The Tigers know they will be plying their trade in the Championship next season, even if their relegation is yet to be officially confirmed. Defeat to Sunderland on Saturday, coupled with West Ham's win over Wigan, brought an end to their two-season stay in the Premier League. Plans are now been drawn up for next season, with it painfully obvious that the wage bill needs to be slashed. The threat of administration currently looms large at the KC Stadium and club chairman Pearson has revealed that drastic action will need to be taken in order to try and balance the books. "We must move a lot of players out," he said in The Sun. "Our annual wage bill is £39m and we need to get that down to £15m next season. "We are spending £195,000 a week on strikers and between them they have scored just eight goals this season, which is not good enough. "We have the same annual wage bill as Sunderland but they have seven or eight young, saleable assets like Darren Bent, Kenwyne Jones, Fraizer Campbell and Craig Gordon. "We don't have that. We have players on long contracts, high wages and no transfer value. "None of the high earners have a clause to reduce their earnings in the event of relegation. Their wages are guaranteed for three or four years and there is no incentive for them to renegotiate." Pearson admits the Tigers could yet start the 2010/11 campaign with a points reduction, as they battle financial difficulties, but insists the club will do all they can to avoid such action. He added: "The owner has made it very clear administration is not an option. A Company Voluntary Arrangement would be the last alternative because it involves a 10-point deduction. "But if we have to go down that route, we must build a team to fight back from that deficit. "Relegation is not a huge surprise. We've had a long time to prepare for it because we've only won six or seven games in 18 months."
