Can we get out of this mess in January ....

Spot on. So many on here are living in the pre ‘spending cap’ past! @Bantamsteve was absolutely correct, we had the opportunity to sign players prior to its introduction, but for whatever reasons (and I have my suspicions) elected not to. It may well equal out over time, but we are by and large stuck with our current squad, until at least the end of this season and ultimately will have no financial benefits over other clubs until the EFL changes its rules.

 

As both SMc and Sparks said after the summer window closed, there was capacity within the salary cap to bring more players in in the summer but they chose not to do that. Crudely speaking since there is only half a season left, we can now bring in twice as many players as we could have done in the summer and stay within the cap.

If the salary cap is still a constraint, there are other things which can be done to create more headroom within the salary cap if we are willing to take some tough decisions and spend more money outside of the cap. I'm not sure however we have the appetite for those kinds of costly and tough decisions.

 

No if it's done correctly! That is one of the ways around the cap which falls into the 'tough and costly decision' category

 

Potentially very costly if a club is desperate to get someone off the wage bill. It puts the departing player and their agent in a position of strength.

 

It might do but not in all situations. A player whose contract is due to expire in June could be paid up almost in full and be quids in after tax if the club structures it properly. And then be free to take up another job as a free agent.

 

Somebody on here did the analysis which suggested we were 3 or maybe 4 over-21 players under the salary cap limit. If that's true, it might be all we need. If not and some over-21 players are encouraged to leave the club, their departure would then create more headroom in the cap limit.

It all depends how serious the club is about getting out of the relegationn dog fight and spending money as an insurance policy to protect our league status ... and Rupp's original investment.

 

Having had a look at the squad, then I think 18 are senior professionals, and the other 10 are under the age of 22 at the beginning of the season.

So 28 professionals on the wage bill.

I anticipate that Anthony O’Connor and Clayton Donaldson will be on a higher salary. With other senior professionals such as Billy Clarke, Lee Novak Gareth Evans and Richard O’Donnell being on slightly higher wages.

Using a simple equation of £1500000 divided by 28 professionals equals £53,571 each. Clearly this will not happen. So if the top two earners are on circa £80,000 a year (just over £1,500 a week). The next four on £67,500, then that leaves a budget of £1,070,000. Given some of the overblown comments about footballers salaries on here and elsewhere, if we say the average across the remaining 12 senior professionals is £1,000 a week (£52,000 per annum), then that is a further £624,000. Elliot Watt although under the seniors age, has been recruited from a Premiership club, so a salary somewhere between, say £36,000. If we anticipate that the seven academy players are on £25,000 each and that Samuels and Hossanah cost us £25,000 for our contribution to their wages, then I think that is a fair stab at the breakdown (happy for someone ‘in the know’ to come up with a different formula). So the sums would work out with about £200,000 to spend.

We have to remember that the salary cap includes things like appearance money, win bonus (we will be saving a lot there), goal/assist bonus, etc so that could reduce the sum even further.