Payroll covers all the people employed by the club, from the players, through the board members, through to the match day tea-lady.

There are two areas to watch. The obvious one is that that the wages just don't get too high. The graph shows that the wages were fairly steady from 2001 to 2005 before falling markedly in 2006 and 2007. The obvious comparisons would be with Aberdeen and Hibs. Their wages for 2007 were £5.2m and £4.2m respectively.

There is a big leap of nearly 27% in wages in 2008. It has to be hoped that these were bonuses for Cup runs, and a higher league finish. If not then there needs to be a renewed source of income to pay for it.

The second area to keep an eye on is the ratio of the wages to the income. Deloittes who do some in-depth analysis of football finances reckon the target for this ratio should be 50%. This allows the club to cope with the costs of running the business, buying the occasional player, running a youth development system, putting on games, maintaining the ground etc. In the Aberdeen accounts for 2006 a comment is made that the target 'industry recommended' target is 60%.

Which ever target is used United have struggled to hit it. At no point in the eight years up to 2007 were the wages at the right sort of level. The 2007 ratio of 64% was the best seen. There are two ways to improve the ratio, by either cutting wages or by increasing income. The 2008 figures showed some improvement, with the ratio dropping to 57%, due to the extra income from Cup runs. This is excellent, however the test will be for this season when the transfer income drops back, and the Cup runs are shorter. The wages would likely have to drop to around no more than £2.9m.

Both Hibs and Aberdeen make a big play on the fact that they need to develop young players, and that this is in their view is the only way to sustain the club in the long run.