longer waste mega-bucks on stellar signings toward the end of their careers, as has been the case over the years.

He said: “We will not be doing it as we have in the past by signing end-of-career players, who will cost us a shed-load of money, just in case we get a few good years out of them.

“I sat as a non-board director watching the likes of (Craig) Chalmers, (Ben) Clarke and Rico Gear, who did not contribute to us, sadly. Although (Chris) Latham was an exception to the rule, the end-of-career players have not been a good option for us.”

Glossop revealed that none of the players Ryan has already recruited for next season have contracts containing relegation release clauses.

“None of the players we have signed have escape clauses in their contracts, so will be playing with us next year whichever division we are in,” he added.

“That is down to Dean’s vision for the club and that is one of the benefits he brings. I think Dean has done extremely well with who he has signed.

“We will have a sizeable number of players leaving at the end of this season – more than I’d like to see in a ‘normal’ season once you have got on to an even keel,” he said.

Glossop also explained that money will be no object as far as the salary cap is concerned and that Ryan will be allowed to spend what he needs on his Warriors squad.

The Sixways chief said: “The salary cap is a moveable feast because of the academy and English-qualified credits, as well as adding on your excluded player and the £400,000 injury dispensation if it is needed.

“What I can say is that you won’t find Dean being unable to recruit the squad he feels he needs, given the way we’ve talked about doing it.”

On his own temporary role at the helm of the club, Glossop said: “I’m trying to do a bit more than just keep the post warm, because we had the choice of bringing someone in from outside as an interim, which would have just been to hold the fort.

“Dropping someone from the board in gives us continuity and the vision we are pursuing with Dean would be able to move along at the speed it ought to.

“The person we bring in as chief executive has to be commercially-minded because we have put our total faith in Dean and his team, so bringing in someone else to be a ‘rugby person’ is not what we need.”