Chief executive Simon Clegg says the Blues were in a “cash positive position” after the January transfer window loan deals which saw strikers Daryl Murphy and David Healy come in from Premier League Sunderland and Jon Stead, Alex Bruce and Tamás Priskin move out on a short-term basis to Championship sides Coventry, Leicester and QPR.
Clegg says the deal to secure the signing of the highly-waged Premier League duo was more than balanced out by the terms of the loan moves away from Town: "I think we’re in a cash positive position. To me it was a question of doing good business for the club.
"We’ve got a number of players out on loan which has worked well for us even when you take into account Daryl and David coming in from Sunderland.
"We wouldn’t have Daryl and David here if we had Alex Bruce and Jon Stead still on the books. That would just have been economic madness.
"The manager drives what he wants to do with the players that he’s got in his squad. Those that aren’t playing, those that he feels need to go out to get experience with other clubs and he identifies the players he wants to come in.
"But it’s not a bottomless pit, people should not be under any illusions about that. And therefore if I can make more money by sending people out than I pay out when bringing people in then that’s good business.”
Clegg says there is still cash available if manager Roy Keane wants to make further additions before the end of the season: "If Roy feels the need to enhance the squad, then he knows he’s only got to have a discussion with me and we’ll take it from there.
"We’ve got a budget but if I want to make a case to Marcus to go over that budget and I can justify it, I have no doubt that he will respond positively to that.
"But I think it’s much better that you try to manage things within an overall figure if you can. That makes good financial sense and means we don’t get ourselves into the same troubles that some other clubs have got themselves into.”
Chairman and owner Marcus Evans was in charge of Town’s transfer dealings last summer, but Clegg says he will take that role from now on: "He’s now made it very clear that he wants me to lead on all player negotiations once we get to the end of this season. I’ve played an increasing role in that.
"Having not done it before last August was a bit of an education to me in terms of the way football operates. I was much more involved in the January window and I expect to be leading on all player negotiations going forward.”
The former BOC chief admits that he had a lot to learn when he joined the club: "Because I’ve come from completely outside of football it was undoubtedly a steep learning curve and it is still a learning curve, but all the time I feel more confident, I feel very comfortable in this environment and still consider that there’s a lot of synergy between what I was doing before and what I’m doing now.
"This is about high performance sport and I feel very comfortable being in the environment of the players and being at the training ground, without in any way getting under the shoes of the manager.
"I’m absolutely delighted with the decision I made and with hindsight it was the right one for me. This is a fantastic club and I couldn’t have been more warmly welcomed into the local community and for that I’m extremely grateful.”
Clegg says no discussions have yet taken place regarding Keane’s summer transfer kitty and says Marcus Evans will continue to back the club’s attempts to get back into the Premier League: "We’re yet to talk about whether we will operate to a particular budget.
"What I will say about Roy is that he has been very realistic in terms of his expectations of the type of players he would like to bring here. In the main he has identified people who he thinks have got long-term potential for the club.
"We’re delighted with Daryl Murphy and David Healy’s four goals over the last few games and that’s looking really good. No particular budget has been set for the transfer window next season.
"Marcus continues to be hugely committed to the club and investing where appropriate to give us the best opportunity to get promoted.”