SUNDERLAND'S relegated flops have been warned by the cash-strapped club: We'll stop rewarding you for failure.

Outgoing chief executive Hugh Roberts told the players that have taken Sunderland into the Nationwide League that they will no longer be offered bank-breaking contracts unless they bring success to the club.

Sunderland's annual wage bill is 70 per cent of their turnover - they are the seventh highest payers in the Premiership - and that has been a major factor as they have run up debts of over £26m.

But with Mick McCarthy under strict orders to slash the squad, Roberts has called time on the club handing out huge contracts and wants players that move to Wearside in future to sign performance-replaced deals.

He said: "Football as an industry is going to have to look very carefully at the issue of contracts.

"The new contracts that are kicking around which include relegation clauses will become more common.

"More and more clubs are recognising that.

"The difference in income between the Premiership and the Nationwide League is enormous.

"It means a situation where if a club is relegated the wages go down, and if a club is promoted they go up, is sensible.

"We have always tried to put a lot of bonus payments in. It is a good model because you're paying people for success."

Those first-teamers that survive the McCarthy cull will be on salaries that Sunderland can scarcely afford to pay as they suffer an anticipated 50 per cent drop in turnover.

Leicester City and Watford players agreed to defer a portion of their wages until the end of the season to alleviate their clubs' financial problems.

The Professional Footballers' Association are against the notion of their members' salaries being cut in the event of relegation.

And Roberts said: "The PFA feel very strongly about players and their contracts, as you would expect them to.

"The players will receive financial information and will be made fully aware about the position that the club is now in.

"The prime mover in all of this will be Mick McCarthy. He is a great guy and he understands the business. He knows the financial realities and he is in agreement with what we want to do.

"Contingency plans are always at the back of your mind. It's all about when you bring them to the front.

"As the season progressed, and things obviously weren't going well, we had to think more and more. By the time we appointed Mick, those plans were well under way."

Meanwhile, Michael Gray last night confessed Sunderland did not deserve to enjoy such loyal support.

The club's long-suffering fans have celebrated just four League wins this season and are watching arguably the worst team in Premiership history.

Gray said: "The manager told us at the end of the game that the supporters were the only good thing about the club at the moment - and to be honest the players would have to agree with him.

"All we can do now is try to give the fans something to cheer over the last five games.

"I don't know how many went down to Birmingham but they were tremendous again, as they always are.

"We've got five games to go, and if we are going to do anything for anyone let's do it for them."

He added: "The lads were gutted in the dressing room after the match.

"People have been saying for a while that we would go down, but it isn't until it actually happens that it hits you properly.

"We have to bounce back as soon as possible. The First Division is a tough division to get out of, but if we keep most of our players together we have a great chance of coming straight back up."

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