I can't speak for everyone I've never met, but you get that feeling that Martin O'Neill is a nice guy don't you? I mean, he comes across as an honest bloke, who wants to tell you more than he is and I fancy you could sit down with him and enjoy a bottle of wine or a glass or two of whiskey.

In fact I'd go so far to write, that if you got him talking about something he was passionate about, like everyone, he'd talk and talk and if you are in the mood, there is nothing nicer than talking to someone who is passionate about something.

You see, there are a few common denominators in life that you can generally live by as rules of exactly how people are going to act or be like. Don't worry, I'm going to give you some examples and if you were wondering why I've gone this route today, you can blame Emma. I can't tell you anything about Emma as I fear I could get into trouble, but it was Emma who started me off on this and some of you will know who she is.

So, to my examples. If you go back to the caveman era and put a spear and needle and thread in front of the man and woman of the cave, who would pick up what? We all know the answer, much like we all know if you put the same couple in a pub in 1999 and put a pint of lager and a vodka and tonic down, who would pick up what, like it was second nature. Don't pretend you don't know.

It's much like, we all know what would happen if you put a kid in a sweet shop. Well, the exact same could be said about football managers with money. If they have it, they will spend it. The thing is, Martin O'Neill is on a budget and he's as good as said we can't compete with the top four financially and he's as good as made it impossible to attract any real quality this summer.

Or was it, as someone may write in the comments, a trick to make other clubs think we don't have money. Come on, please.

We have been up there all season, never out of the top six. But we are in the same league as Manchester United, who have gates of 75,000 and are a different entity. We are in there against Arsenal, who house 60,000 fans every home game.

Then we are against the other two (Liverpool and Chelsea), who have our sort of gates but not only have the experience behind them but a lot of money to go at it as well. We won't be able to compete financially. We are trying to run this as a business at this minute. That is difficult, especially in this day and age.

Martin O'Neill, Sky Sports Website April 20th 2009

For the record, Chelsea and Liverpool are in debt. We could compete with them for a top four place next season if, this summer, our owner invested £150mn. into the club specifically for players.

But as Martin O'Neill points out, it is a business and we are trying to run it as a business. Remind you of anyone? I thought we were getting change when Lerner came in. What exactly has changed if he, the billionaire owner, isn't willing to put some of his money in as a real investment for the future?

Don't get me wrong, the free coaches were nice, the way he threw 400 people out of the Trinity was needed, Bodymoor Heath was also nice and Tom Hanks holding up a Villa scarf made my year, but we will never break the top four if we are going to run the football club like a corner shop. Sorry, that was wrong, what I mean is, our owner needs to take some risks.

There is a balance but if all you ever do is try to balance every season or for the next season, it is not going to happen. Chelsea, they say, will be self sufficient in ten years time and Manchester United are self sufficient. Arsenal, I may be wrong here, but are they not even profitable? If they're not, they certainly are self sufficient. I'm not going to talk about Liverpool, it's the same story.

My point is, you make more money playing in the Champions League. Not just in TV money, but shirt deals and club sponsors and ticket sales. But you can not get there balancing the books every season. Lerner has to put in his own cash and it has to be sufficient to get to the top four and if it isn't, he can't give up, he has to do it again the following season and eventually it will happen.

When it happens, he will eventually be paid back, but he can't expect it to be short term thing, it has to be a long term thing; after all it is a business and we've been told on several occassions Lerner didn't buy Aston Villa to make money.

Sorry, about that. I didn't find any rumours only lots of what O'Neill said yesterday and like I said, blame Emma, she started me off with the 'like a kid in a sweet shop' line and if I didn't talk about this, I was going to talk about 4-5-1 - which would you have preferred?

Comments (106)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

villarobin said:

... Totally agree, although we did spend £40mil last summer, but it needs to be more like £100 mil + bring some quality youngsters / cheap buys through like Wenger does. It does sometimes seem like there is a more 'updated' media savvy Ellis in charge. Also before people say 'Yes but look at how the club has improved' I totally agree, its amazing how far we have come, BUT and its a big BUT, the truth is we definitely wont get top 4 regularly and become one of the biggest clubs in England again, without a much bigger investment in Players / Scouts etc.. Also all the investment in the new training ground / corporate hospitality needed doing anyway, and free scarves and coaches aint gonna get you champs league.

Comment 1, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.36 am

Damian said:

... villarobin Don't forget, there was an extra £30mn. from TV money for last summer and the while the club has come forward .. and it does make you feel something .. Was it because David O'Leary was shit or was it that our players were shit when we went from 6th to 16th? Media savvy Ellis .. like it though.

Comment 2, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.41 am

Lee Lindsay said:

... Randy and MON have 2 years to do it.... When he took over from Deadly, there was a promise. "in 5 seasons we wish to compete on a world level, against the likes of the Champions League Elite" - or in so many words....

Comment 3, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.44 am

Emma said:

... Thanks for the mention DD, does this make me your muse?

Comment 4, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.44 am

peter haworth said:

... A nice read.Liverpools owners purchased the club on borrowed money and are now having real difficulties in meeting the payments and surely will sell to the Arabs very soon. Chelsea are a rich mans toy and when he is bored willdrop and run The glaziers again purchased Man U on borrowed money and have debts approaching 1 billion only Arsenal seem fincially sound although I believe their is a large debt for the Emeriates ground.Why did Lerner buy Villa? Is he in it for the long term.Surely he must have known that to achieve sucess in the premiership huge investment year on year is required otherwise the club goes down and your investment shrinks ie Newcastle!!If he does not invest heavily this summer then we will know as fans what our future holds.If he is not prepared to invest perhaps he would sell to a rich Sheik take a profit and run.I hope he stays and puts his money in,but if not ??

Comment 5, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.47 am

Damian said:

... Lee Lindsay That was made by General Krulak I believe, but I'd love a quite from someone else. However, in January last year Martin O'Neill said there was no five year plan. Who do you believe; the PR guy or the manager? Emma I'm going to the dictionary ..

Comment 6, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.48 am

VillaDude said:

... Our financial power all relied on Champions League qualification. This is was the reason why we never put a 1st team into UEFA cup, we sacrificed the cup for the financial gain. The quote that Oneill uses about running the company like a business makes total sense. The owners have seen clubs gamble on Champions league qualification and bottom out completley (Leeds). This season was a chance of Champions League qualification on the cheap - and i guarantee money would have been spent in the summer. Oneill has also said Champ League attracts top players - and thats what we have to achieve. I cant see any major signings in the summer - mainly young english talent and scraps from relegated teams - I will be happy with.. IN - Martins (Newcastle) - 8m S Taylor (Newcastle) - 5m Richards (Man City) - 7m Delph (Leeds) - 5m and possible a Left Back if Bouma doesn't return. Out- Osbourne Salifou Barry (maybe)

Comment 7, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.55 am

Vijay said:

... I have said from day one fo Lerner's reign that this guy did not have the kind of money that was needed to put Villa into the top4, all we have had upto now is excusese, all from MON , at the end of the day it must be Lerner's message he is passing on to the fans, this summer is crucial, next season is season 4, we were told in 5 years we'd be playing CL football, i cant see it happening unless Lerner forks out big money, if he hasnt got it he should be big enough and say so, our club is bigger than some unknown american, he should look for an investor with real money, or sell out totally, im sure he'd make a hefty profit.

