Cash-strapped Sunderland cut costs by £10m a year

UNDER-PRESSURE Sunderland have managed to halve their wage bill by drastically reducing their squad.

A total of 23 players, some from the fringe of the first-team set-up and other youngsters, have been moved on since the Black Cats were relegated to Division One with debts spiralling towards £38m.

Chairman Bob Murray despite suffering the agony of letting go big names such as Kevin Phillips, Thomas Sorensen and Claudio Reyna believes the club's long-term future is far brighter as a result of cuts in expenditure thought to amount to around £10m a year.

"We said back in April we would have to make some very tough decisions over the summer to protect the future of the club," he said.

"Sadly, we didn't have the luxury of holding on to some of our higher wage earners. It wasn't a matter of choice."

Manager Mick McCarthy has been able to recruit just three new faces Gary Breen, Colin Healy and Jeff Whitley but three successive Division One victories have sent spirits soaring at the Stadium of Light.