"They are decisions that have got to be made, to be quite honest, and it is the harsh reality of getting relegated to the first division," he says, giving a personal view of the situation.
"If you didn't realise you were in it when the fixture list came out and it produced Preston, Sheffield United, and Rotherham, as the first games, you certainly know now when you have to sell players.
"I think seven out of the last nine clubs that have got relegated out of the Premiership have gone into administration so it is something we have to keep ourselves away from.
"You can't blame anyone else; unfortunately it was the squad's fault and we shouldn't have got relegated - but we did and the consequence is we have to sell some of our best players."
Of Glen Johnson's £6m departure, he says: "It is very good money and I think it is a deal you would find hard to refuse anyway even if you were still in the Premiership.
"You want to keep these players obviously but when someone like the Chelsea chairman came on the scene and targeted the young players he wants for his squad we saw that Blackburn had to sell Damien Duff even though they didn't want to.
"Glen has only played 15 or so first team games and there is a lot of promise there but it is a heck of a lot of money, £6m, and one we couldn't refuse with the plight we are in at the moment."
Trevor Sinclair has moved on to Manchester City for £2.5m, and Tony reckons: "Trevor had a funny season last time, didn't he?
"He came back from the World Cup and started very poorly, getting a bit of stick from the crowd and not playing particularly well.
"In the last dozen games or so when the side played well Trevor was one of our best players.
"I think he will be missed. I feel he'd have scored a few goals in the first division but again, £2.5m for a player who is 30 is a lot of money so hopefully it will prevent us having to sell any more."