Steve Bruce has said the staggering £5.5million Aston Villa spent on agents' fees in the last two transfer windows is the price of past regimes trying to secure the club's Premier League status.
Villa spent more than any other Championship side in figures released by the FA that cover last summer and this winter but the majority of the payments are for deals signed before Bruce's time.
Bruce said 'common sense' has since prevailed at Villa and insisted he would manage the club's money like it was his own. He said the total going to intermediaries 'sticks in the craw'.