And managers receive a budget and can spend money on travel as they see fit.

Players and managers spend more time in clubhouses than they do at home, but curiously know nothing when pressed.

The manager would spend only part of his time in the foyer.

'The previous manager spent £1 million on players and they cost him his job,' he said.

Most general managers spend the spring scouring rosters for players who could add to the talent on their teams.

Those managers, in turn, spent money extravagantly and produced a string of box office bombs.

"Individual managers can spend more time with job seekers and hear more of what they have to say," he said.

To be financially successful, the manager must not spend more than is available.

It turned out that the managers were spending far more than they had thought, in some cases twice as much.

This makes a big difference, he said, in how much general managers spend on wages.