As you might expect of a man who used to be a senior litigation lawyer in South Africa, Alan Solomons has a keen appreciation of the importance of detail, so the new Edinburgh coach's first few days in charge of the capital side were never likely to be marked by hasty diktats, lofty edicts or any other signs of a tendency to rush to judgment.

Yet, if any in the Murrayfield dressing room mistook the slightly-built 63-year-old's considered manner to be a sign that he is something of a soft touch, then the next couple of months could be a rather harsh wake-up call for them. Keen-eyed and with a ready smile, Solomons is a likeable fellow, but the testimonies of those he has coached in the past suggest that he is not afraid to make firm and unpopular decisions when he knows what needs to be done.

Which, by his reckoning, should be in about two months' time. Unveiled to the media for the first time since his arrival last week, and barely 24 hours after he had met the Edinburgh players for the first time, Solomons yesterday made it clear that the first few weeks of the new season will be a time of watching and waiting - and of figuring out what needs to be done to get the listing ship he has inherited back on a straight and even course.

His timescale is intriguing in the sense of footloose southern hemisphere players will be coming to the ends of their contracts in early October. Glasgow took advantage of that employment pattern a year ago when they bolstered their squad by signing Josh Strauss and Sean Maitland, and the hope among Edinburgh supporters is that game-changers of a similar calibre might soon be plying their trade at Murrayfield as well.

They will do themselves a mischief if they hold their breaths too long, though. Solomons himself was resolutely circumspect on the matter of fresh blood, but Edinburgh chief executive David Davies was determined to douse expectations as he sat beside the new coach.

"There will be efforts made to make sure we can attract players," said Davies. "But at this stage, knowing that the season is only three weeks away, we are behind the eight ball. To say to anyone that they should expect signings would be leading them down the garden path. We will be working on it, but there are absolutely no guarantees."

The gushing statement that confirmed Solomons as Edinburgh's new coach a couple of weeks ago trumpeted his achievements with the Springboks, Ulster and the Southern Kings. It was, however, curiously coy on the matter of the (brief) time he spent at Northampton in 2004, when he was ousted after eight consecutive defeats. That experience might have dissuaded Solomons from ever again joining the staff of a European club, but instead he now reflects on it as a character-building experience.

"Most coaches, over a lengthy career, are going to have an occasion when things don't go right," said Solomons. "What I learned from that, I suppose, is that it is important to do your due diligence before you come to any place to see that the environment is exactly what you think it is. There were lessons to be learned from it and I have absorbed those. But it is in the past and I don't think about it much.

"The important thing is to understand how an organisation operates and what the chain of command is. You need to get to know the people in that chain; to meet them and make enquiries about them and about the set-up itself. I have certainly done that."

The opinion of SRU chief executive Mark Dodson presumably carried some weight in that regard. It is only a few weeks since Dodson could be heard ripping the culture of Edinburgh to shreds, accusing them of lacking the team spirit that Glasgow have managed to generate at the other end of the M8. If Solomons is to do anything at the club, that issue has to be addressed right at the start.

In which light, next week's training camp at Loughborough University may have more importance as a bonding session for the Edinburgh players than an attempt to make use of the institution's renowned facilities. Certainly, Solomons understands the importance of getting to the roots of the malaise that afflicted the club last season.

"This camp in Loughborough is an excellent opportunity because we will have time together as a team," Solomons explained. "I plan to sit down with each player and have a chat about general things as well as rugby. We will have a bit of a workshop where we can set out our values for our team and the code of conduct by which we intend to live.

"I've got to be able to assess the situation and to see what we can do to improve. That is not something that is going to happen overnight. It is a rare thing in professional rugby to arrive at the end of the pre-season. I've never done that before. It presents a challenge and I would hope that after two months we will be able to see the green shoots of improvement happening.

"At the end of two months I must have assessed sufficiently to be able to sit down with David and go through a number of things I think will result in us getting better."

At least his own commitment is beyond reproach. Solomons has kept a home in Ulster since the time he spent coaching the province a decade ago, but he has no intention of doing what Michael Bradley, his predecessor at Edinburgh, tried to do by commuting across the Irish Sea.

"You can't do a job if you're not living in the place," he said. "We will be staying in Edinburgh. Mary [his wife] is out looking for suitable accommodation, although it's not easy around here. I'm sure she will find something because it is very important to get to know the place."