The Paul Lambert thread - poll reset after our capitulation to Hull

[frank black]

B&Q versus Villa ........I think their defence will be built on better foundations and they will have more of a cutting edge.

3-1 to B&Q. A consolation goal by Tonev, which will do little to Gloss over the result.

[Tony Erdington]

admittedly I haven't read all the posts on this thread, but lerner cant be that thick to realise the club are heading in one direction and I don't fancy the championship (im not saying this year) but with the kind of players we buy (there not good enough) its going to happen, and Villa park in the championship to a lot of clubs its going to be like Wembley and the opposition will up their game making our team have to work that much harder, and imho the team we have now would struggle in the lower leagues.

so if Randy is just counting the dollars, somebody tell him , he can halve what he thinks the clubs worth in the championship or worse.

[citizenDJ]

admittedly I haven't read all the posts on this thread, but lerner cant be that thick to realise the club are heading in one direction and I don't fancy the championship (im not saying this year) but with the kind of players we buy (there not good enough) its going to happen, and Villa park in the championship to a lot of clubs its going to be like Wembley and the opposition will up their game making our team have to work that much harder, and imho the team we have now would struggle in the lower leagues.

so if Randy is just counting the dollars, somebody tell him , he can halve what he thinks the clubs worth in the championship or worse.

But then, that's the gamble, isn't it? We don't look like being relegated this year, and with even moderate expenditure in the right places then we could, maybe, be a bit better next year. The players who have struggled to make a positive impact this year might well be better next; Okore, El Ahmadi, Kozak, Bertrand (perhaps), Bacuna could all be better again next time around and with a better player or two alongside them.

It doesn't seem too likely to me, to be honest, but I can see why people, including the owner, might think it's worth the risk.

[Legion]

The Wages Battle

It only made sense that I start this blog off with a report on my beloved club, Aston Villa. The end of the 2013/14 season is fast approaching and Villa are amidst one of the tightest relegation battles in years. Minds are starting to worry (again!) and the promised rebuilding of the squad seems all but a distant memory.

Why Lambert?

So, why did Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner decide that Paul Lambert was the right man for the job? He had certainly made a decent name for himself, taking Norwich from league 1 to the top flight in just 3 seasons but is one impressive season in the premier league the real reason?

A quick comparison of Aston Villa and Norwich’s financial accounts for the 2011/12 season, Lambert’s last in charge of Norwich, shows what is most likely the real reason for his appointment. During the 2011/12 season, the wage/revenue ratio of Aston Villa was the highest in the league at 94% and there are no prizes for guessing which club had the lowest ratio. That’s right, Paul Lambert’s Norwich had a wage/revenue ratio of just 49%! It is important to remember that there is no split between players and back-room staff wages in this calculation however, it is likely that the majority of wages will be going to the players.

Now, I just want you to take that figure in for a minute…94% of the money coming in was being sent straight back out on wages, we were in a bad place and something needed to happen! My only guess for why the wages got in such a state, would have been our failed attempt at european football. I don’t want to go into detail about the extra income received from achieving european football, perhaps thats a topic for another day but it’s no secret that clubs will see a considerable boost in income. Perhaps this is what happened in the pre-Lambert era, money was thrown at ‘quality’ players without fear because the extra money from european football would mean the players practically paid for themselves. The only problem with this is that when you don’t reach european football, you’re left in a financial mess!

The Lambert Effect

So, have things changed since Lambert’s arrival? Well, we can only go based on figures from the 2012/13 season, as the 2013/14 season is still in play and the financial statements will not be filed until around March 2015. It would be unfair to judge Lambert’s wages fix, as 2 transfer windows to unload multiple high earning players is not enough. The wages costs actually increased by 3% during his first season in charge, which is most likely due to Lambert’s new signing as well as, the addition of a couple of his most trusted coaches. Luckily, we had a 27% increase in turnover (presumably due to increased broadcasting revenue, another topic that I won’t get into now), which reduced the wages/revenue percentage down to 76% and is a lot closer to the 2011/12 premier league average of 70%.

One of many controversial decisions made by Lambert, is his lack of inclusion of the ‘bomb squad’ members. Villa’s young squad are renowned for their inconsistency and are prone to making errors on the pitch, an issue that could be resolved by including some of our more experienced players. After all, we are still paying their wages, so why not play them?! Many fans have accused Lambert of falling out with the players but this might no be the case. The equal pay act 1970 states that employees in an equivalent role should not be paid less based on their age, sex, religion, etc. Now, I’m no law expert, but I’m pretty sure that the Villa back-room staff are protecting themselves against this law.

