Town boss Mick McCarthy believes the Blues should be lauded for their more thrifty approach which has seen their annual loss drop over the last few seasons and record a profit after player trading in this year's accounts.

Having made a loss of £15.96 million in the year to June 2012, £9.78 million the following season and £7.16 million in the year to June 2014, the Blues made a profit of £5.33 million in the accounts made public last week including the sales of Aaron Cresswell and Tyrone Mings, although an operating loss of £6.14 million, while the club's debt rose from £86.01 million to £87.19 million.

After the high spending days under Roy Keane and early on under Paul Jewell, with the Championship having moved to its Financial Fair Play model, the Blues have looked to cut costs and operate more efficiently in recent seasons.

Transfer fees have only rarely been paid, and even then in the low hundred thousands rather than millions, with the club seeking to make the most of the Bosman and loan markets, as well as taking advantage of players such as Freddie Sears (a fee we now understand to have been £200,000), Jonas Knudsen (£325,000) and Piotr Malarczyk (£8,500) inserting relatively low release clauses in their contracts at their previous clubs.

In 2013/14 - not all clubs’ accounts for 2014/15 are available - the Blues had the 15th highest wage bill in the Championship at £13.9 million, while it increased to £15.97 million last season and is set to rise again during this campaign as a result of the large fee - £8 million plus add-ons - achieved for Mings when he joined Bournemouth.

However, Town’s wage bill will still be significantly lower than plenty of other Championship clubs, certainly those with parachute payments following relegations from the Premier League.

Figures last month showed that the Blues' spend on agents was amongst the lowest in the division and was down to £261,346.50 during the period October 2014 to September 2015 having been £360,618.58 a year earlier.

“It helps if you don’t spend anything [in transfer fees]!” McCarthy said when reflecting on last year’s accounts. “I’m sure that’s helped the finances.

“It’s been prudent management from top to bottom, that’s not just down to me. We’ve got a group of lads looking at players, picking them up and we continue to do it.

“I was at the AGM the other night and it always strikes me that even when it’s going well it’s like, ‘What can we do to get better [players]? Who can we get? Can we do something better?’.

“Well, actually, I don’t think we can do any better than the ones we’ve got unless we [spend] a whole chunk of money and blow the wage bill.

“I think the club should be lauded for how it’s working at the minute. If they’ve made more money or not lost as much and the finances are better, the team’s in [ninth], we’re playing well and we’ve still not spent a load of money, we’re still not paying a big wage bill and we’ve still not sent a shedload of money to agents.

“That’s interesting. There are clubs in embargoes who have paid £1.5 million to agents. We haven’t spent that on players, how does that work out? Incredible.”

McCarthy believes fans should be positive about Town’s current position: “I was at the AGM and I was trying to say that people should be enthusiastic and good about the club.

“I actually think part of my job definitely is trying to get fans to be proud of their club, whether it’s retaining that pride or getting that pride back in it.

“I think at the minute that’s where people are, the way we’re playing, the way the lads conduct themselves, there’s a broader thing. I know I’ve got to win games, don’t get me wrong because if we’re bottom of the league no one’s proud of their club. But we’re OK at the minute.”

Photo: Action Images

battyblue added 06:13 - Dec 9 Keep dreaming Mick you are in a different world re cant get anybody better than we have etc and we are playing well ??are we its good we are not playing badly then.
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trncbluearmy added 06:23 - Dec 9 Yes a lot of that is very good but what the fans want after such a long wait putting up with some real crap is success on the pitch which means winning something Clubs like Leicester, scum,WBA,Swansea have done far better then Town we have been left behind drifting in the wilderness
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Sir_Bob added 06:58 - Dec 9 Yes, we are now beginning to be run very well. ME is a business man, he came in, threw money at the club expecting us to be in the PL within the first or second season. Throwing money at the club didn't work, so, being a good businessman, he changed direction. He has stabilised the club, that's not in doubt. The debt is his, not the banks debt, which for us, is a big plus. But we are now at a cross roads. Do we gamble, buy decent players & improve our chances of getting promoted, where we can achieve £100m +, or do we stick with freebies & journeymen & stay mid-table & be happy with our little lot?

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GiveusaWave added 07:11 - Dec 9 The club should be praised for doing so well. The fact that we are even competing for 6th spot is testimony to the hard work of all at the club. We have moved away from being a club that desperately fought against relegation every season to a club that deserves its place in the top half of the table. That shows real progress under MM and TC. Clubs like WBA and Leicester have had loads more cash to spend on players. Cash we don't have. We should feel proud of how far we have come. It wasn't too long ago that we were being thrashed at home by Colchester etc.