Comment 8, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.56 am

peter haworth said:

... How much money would we receive this year from Sky if we finish 5th and does our gate receipt money pay the wage bill? If you take away the sky money and gate receipts,how much of Randy"s money actually go into the club?

Comment 9, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.59 am

Tim said:

... Not a particularly insightful article I'm afriad. You conveniently forgot to mention the amount of money that has been spent already - by my reckoning about £90million in 2 seasons (including Young - 9.5, Milner 12.5, Cuellar 8, Reo-Coker 8, Davies 10). Whilst the signing of Young was inspired, even at that price and in my opinion 12.5 for Milner will prove similar (he's my player of the season) there's a lot of signings that warrant caution from anyone backing MoN in the transfer market - not least the apparent lack of knowledge of players from abroad - out of 9 players bought this season, 1 from USA, 1 from Scotland, 7 from England, last season, 9 bought again, 1 from Spain, 1 from Scotland, 1 from Africa, 6 from England. Lerner has backed O'Neill for 2 seasons, and he will again, just not to the tune of £50 million. IMO MoN lost focus this season - surely the target at the beginning of the season was an improvement in the league, a good UEFA cup run and challenge for FA or League cup. The battle for 4th distracted MoN (perhaps remembering his days at Celtic when he won everything a season early) and he layed weakened teams in UEFA cup to concentrate on the league (which we all know backfired). It is right for O'Neill to be cautious, he isn't the tactician or risk taker that Wenger or Ferguson are, he doesn't have the foreign knowledge of Benitez and noone has the money of Abramovich. He is a very good man-manager, knows how to make average players good and good players great - and you don't need money to buy good players (Toure £150K, Fabregas free, Terry free, Adebayor £7Mil, Vidic £7mil even G.Barry only cost £2.5mil). If we are in the CL after 5 years of MoN in charge (another 2) then he has done well - I'm happy with the progress and think money should be spent on foreign scouting, to save inflated transfer fees from England. And people need to stop moaning about Lerner - he's better than Ellis, Hicks & gillete, better than the bickering Arsenal board and the club is financially sound - it takes time to be 'self-sufficient' it also takes time to build a team and be successful.

Comment 10, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.09 am

Anthony Laud said:

... I wont accept this as any sort of excuse from him regardring finance. he was backed last summer and spent the 3rd most of any team in europe ffs! we never heard any of this "we cant compete financially" when things were going well did we! yes maybe evryone got 30m extra but they didnt all spend it we did and more And if it is the case that we dont have money why the f#ck have the club come out before and said we could spend 30m on one player - there have been many other previous comments like this last summer and at the start of this saying we had money! and finally Oneil says he wont pay over the odds again! how many times does he have to say this. here's an idea Martin how about look abroad for a player where you wont have to pay over the odds than limit yourself to domestic players where you have no choice but to! ffs he does my head in sometimes!

Comment 11, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.13 am

Christian said:

... I think Randy's in a bit of a predicament. The recession will have hit him hard (he's not a 'billionaire' any more is he?) and he has to weigh up the likelihood of getting any return on spending millions. It would cost him nothing short of £150 million to turn our squad into genuine challengers for the Prem and to compete in Europe and not just bow out in the preliminary rounds. That's a huge wedge of cash when you consider that it by no means assures us of a Top 4 finish- Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and United aren't just gonna give way to us. And let's not forget Man City, who sooner or later will buy their way into contention. And what if Spurs or Everton have a fantastic season (like we were having) and breach the Top 4?? I think Randy knows that it's too big a gamble in the current climate, particularly when having to compete with such massive clubs (someone said earlier our Top 4 are arguably in the Top 5 in Europe). It'll be a summer of sensible spending, we can all hope to unearth a gem in the market but that's not MON's game is it? The only way we'll crack the big 4 and europe regularly is with an Arab takeover or a genius manager in the transfer market...

Comment 12, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.16 am

Martin Hollinshead said:

... YES i've found you Damien! Great, missed it all, dont know what has happened, not bothered, just want to read everyone's opinions so am happy now!!

Comment 13, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.17 am

Paul Egan said:

... Spending money that we don't have just raises the stakes. Only 4 teams can qualify for the CL. If you make it, great. If not, you end up being the next Newcastle or Spurs. I'd rather we stayed top 6 for a few seasons (like Everton) and had healthy finances than finished 4th one year after a Chelsea-like investment and then had to sell players to balance the books after finishing 5th again. The model to follow is Man U, not Chelsea. The tortoise beats the hare.

Comment 14, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.25 am

Majkee said:

... DOL has told one clever thing: Aston Villas' fans are fickle. Other else what has he said was complete bullshit except this one sentence - which is right. AVFC is plc - public limited company. Would you invest your hardly earned money to the business with no profitability? Would you invest your money with no vision of profit? Would you? So buy your club and spend your money unreasonably and see your ship sinking...

Comment 15, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.27 am

croni said:

... i don't buy this argument a bit of perspective is needed look at the clubs we are competing with man utd are the biggest club in the world chelsea are in debt but are being funded not by a billionaire bur by a multi multi billionaire liverpool are in deep trouble, massively in debt, and badly need to sell so why should we copy these clubs when clearly we can't or shouldn't? arsenal is the club to emulate. they don't spend the massive amounts on players which you are advocating. They have a young, promising squad, full of potential and who are clearly improving, a large capacity stadium and a very competetive team. They have an excellent manager who's been given a long time period to fulfil his project. their future looks very promising, far more promising than any of the other three clubs.

Comment 16, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.28 am

Vijay said:

... now we're linked with some player from israel, i just dont know whats going on at our club!!

Comment 17, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.30 am

roVilla said:

... villadude, like most of your signings. Think steven taylor is an over-rated thug and wouldnt have him on the list.Would have Breda Hangeland from fulham instead. Quality centre-back in the Laursen mould. We need at least one good quality winger: Bentley, Downing, Duff or McGeady, as well as a number 10 type attacking midfielder who can play in the hole and can unlock a defence. Heard Maxi Rodriguez name mentioned in a few reports, Steven Defour is only 21 and rated more highly than Felliaini in Belgium, and Pablo Aimar should be playing in a better league than Portugal, might want a move if Benfica don't make the champions league. UTV

Comment 18, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.30 am

Christian said:

... I agree with PaulE. Although, Man United often get a lot of undue credit for their way of hitting the big time- yes, they produced an amazing batch of youngsters that the likes of will never be seen again, but they've ALWAYS spent big. Roy Keane? Eric Cantona? Ince? Bruce? Hughes? Some of those had big fees, they all had big wages. Keane in particular was a British transfer record, that'd be like us nowadays shelling out £30m+ on someone. But I agree that there's not enough space in the Top 4 for all the teams who want it, and if you spend crazily you can destroy the club.

