Randy Lerner "State of Aston Villa" Statement

[pauliewalnuts]

Everton continue to stand that theory on its head.   They are potless and the club has been for sale for ever.   The difference with them and us is that their lack of money has forged an indomitable spirit in the squad.   You will not see Jagielka or Cahill or Baines posing in a nightclub with the players of a club tapping him up and then claiming it was a fake photo.   If Everton can do it.   We can do it.  Randy Lerner cannot possibly be as skint as Bill Kenwright (allegedly).

And why do ypou think that is not what he is trying to do. Would you not agree that his choice of manager is suggestive of such a strategy?

Not sure I see the relevance of AM to that approach, to be honest.

I'm going to give AM every chance to succeed, I'm not one of those people just waiting for an excuse to get on his back, he has to have a chance.

Having said that, though, I suspect one of the major reasons he got the job was because he was one of the few people willing to work within the given parameters - ie no money to spend.

I feel sorry for the guy. He knew the parameters and took the job, yes, but he's onto a loser from the off. A far weaker squad than the one which spent almost the entirety of last season hovering above the relegation zone.

[Greg N'Ash]

In the past 12 months we've bought Ireland, Bent, Makoun, Given and N'Zogbia. That's the best part of £50m spent there, to claim some sort of austerity programme is ludicrous.

and sold Milner. but then you knew that.

And, if we're including transfers up to CNZ, we've also sold Downing and Young for another 37m.

yes i have mentioned that since last summer we're about 15m in profit even including all houllier's buys and Ireland. No doubt he'll want to go from the summer before next :0)

The summer before next is now.

Yes, we've made a profit on transfers in the last 12 months but that's a consequence of cutting the wage bill something you were in favour of when it suited your anti MON stance.

well here's a question for you chris. And its not a trick one. If we've saved 15m off the wage bill in the last year through losing 8 players then how much are we looking to get it down to realistically before we get to spend all the money we make on selling players? Same again? And who are the 8 players from the squad you'd want to jettison because the 15m thats gone walkabout is roughly another 8 players wages.

I really don't know what sort of bottom line in wages spending Lerner is looking at but i fear its not finished yet.

[Chris Smith]

I don't see it like that, Greg. I am assuming that the wage bill is now where they want it in relation to turnover. If we buy a player for £50m or sign one on a free it will put it up again. As players are sold or come to the end of their contract it frees their wages for new players.

[pauliewalnuts]

I wonder how loud the whoops of delight in the boardroom will be in 12 months time when we shed Heskey and Beye.

[Greg N'Ash]

I don't see it like that, Greg. I am assuming that the wage bill is now where they want it in relation to turnover. If we buy a player for £50m or sign one on a free it will put it up again. As players are sold or come to the end of their contract it frees their wages for new players.

well i hope your right but i wouldn't be surprised if the non-spent transfer profit is going towards covering the wages.

[Greg N'Ash]

I wonder how loud the whoops of delight in the boardroom will be in 12 months time when we shed Heskey and Beye.

forget the board, even i've got a bottle of scotch stashed for Beye's departure.  As for Ivanhoe, AM will probably give him another 12 months

*runs off*

[brian green]

I hate to acknowledge it Greg but the one year extension to Roller Skates' contract could be triggered by relegation.   He would be regarded as perfect Championship material.

As for Beye my only regret is that he is living testimony that the worst players get the best songs.   Not only is "Habib Habib Habib Beye" sung to the tune of "Happy Happy Happy Days" a neat song in its own right it is the original Fonz theme tune so we could have been trail blazers yet again by singing to two players with one song.   Sigh.

I am considering writing a novel about a man who wins 200 million on the euro lottery and buys a football club just to be able to get the crowd to sing properly and in tune.

[Greg N'Ash]

I hate to acknowledge it Greg but the one year extension to Roller Skates' contract could be triggered by relegation.   He would be regarded as perfect Championship material.

As for Beye my only regret is that he is living testimony that the worst players get the best songs.   Not only is "Habib Habib Habib Beye" sung to the tune of "Happy Happy Happy Days" a neat song in its own right it is the original Fonz theme tune so we could have been trail blazers yet again by singing to two players with one song.   Sigh.

I am considering writing a novel about a man who wins 200 million on the euro lottery and buys a football club just to be able to get the crowd to sing properly and in tune.

heheheh. I'd go for it but turn it into a musical - could be the next mamma mia.

To me the whole Lerner thing is starting to resemble a tragedy for us and him. Rich businessmen normally have a reputation of being careful with money but at some point he took his eye off the ball or maybe got caught up in the excitement. If he's been badly hammered by the world's financial problems then his recent actions would fit in with that, but with the best will in the world Aston Villa is unlikely to start posting profits in the near future, more likely it will be losses in the 10-20m region even with the annual selling of star players. If he can't stomach that then he may have to cut his losses and sell up although anyone would be loath to write off that amount of money.. I don't like to think too hard about what a sensible manager could have done with the funds he provided for MON so i'm guessing Lerner's probably in therapy or on Lithium

[Chris Smith]

Greg, not sure why you keep talking about profit. There has been no talk about that from the board but rather operating at a level where income supports costs, i.e. breaking even.

[Greg N'Ash]

Greg, not sure why you keep talking about profit. There has been no talk about that from the board but rather operating at a level where income supports costs, i.e. breaking even.

yeah, and again that isn't going to happen anytime soon Chris, not unless revenue goes through the roof which is unlikely given the financial conditions and the lack of success. Best he can hope for is to flog a player every summer and keep the losses in the 10-20m mark.

[Chris Smith]

Breaking even needs to be more than just an aspiration under the new FFP rules.

[cheltenhamlion]

As I said on the other thread, nobody else is rushing to comply with such indecent haste.

[Villa'Zawg]

There is no requirement for breaking even in the current FFP rules. Forget them, they are not in any way an issue for Villa as things stand.

[Chris Smith]

There is no requirement for breaking even in the current FFP rules. Forget them, they are not in any way an issue for Villa as things stand.

Yes there is if you want to play in Europe. With players being given 4 and 5 year contracts you have consider it from now.

[Risso]

There is no requirement for breaking even in the current FFP rules. Forget them, they are not in any way an issue for Villa as things stand.

Yes there is if you want to play in Europe. With players being given 4 and 5 year contracts you have consider it from now.

As I've posted, there are very generous exemptions for the next 7 years.  Also, Any players under contract as at 30 June 2010 DO NOT count towards any deficit.  The rules also state that any deficits will be regarded on a case by case basis, with various reasons for being "treated more favourably".  In short, these rules are a load of shite, they're not going to stop us playing in Europe, and have nothing to do with our current position.  Anybody believeing otherwise is deluding themselves.

Bad news on the horizon though:

"As part of its considerations,
the Club Financial Control Panel may also request a licensee’s longer term business plan (for reporting periods covering T+2 and T+3) in order to better understand the strategy of the club."  Strategy?  Uh oh.