Bob Murray celebrates his 19th anniversary as chairman two days before the new season begins and, as he explained to Cheif Sports Writer Scott Wilson, he has no intention of seeing his china celebrations wrecked by relegation.

With a background in home improvements, it is little wonder that Bob Murray knows exactly what it will take to put Sunderland's house in order.

Still saddled with debts of around £35m, the club continues to live with the legacy of their last futile attempt at Premiership survival.

Their imminent return to the top-flight offers a golden opportunity to start addressing a financial black hole that, while currently under control, threatens to cast a considerable shadow over the long-term future.

But, while Premiership football represents a potential honey-pot, Sunderland's recent past proves it can also lead to a sticky end.

Invest too little and the fruits of promotion will be wasted; invest too much and an already precarious position will be made considerably worse.

Murray is currently wrestling with the delicate balancing act but, while the inevitable caveats of caution and care are implied, the thrust of the chairman's planning is clear.

The Premiership is where Sunderland need to be and, without jeopardising the club's recent stabilisation, he will do everything in his power to keep them there.

"We're not interested in becoming a yo-yo club," explained Murray, who will celebrate the 19th anniversary of his chairmanship two days before the start of the new season.

"You pay your debt off by staying in the Premiership. It is no use going up and coming down again. We're aiming to stay there and that is what we're all working towards.

"Mick (McCarthy) has got his plan and we will support him to the hilt. The plan is to retain Premiership status, that is all we're concerned about doing. We don't have any other projects, it's all about staying up."

The short-term benefits of returning to the Premiership are considerable, but it is the longer-term impact of continued top-flight football that is the major carrot currently being dangled in front of Sunderland's noses.

Most estimates value promotion at around £20m, but it is wrong to assume that Sunderland suddenly have that figure to invest.

They received a £7m parachute payment last season anyway and, with a multi-million pound debt to service, the banks will expect to see an increased payment over the next 12 months.

"Now we're in the Premiership, we're going to get around £19m," confirmed Murray. "But we received a £7m parachute payment from the Premiership (plus further guaranteed income all Championship clubs receive).

"That's roughly an additional £10m we can expect to receive, but we now have the debts to repay.

"We've only been paying the interest back on our loans so that we could still bring players in while we were in the Championship. We did that last season and our wage bill was as high as any team in the league as a result.

"Now, though, we've got to start paying the loans back. That £10m pot has to pay back the loans and it has also got to go on transfer fees and increased wages.

"There are a number of players whose wages have already gone up because we've been promoted. Performance-related pay is very common in football and it's the most sensible thing to do."

The most sensible thing, of course, is not always the thing Sunderland have done in the past.

In cutting more than 70 jobs from right across the business following their relegation to the Football League, Sunderland's board showed they were willing to make sacrifices in an attempt to steady the ship.

However, in proving they could operate with a vastly-reduced staff, they tacitly admitted to the previous profligacy that had contributed to a crisis in funds.

Murray is adamant that he will not make the same mistake again. The Consett-born businessman has warned prospective signings not to expect an inflated pay packet. And, just as significantly, he has promised not to spend money in non-football areas while the team battles for its Premiership life.

"We've learnt the lessons of the past," said Murray. "We've made a lot of sacrifices to make sure there is no extra costs for the running of the club. Every single penny we bring in will go on the playing side.

"Every additional ticket and corporate box we sell will bring in money to go on the playing side of things. All that money will be made available to the playing staff.

"If we can get an extra 10,000 fans paying £20 a week, that's £200,000 extra a week for Mick to work with. We realise how loyal the fans have been, which is why we froze ticket prices for those who had season tickets last season.

"We've already sold more than 20,000 season tickets and we expect that figure to grow. It's the same with corporate renewals. We're trying to win new business and that is all extra money."

Murray can stump up the cash, but it is down to the manager how wisely it is spent. "It's not how much you spend, it's how you spend it that's important," said the chairman.

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