Its not the playing budget that the problem is, it's the wage structure.
The simple reason why the likes of Dicko, Tavs, Bogle, Bradshaw, Gregory et al didn't come here was simply due to the fact that we wouldn't break our wage structure.
Now this isn't a bad thing but you're obviously limited on the kind of player you can attract.
Its not a top 5 wage budget we need, we need to be in the top 5 in terms of players weekly pay.
Remember a few years ago when we got promoted from league 1 ....
Reminder Leicester won the prem last year with one of the smallest wage bills ..
Burp!
Problem is that us and Leicester were flukes and the exception - statistically the teams that spend the most perform better. We've ended up bombing out of the league paying peanuts for players and wages and Leicester will never hit the top again. I'd also say the only way of bucking the trend is experience at the helm like Warnock. Rookie manager and no money spells failure.