Comment 19, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.34 am

ak_27 said:

... Majkee would you buy a company and not invest enough to bring your product up to the standard required to be able to compete with the current market players. You have to speculate to accumulate. Otherwise we will just slip back into mediocrasy as we have done for the past 20years.

Comment 20, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.38 am

Damian said:

... Christian1983 there will never be enough space in the top four for the teams that want it. Nobody actually wants to leave the top four. You have to go take it. We won't take it unless money is invested. Take away the American owners from United and Liverpool and you take away the vast majority of debt. I'm not saying we go into that type of debt - what I'm saying is, if Lerner isn't going to invest some of his 'own' money (not bank borrowed money in the case of Liverpool and United) then all we have is another Ellis and well, isn't that what we all wanted rid of?

Comment 21, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.45 am

Nik Skilton said:

... the point O'Neill was making was that year in, year out the top 4 spend big (maybe minus Arsenal). They spend around £40-50m at least each summer on bringing the best players. We have done this once and currently sit fifth. All bad news is it?

Comment 22, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.50 am

Christian said:

... I totally agree Damian, I just don't think Lerner is 'rich enough' to be able to take the financial risks that, say, Man City's owners can. And MON isn't shrewd enough in the transfer market to accomplish it with reduced spending. So, for me, I think it'll be battling for 5th/6th/7th for the foreseeable future and some interesting cup runs- a bit like the Gregory years you could say.

Comment 23, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.57 am

Damian said:

... Tonebone I don't want to say you are wrong, but where did you get that information from about third highest spending team last summer?

Comment 24, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.57 am

Anthony Laud said:

... i am sure i have seen it in the same story that we spent the 2nd most in england behind man city. in went on to say 3rd most in europe behind inter and man city. it had us down as 48m which obviously includes the davies transfer. I may be wrong on this though

Comment 25, made on April 21, 2009 at 12.29 pm

Anthony Laud said:

... i have been trying to check that damian. in england i think its actually 3rd behind spurs and man city. and i think it is 4th in europe. but in terms of net spend we were ahead of both spurs and man city - spurs actually made a net profit on transfers.

Comment 26, made on April 21, 2009 at 12.55 pm

VillaDude said:

... At least we are getting linked with a few foreign players recently? He might not be Messi - but have a look... Maor Buzaglo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-khP7qOfgO8

Comment 27, made on April 21, 2009 at 12.59 pm

VillaDude said:

... Also read today that Laursen needs surgery again - going to be upto 9 Months out. Sounds like its the end of his villa career?! (Please note - this was on tribal football)

Comment 28, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.02 pm

gareth said:

... i know its frustrating at the moment but we should all wait until the summer at least before we start guessing about lerners intentions but i do think enough money has been spent in last 2 seasons with the amount going uo each season so who's to say that figure wont rise again but mon will have to improve in the transfer market as i fell minus 1 or 2 he has been very poor spending the money available i like the english policy but its like he has no knoledge of the foreign transfer market where if he is on a budget could get more value for money we should stick having an english spine throughout the team but add some foreign players with greater technical ability and we would be able to improve the size of the squad as they would be cheaper imagine what mon could of got for the 4mil he paid 4 marlon or the 8 he paid 4 coker im not picking on these players as there are others i could of picked i like coker but come 8mil and marlon bless him gives 200% but aint worth 4 mil it just frustrates me when i see other clubs finding these good players an pay hardly nothing on the foreign market and maybe after next season if we are still in the same situation maybe it might be time to get a manager in who can take advatage of the transfer market worldwide what does anybody else think about this or am i just rambling about rubbish

Comment 29, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.08 pm | url

MacTheKnife said:

... Just my opinion, but I would send Mon on his way with JR and SW. Put Sid in charge and get Sven in the summer. Mon has no idea of buying players, systems and rotation. We are not Leciester. The money he has wasted in criminal. My eight year old son, when asked his favourite Villa players said Laurson, Barry and Bouma....None of which Mon signed...says it all.

Comment 30, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.12 pm

Damian said:

... Tonebone The figures are interesting and I know we spent a lot more than others, which is nice, but we're playing catch up and the top four have a level of stability and quality that if we continue the way we are going, while I'd love to be wrong, I think, means we are just destined for top six. Rather than spend £48mn. on 9 players, that needs to be spent on two, at a push three. I know it's crazy talk from me, but unfortunately that is the game we are now in. Man City will spend it on one and we know what the top four will spend it on. I fancy Spurs are going to spend quite a bit this summer too. Christ, I've just seen how much they spent last summer and in January. Can £77 million be right?

Comment 31, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.14 pm

James Sutton said:

... Mon to be fair has spent a lot of money in his time here but that was needed just to give us a decent team as what he inherited in the most part was crap. Now as damian is saying is the time to kick on and to start looking at the players to take us to the next level, unfortunately I just cant see mr lerner investing that kind of money, I hope I am wrong. This now leads us onto Mon being a bit more clever in the transfer market and extending the scouting network out of england. To be honest whilst I think Mon is a great manager I just dont think he can cut it in the transfer market, so whats the answer? A director of football who Mon can basically give a list of players names and this person can then go out and sign the players leaving mon not to worry about the money, because to me it does seem like he's spending his own money! Added to this couldn't the director of football then be responsible for the scouting network, bringing names for mon to look at and then decide if he wants these players or not. Just an idea!!

Comment 32, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.15 pm

VillaDude said:

... just throught this might be interesting to look at... According to Forbes latest list - We are the 22nd Highest Value Team in the World! In the UK - we have the least debt after Man City - beating Everton, Spurs etc. Full List... http://www.forbes.com/lists/20..._Rank.html

Comment 33, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.16 pm

Kiwivillan said:

... Damian, The 5 year quote came from Richard Fitzgerald. People often wrongly accuse him of promising world class signings. He said we would "need" world class signings to compete for CL places year-in, year-out.

Comment 34, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.20 pm

Damian said:

... VillaDude Interesting read that and according to that list the club is now valued at nearly £170mn. A cool £100mn. more than Lerner paid for it.

Comment 35, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.21 pm

VillaDude said:

... Yeah I was suprised how little Villa was sold for in the end, especially around that time Sunderland and other clubs were being valued at a similiar if not higher amount. I think the deal with Doug Ellis included a contact to invest a certain amount of money in the first few seasons since the takeover and this has been done by Lerner. The club financially is doing well - but the gap between us and the big 4 will continue to get bigger until we get champions league football - bringing increased revenue and worldwide exposure.

