Tighter Purse Strings

Jenkins Warns Of Tight Purse Strings

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Jenkins handed previous manager Kenny Jackett some good sized war chests in previous windows but the rewards have not justified the spending meaning that funds are not so readily available this summer.

Jackett spent £625,000 in January 2006, £375,000 last summer and £350,000 again in January before leaving the club in February. He has recouped some of that money with the sale of Sam Ricketts and Rory Fallon but for a side that topped the league before that spending it has been a gradual slip backwards since the money started being paid out. And couple that with a drop in average attendance last season and you have a couple of reasons immediately why the money isn’t as plentiful as it was beforehand.

"We have spent a lot of money, particularly in January last year, and we don’t feel we’ve had just reward for it," Jenkins told the Evening Post "I think you can expect a far more cautious approach to our budgeting and spending this summer and I think our supporters would want to see that. "We need to make sure anybody we pay money for is very definitely the right player and will do a job for us. "We’re not going to throw our money around as we have done and not get the right reward for it.

"Look at the sides who have won promotion, Colchester, Southend, Scunthorpe, they have done it with hungry players who want success," he added. "Even Bristol City haven’t spent that much money despite selling Leroy Lita for £1million and David Cotterill for £2million in the last couple of years. We have to take our hat off to Gary Johnson for the job he’s done. "All these clubs have moulded players with reasonable ability into a team who throughout the season have shown the hunger that is needed. "It’s not easy to spot players like that, but maybe we have to adjust our thinking. "We know what we’ve tried over the last 18 months and maybe we’ve got to judge players a bit better."

There is of course the option open to the manager to sell to increase his budget and that, I guess, that is something that should not be ruled out. Roberto is said to be casting his net wide to include both Spain and Holland in his search which may mean a better quality player for smaller outlay.