Sheffield Wednesday operating within budget, claims Irvine

The Owls are 30m in debt and battling to avoid administration but were granted another 28 days in the High Court this week to pay a 1.4m tax bill.

Despite the problems, the Owls were still one of the biggest spending outfits in League One this summer – snapping up a string of players on Championship wages, including internationals Clinton Morrison and Gary Teale, former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor and goalkeeper Nicky Weaver, who had been released by Burnley.

Rochdale manager Keith Hill launched a bitter attack on the Owls last weekend, suggesting it was wrong that clubs with 'massive' debts were able to sign such expensive players.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's trip to Milton Keynes Dons, Irvine said: "Everyone needs to cut their cloth according to what they can afford. I was given a budget to try and rebuild the squad and I did that with money to spare.

"Eleven players went out and we couldn't run a football team without bringing in more players and we did that within a budget that had been worked out by the board on the basis of it being a sensible budget.

"I don't think what we did this summer has really been the problem," he added. "I think it is the position we have been in from a long time ago."

The Owls' annual wage budget has been cut by approximately 1m as a result of last season's relegation from the Championship but still stands in the region of 5.5m, which is in the the top three in League One.

Asked whether the club was guilty of over-spending, Irvine said: "It would have to be someone else who answers that question." He added: "The budget dropped, we had to cut costs. There were a lot of players we couldn't try and sign because we couldn't get anywhere near the wages they were asking."

Irvine also responded to Hill's criticism, saying: "Keith should concentrate on his own team. I wouldn't even try, for a moment, to say whether Rochdale are doing things in the right or the wrong way. I don't know how Rochdale do things but it is up to them. They need to live within their means and we are trying to live within our means."

The Owls are in talks with four rival parties who say they are keen to pump money into the club. If a deal cannot be done before December 16, however, the club's major creditors, the Co-Operative Bank, are firmly expected to put the club in administration.

Swiss-based property developer Colin Hill is believed to be funding the move fronted by the former East Stirlingshire chairman Spencer Fearn, while former Owls director Mick Wright has teamed up with existing director Ken Cooke and Gilders motors chief executive Garry Scotting. Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric is another firmly in the frame but Certified Oilfield Rentals, the company introduced by former manager Chris Turner, now appear to have pulled out of the race.

Although Irvine admits that Wednesday's plight is far worse than he could have imagined when taking over 10 months ago, he still has no regrets about accepting the job.

"Did I expect the job to be quite so hard? 'No'," he confessed. "But would I still have taken it on, 'yes', because it is a terrific job and I feel very fortunate.

"I knew there was a possibility we might have to sell a player or two but I didn't know it was quite in the situation it is," he said. "I don't think anyone else was necessarily aware. I don't think people were trying not to tell me. The chairman at the time, Lee (Strafford), and Nick Parker (chief executive) and the board have all been very open."

Irvine is optimistic that, even if the worse does come to the worse, the Owls can start again and move on – citing Leeds United as an example of a club that has bounced back from the nightmare of adminstration.

Yet for now, with the destiny of the club in limbo, Irvine is aware there is little value in speculation.

"We can only deal with things when and if they arrive and there is no point worrying about it just now," he said. "It's either going to be investment or administration and both scenarios will change things at this club."

Victories in the last three games have moved the Owls within four points of second spot in the league and brought progress in both the FA Cup and the JP Trophy.

"I am delighted with the way the players have coped," he said. "I don't think it should have an affect but when I start thinking about what's happened at other clubs who have had financial difficulties, such as Liverpool, perhaps there is a colloration between financial problems and what happens when you play the games.

"If things are going well when you step onto the pitch, the chances are you will just get on with it," he said. "If things are not going so well, you have a ready- made excuse. The moment you start thinking that way, it can be self-perpetuating. Performances go downhill because, in your own mind, they are allowed to."

The Owls will be boosted by the return of fit again winger Jermaine Johnson for tomorrow's game but midfielder Giles Coke will be serving a one-game ban.