Bullard and Co asked to take pay cut to help Hull City reduce wages bill

Club owner Russell Bartlett will take over as chairman with Adam Pearson, who returned to the club last season, assuming a new role as head of football operations. Insolvency expert Martin Fry has also been hired to work alongside Bartlett in talks with creditors.

The Tigers are saddled with debts of 35m and a wage bill of 38.9m as they prepare for a return to the Championship after two years in the top flight.

Although the wage bill drops to 21m next month, after various contracts and loan deals have expired, Bartlett still wants to slash another 6m.

England midfielder Jimmy Bullard, a club record 5m signing, pockets 45,000 a week at the KC Stadium while former Brazilian international Geovanni is paid around 30,000 a week.

If Bullard, alone, agreed to a 30 per cent drop in pay, it would save the Tigers around 1m in wages next season.

"We have talked to the players and they are going away to think about it," said Pearson, in reference to the proposed wage deductions.

"The players were given those contracts, they didn't ask for them. The club wanted to give them those contracts and they have got every right to (expect Hull to) honour them. But we have got a pretty decent bunch of lads here, who care about the club, and it wouldn't surprise me if they did offer to help out."

Confirming Fry's appointment as part of a boardroom re-shuffle, Pearson said: "He will be working alongside Russell Bartlett, who will be looking at the financial side of the business, and myself, who will be aiming in on the football side, trying to get the players out, trying to get the contracts structured in the right way so they don't strangle the club. Quite frankly, there has been no work done on that for two years so we are going to have to get stuck into that quickly."

Hull's debts have spiralled out of control since the club won promotion two years ago. The extent of their problems became evident last October with the publication of the club's accounts. Pearson was subsequently brought back to the club for a second spell as a replacement for chairman Paul Duffen.

Amid reports that the club could go into administration if relegated, and therefore face the possibility of a 10-point penalty next season, Pearson said: "It is a real short-term goal to try to get the debt down and get some shape on it. Hopefully we will do that without going into a formal process.

"There is always that threat there. Our aim is to avoid that

10-point penalty and that formal process of administration if at all possible.

"I came in in the first week of November and the debt was 35m. It is exactly the same now and we don't want it to go up any more. We need to start restructuring that debt, pushing it out, to give us enough room to breathe for next season."