There is nothing more galling than finding out how the other half live. Having finally found a striker who looks as if he might be more than capable of outscoring our defence, it's even more frustrating to find out about the money Steven MacLean may be offered to play his football in England next year.

While the gap between wages in the SPL and in the lower tiers of English football should be narrowing, there seems little sign of the financial prudence that would make this possible. MacLean has been a very useful addition to our squad and, with a complementary strike partner he would excel even further. But if the figures his agent is quoting are to be believed, SPL sides are going to find it a frustrating summer when it comes to recruitment.

It would seem as if the financial reality of football hit home a little sooner north of the border than it did in England. Certainly, there are still fortunes to be made and traded with in the top league in England. But outside of that division the finances would appear to similar to our own league.

Plymouth Argyle have an almost identical turnover to Kilmarnock, around £8.6 million, with a similarly sized stadium. This suggests that both clubs are theoretically on an even financial footing, yet we have been told this week that the English side have been paying MacLean upwards of £6,000 per week. Kilmarnock, meanwhile, have been faced with embarrassing cuts to non-playing staff and would have to sell a lot more pies to cover such a weekly fee. The maths do not add up.

Players are obviously entitled to try to make as much cash as they can during a short career but the fact that so many lower league English sides have been chasing the unlikely dream of Premiership football means that well run sides are finding it difficult to find parity. Classifying Aberdeen as a "well run side" may stretch the definition a little but we have certainly been financially prudent in the last decade.

Given this economical attitude has been the enforced norm all over the SPL, it's disheartening to see the likes of Peterborough spending upwards of £1 million on players, when our own SPL champions, and Champions League contestants, are begging for pennies. When the transfer window opens it may be even more of the same.

Given that SPL clubs are unlikely to pay transfer fees, only five SPL clubs have paid any kind of transfer fee this season, the free transfer market is the only option for managers wanting to add to their squads. With talented players so in demand, the market effectively becomes a blind auction, where clubs negotiate with agents for players they may never have seen play.

Transfers can happen quickly and, as we discovered last summer, it is easy for a club to think they have signed a player only to discover another side has offered better terms at the last minute. It is an obvious and effective trick for an agent to suggest that his client is wanted elsewhere, so each contract offer needs to be a good one. Mark McGhee touched on this when he said he might have to pay an extra couple of hundred pounds per week, just to make sure of a contract deal.

This is coupled with the fact the Bosman ruling allows out of contract players to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Scottish players have long been sought after in the English leagues but, with the relative financial bleakness, or rather, realism, in the SPL, Scottish players are cheap, even with over inflated wages. A player moving from the SPL to a Championship club would expect to double or triple their wages,and yet there are only a handful of Championship clubs who's financial incomings vastly exceed those of Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibs.

If we are to recruit quality replacements there will need to be painstaking scouting, man management and no small amount of luck. We may have to persuade players that they should take a wage cut to play more regular football, or that a move to Scotland would be good for their careers in the long run, or even that a transfer could put a wayward footballer back on track.

Scottish clubs have a fine and proud history,and the likes of Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hibs will always, barring some minor miracle, remain more prestigious than some of the English lower league sides mentioned. But as ever, money talks, and until more teams decide to live within their means, we will have to use every trick we can to improve the squad.

This article contains the views and opinions of a genuine Scottish football fan. STV are always on the lookout for supporters from Scottish clubs to have their say. If you'd like to make your point, over and above commenting on this article, get in touch by writing to sport@stv.tv.