Crusaders can’t compete with full-time sides’ budgets, says Stephen Baxter

Crusaders boss Stephen Baxter hugs Paul Heatley after he made it 4-0 in the 2023 Irish Cup Final

Crusaders boss Stephen Baxter admits he now finds it more difficult to compete in the transfer market with full-time clubs.

With the January window open for business, the world’s longest-serving football boss insists his club don’t have the finances to splash the cash, unlike some of the League’s aristocrats.

Speaking in the aftermath of his team’s defeat by Linfield in the Sports Direct Premiership – their seventh of the 2023/24 campaign, which leaves them trailing David Healy’s table toppers by 18 points – Baxter reckons the January window can be a minefield for clubs like Crusaders.

“The market has changed, it’s incredibly difficult,” he said. “Unquestionably, it is more difficult to compete against the full-time clubs in terms of recruitment.

“Again, it’s the age we live in, it’s an open market. You must give credit to the Linfields, Glentorans and the Larnes because they are the full-time clubs who are working on budgets well beyond ours.

“That’s okay, I’m not criticising that in any shape or form – far from it. But what I mean is that can change the dynamic of the League as players come and players go.

“We’ve just got to look after our own ship, deal with it and work with our own finances.

“If players are coming back from England and there is a going rate, we can do nothing about it. It’s about individual clubs on whether they can afford it or not.

“This is why getting it right (recruitment) is important because if you pay out big chunks of money for people who are not good enough or who are not ready for this League, maybe they don’t fancy a (tough) tackle, then you realise you’ll not do me.

“So, it’s incredibly