Comment 36, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.26 pm

Damian said:

... Kiwivillan I've read Krulak quotes about the five year plan also, although I've got to hold my hands up and say, I don't know where it started. As for the FitzGerald quote, it's not really Fitzy, btu the club site that said: Richard FitzGerald has told Villa fans to expect 'top class' signings this summer as Martin O'Neill prepares for his second season at the helm. You can see it here: http://mobile.avfc.premiumtv.c...97,00.html

Comment 37, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.30 pm

Jon14 said:

... Damian, Haven't Gilette/Hicks and Glaizers borrowed money against the club? So if they sell up the club is left with loads of debt? That was my understanding.

Comment 38, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.34 pm

Mark said:

... This is the tired old speculate to accumulate argument. All MON is doing is trying to do is dampen expectations. Unfortunately as someone said above, a lot of Villa fans ARE fickle. It's bloody obvious what he has said, I said the same thing on here a few days ago, unfortunately some people talk about business but it's obvious they have never been responsible for one. Business is about cashflow. Access to resources. It doesn't matter what you owe apart from the interest you pay on servicing the debt. What matters is the cash coming through the till. We are at a huge competitive disadvantage to the top four. Quite possibly Uefa may step in to correct this somewhat because what applies to us applies to many other clubs.

Comment 39, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.34 pm

Damian said:

... AVMark Okay then, how about this as a scenario. Let's say Roman Abramovich has put in say £300mn. at Chelsea (I really don't know the figure and suspect it is more, but for this example, let's say that). Do you think he has just given it to Chelsea as a gift or do you think it's written down somewhere so one day he may get it all back? My point is, Lerner doesn't have to lend money to Aston Villa on the basis of strict repayment terms. Lerner has to invest in Aston Villa with an increased risk, but a calculated on. It is a business yes and to some extent it is speculate to accumulate but if you don't you wont.

Comment 40, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.46 pm

AVCN said:

... I think if we can get a bugdet of 30m in the summer plus any we make on selling players, we will be good enough to push for Champions League next season. Signings Out: Reo Coker 7m Taylor 1m Osbourne 1.5m Salifou 1m Laursen Retired Signings In: Hangeland 6m Richards 5m Delph 5m Defour 8m Bentley 8m Martins 8m Plus we do our best to keep Barry. We were not too far this season, and I know Man City and Spurs maybe better next year, but I think we are progressing well and will achieve our goal.

Comment 41, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.53 pm

ak_27 said:

... AVCN i like your player list but i think you have undervalued that lot by around £15m to be honest. I can't see City selling Richards and not for £5m if they do. He is worth twice that. Same for Hagelend. I can see Fulham looking for at least 10m (if Davies is worth 10 then he is worth at least that). I think we should try and bring Distan to VP this summer. He will not cost too much and is a quality defender. Plus we could also try and bring Dunne from City as well and reunite him with Distan. They had a pretty good partnership there a few years ago. Could possibly get both for £10m ish.

Comment 42, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.59 pm

Goldie 7 said:

... Nice piece i have to agree 100% that villa need to take the risk this summer and next to really need to push on and develop an all round better brand. We need a bigger and better squad any muppet knows mon fcuked up in january by bringing in only 1 player if we took the risk and brought in 4 then who knows what position we could be in now, I hope we take that risk this window and dont just buy average squad players i think most would agree many players we have are pretty average at best. Villa need players like Benayoun - Creative always a danger Sturridge - FREE and can finish off sitters (MUST BUY) Park - I also think he's FREE and would provide Knowledge Hyypia - FREE quite old but better than Knight & Davies 1yr deal Ireland - Has been class all season Delph & Beckford - Leeds pair both could feature in cups games Lescott - 1st choice COME BACK HOME great player at LB also Canella - Gamble but word is he's off to real in sum 09 Kalou - FREE Could play midfield Lennon - Move young to CM or ST and put lennon on the wing The list is endless if barry wants to go or any other player show them the door!!! We need players who want to play and give their all till the end for US not give up after 78 minutes thinking they have already won the game, Overall this season has been better than last just because we had that great run where just for awile we could have won anywhere... Brilliant Stuff Link to OUT OF CONTRACT players there's gotta be a few crackers we could snap up for our defence, Anythings got to be better than wasting 8m on cuellar when vidic who is twice the players cost 5.6m, I'd rather get some on the bosman or whatever they call it in europe http://www.mcalcio.com/expirin...yers-2009/

Comment 43, made on April 21, 2009 at 1.59 pm

Mark said:

... Damian I'm not arguing that speculate to accumulate does not exist as a strategy. Chelsea to date have won. Who else? Leeds, Coventry, Leicester, Southampton are all established top flight clubs who have spectacularly lost. This is not sensible planning it's risk taking in the same way that buying a lottery ticket is risk taking? Did Man U. Liverpool, Arsenal take that route? No they were all long established top flight teams with the infrastructure in place to succeed.

Comment 44, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.00 pm

GregdaVillain said:

... hey, i said something similar in a post yesterday. I think if we got chams football we were going to be given serious funds, but because the club is run like a business and we havnt achieved out target our budget will suffer. Because of this i think we will be looking at more solid squad players and maybe one with a bit about him, but not the names any of us would dream over. Until we statrt packing out villa park, raise the gate buy all the home n away kits and show lerner theres money coming in we are not going to be a ble to finace the club into purchaseing the players we need to bring back the glory days. Ive being critical of oneill lately but in hosesy the man is doing brilliant, hes protecting his chairman who is a business man, the club are putting out the spin because if the crowds begin to fall so does our chances on finances. We are a Club its up to every1 to club together and work towards our long term goals. This way we stick to having our tradition and any future success will be built on the foundations of honesy hard work and the people clubbing together. (id prefer an arab owner in it ofr the money myself...my patience is wearing thin) but at least if oneill lrft and lerner took his handy 100m profit the club is stable and left in good hands. (unlike leeds a prime example).

Comment 45, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.00 pm

Michael said:

... spurs probably did spend £70million+ this season, they seem to buy a new squad every transfer window. they are getting rid of a few players this summer - huddleston, jenas, bale, bentley, bent, gilberto, rocha, so will probably make about £40 million so expect them to spend alot more next season.

Comment 46, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.07 pm

Damian said:

... AVMark But I'm not proposing we go the same route as those other clubs, as in borrowing from banks. I'm suggesting, Lerner put in his own cash. Isn't that what we were sold on? The point I am trying to focus attention on, more than anything, is how important this summer is and that Lerner needs to step up. If he doesn't, then he's going to miss his chance and I'm saying all this and we have over a year to find out if I am right or wrong. Or to put it another way, if we finish 5th this season, we had to spend £45mn. to move up one place. If we finish 6th, we've spent £45mn. to consolidate top six. If we really want CL football, it's clear as day what needs to happen.

