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.”