Statement this morning

[Monty]

No it doesn't. Who finished 4th?

Obviously Spurs, but, as I said, Man City will easily finish above Spurs this season.

They may, they may not. But your point about not being able to compete is not true. Everton and Spurs have smaller wage to turnover, yet both have finished 4th recently.

Agreed, and that wage ratio could be to their advantage in the next couple of years, particularly as Spurs' turnover is significantly more than City's.

[Chris Smith]

I take it to mean that we’re not Man City and that we cannot afford to have players sitting on the sidelines picking up big money and then expect to chuck more on top. Fundamentally, the wages to turnover ratio is far too large and out of kilter with our main rivals; Spurs and Everton.

It could mean "We're going to put the prices up, suckers".

[D.boy]

Christ on a bike I am amazed at the doom mongers on here. So we have lost the manager, big deal. If we look closely then maybe we can see that a lot of money has been spent by Oneil yet he still only sticks with the same handful of players and system. Time for a change methinks. This may just be to our benefit if the right person for the job comes in. As for disecting Randys statement re finances/resources, I would be more worried if he had said "we are in huge debt and will be lucky to avoid relegation/receivership"
STOP PANICKING.

[Hookeysmith]

Christ on a bike I am amazed at the doom mongers on here. So we have lost the manager, big deal. If we look closely then maybe we can see that a lot of money has been spent by Oneil yet he still only sticks with the same handful of players and system. Time for a change methinks. This may just be to our benefit if the right person for the job comes in. As for disecting Randys statement re finances/resources, I would be more worried if he had said "we are in huge debt and will be lucky to avoid relegation/receivership"
STOP PANICKING.

Well said

I think this is as an exciting time as when MON / Randy took over

Big decision but get it right and we could be reborn again

[Toronto Villa]

Christ on a bike I am amazed at the doom mongers on here. So we have lost the manager, big deal. If we look closely then maybe we can see that a lot of money has been spent by Oneil yet he still only sticks with the same handful of players and system. Time for a change methinks. This may just be to our benefit if the right person for the job comes in. As for disecting Randys statement re finances/resources, I would be more worried if he had said "we are in huge debt and will be lucky to avoid relegation/receivership"
STOP PANICKING.

Well said

I think this is as an exciting time as when MON / Randy took over

Big decision but get it right and we could be reborn again

Bizarrely I feel quite re-energized by this. Don't get me wrong, and there are plenty of posts to prove it, I was a MON supporter. But in the last 9 months, I began to feel that we've got as far as we could with him. In my opinon, as a club, he has left us in a much better place than when he arrived, so for me this is just evolution. The MON era ran its course, and now we are in the next phase of the Lerner era, where he finds the manager to take us forward again. There's some stuff to fix, but it's not like we are anything close to what we were back in 2006. I'm finding all of this quite interesting to be honest.

[magic monks]

All I know is that when I read we made a 45m pre-tax loss for the 2008/09 season it made my eyebrows raise quicker than a young italian model's whilst talking to Berlusconi. The 09/10 season will no-doubt reveal 100% wages to turnover, and that's way, way beyond our means.

I'm all for a bit of Keynesian demand-side spending in order to bring in success and thus grow turnover, but if a third-consecutive 6th place and 2 wembley appearances cannot return a bumper year, then we have to take the belt-tightening approach for a bit before it's too late. 

In a way I'm very glad that Lerner finally put his foot down, I just wish it had happened in May after Milner apparently indicated he was off, rather than 5 days before the season when O'Neill wanted to splash the cash. 

But... it is what it is. Bring on the season.

[cheltenhamlion]

I had written an article before Monday's late rewrite about how I wasn't looking forward to the season and was bored with it all. I can't bllody wait until Saturday now. It could all fall apart but this has woken me from my Villa slumbers.

[The Man With A Stick]

I think a lot of people feel the same.

[jonzy85]

We should forget about the League and just go for the 3 cup competitions we are in.

(Only half joking as well)

[pauliewalnuts]

We should forget about the League and just go for the 3 cup competitions we are in.

(Only half joking as well)

You're insane /first_reaction

However, I think you've actually made quite an interesting point /further_thought

[jonzy85]

I genuinely do think that we can write off finishing in the top 4.

I also think we should finish in the top 8, which means lets really go for the cups. If we fall short it will most likely be to one of the top 4.

We would then most likely get into Europe again next year.

If this is the category we are resigned to be in, lets make realistic targets, as in the cups.

[Chris Smith]

As it stands we've lost our manager and our player of the season and have not addressed our goal scoring problem. I'm all for a bit of positivity but there are too many unknowns at present for it to be based on anything but wishful thinking.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I'm just surprised Randy gave such a dignified statement regarding a manager that couldn't even be arsed to tell him he was quitting. Four years working together and O'Neill couldn't even be bothered to call him. If ever there was a classic case of throwing your toys out the pram, this was it.

Let's see how the board sort the mess out, MON has not made it easy for them but despite all this, I really am glad MON has gone. He really is a complete and utter selfish wanker.

[Monty]

I'm just surprised Randy gave such a dignified statement regarding a manager that couldn't even be arsed to tell him he was quitting. Four years working together and O'Neill couldn't even be bothered to call him. If ever there was a classic case of throwing your toys out the pram, this was it.

Randy really isn't like that, and I'm not surprised in the least by his dignity.

[Chris Smith]

I'm just surprised Randy gave such a dignified statement regarding a manager that couldn't even be arsed to tell him he was quitting. Four years working together and O'Neill couldn't even be bothered to call him.

No, he got the General to do his dirty work yesterday.