Comment 47, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.08 pm

Michael said:

... how come there wont be a forum on this site damian?

Comment 48, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.10 pm

Damian said:

... mickey86 mostly because it is a blog and i don't want to dilute away from that. I am putting up a forum for a few others fairly soon, villa related and we will quite heavily link to it form here and i know a few will be involved

Comment 49, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.12 pm

ak_27 said:

... AVmark UTD, Liverpool and Arsenal have been specualting since the prem has started. We did not follow due to (in my mind) the lack of vision and over cautios nature of Ellis. It is because of that fact they are so ahead of us now. We cannot afford to slip back down into obscurity again and in order to do this then major funds will be required (or a new manager). If learner cannot afford to do this why should the Villa fans have to accept this again. This club has huge potential.

Comment 50, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.16 pm

Michael said:

... cool damian, this site is great, doing a good job!

Comment 51, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.18 pm

Michael said:

... goldie7 - sturridge will come at a cost and could be upto £5million as he is under 24 years old, a fee will get settled by a tribunal - when this happend with david bellion going from sunderland to man u it cost united £3million and he was french and not a youth academy player so will probably be more with sturridge. same will happen with kalou as he doesnt turn 24 untill august, his contract expires in june - although he would be a good signing, havnt acyually thought of him before but he does seem consistent for chelsea, although he said he wants to play for arsenal.

Comment 52, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.23 pm

Mark said:

... It's so easy spending other people's money. AK I'm 45 yrs. Liverpool Man U and Arsenal have been bigger better clubs my whole life. We Villa fans talk a good game but let's face it we have not been a top club for 100 yrs.

Comment 53, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.24 pm

antvillan said:

... Through the Ellis years I regularly read articles where all us Villa fans would moan away and we had every right too. There was no light at the end of the tunnel, only depression and excuses. At the end Villa couldn't even afford a masseuse and were heading for relegation! Look how far we have come since then. The squad has been improved a lot, crowds are up, we are now a top 6 side again, our training comlex is one of the best in the world, our great history is finally acknowledged by it's owners, hope and pride is back. It's all down to Lerner and O'Neill. A lot of money has been spent. Fair enough, Slaifou, Routledge and Harewood weren't the best of signing and O'Neill should look abroad a bit more. But who can say the likes of L & A Young, Carew, Milner and Friedel aren't quality players. The rest are about as good as we are going to attract at the moment. Yes it would be nice for O'Neill to snap up the odd star on the cheap, but how often does that happen?! Before the summer has even started we are moaning that we won't be able to compete! We have no idea yet how much money will be spent. It does look like the excuses are coming out early, but look how long the top 4 have been the top 4. It will take a long time to crack them and just throwing a load of money at the club is not necessarily the answer. We are building and lets be honest it will take more than 5 years to do so. Why should Lerner pour loads of his own fortune into the club? I think evidence so far would say he done a lot for the club and I see no reason why that should not continue. We are so lucky he is our Chairman and so many clubs would gladly swap with us! I'm amazed at what a bunch of bloody whingers most Villa fans are and how naive we all are in thinking we should now be top 4 just because Randy is a billionaire. We've had a great season and should be applauding our success so far and getting behind O'Neill and Lerner. They are not perfect and never will be, but they are the best things that have happened to this club for a long long time. I honestly can't see our cause to moan anymore and long may it continue. Up the Villa!

Comment 54, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.28 pm

Mark said:

... Damian what you have to appreciate is that Roman is lending the money. Why? Because no bank would take the risk. Its a gamble he could afford but it doesn't make it less of a gamble.

Comment 55, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.33 pm

Michael said:

... found a few rumours!! Maor Buzaglo is heading to England to hold talks with 3 english teams including aston villa, an israeli 21 year old who is the hottest prospet in israel and a free-kick specialist, plays for maccabi tel aviv. villa target 26 year old argentine rightback marcus angeleri. lazio, atletico madrid and sevilla are also interested. were also being again linked with brazilian striker nene and dutch midfielder mbark bousaffa.

Comment 56, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.39 pm

Damian said:

... AVMark I agree. But why buy a sports team if not to take a gamble?

Comment 57, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.42 pm

Mark said:

... Yeah man but isn't his wealth estimated at approx £750m? That's total net worth not liquid assets. You propose he spend 20% of his net worth? Highly unlikely and even a noted gambler such as you (I have not forgot the £150!) Should surely baulk at that?

Comment 58, made on April 21, 2009 at 2.50 pm

Josh said:

... Technically Damian, Lerner isn't a Billionaire anymore I see where you're coming from, but you can't expect a guy to put himself in some insane amount of debt for the sake of a football team. He's a businessman, and he'll look for the prophit over the fanbase. We can still compete for Top 4 places for a long time if we see steady progression with financing, say giving MON £30mil a season for 1-2 quality players and just slowly building up the ranks, but if he really wants that Holy Grail then yes he's going to have to plough £100mil+ into the club on transfers and wages to really see an impact made by Villa on the top 4, and not just a 6 month duration of being up there with them.

Comment 59, made on April 21, 2009 at 3.23 pm

VillaMitch said:

... I agree with Antvillan on this - great post. We have a lot to be grateful to MON and Randy Lerner for and it's getting better every season. Specualting on who we think we can and can't afford in the summer is fine but lets not get downhearted and critical prematurely - despite the noises MON is currently making, none of us know what is going to happen in the summer and who he could buy. He is hardly going to come out and say "we can compete with the best in the land and we are going to spend buckets of money on the world's best players this summer". He may well be thinking that but he would be very stupid to come out and say it. Didn't Man City say they were going to spend 100's of millions in January? I bet it really pleased their fans when it turned out they could only actually get Craig Bellamy (who is crocked again). It's better for everyone if MON plays down the summer transfer situation and dampens all our hopes. That way, if we sign nobody then we won't be surprised and if he does sign some brilliant players we will all be over the moon. Personally I think he is just trying to keep everyones feet on the ground and he and RL aren't naive or stupid enough to not realise that by standing still we will be overtaken by teams such as Everton, Man City and Spurs next season. I don't think that will happen. I spent last summer really p**sed-off about the our lack of transfer activity and the fact that we were hardly linked with anyone. I wrote loads of posts asking what the hell MON and RL were playing at, why the hell MON was a pundit on the Euro's when he should be out buying players and I even went as far as saying that he had lied to us all and we were in serious trouble with them in charge. Then near the end of the window, within the space of a few weeks he went out and spent a fair amount of money on Luke Young, Shorey, Cuellar and Milner and I felt pretty stupid and annoyed with myself for doubting his intentions. We are getting better every year so don't worry too much lads - The futures bright - the futures Claret & Blue!

Comment 60, made on April 21, 2009 at 3.24 pm

Damian said:

... DizzyVillan But if you had said that 5 years ago, you'd have been in trouble, as it would have been Doug Ellis .. On a separate note. Has everyone now seen this website: http://blackouteurope.eu/ If you haven't, go have a look. I suggest everyone email their MEP and request they vote no to this.

