I'm at a loss how this can be turned around in anything less than five years. Our wage bill is indefensible and it is the sole reason why this Club will be dragged down into the mire when we fail to qualify for the Champions League. A Club spending what we do on player contracts should at the very least have a spine populated by proven superstars supported by a cast of accomplished and up and coming players. Three or four players aside, we have a dishevelled rump of players accustomed to failure on the pitch and unimaginable reward for dubious talent and mental strength off it. Our players are in football terms, the richly rewarded banking failures of the business world.

There has been chronic mismanagement on and off the pitch and this situation has been festering and building for at least seven years gradually taking us from the pinnacle to the rump of a team we have now. Anyone thinking there is a quick fix for a situation that has been building for years is deluding themselves. We have shit players on lucrative and lengthy contracts that no one else will take on, and we are still offering them. Even if there is a complete change in approach from the Board and a new Manager, it will take years to clear up this mess.