St Johnstone’s weekend opponents Aberdeen have got to second in the Premiership by splashing out on Mercedes cars, according to Perth boss Tommy Wright.
And the McDiarmid Park side have got to fourth with shrewd second-hand deals.
Wright, who praised chairman Steve Brown for helping him build a squad that would be the envy of many a manager in the division, believes the budget he has had at his disposal doesn’t come close to the three teams above them, and the one below in fifth.
And next season he is hoping to have a bit more money to play with as the battle to get into the top six and higher gets tougher every year.
“A lot is made of budgets and Celtic can go out and buy a Ferrari,” said Wright. “Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts can go and get a top of the range Merc. But we are shopping in the used car market.
“But to be fair you can get bargains and good value in there. You can still get quality and we have managed that consistently here.
“I will be speaking to the chairman over the next few weeks and I think he realises we have to move the budget a bit.
“It would nice if it can get back to something like it was before Rangers went out of the league. That would be good. But if we can’t afford it that is fair enough, we will just get on with it.
“If we budgeted for eighth this year and we finish fourth, and if we get into Europe again, there could be a financial kick back and it looks like Hibs will be coming back into the league. I will point to all these things.
“The chairman has been good over the last few seasons but I think he realises we might have to expand the budget and spend a little bit more.
“His argument is that it doesn’t always guarantee success but given how well we have done over the last few seasons it is important we try to help the squad by adding a bit of quality. I have a list of targets – strikers and wide players.”
[“Source-thecourier”]