Comment 61, made on April 21, 2009 at 3.33 pm

Cavan said:

... sorry damo, i do think your very wrong on this, money dosnt guarntee success, 150 mill wouldnt guarntee champion league football, we spent alot of money last year strengthening all area's what you seem to be suggesting is we go and buy sorta 6 or 7 new players that walk straight into our squad, the bad thing about that is that theres then little time to gel by changing huge chunks of the team. You keep haing a dig at MON and R. Lerner, but go on then, put your football manager head on and if you had 150 million who would you buy? as you keep saying we need a striker, we need a CM we need a CB etc but who is out there that would want to come to villa and be reasonable,?? Also man u arsenal chelsea and liverpool are all in debt, in the 100's of millions, their gravy train might not last forever and we spent more than all of them last year and were not in debt, so where not doing that bad are we?

Comment 62, made on April 21, 2009 at 4.27 pm

rockyvilla said:

... Got to agree with antvillan Positive Observations :- Randy has come in and told MON money is available to him then stood in the background and let him do his job. MON has bought the players that have got us to 5th. Randy has appreciated our heritage and invested in it i.e. The Holte etc. We have a long way to catch up with the top 4 whose CL money swells their coffers every year. But we are getting closer. MON needs to spend wisely,he can attract better players than he could last year but wont throw Randy`s money away. I think he needs to buy young players that are being stiffled by the top clubs. They can see how young players prosper at our club. We can buy them as an investment for the future, who with a few class continental players would give us the squad we need for now and the future. Damian Successful gamblers dont throw all their money on the First hand. They wait until the time is right. Randy is here for the long haul not the fast buck. The squad needs to be built carefully and solidly at each step of the way. I believe in the 5 Year plan and think we are on course. We over excelled this season but are not good enough for 4th yet! But we have shown the desire to get there we just need better players. That is the next step.Consolidate 5th and get players for the next BIG step. UTV

Comment 63, made on April 21, 2009 at 4.32 pm

Spike said:

... You all really are a fickle bunch. Dumb DOL was right about that. I've seen it all with Villa from a season ticket in the 3rd Division to a European cup win and I have never been as excited as now. For chrissake trust in RL and MON, they are building for the long term with a team that is young, hungry and still learning. No massive debt like Chelsea, Liverpool, Leeds or Bradford thank god but a team that is already very competitive and, like Arsenal, will only get better. We just need more of the same - very good young 'uns plus real backbone replacements for Laursen and Barry.

Comment 64, made on April 21, 2009 at 4.38 pm

Damian said:

... Cavan I'm not so sure about the club not having any debt and I'm not necessarily saying it has to be £150mn., that was used as an example but if it was spent properly and not on 20 players of average ability, then I'd say it would get us there - but like you say, it's not guranteed. What I am saying is this summer is important. The message MO'N is giving out now, by saying we can't compete, isn't going to sound very positive to any prospective targets of real quality, if in fact we have any targets that would be considered real quality. As for players having time to gel - maybe if the business was done already and the players were in the squad for pre-season training and friendly matches, that would give them enough time. As for, who would come here, I don't know, it's not my job to know. As for the list of who I'd buy, that list is 50 long adn it's a pointless exercise. I'm also not having a go at Lerner or O'Neill, what I'm saying is, when we had Ellis, the shouts were that we were running teh football club like a 'corner shop' and if Lerner is only going to spend what the business can afford to pay back, what has changed?

Comment 65, made on April 21, 2009 at 4.39 pm

Anthony Laud said:

... I agree with you damian we need to spend the some figure on 3 quality players of say 20m each or at least try to! that is what we are lacking. if we were limited to 3 positions where would you say damian? for me def 1 centre back and 1 attacking central midfield that scores goals. then i am not sure its easy to say a striker but with a good central attacking midfielder, young and milner would we creat enough and score enough anyway. i would say go for another quality defender either a full back than is pacy going forward and overlap wingers giving us more options up front. or another centre back on the presumpton laursen wont play again.

Comment 66, made on April 21, 2009 at 4.55 pm

Mark said:

... The profile of the club has changed.despite polite noises to the contrary I don't believe for one minute MON would have come here under Deadly. He knew he was on the way out. Better players will come here and more fans want to watch us.

Comment 67, made on April 21, 2009 at 4.59 pm

Anthony Laud said:

... if we look abroad it doesnt even have to be 20m. especially for centre backs. I keep saying it vidic 8m, toure free, agger 5m. these players werent superstars or unattainable IMO and there are many more out there. i wish oneil would change his strategy and find them!

Comment 68, made on April 21, 2009 at 5.00 pm

Anthony Laud said:

... davies cost more than all those above and cuellar as much as vidic! its laughable! Oneil forces himself to pay over inflated prices because of his apparent transfer policy

Comment 69, made on April 21, 2009 at 5.02 pm

Az said:

... We need to spend in the summer but certainly not 100+ million. If we can keep our current squad of players and buy a 2-3 stars and perhaps a few more additional players to bolster the squad we can challenge for top 4. Spending 100's of millions would certainly increase our chances but we're not Man City and it's clearly not possible. We have already shown this season that we can compete with the top 4 on the pitch, we just lack a bit of quality.

Comment 70, made on April 21, 2009 at 5.12 pm

Ken Bonker said:

... What you have to remember is Randy Lerner also owns the Cleveland Browns, so what finances he does have, has to be split between both clubs. He's owned the Browns since 2002, they are a "nearly" team, had very poor results for years, last season was supposed to be the one the supporters had been expecting for years, instead it was a dismal failure. He's low key over there as well, and heads seem to roll on a frequent basis, but success seems to elude them, let's hope that's not going to be the case for Aston Villa, somehow I think we might turn out to be a "nearly" club, I hope I'm wrong.

Comment 71, made on April 21, 2009 at 5.17 pm

Damian said:

... Tonebone I agree that those three positions need filling but I also think we should stop playing 442 and if we did, it might even make it easier to attract players - look at how much more effective Barry was in a 5 man midfield - it is difficult to shine in a 4 man midfield .. but it is real quality that is needed to fill those three positions and maybe I'd go for two midfielders over another striker. I like Gabby ..

Comment 72, made on April 21, 2009 at 5.26 pm

Michael said:

... i like gabby aswell, but cant see him as a lone striker, but like i said yesterday, if we can convert him into a winger who can cross the ball, then move milner into a more central role and then play carew on his own i think that would work better imo gabby milner petrov barry young carew

Comment 73, made on April 21, 2009 at 5.56 pm

Michael said:

... also shouldnt the eu concentrate more on getting rid of child porn and other disgusting websites instead of trying to make more money?

Comment 74, made on April 21, 2009 at 5.58 pm

Paul Egan said:

... It looks like our scouts have definitely been at Anderlecht recently anyway. We're getting linked with most of their players.

