By Mark Heys
August 8 2005

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside has stated that the club still needs to be cautious with it's future investments despite being in a better financial position than in previous years. The purse strings have been slightly loosened over the summer, and this has enabled the Wanderers to go out and pay million pound plus deals for the likes of El-Hadji Diouf and Jared Borgetti, but Gartside has told the Bolton Evening News that the club will not be held to ransom over silly prices as the closure of the transfer window draws ever near.

"The money we've spent shows we are relaxing the control a little bit and allowing some money to be released for investments, We are competing with the clubs below the top three but we won't be pushed into paying silly money." said Gartside

The Bolton chairman also revealed that the financial debt around the clubs neck has now been decreased to below the £30 million pound mark due to the team's recent success on the field. The club has a financial plan in place and at this moment it seems to be gradually working out according to the man who took over from Gordon Hargreaves six years ago.

"We're more stable now than we've ever been and the debt is lower than it was - below £30m - and we've got the confidence of the banks.

"That's given us more flexibility, which has allowed us to do the things we've done. We know what we're spending and it's under control but we still have to be sensible."