Source: Daily_Mail
Quinn: players would have had to take wage cuts if Sunderland were relegated
Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has revealed he would have demanded his players took a pay-cut rather than sack office staff if his club had been relegated at the end of last season.
Unlike neighbours Newcastle, Sunderland had relegation clauses in their players' contracts and the majority were set for pay-cuts of up to 50 per cent if they too had dropped to the Championship.
Quinn said: 'We had it planned for quite a while that relegation would be put more on the players than the staff here.
'It wouldn't have been a knee-jerk reaction to do that. The players' salaries would have been trimmed, not the staff and we had a survival plan in place.
'You don't feel so sorry for the player who has to go and drive his Ferrari out of the gates. We were determined we would have that plan in place.
'Now we try very hard when it comes to relegation clauses for the players. We've probably got to the stage where we're 90 per cent there and for new players now, we would insist on it.'
Sunderland have made an inquiry for Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen but face competition from West Ham, Fulham and Everton.
Manager Steve Bruce is also interested in Valerenga striker Moa Abdellaoue and Honduras midfielder Hendry Thomas.
