Paul Faulkner interviewed on BRMB

[Iago]

This has just flashed up on the BBC.............

0932 FOOTBALL: Chief executive Paul Faulkner believes Aston Villa should be challenging for a European spot this season. "I think Europe sits there as a goal and this year that would be our goal. That's what we want to try and achieve," said Faulkner. "It's not easy but I believe it's doo-able this year. We've got a lot of ambition."

Oh dear...........

Well he did state that was the ambition for this season, albeit a little unconvincingly.

[darren woolley]

I thought it was a good interview.

[ktvillan]

Still, had to laugh at the "Villa's wage bill was bigger than Spurs'" bit, maybe Tom is an H&V reader?!

It was. In the last year or 2 of MO'N reign we had a bigger wage bill than Spurs

Nevermind that ancient history. The side Tottingham put out on Monday cost less than ours.  Y'know, that side who are in a diffferent league to us now, so good that we can only hope to go there and keep the score down etc.

And Van Der Vaarts wages probably amount to more than all of ours.

Not sure. I think his wages are not much different from Heskey's.

And there in a nutshell is why Spurs have played champions league football in the last 2 years and are looking good again for it and we haven't and aren't.

If anything shows the difference in approach, it is the fact that we were paying Steve Sidwell twice as much as Spurs were paying Luka Modric.

I think Levy has to take some credit as well as Redknapp.  It shows the advantages of having a chairman who knows his arse from his elbow when it comes to football, budgeting, and contract negotiation.

[ozzjim]

Still, had to laugh at the "Villa's wage bill was bigger than Spurs'" bit, maybe Tom is an H&V reader?!

It was. In the last year or 2 of MO'N reign we had a bigger wage bill than Spurs

Nevermind that ancient history. The side Tottingham put out on Monday cost less than ours.  Y'know, that side who are in a diffferent league to us now, so good that we can only hope to go there and keep the score down etc.

And Van Der Vaarts wages probably amount to more than all of ours.

Not sure. I think his wages are not much different from Heskey's.

And there in a nutshell is why Spurs have played champions league football in the last 2 years and are looking good again for it and we haven't and aren't.

If anything shows the difference in approach, it is the fact that we were paying Steve Sidwell twice as much as Spurs were paying Luka Modric.

I think Levy has to take some credit as well as Redknapp.  It shows the advantages of having a chairman who knows his arse from his elbow when it comes to football, budgeting, and contract negotiation.

Spot on. Spurs still have a very different hierarchy to their purchasing, and a good scouting system which targets younger players with good sell on value. Levy is an incredible negotiator both in and out, while also not being afraid to upset people over what he expects for them. Very envious.

[dave.woodhall]

If O'Neill had left a year or two earlier, imagine the reaction if we'd appointed 'Appy 'Arry? Spurs board deserve credit for that.

[Billy Walker]

This has just flashed up on the BBC.............

0932 FOOTBALL: Chief executive Paul Faulkner believes Aston Villa should be challenging for a European spot this season. "I think Europe sits there as a goal and this year that would be our goal. That's what we want to try and achieve," said Faulkner. "It's not easy but I believe it's doo-able this year. We've got a lot of ambition."

Oh dear...........

To be fair,Imagine the reaction if he'd said we had no chance of challenging for a European spot this year because we've got no ambition

I think this is good.  It gives us all something to aim for and it instills a sense of direction, too.  Now we know what we are aiming for we can push on.

[TheSandman]

Spurs also had a much more clearly defined wage structure. We just seemed to pay the players whatever they asked for. The fact that we relied on players from the English leagues who were already on decent wages (and who expected to get a pay rise for coming here) didn't help.

Moving on I'm not so comfortable with Faulkner being as clearly explicit about our goals especially when I don't think they are do-able. With a pretty solid top six and Newcastle starting the season like a train I think the top seven is already pretty much decided with only the order to be sorted in the rest of the season. I don't know whether it is them just desperately trying to appear that they are ambitious against all evidence to the country or something else but the nearest we are going to get to going into Europe with this bunch of players and manager is our trip to the Liberty on Sunday.

