I reckon we might be able to get Thornton back on a pay-as-you-play deal and a bag of coke a week, but that's about all the budget will stretch to: if we can't find the money for rent, forget about any other players coming in!
I've got to imagine that Brian Howard would have options to join a Championship, probably Millwall (although they have a number of good central midfielders at the moment). At the moment it's hard to speculate without guarantees about finances on who we could sign. If there were good indications then Jacob Mellis would be a great signing for League 1 (although he's already had a trial at Q.P.R., so clearly has the ability to play and get a contract at a higher level than League 1) he had a good spell on loan at Barnsley last season, was sacked for setting off a smoke grenade at Chelsea so maybe a temperament issue but could play at the tip of the diamond or wide or in central midfield.
I think we'll have to adjust our expectations for next season's signings, if we make any, probably be mostly old players who can't make it at Championship level hopefully the club will go for up-and-coming players from League 1 and below but even that's dependant on the money we have to spend.
I would think Steve Howard can command much more than we're willing to pay, but I think him and Cody would be an awesome partnership for that level. If we can stump up the wages then thst would make one hell of a statement and I would use a good portion of the budget available to secure him. We would also need some padding out of the squad wiith a few experienced L1 journeymen in the Clive Platt mould - cheap experienced workhorses with his work ethic and hopefully some leadership that the young lads can draw from.