The club entered a financial crisis following the collapse of ITV Digital, which cost the club £400,000 in revenue. This meant Horton had to build his squad for the 2001–02 season entirely on free transfers, the most influential proving to be former Coventry City striker Stephen McPhee. Vale beat rivals Stoke City, but ended the season in 14th-place. Horton was named as Manager of the Month after his team earned 13 points from a possible 18 in February. Horton signed Jon McCarthy, Brett Angell, Ian Brightwell, Phil Charnock, Sam Collins, and Mark Boyd for the 2002–03 campaign. Four straight defeats were followed by five consecutive victories, as he supplemented his squad with the additions of Lee Ashcroft, Peter Clarke and Adrian Littlejohn. Though relegation was avoided, Horton still remained unpopular with some sections of the Vale's supporters. However the season was dominated by off-the-field issues, as Vale entered administration, and were taken over by Bill Bratt's fan-based consortium.