Hayles Talks On Argyle Budget

Plymouth Argyle striker Barry Hayles has spoken about the lack of finances at Home Park and admits that the budget at Home Park is ‘at the bottom of the league.’

Argyle boss Ian Holloway has already stated that the tight financial situation at Plymouth means that he cannot keep some out-of-contract players when their current deals come to an end next summer and now Hayles has also talked about the Pilgrims’ lack of cash.

But rather than use the gloomy financial picture as an excuse Hayles believes it will galvanise the Argyle squad against bigger spending teams.

Speaking to the Icons website the former Fulham striker said: ‘The gaffer is right to point out that we simply don’t have the sort of budget that other clubs have in this division. In fact when you look at the money there is to spend we are probably right down at the bottom of the league.

‘It is a factor and it’s obvious we can’t compete with the cheque book, so we have to make the most of the resources we do have. We aren’t a massive club so we have to believe in ourselves and in what the gaffer is trying to do. We can’t think we don’t deserve to be in the company of the bigger clubs, because we do.’

Hayles points out that just because Argyle have a small budget it doesn’t mean that the players are poor or that the Pilgrims have an inferior team. He says that determination and hard work are needed to compete against more expensively assembled opposition, he said: ‘The size of our budget doesn’t make us a bad team and we have a very good squad. It just means that we have to step up a bit more. Like the gaffer says, we need to take it to our opponents.

‘We showed against West Ham in the Carling Cup the other week that we can compete with the best. I thought we looked quite comfortable against them apart from the last 20 minutes when we gave them a few half-chances.’

Holloway has 22 players who will be out-of-contract next June with Hayles, last seasons’ top scorer, one of those players. The Argyle boss will have to wheel and deal in the January transfer window in an effort to balance the books and keep within his budget.

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