"The bottom line is we haven't got a lot of time," he says candidly.
"We have got this year and we have got next year - if we don't get promoted in that period the club is going to be in a lot of trouble because of the wage bill we are carrying.
"And we will carry that wage bill for the next two or three years, that's for sure.
"It is a critical time and the pressure is on - you need big players and big people to stand up and be counted.
"I wouldn't say it is a case of going bust because hopefully the club is too well run for that.
"But it would make it a lot more difficult because you would lose the parachute money from the Premiership.
"Then, without sounding too negative, you are in with the Derbys and the Crystal Palaces and everyone else that has fallen out of the league.
"But we are trying to build something positive here."