Comment 75, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.10 pm

Andy said:

... Completely agree with this article, and disagree with a lot of the comments, stating it'll bring debt and we can't just go out and spend, we need to sit tight and balance the books for a while like Everton. Being perfectly honest, at the moment Everton are a better side than us, I wouldn’t be surprised if they took 5th from us too. Though with that being said, besides a couple of years ago when they finished above Liverpool, they've not really looked like breaking into the top 4, unlike what we did up until January this year. Every time the transfer window is open, we're told countless times that Everton don't have money to spend due to new stadium plans and the like and besides Fellaini, recently this is more or less proved by the lack of spending. That's an opportunity for us, because we have got the money to spend. Sure we spent in excess of £40m this season and we've improved because of it, we pushed Arsenal out of the top four and at one stage over Christmas were 3 points from top. Now I'm not saying that in order to achieve you have to go out and spends hundreds of millions, but we DO need to compete. Not just with the teams currently in the top four, but with the other teams looking to break into it, Man City are going to spend another small fortune in the summer, don't you doubt it. Spurs will do their usual mass spending and whether or not they made some money back this year, they're still one of the most spending teams in the league. I think saying Man Utd is a good example to follow is a bad decision, they are stupidly in debt and that's not something we want to be, In all honesty I think Liverpool is better role model for us to succeed, very seldom spend top money on flops, but look at the big spending figures and what they've got for them. The fact is Villa need to improve certain aspects of the current squad, at the same time as looking to expand it, there are certain players that aren't top four quality and should be replaced with squad players that are, as well as the fact that friedel, Laursen and Bouma, may not be around too much to play next season and need immediate replacements, how do you go about replacing Martin Laursen? Well you don't spend £5m on Stephen Taylor that's for sure. Laursen is our John Terry and Chelsea wouldn't look at Bramble as a replacement, they'd look at Puyol. That's precisely what Aston Villa need to do, get the best that money can buy the best the club can attract, not buy average cheapish players, because we're a 'business'. Buy players who are going to take the club to the next level.

Comment 76, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.11 pm | url

Andy Scarborough said:

... If Ash could be sold for £30 million, would anyone want to take the money and spend it on three or four top European players? Add £14 mil from Barry, £7 mil each from NRC and Sidwell makes about £60 mil to spend. I am not suggesting that this is what I want to see happen, just that there are times when an asset is more important when realised than when played with, and there is always a possibility that others at the club might see it that way. I am f*cking happy with the way we are progressing. These are great times to be a Villan.

Comment 77, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.13 pm

Mark said:

... Tonebone it's easy to quote successful signings from the top clubs but also very easy to forget the size of their squads. Liverpool have a first team squad of something like 60 players - half of them are shipped out on loan. MON has been pretty busy snapping up a lot of the best available English talent. Let's see how it all fits into shape next season. I'm not saying players like Davies and Cuellar have been exceptional - clearly they haven't but then it's been a funny old season and I think MON will have learned some lessons too.

Comment 78, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.18 pm

Michael said:

... andy you cant buy 3 or 4 top european players for £30million, can only buy one for that much. and what message would that give out if we sold our most valuable player? we couldnt replace young as we coudnt attract a player of hs calibre so there would be no point doing it.

Comment 79, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.19 pm

Anthony Laud said:

... thats not my point AV MARK. my point is oneil always says he wont pay over the odds but by limiting himself to domestic players he has to pay over the odds because they are overpriced. i was giving examples of how they are not overpriced abroad!

Comment 80, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.46 pm

Daniel Wilson said:

... I'm very thankful that we seem to have an owner who knows what he is doing financialy. Atleast we have a solid foundation this way and if we continue to spend what we make as profit then there will be no 'leeds united' type thing where the funds suddenly dry up. I'm also a fan of our wage policy to an extent. At the same time whilst we keep up the 'minor' purchasing (as far as football goes minor) and don't pay the inflated wages that top stars earn we probably won't get much closer than we have this season to getting heavily involved in the top 4 tussle. If were honest, had Arsenal not struggled with injures so badly this season I think there would be a bigger gap to 4th place. Whoever said that we need to take a bit of a gamble is right in my book. Unless whoever is running the club is happy to sit back and get 5th-8th on a regular basis. We could have possibly nicked up to 2nd this season had we really splashed out in transfer windows. Once again there is another side to this though, teams take time to gel, just look at spurs who have a fantastic team of players, but played like a pub team up until recently because there was no understanding. My personal view is that I don't really have a view on this! I'm glad I'm not the one making decisions but I am glad (for the time being) that we have 2 very savvy blokes doing that work for us.

Comment 81, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.47 pm

Mark said:

... Tonebone its a given that foreign players are cheaper than homegrown. I think that's for a reason.

Comment 82, made on April 21, 2009 at 6.52 pm

Andy Scarborough said:

... Just playing Devil's advocate here Mickey. Sometimes 3 x £10m players can be better than one £30m player. But I agree, Ash is our best player, and it would be a dark day for Villa if we had to sell him.

Comment 83, made on April 21, 2009 at 8.09 pm

Andy Scarborough said:

... ** STOP PRESS** I've just heard a crazy thing; Mikel wants regular first team football, we are looking to make a deal with Chelsea. This is totally unexpected by me that I have not had a chance to think about it. Would this be good or bad for us?

Comment 84, made on April 21, 2009 at 8.33 pm

Andy Scarborough said:

... Sorry for repeating silly rumours, you see what a bit of sun on my back does? I think it's summer silly season already.

Comment 85, made on April 21, 2009 at 8.34 pm

Damian said:

... andy as in obi wan mikel? he is a very good player and i think i´d really like him .. where was this rumour?

Comment 86, made on April 21, 2009 at 8.46 pm

Daniel Wilson said:

... Anyone watching the Liverpool Arsenal game?? unbelievable stuff, and Arshavin showing why sometimes it's right to pay big.

Comment 87, made on April 21, 2009 at 9.55 pm

Nik Skilton said:

... why do we have to spend £30m on one player, does that automatically make us a top 4 team? or is it a case of buying players that will improve and then will improve the team, that will be interested in joining us, than a mercenary who is after money. Why should a big name player want to join us, as it stands we are a team with potential. I'd be worried about the motives if we signed a 'superstar'. Im sure many wont agree with me, but whilst i agree with damian that we need significant investment, im happy with Martin's way of doing things. He is after all a well respected manager, unlike us!

Comment 88, made on April 21, 2009 at 9.56 pm

Chris Algie said:

... I wish we had DOL and Doug back so we could have the excitement of relegation each year instead of the boring european places.

Comment 89, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.04 pm

Chris Algie said:

... seriously though Mikel, would be a great signing but can't believe the stress of transfer roumours a month before the window even opens aggghhhh.