[Compass]

Nah he's completely bullshitting about everything. He says Warnock is one of the best LB in the league and also thinks Hutton for Luke Young was a good switch. I hope it's just PR nonsense because he can't be that clueless.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

If O'Neill had left a year or two earlier, imagine the reaction if we'd appointed 'Appy 'Arry? Spurs board deserve credit for that.

The thing is, Spurs have always tried to be a footballing side, so it wasn't like the kind of revolution it would need at Villa Park. Redknapp certainly deserves credit for what he's done at Spurs. If he did the same at the Villa I'd be on the phone to the Vatican to announce an act of divine intervention.

[Chris Smith]

I'm not sure where this myth of frugal Spurs came from, they've spent far more on their squad than we have.

I did some sums a year or two back on comparative cost in transfer fees of the two squads and theirs was almost twice as much. We've hardly pushed the boat out since so I can't imagine it has altered much.

[UsualSuspect]

This has just flashed up on the BBC.............

0932 FOOTBALL: Chief executive Paul Faulkner believes Aston Villa should be challenging for a European spot this season. "I think Europe sits there as a goal and this year that would be our goal. That's what we want to try and achieve," said Faulkner. "It's not easy but I believe it's doo-able this year. We've got a lot of ambition."

Oh dear...........

I saw it on the back of the Mail as well.

Chalk that one up with AM saying heskey would be a good centre half

[Dante Lavelli]

As others have said Levy and in my opinion Comoli deserve as much credit as Redknapp.  I think he is the coach who has benefitted from Comoli and levy's astute signings.  I've not checked but the only Redknapp signings in their first team are probably VDV, Adebeyor, Parker and Fridel - all players with issues in one way or another.

Their main stars, Modric and Bale and the more stable players in their squad were signed by other managers and whilst Comoli was at the club. 

[Dante Lavelli]

This has just flashed up on the BBC.............

0932 FOOTBALL: Chief executive Paul Faulkner believes Aston Villa should be challenging for a European spot this season. "I think Europe sits there as a goal and this year that would be our goal. That's what we want to try and achieve," said Faulkner. "It's not easy but I believe it's doo-able this year. We've got a lot of ambition."

Oh dear...........

The crucial word is "challenging".  He is not claiming that we will get there but at the end of the season he would like us to be closer to 7th (usually the lowest UEFA spot) than the bottom.  The top six are miles away but seventh will be claimed by a Stoke, Newcastle or Fulham type club. 

I do not see that as an unrealistic target.  I'd be disappointed if the club were gearing up for finishing 17th (see the reaction to the Spurs match...).

[nigel]

I thought it was a good interview.

I did too Darren, I sometimes wonder what some of these posters really want?

[KevinGage]

I'm not sure where this myth of frugal Spurs came from, they've spent far more on their squad than we have.

I did some sums a year or two back on comparative cost in transfer fees of the two squads and theirs was almost twice as much. We've hardly pushed the boat out since so I can't imagine it has altered much.

Not sure about the squad, but compare and contrast the starting XI from Monday:


Tottingham:

Brad Friedel  -  0

Kyle Walker - £2.5 mill (part of £5 million double deal with Naughton)
Younes Kaboul £5 million
Ledley King-  0
Benoit Assou Ekkottu £3.5 million

Aaron Lennon -  £2.5 million
Scott Parker - £5.5 million
Luka Modric - £16.5 million
Gareth Bale-  £7 million

Emmanuel Adebeyor - loan
Rafael Van Der Vart - £8 million

Total------------------- £50.5


Villa

Shay Given  -  £3.5 million
Carlos Cuellar - £8 million
James Collins-  £5 million
Richard Dunne-  £5 million

Alan Hutton- £4 million
Stillian Petrov £8.5 million
Chris Herd -  0
Emile Heskey - £3.5 million
Stephen Warnock £8 million

Gabriel Agbonlahor - 0
Darren Bent -  £18 million

Total------------------ £63.5 million


True, they had the likes of Defoe (£15 million) and Bassong (£8 million) on the bench.  But then we had Delph (£7 million)   Stephen Ireland (£8 million) and Charles N'Zogbia (£9 million)