Interim manager Peter Taylor has the tools needed to achieve, believes chairman Paul Scally.

Former boss Martin Allen assembled a squad that maxed out the playing budget and that means the new manager has little room to manoeuvre.

New signings haven’t been ruled out but Mr Scally is confident that the players at the club are good enough to succeed in League 1.

“A new person has got the chance of achieving more, if he manages the players and gets the best out of the players,” said chairman Paul Scally, hours before bringing Taylor back to the club.

“They need a new approach, a new way of thinking and a new way of playing, possibly, and then we can see just how good they are.

“There is a lot of potential in there that is locked up at the moment.”

And he again dismissed suggestions the club had not invested. The 58-year-old chairman said: “We have invested a lot in this squad. Just because we haven’t paid huge transfer fees doesn’t mean it is not an expensive squad.

“Our wage bill is up there in the top half of the division. It is a good squad for a manager to come in and play with but if there are changes to be made, then we will make the changes. We always do.

“There wasn’t a player that Martin wanted that he didn’t get. Martin was comfortable with the squad he built and most of it is his squad. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the best out of them.”

There were several high-profile departures from Priestfield during Allen’s reign, including Paulo Gazzaniga’s move to Southampton and Jack Payne’s sale to Peterborough United.
Money also came in following a sell-on clause in Matt Jarvis’ contract, when he moved from Wolves to West Ham.

With income from those sales well in excess of £1m and only nominal transfer fees paid for incoming players, some fans have questioned Mr Scally’s willingness to back Allen with funds. Mr Scally explained his stance.

He said: “If your wage bill is £2m and you have only budgeted for £1.5m – because of the natural income of the business – then you have £500,000 to find out of income. If you haven’t got the income, then you have to use transfer money and that’s where the transfer money goes.

“The other point is there is a difference between p and l (profit and loss) and cash flow. On all these deals we do, we don’t get this money in one hit, we get it over two or three years or, in some cases, longer. You can only spend what actual cash you have got, no matter how much someone is sold for. You can only spend the money you get in that year. We don’t have an overdraft or anyone lending us money for what is coming next year.

“The fact remains that we have an expensive squad and it is expensive because they have lots of ability. We have yet to see the ability come through from the majority of the players we have signed but we know it’s there.”