Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom believes his team are suffering for a lack of financial might.
The club sold many of their key players in the summer, while they did not invest in new signings as fans may have anticipated.
The Blades are at the very bottom of the Premier League after they lost 5-0 to rivals Burnley on Saturday.
"I wanted to keep the group together but we couldn't," Heckingbottom said after the match to reporters.
"We couldn't because of the last few years and the financial implications.
If we'd tied them down [on longer contracts] then we probably wouldn't have sold those players.
"There wasn't a desire from the ownership to sell, but a necessity from a business point of view.
We've been making financial decisions rather than football decisions. Of course that affects me. I didn't want it to happen."