Brian Laws, the Iron boss, insisted the club's budget was more than enough to succeed in League One during his first press conference after being reinstalled in the job on Monday.
"I've got to say, the budget is not as bad as people have been suggesting. The budget here should be more than capable of doing well in League One," he said.
"That must be made abundantly clear. When you look at Tranmere we're far exceeding their budget, which tells you in itself we are underachieving."
Laws met with Steve Wharton, the Iron chairman, on Sunday, and said the chance to work with him again was part of the reason he returned to Glanford Park - turning down an offer to take charge of Hartlepool at the last minute.
"It was a huge factor. It's strange that I had three offers to go and manage when Steve asked me," said Laws.
"There was a possibility I could have come back previously to that, but I didn't think it was appropriate. Now the way the club is in a drastic position I feel I should come back to support the football club, Steve, supporters and the staff here who love this club to death and want to make sure it stays in this division.
"On Sunday I met the chairman and we had a good chat. Steve wanted somebody who knew and understood this football club and didn't need to go through a learning curve, it's a case of trying to hit the ground running."
Laws is not concerned Wharton will step aside in June, revealing the chairman had actually wanted to leave his role earlier.
"The good thing is we've got him to extend longer than we thought. Steve has made it very clear with everybody he's looking to get out, and I can understand that," he said.
"But until the end of the season he'll be here and hopefully we can stimulate some interest. The way to do that is to do well on the pitch."
One of the most derided decisions of Alan Knill, Laws' predecessor as Iron boss, was his decision to use the Scout7 system to analyse future opponents and stop utilising Lee Turnbull for scouting.
Laws is not about to throw the system out the window, but hinted it may not play a significant role in his plans.
"I'm not here to dismantle everything he's brought to this football club, because there's a lot of things that are good," he said.
"We'll assess it, see what it is, but I've also got my own thoughts on how we scout. Everybody's different."
Laws returned to England after a seven-game stint in Ireland with Shamrock, which ended with a 2-0 win over league champions Sligo Rovers - managed by another former Iron boss Ian Baraclough - on Friday.
They had also invited Laws to stay on, and he is grateful for the opportunity to get back into the game they afforded him.
"I've got to say a big thank you to Shamrock. Their season finishes in October so it suited me as well. I went over there as director of football and thoroughly enjoyed it," he added.
"It got my juices flowing, got me back on the training ground and working with players again. It certainly whetted my appetite."