Comment 90, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.06 pm

Anthony Laud said:

... AV MARK - dont get your point. either you are saying foreign players are cheaper as they are no good which makes no sense as why now are there more foreign players than ever before that have come to play in the prem. or you are saying its obvious foreign players are cheaper which if you and i know that why the heck does mon continue with his policy of buying overpriced domestic players that arent as good as foreign players that can be signed for less.

Comment 91, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.09 pm

Andy Scarborough said:

... Damian, it came up in an article on newsnow.com/astonvilla. I can't remember where, to be fair it was amongst loads of other chit chat, so probably as much hot air as anything substantial. Yeah, sorry about that theprimeminister. I got carried away for a moment. It won't happen again - honest.

Comment 92, made on April 21, 2009 at 10.48 pm

taglor said:

... Arsenal bought Arshavin who scored 4 goals against Liverpool and are guaranteed 4th now and we bough Heskey and well ................

Comment 93, made on April 21, 2009 at 11.38 pm

arsene wenger said:

... you guys aint that far away,you need 3 quality signings,it wont cost you 150mill, probably 50-55, you need a new striker, a creative midfielder and a new centre back,you would be a force but you have to keep the squad you have happy as well, simular to arsenal thats what we need to win the leage,about 50-55 mill on a dm a cf and a cb,that money would get you challengin us for 4th next season unless we spend the money as well,then you lot can dump the scousers maybe lol

Comment 94, made on April 22, 2009 at 12.47 am

Marcus Connolly said:

... Only 2.5 million would be enough to take a 21 year old Israeli player to the club who is considered better than the pools version, who had a stormer tonight, all of a sudden I feel a little more confident in our scouts!

Comment 95, made on April 22, 2009 at 1.49 am

Daniel Wilson said:

... Well who likes a bit of this for a rumour nice bit of photoshopping too! - http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/...-21295826/

Comment 96, made on April 22, 2009 at 2.04 am

Nick said:

... I think Lerner and MON are doing an excellent job building this club and team. I do not doubt us spending a healthy amount again this summer to fill certain gaps, and improve at other positions. There is no way we need to spend 150million to compete for CL football every season. The big four combined probably dont spend that much, well maybe they do but you get the point. There is affordable talent out there.

Comment 97, made on April 22, 2009 at 2.52 am

Christian Villa said:

... I honestly think that we have done well since lerner and MON have come in but frankly I am sick of hearing every couple of weeks that we cant compete (financially or by reputation) with other top 4. Im from Australia and will tell you that new supporters will follow teams that either do two thing: 1. WIN GAMES or 2. PLAY ATTRACTIVE FOOTBALL AND LEAVE THE FANS IN ANTICIPATION THAT THE TEAM WILL EVENTUALLY WIN GAMES Most new supporters in Melbourne are Chelsea, Man U, 'Pool, Arsenal but now a lot are Man City. This is because of Robinho. They made a big name signing - an astute buy - and we cannot compete with them regardless. Money must be spent on continental players as well as the young english players MON loves so much. We need players like hangeland, guardado or zarate. We could have bought zarate if we had better scouting. Stop making excuses villa! We have just started spending and are competing with top 4. Spend proper over a period of 3/4 years and we will compete for title not this bullshit top 4. The reason we are competing now with top 4 is cos of our tactical manager - that is all.

Comment 98, made on April 22, 2009 at 3.10 am

Michael said:

... 2 players have been mentioned on this blog that i have never even considered before but the posibility of them signing excite me - solomon kalou and obi mikkel, have always rated them and would love them at villa, unfortunately they both seem arsenal type players andplay in areas that arsenal need to strengthen

Comment 99, made on April 22, 2009 at 8.38 am

villarobin said:

... Its not about just spending huge amounts of money and 'Doing A Leeds', i wasnt arguing that at the start, but we do have to be realistic if we want champions league !! If you want this we HAVE TO spend abit more / be abit more daring and savvy in the transfer market !! The way we spend money is VERY similar to the Ellis era in that we dont seem to want to go that extra mile and we are TO cautious. We have more money now than Ellis, but we spend it like we dont have more money. I actually think Martin Oneill has done well in building a solid squad of £5 - £10MIL pound players, now he needs to take some gambles and start getting the Class £15 - £20 MIL pound players in, and build up the scouting network.

Comment 100, made on April 22, 2009 at 11.00 am

villarobin said:

... Just because you make afew gambles or spend more than £12mil on a player doesnt mean we will implode as a club and do what Leeds did.

Comment 101, made on April 22, 2009 at 11.02 am

Christian said:

... Villarobin- I agree it's very risky. But let's not forget Leeds got to the semi's of the Champions League (something I don't think I'll ever see in my Villa lifetime) and if they'd been better controlled signings and not throwing money at everything that breathes they may well have had continued success.

Comment 102, made on April 22, 2009 at 11.13 am

Christian said:

... Sorry Villarobin, I've just re-read your post- I'm not disagreeing with you!!

Comment 103, made on April 22, 2009 at 11.13 am

Dan Price said:

... The point is, we were close this season, but this season was a strange season, where almost anything seemed possible half way through, Hull were a top 4 team, we were title contenders and 14 or so clubs could have been relegated... and I honestly believe, had Laursen been with us through the rest of the season, the rock that he was in defense... we would be top 4 now. However, this season was strange, stranger than it will likely be next season. The likelyhood of torres drogba ronaldo and cesc being out for half the season isnt looking good, arsenal have it seemed strengthed substantially in arshavin if last night is anything to go by and Money bags city are going to contest more and more. I understand that its easier to risk others money than your own... as do a few jobless bankers right now... but i dont see too much risk if we invest in young players, who will only improve in value. If it is to be run as a business lerner will have to take a more wenger approach to the transfer market than abromovic and buy in those who will increase in value... the likes of walcott and any other 23 and below players. However, he is officially no longer a billionaire according to a recent forbes listing i have been told, but his wealth is in dollars, which is substantially stronger to the pound so he should be getting better players (relatively) for his dollars. There is no real excuse not to invest, investing in young talent is almost certainly safer and more profitable investment than any other investments he would be making in the current climate, and to keep are class players and manager at the club, a certain level of ambition is going to have to be seen as well as heard about.

Comment 104, made on April 22, 2009 at 2.35 pm

Young Villan said:

... Heard a rumour last night you all may be intrested in! Working in Coventry for 10 years I know a lot of sky blues fans and information straight from a couple of pretty high up gents who sit in directors box,the news is that Daniel Fox(left back)is supposingly on the way to us,done deal at around 3.5m-4m. Supposed to have a great left foot and a bit of a free kick specialist.

Comment 105, made on April 23, 2009 at 10.26 am

Martin Clabon said:

... Mactheknife - thanks for the vote of confidence. I would love to take over as Villa Manager but not sure my CV is up to it

Comment 106, made on April 23, 2009 at 2.34 pm

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment Preview