San Jose general manager John Doyle has begun piecing together the resurrected franchise's roster, a task he admits is about as fun as it gets in his line of work.

The Quakes began by claiming 10 players in the Expansion Draft, which was closely followed by a pair of trades.

The former San Jose Clash defender says he used five of the 10 Expansion Draft picks on backliners in an effort to give the team a solid foundation for offensive game plans. The first two choices were center backs with plenty of soccer ahead of them: former Quake Ryan Cochrane, a starter for MLS champions Houston, and FC Dallas beanpole Clarence Goodson.

"We want to be athletically good, so we want to be young," explained Doyle. "Of course, we want to attack, so we needed quick defenders who could defend one-on-one that allow us to attack with numbers."

"Cochrane and Goodson are quick. (James) Riley is a fast wide back and we have Jason Hernandez on the other side - that's not to say those four will be the starters, but as a group they fit the role."

Having passed on the Waiver Draft, Doyle will now get stuck in to prepare for January's SuperDraft. The Quakes used one expansion pick (defensive midfielder Brian Carroll) to trade for young Columbus forward Kei Kamara, but says the search for attackers now begins in earnest.

While the draft is expected to provide some fresh blood for the offense, he says the big catch will likely come through another MLS trade.

"We do have the #1 pick, and then the #2 starting in the second round, so we have high picks," said Doyle, who also grabbed Los Angeles striker Gavin Glinton in the Expansion Draft. "We can do a little bit with the draft, look to make trades with some of the picks to acquire a veteran goal scorer. We want to look in the league for a goal scorer."

Expansion choices Ned Grabavoy and Joe Vide look like solid choices for the midfield, which could be filled out after some foreign scouting excursions planned for Doyle and coach Frank Yallop.

"We also have the extra expansion money," he noted. "I'm going to visit Scotland and England to look at a lot of players. Of course, that could be a stretch financially."

"Frank will also look in Trinidad & Tobago and I'll probably be on the way to Brazil in a couple of weeks. We have also gotten 5-6 phone calls from agents with players in South America and Africa."

With the likes of Kevin Hartman and Pat Onstad available, many observers were surprised that the Quakes neglected to take a goalkeeper in the Expansion Draft - but Doyle had other ideas and appears satisfied to have landed Chivas USA veteran back-up Preston Burpo on the cheap for a fourth round SuperDraft pick.

"No disrespect to the guys who were available, but we were excited to get Preston," said the Quakes architect. "He has past proven success in the A-League and played really well with Chivas last year."

Doyle recalled a similar San Jose success story in describing his confidence in the arrival of the 35-year old Burpo, who won several division crowns and the 2005 A-League title in nearly a decade with the Seattle Sounders.

"It's a bit along the lines of what happened with Pat Onstad, who was 34 when he came to MLS," he reminded. "We're looking for big things from Preston."

Of course, not every roster building operation will be a success. Reports suggest Doyle will be looking to bring players with local ties in from Europe, but it is an ambition unlikely to bear immediate results. Wolfsburg outcast and Berkeley native Kamani Hill recently told ASD he isn't ready to move to MLS yet, while former Quakes Danny Califf (of Danish title chasers Aalborg BK) and Ramiro Corrales (of Norwegian champs Brann) could well be in line for Champions League involvement next fall.

Nevertheless, it will probably be very difficult to knock the smile off the first time general manager's face until the new season begins. After the Expansion Draft, he took several supporters to celebrate at the pub.

"Things are going great," Doyle told American Soccer Daily. "We're excited to get this going."