IF only signing players in real life was as simple as a computer game.

If, like me, you spent your formative years clicking a mouse and honing your managerial expertise on Championship Manager, Football Manager, Sensible World of Soccer or Footballer of the Year (am I showing my age yet), then you will know the giddy joy of spending tonnes of theoretical money on theoretical footballers.

Since the advent of the Bosman it has been even easier. Suddenly, stacks of players become available at this time of year and when your wad of cash is pixelated, you tend to pay scant regard to menial considerations such as wages and signing-on fees.

As life-like as those games have become – and I know of at least two managers I have worked with who used computer games to scout lower league players – reality is something very different.

More than 100 players will be released at Championship level next month and that is not taking into consideration those shown the door by the four clubs involved in the play-offs who have yet to announce their retained list.

Some big names are in there, such as former Wanderers players Ali Al-Habsi, Chris Eagles and Danny Guthrie, pedigree Championship stars like Jamie Ward, Craig Mackail-Smith and Markus Olsson.

It’s enough to make a manager’s mouth water but the reality is that, for most, such players are completely out of reach.

Bumper broadcasting deals continue to line the pockets of the Premier League elite, or those lucky ones who have recently spilled from it, while others are tightening their belts.

Wanderers are protected, just, by a small parachute payment this season but their efforts to become more frugal are well-documented. And they are not alone.

I think this year, the financial gap between the haves and the have-nots in this division will be more pronounced than ever, and worse-still, Wanderers fall into the second category for the first time since they have been down here.

For all the talk of austerity, the Whites’ recent wage bill was still comparable to most around them. I’m not convinced that will be the case in a year’s time, unless outside investment comes in soon.

The relegated teams will have an even bigger cushion than usual, meaning Burnley, QPR, plus one will instantly be favourites for promotion.

If Norwich don’t beat Middlesbrough at Wembley you’d expect them to invest again, and the same looks like being the case for Wolves, Derby, Fulham and perhaps even Sheffield Wednesday, now backed by a mysterious bunch of Thai businessmen.

Wanderers find themselves in the next section, along with Reading, Brighton, Ipswich, Brentford, Cardiff and the trio of clubs who may – or may not – be hamstrung by crumbling FFP laws, Leeds, Blackburn and Forest. But even that group is showing signs of leaving them behind financially.

Consequently, Neil Lennon is currently looking around for bargains. His search extends beyond the Championship, of course, but even some of the names currently available as “free transfers” are anything but.

I can only see his search being a frustrating one.

At this time of year demands are higher than ever. Players, and particularly the poorly-advised ones, seek big numbers and are happy to hold out, even if that means they don’t have a club for the big kick-off.

Even though there is ample evidence that the bottom has dropped out of the transfer market for all-but the Premier League sides, a good proportion of those 100-plus names will not be playing football come August for no other reason than bad advice.

Unlike transfer negotiations on a computer screen, so many more factors come into play, and not all of them are very palatable.

The last thing Wanderers can afford in their situation is to get locked into big contracts and big wages once again.

Lennon will have to rely heavily on his managerial nous to assemble a squad this summer because every penny will count.

FREE FOR ALL: MY CHAMPIONSHIP DREAM TEAM

JUST for fun, I looked at the players available on a free transfer this summer and put together a team, IF money was no obstacle.

I stress – this is not an endorsement – but I’d fancy this line-up to cause some damage in the Championship next season.

It includes players who are at the end of their current deal but some may have been offered a contract from their parent club. I have also excluded Jamie Ward because he's signed for Nottingham Forest.

MY FREE TRANSFER XI (4-2-3-1): Ali Al-Habsi (Wigan); Stephen Kelly (Reading), Craig Morgan (Rotherham), Tal Ben Haim (Charlton), Markus Olsson (Blackburn); Danny Guthrie (Reading), Rodolfo Austin (Leeds); Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton), Bryan Ruiz (Fulham), Ben Pringle (Rotherham); Leon Clarke. Subs: Adam Federici, Roger Johnson, Lawrie Wilson, Gary Madine, Jimmy Abdou, Nicky Maynard, Chris Eagles.

WHO’S AVAILABLE?

BOURNEMOUTH – Ian Harte, Josh McQuoid, Benji Buchel, Joe Partington, Mohamed Coulibaly and Daryl Flahavan.

WATFORD – Lloyd Doyley and Heurelho Gomes.

WOLVES – Leon Clarke and Jake Cassidy.

DERBY COUNTY – Jamie Ward, Shaun Barker, Mark O’Brien, Zak Whitbread, Lee Naylor, Tom Naylor and John Eustace.

BLACKBURN ROVERS – David Dunn, Markus Olsson, Tim Payne, Ryan Edwards, Hugo Fernandez Molina, Will Beesley, Robbie Cotton, Deniz Pero, Aaron Tumwa and Matthew Urwin.

BIRMINGHAM – Colin Doyle, Gavin Gunning, Will Packwood, Callum Reilly, Olly Lee, Matt Green, Nikola Zigic and Kamal Guthmy.

CARDIFF – Kevin McNaughton, Nicky Maynard and Danny Gabbidon.

CHARLTON – Tal Ben Haim, Simon Church, Chris Eagles, Roger Johnson, Lawrie Wilson, Oguchi Onyewu and Neil Etheridge.

SHEFF WEDS – Lewis Buxton, Giles Coke, Paul Corry, Rafa Floro, Dejan Kelhar, Gary Madine, Joe Mattock, Jacques Maghoma, Rhys McCabe, Matt Young and Kamil Zayatte.

FOREST – Danny Collins, Dan Harding and Greg Halford.

LEEDS –Rodolph Austin, Alex Cairns, Kalvin Phillips, Stuart Taylor, Michael Tonge, Aidy White, Lewis Walters and Zac Thompson.

HUDDERSFIELD – Anthony Gerrard, Jonathan Stead, Martin Paterson, Jake Carroll and Daniel Carr.

FULHAM – Gabor Kiraly.

READING – Danny Guthrie, Stephen Kelly, Adam Federici, Alex Pearce, Jem Karacan, Mikkel Andersen, Yakubu, Zat Knight, Ryan Edwards and Jure Travner.

BRIGHTON – Craig Mackail-Smith, Aaron Hughes, Paddy McCourt, Vitalijs Maksimenko and Kemy Agustien

ROTHERHAM – Richard Brindley, Mat Sadler, Mark Bradley, Rob Milsom and Tony Thompson, Craig Morgan, Ben Pringle

MILLWALL – Jimmy Abdou, Mark Beevers, Paris Cowan-Hall, Shaun Cummings, David Forde, Lee Gregory, Tom King, John Marquis, Lee Martin, Sid Nelson, Aiden O’Brien, Fred Onyedinma, Alfie Pavey, Jack Powell, Mahlon Romeo, Ben Thompson, Ed Upson, Byron Webster, Shaun Williams, Keaton Wood.

WIGAN – Al Habsi, Emmerson Boyce, Gael Bong, Jermaine Pennant, Kim, William Kvist, Marc-Antoine Fortune.

BLACKPOOL – Everyone but Andrea Orlandi, Jose Cubero, Nile Ranger, Charles Dunne, Connor Oliver, David Ferguson and Henry Cameron.