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Dissboyitfc added 07:34 - Dec 9 Yes we are ok, thats all,could and should do better. sounds like my old school report, but is ok what makes the fans proud? In fact if we want to keep our proud record of being an established mid table championship side with the longest spell in that division then i would say things are spot on! ( sarcasm ) Reading MM's comments are really non- inspirational, almost lost for words. If we fail to make the play-offs it will be a big disapointment.

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bobble added 07:42 - Dec 9 If we get a streak of luck sometime, we may even go up...or we could change tactics and get up faster.
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rfretwell added 08:01 - Dec 9 We surely are all hugely proud of our club for our size, the size of the town, 130,000 population, we have won more trophies than any similar club. Mick and we all know we have the players to really challenge for promotion but early season loss of form (Berra, Murphy especially) and injuries to key players have seriously undermined results. Bru, Bishop and Fraser are huge losses but are gradually returning to fitness.

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Dissboyitfc added 08:05 - Dec 9 EVeryone is proud of our past but we can only talk about the past for so long. We now something to be proud of now!
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Dissboyitfc added 08:06 - Dec 9 need
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Jimmy86 added 08:31 - Dec 9 We don't get promoted for it though do we Mick?? All well and good saying other clubs should laud us for the fact we are bringing our losses down, but Boro showed the other night what investment can do for you. Downing cost 5 million and is Def still Prem class and Nugent 4 million and you could perhaps say the same. Brighton seem to be an exception and haven't spent an awful lot and we did do so well last season on a shoe string. I feel now with the league getting stronger we need some investment. The club will not even pay 1 million for a decent player and that is where we fall short. I'm not saying go and spend 3 - 4 million on one player, but Hearts ended up wanting closer to a million for Mcghee and we then looked elsewhere....

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DoobDude added 08:42 - Dec 9 As supporters we are all proud of the club. However it is worth mentioning that other fans see us as a hoof ball team, owned by a reclusive tax exile and £85m in debt. Not a lot to be proud about in that above sentence really.
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peteswindon added 08:42 - Dec 9 Some of our fans need to check into reality FM. Or maybe they would like us to be the new Bolton and go into receivership. We are slowly getting to where we need to be once the ship is steadied ME will pump more cash into the team and we will be able to push into the next level.
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Guthrum added 08:52 - Dec 9 Meanwhile Bolton have run out of cash (with debts twice ours) and are staring down the barrel of administration and HMRC winding-up orders.
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Jimmy86 added 08:56 - Dec 9 Thing is Peteswindon without real investment we probably won't get promoted. Now having spent years in the wilderness this club needs promotion to the PL and the vast amount of money that brings, through sponsorship, tv deals and selling out most weeks. Even if we went up for 1 season, we would have the parachute payments for 4 years. We would be in a better position all round.

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Stato added 09:17 - Dec 9 We have the 15th highest wage bill and sit in 9th. My chest is bursting with pride !!!!! We have sat in the Championship longer than any other club, we play a dire style of football, we cannot afford transfer fees above £350k, and attendances sit £10k shy of capacity. Yeah bursting with pride.
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cornishblu added 09:22 - Dec 9 Philtwtd In 2013/14 - not all clubs' accounts for 2014/15 are available - the Blues had the 15th highest wage bill in the Championship at £13.9 million, while it increased to £15.97 million last season and is set to rise again during this campaign as a result of the large fee - £8 million plus add-ons - achieved for Mings when he joined Bournemouth. .....why would wages increase because of a large fee??....do players get bonuses based on club income??

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Kikapu added 09:23 - Dec 9 Thing is, Jimmy86, it's not investment. What you're proposing is gambling. 'Stick or twist'. Twist and you might go out of business or you might win promotion (what are the odds?). What you want is for someone else to gamble with their money. What would you do if you were in Evans' position? In my view Evans policy is the correct one and he has hired one of the best managers to achieve that - that is to build slowly over the coming years. And why are some contributors complaining that MM is not spending 9million on players? It's not MM's decision to make. He is an Employee!

