Ian Appleyard: Not much sympathy left to go around at plight of big-spenders

Indeed, there is now a growing anger in football towards those who live beyond their means.

Many chairmen and managers believe it wholly unfair that clubs are allowed to buy success with borrowed money.

They also resent the fact that clubs are able to wipe out their debt and start again by going into administration.

Rochdale manager Keith Hill launched a bitter attack on Sheffield Wednesday after his side's defeat at Hillsborough. Hill highlighted the gulf in spending power between the two clubs and pointed out that his club were better at balancing the books.

"We are more financially sound than Sheffield Wednesday but have I got 27m to spend? Absolutely not! " he said, with a reference to Wednesday's current debt.

"My chairman and board do everything correctly but can I afford to sign Clinton Morrison? Absolutely not!" he added.

"Something in the game in this country is wrong. A lot of clubs are in massive debt but we are not and I am proud of the way we play the game and the way we develop players."

Hill is the first manager in 36 years to steer Rochdale out of the old Fourth Division. His achievement warrants great credit, especially when clubs like Notts County, Bradford City, and Rotherham United had far more money to spend in League Two last season. Administration, of course, is not an 'easy' option. And clubs do not 'choose' to go into administration – they are forced into it, or so most say.

Apart from bringing a deduction of 10 points – which sometimes condemns a club to relegation or severely hampers a promotion push – it steals money out of the pocket of creditors who conducted business with the club in good faith but are still waiting to be paid. Instead of getting 100 per cent of the money they are owed, they are left with no option but to settle for as little as 10p in the pound which is grossly unfair.

Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll touched on the same issues ahead of his side's weekend trip to Portsmouth.

O'Driscoll claimed that 'clubs have to go into debt to be successful'; Portsmouth having racked up debts in excess of 100m.

Even now, after being docked points last season and relegated to the Championship, they are still paying seven-figure salaries to players who so many others in the division simply cannot afford.

It is wrong, no question about it.

Too many football clubs behave like homeowners who, in reality, cannot afford a new conservatory or that holiday in Florida. But they go ahead, stick them on various credit cards, and eventually go bankrupt.

The family next door, meanwhile, have stuck to a budget they can afford, don't have a conservatory and go on cheap camping holidays instead. But those are the people who deserve the greater respect and just as clubs like Rochdale deserve greater respect than the likes of Portsmouth.

Sadly, respect isn't always worth a great deal in monetary terms.

Former Leeds United captain Dominic Matteo was in the papers last week recalling his side's great European adventures during the Peter Ridsdale era.

Matteo now accepts that the success Leeds enjoyed was probably not worth the price they have subsequently paid, namely three years in League One.

On Wednesday, in the High Court, it is time for Sheffield Wednesday to face the music after spending money they did not have in a bid to return to the Premier League.

If they do enter administration – and let's hope they don't – there won't be too many letters of sympathy from the rest of the Football League.