WITH all eyes at Watford focussed on next season's Championship assault, Chairman Graham Simpson has spoken about the approach that will be taken by the Hornets over the summer months in relation to the squad and spending.

Already the questions have been asked of Aidy Boothroyd, as to how he will build his squad, especially in view of his statement of intent of last week, in which he described how change would be the dominant factor in the coming months.

Of course, the most obvious question is whether, with the Hornets in their final year of parachute payments, there will be a fire sale similar to those seen at other clubs in recent years.

Answering the question, Graham said: "I have already stated that the club is in good shape and we want that to remain the case.

"That means we build on the field, but remain mindful of our salary bill and financial situation, and also have one eye on next season at the same time.

"Of course our determination remains to become a Premiership side again, but we are also aware of the drop in payments that another season in the Championship would bring with it, if we were to remain here.

"I think you only need look to West Brom as a good example of how to balance your on-field concerns with those off the pitch. Last season they sold a great deal of talent for large sums, but they invested prudently and wisely and built the squad around some of the existing personnel.

"They sold their top scorer last season to Fulham, and people will have questioned them, but they always believed what they were doing was right for the club, that's important in our case too.

"There will be players who have tasted the Premier League who will always want to play at that level again, sooner rather than later, but we're the ones steering the club and we'll ultimately decide if it's right for a player to stay or leave.

"We always want our best players to stay, but the nature of a club like Watford is that we will always have a turnover of players and we have to deal with that and use it to our advantage.

"I think Aidy's philosophy, in terms of our approach to next season, is right. He will want change, in personnel and in style, and both are achievable.

"Our task, as a Board, is simply to make sure the salary structure is correct and in line with our plans for next season."

The Hornets will again have a parachute payment for the second year running, but that advantage becomes even slimmer when you remember that so too will Charlton and Sheffield United, as well as the greater parachute sums available to the three newly relegated clubs in the shape of Reading, Birmingham and Derby - all of whom have wealthy benefactors to back their ambitions too.

"It is increasingly difficult to make the parachute payments count, but of course we'd rather have them than not," Graham stated.

"When we got promoted there was a significant outlay in respect of promotion bonuses, players' salaries rose in line with the jump in divisions and, of course, many of those players found themselves in a position of being able to renegotiate salaries and contracts.

"Upon relegation, although salaries certainly stepped down in line with our return to The Championship, they were significantly higher than two seasons ago when we first achieved promotion.

"The cash generated last year also gave the Board the opportunity to carry out the first phase of the re-development of the stadium at Vicarage Road, including new concourse and catering kiosks in the Rookery Stand together with greatly enhanced corporate hospitality suites in the Rous Stand, we have also been able to pay off long-standing loan repayments to the point where the club now has relatively no net debt.

"We also invested in a new point-of-sale catering system, an access control system, the stadium communication network, improved training facilities and in new administrative offices in Tolpits Lane.

"This was all done with the backdrop of having repurchased Vicarage Road and moved the Club from its perilous state to one where we were able to maintain its solvency."

Speculation has been rife of late with talk of investors in the media, and Graham was also able to clarify the latest situation with regard to this ambition.

"I'm still actively seeking investment because we want a strengthened Board; we also want to be able to add funds where possible and I have stated this time and time again in recent months.

"We have had interest on the basis that people view this club as being well run, with a strong infrastructure, something we have been able to build over time. That is down to the hard work of all our staff.

"Is anything happening now? Well, as we are a PLC, as and when anything does happen I am obliged to tell you of that, those are the rules. At the moment nothing has changed, we are still actively looking."