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ipswichben added 09:25 - Dec 9 I am proud of the way the club is run. Of course like any fan its frustrating not flashing the cash but ME tried that and it failed; unfortunate for all of us that we didn't have a good manager at the time but I don't think he'll risk that strategy again anytime soon. Sometimes I think we see success as a given because we've been in this division for so long but I see reaching the playoffs as a huge success last year compared to other teams budgets and if we get close again this year then it will be another successful season. If we tried to compete financially with other teams we could become a Bolton, Wigan or Sheff Utd and send the club backwards forever. I'm thankful for where we are and proud of the club, it is frustrating at times particularly when we lose with our 'brand' of football like on Friday night but even Man Utd fans for all their money will be frustrated at this time. Lets stay positive and hope by this time next week we'll be 6th.

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tractorshark added 09:38 - Dec 9 Be careful what you wish for. People rightly use Bolton as an example but you can add Portsmouth to that as well. Shedloads were spent there. Forest, Sheff Wed, Blackburn, Sheff Utd...there are so many examples of ex-Prem clubs failing to get back to the promised land. We're not the only ones. The problem is Financial Fair Play. It's not a bad idea but the Football League can't impose the penalties needed for it to work. Therefore the likes of Middlesbrough take a punt on promotion. Likewise, Brighton who are spending big, particularly on wages. I think we'd all like to wake up in January and see us signing big players but if it meant following the path of Pompey, I'll give it a wide berth. A lot of the more critical fans on here may not agree. And you can debate the merits of McCarthy and Evans until the cows come home. But, realistically, do you think the club would be better off without one or both of them? I'm not convinced. It's all very well yearning for more investment but who's going to pay for it? The rich Sheikh? Don't see too many of them in Ipswich. Or the fans? Some of which turn their back on the club the minute we lose a game. I don' lack ambition, I don't like being in the Championship and I agree there are things wrong with the club. Evans has made massive mistakes with Keane, Clegg and Jewell but, if we gamble, are we more likely to become a Stoke or a Bolton? People use Derby, Boro and Brighton as examples but they've spent big for a few seasons now and not been promoted. Maybe this will be their year or maybe we'll see them in League One in a few seasons.

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Pettitt10 added 09:57 - Dec 9 Can't believe the negativity on here wanting all these massive changes. Does anyone who wants Mick out really think anyone else could do a better job than him whilst spending this little money? I for one am proud of the club after seasons of spending and getting absolutely nowhere it is perfectly understandable that we'd have the following season of spending diddly squat, trying to sort out the mess of previous managers. Just think of all the clubs that spend million after million who finish way below us and even get relegated! Look at the mess they're in. I firmly believe the dark days of recent years are behind us and I thank MM for that.

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warkway added 10:20 - Dec 9 Properly managed there is no risk in Evans increasing his investment in the club as, as he always points out, he owns the debt and he is not going to make his own investment go bust. The real issue is the level of debt we have. Evans keeps it high relative to income as if we do make it into the Prem, he will get a huge windfall in redeeming debt at full price that he bought at 5-10p in the pound. He could reduce the debt by converting to equity or paying off and leave scope for further significant investment. We cannot compete with clubs who have lower debt like Derby or similar debt to us like Boro but a willingness to spend more. This season we are seeing the consequences.

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linhdi added 10:35 - Dec 9 Good words from MM. It seems we'll spread the Mings money over 2-3 years, by increasing the wagebill by around £2.5m a year - this year, that's presumably the loan fees for AMN and Fraser + their wages, as well as improved contracts for some of the established players and a number of other newbies. I'd far rather we spend money that way than spunk it on transfer fees. Getting players like Berra, Murphs and Pitman on frees is amazing business, and shows a real understanding of how to maximise value in the modern game.

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Ravanelly added 11:09 - Dec 9 Excellent post tractorshark, you can add Coventry and Bradford City to that list as well as Blackpool and Barnsley who both sit in relegation spots in League 1
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BackTheBlues added 11:17 - Dec 9 Like all fans I long for being in the Prem - being a younger town fan, I've only every seen us in the top flight since it's creation... but here's the snag - what do you do? Mick is the best manager in this league - it's proven, but getting us to the Prem will be his biggest achievement with no money. Our owner can't spend anymore money than he has - it's not viable and none of us fans would in his position. So what do you do? I personally think we're good enough for 6th - then it's 3 games to glory! Got to hope we get some players back fit and hit a post christmas form!

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PhilTWTD added 12:27 - Dec 9 cornishblu The large fee received for Mings has been used to fund wages for the larger squad assembled in the summer and the new contracts for existing players, so as a result the wage bill will be higher during 2015/16.
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