James Rowe 'not happy' with 'mud thrown' at Chesterfield over transfer business and furloughing players

The passionate Spireites boss rejected claims from some quarters that they have spent big money on new signings and said they have actually cut the wage budget going into next season.

He also feels the club has received some unfair criticism for furloughing players when many other clubs before and after them have done the same.

“It has been really pleasing that the board has backed me on the transfers I wanted to bring in,” Rowe said.

“But, on that, some of the inaccurate reports on transfer fees we have paid have been wild, way off the mark.

“Also, the timing of those fees won’t be coming out of this year’s budget.

“And thirdly we have cut the budget by 20 per cent going into next year so there is no wild spending here, it has been capped and very measured towards the financial stability of the club.

“The work that has been done by the staff and the board has been remarkable on the football side.

“There is no doubt we have played very well in these four months, we have been excellent to get up to fifth.

“But the mud that has been thrown towards the club I am not happy with because it is inaccurate.

“It is similar with furloughing of the players, we weren't the first to do it in this league and we are not the last. There has been furloughing of players throughout the league but it seems that because we have been honest about it we get mud thrown at us and I don’t really accept that to be honest."

Rowe has led Chesterfield from the relegation zone to the play-off positions and he says his decisions have been justified.

He added: “The budget has been cut, it needed to be transformed because it had not worked in the two previous years in the National League so it was important we started changing that, staff and players, and we have done that and we are getting instant success.”