Questions for Mr. Lerner Sir

[Chris Smith]

But isn't that a bit defeatist, Dave?

Surely we should be trying everything possible to get people into the ground whether it's cheap/free tickets; free food; free drink; free transport, anything, surely?

Give stuff away for free and people then resent having to pay for it next time, they'll just wait for another freebie.

[Concrete John]

Armed with the amount of backing MON had a top coach would've got us to the CL by now. Chance has gone - mid-table team from now on.

Maybe, maybe not. 

But what I don't agree with is this 'chance has gone' rubbish.  Every year that we didn't finish 4th someone on here told us "The chance has gone - we'll never have a better opportunity" only for us to get closer the following season.  OK, we're in a re-building phase right now so it'll be a year or two until we can realistically challenge for top 6 again, but by it's very nature football is a cyclical game and ALL teams will have ups and downs. 

How long will Roman/the Sheikhs maintain their interest?
What happens and Man Utd once Fergie goes?
Will the gradual decline at Arsenal continue?

Lots of things can happen and we shouldn't just be thinking 'mid table for us', but rather striving to be the best we can be, both on and off the pitch, so that we're in a position to capitalise when a top teams starts to fade.  Because that WILL happen.   

[Ger Regan]

It's a point raised by others before, but bears repeating nonetheless - nobody knows how the football landscape will look in 5, even 3 years. If back in 2006 you would have said that Man City would be paying a player 250,000 a week, you would have been carted off to the funny farm. At the moment, yes, it does look bleak, but you never know for certain what will happen.

[dave.woodhall]

It's a point raised by others before, but bears repeating nonetheless - nobody knows how the football landscape will look in 5, even 3 years. If back in 2006 you would have said that Man City would be paying a player 250,000 a week, you would have been carted off to the funny farm. At the moment, yes, it does look bleak, but you never know for certain what will happen.

Seconded. It's swings & roundabouts. Nobody in 1972 would have believed a first division game at Villa Park would get 8k 14 years later and similarly that crowd in 1986 would have been amazed at the gates we've been getting lately.

[Risso]

There have always been ups and downs in football, but unless the billionaires (and Sky) get bored and bugger of en masse, and the Champions League implodes,  I think it's irrevocably broken.  Blackburn were probably the last side to get lucky at the right time.  Then you could get players of the calibre of the young Alan Shearer for £4m, and even though they were seen as big spenders, their entire team probably cost the same as Torres cost Chelsea.  The only chance you've got now of riding the crest of a wave is for somebody to come in and spend big.

[Chris Smith]

Three years ago it was confidently predicted on here that the top 4 was set in stone. Since then 2 different sides have broken the cartel. It really is unwise to look further ahead than the current season.

[Concrete John]

Three years ago it was confidently predicted on here that the top 4 was set in stone. Since then 2 different sides have broken the cartel. It really is unwise to look further ahead than the current season.

Exactly. 

We can't duplicate what Man City did, but we can duplicate what Spurs did.

[TopDeck113]

Man City's millions and the ineptitude of Liverpool's previous owners, have ensured that the Top 4 aren't as secure as when we were trying to break the glass ceiling two or three seasons ago. 

The money at City has changed everything, but there are still some glimmers that other clubs could get their opportunity over the next few seasons.

Granted people have been saying it for years, but the day that Fergie gives up the day job will see a massive upheaval at Old Trafford.  The influence he currently wields over every part of the club will make it a difficult place for his successor.   I could easily see it unravelling quite quickly, if not as spectacularly as post-Busby.

Abramovich basically has the sole ambition now of winning the Champions League. Were they to do so (shudder), how long would be hang around? 

Arsenal currently look the most likely to fall off the Top 4 perch. That may well happen this season.

[JJ-AV]

Man City didn't sell out for the season opener against Swansea on Monday.

Yeah it was on TV, but Swansea sold out and Citeh 'only' managed 46k. Our attendances will only swell if he have a successful period. Our core fanbase is what it is and without that it's not gonna change.

[Merv]

The way things are now going, there's almost an argument to say that the big four is now the big three - Man Utd, City and Chelsea looking to break away from the rest. Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs a class behind.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

Man City didn't sell out for the season opener against Swansea on Monday.

Yeah it was on TV, but Swansea sold out and Citeh 'only' managed 46k. Our attendances will only swell if he have a successful period. Our core fanbase is what it is and without that it's not gonna change.

It's very common for there to be lower crowds for this period in August. Holidays do play a big part.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

The way things are now going, there's almost an argument to say that the big four is now the big three - Man Utd, City and Chelsea looking to break away from the rest. Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs a class behind.

Agreed. Sky will be spitting feathers. The less competitive the league is the lower the audiences.

[JJ-AV]

Man City didn't sell out for the season opener against Swansea on Monday.

Yeah it was on TV, but Swansea sold out and Citeh 'only' managed 46k. Our attendances will only swell if he have a successful period. Our core fanbase is what it is and without that it's not gonna change.

It's very common for there to be lower crowds for this period in August. Holidays do play a big part.

Still though, 41k home fans after they've just signed someone who's potentially the best player in the country?

We're not that far behind them.

[Tezmond]

There are already signs of the wage bubble beginning to burst (out of contract players etc), the TV money bubble could be next with the effect of streaming, murmurs (yet again) of a european super league - anything could happen in the medium term.

I hope the current Dougonomics on the playing side of things is balanced off the pitch with long term investments off it. Villa clubs across the region (a number throughout the city plus Worcester to Lichfield and possibly beyond). Get the next generation of both academy players and supporters in the pipeline. Cheap opportunity to see games live, with these clubs seen as an extension of the ground, quality coaching for kids.

It's time we found our new model, rather than the over reliance on tv cash, stinging supporters for tickets and merchandise etc. We need to remember that we are Aston Villa NOT a ManU_lite, and do things our way, the way they should be done. If we end up playing the likes of Forest and Wednesday in a new national league so be it, let the best players bugger off into a european super league, let the tv cash go to the "big / glamour" clubs, at least we'd have our game back.

back on topic, my Q for Randy - can I have Faulkners job please?

[Macho Man Randy Savage]

There are already signs of the wage bubble beginning to burst (out of contract players etc), the TV money bubble could be next with the effect of streaming, murmurs (yet again) of a european super league - anything could happen in the medium term.

It's amazing how many of these bubbles there are in football though. Two in one decade suggests that people in football don't learn their lesson at all.