I’d really like to hear from someone that works in employment law to tell me if that’s the case or not? My thoughts are that if you’re playing 2 strikers every week and one is getting £20k and the other £50k, is this not discrimination? They’re doing the same job, are they not? But, force the player on £50k in with the youth squad and you could probably argue that he’s technically a player/coach? Any employment law professionals out there that could shed some light on this?

To Conclude

Were Villa right to appoint Lambert in the first place? Absolutely! The club had some serious issues with wages and who better to sort it out than the manager of the club with the best wage control?

Has Lambert reduced the wage bill? It’s hard to tell until the accounts for the 2013/14 season are released. During Lambert’s first season with Villa, the wages stayed roughly the same but it would’ve been a near impossible task to reduce them that quickly!

So, is he doing a good or a bad job? Again, it’s hard to tell until we can see this seasons accounts but, in my opinion, it looks like he is on track to do a good job so long as he can keep us in the top flight for another year.

All in all, It’s hard to assess how well the three year plan is going until we can see the figures for the 2013/14 season. As soon as they are released, sometime around March 2015, I will look to further analyse the club’s position to see if the Lambert effect is visible or not.

I hope this report has proved to be an interesting read for Aston Villa fans and that it has shown everyone the extent of the wages mess we were in prior to Lambert’s arrival.

If you ask me, the real test for Lambert will be the 2014/15 season. There are a few more contracts due to expire at the end of this season and hopefully we will be able to lose a few more members of the bomb squad. This should give us a little bit extra money to start re-investing and the squad rebuild can finally get underway!

Mike Jefferson

 Sources: Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2013, Aston Villa FC Limited accounts for the year ended 31 May 2012 and 31 May 2013.

[andyh]

That's all well and good, that article, but it's written from a finance perspective.
Yes, finances are a massive, massive part of the modern game, but, at the end of the day we are Aston Villa FOOTBALL CLUB, and the purpose of a football club is to try and win things playing football, not in the Deloitte top 20.

[ciggiesnbeer]

The Wages Battle

I’d really like to hear from someone that works in employment law to tell me if that’s the case or not? My thoughts are that if you’re playing 2 strikers every week and one is getting £20k and the other £50k, is this not discrimination?

The bomb squad really is no mystery as Lambert had alluded to it. Players usually have appearance fee's in their contracts. Dont play them and you dont have to pay those fees. You are still paying the base salary but there are big savings from appearance fees/goal bonuses/clean sheet bonuses etc.

[Richard E]

It's lawful to pay two players different amounts unless you were paying one less because she was a woman, or black, gay, disabled etc. Employment law doesn't require you to pay two blokes doing the same job the same amount.

[olaftab]

B&Q versus Villa ........I think their defence will be built on better foundations and they will have more of a cutting edge.

3-1 to B&Q. A consolation goal by Tonev, which will do little to Gloss over the result.

However Villa can take the result back within 45 days and claim points back.

[brontebilly]

After two seasons of truly horrendous shite, why on earth would we want to give him more money to waste and more time to drag us backwards ?

I don't recall ANY of this 'lets give him more money/time' nonsense when McLeish was in charge. And he did just as bad (or good depending on how bad you think the job is being done) a job, if not slightly less depressing than Lambert's currently doing it.

The difference is McLeish didn't have the foresight to bring in the likes of Benteke, Kozak, Vlaar, Okore etc. He blew his money on N'Zogbia, Hutton and Given. We also played the kind of football which saw us create hardly any goalscoring chances.

Doubt there were too many dissenting voices here or elsewhere on Given or Nzogbia at the time. Given to replace Friedel and Nzogbia to replace Downing. There was more opposition at the time but Hutton essentially replaced Luke Young who has amounted to nothing at QPR. Friedel is a very expensive sub keeper at Spurs, Downing has been an expensive mistake for Liverpool and West Ham. Selling them at the time has proved to the right decision, its their replacements that have been a let down.

Again a strong Sporting Director at the club overseeing all signings would never have approved Given on a 5 year deal. Bringing characters like Nzogbia and Hutton into the club should possibly have been avoided with proper research but trusting so called managerial geniuses like McLeish, MON, Houllier and Lambert with freedom to bring in their own players and even staff has not paid off for us at all. I know that Baldini at Spurs shows their is no quick fix but I think we simply have to reign in control from these managers.

Houllier bringing in Bent and Makoun probably the biggest waste of all. Bent was good for six months before injuries finished him and left us with a huge loss. Makoun was another Bosko Balaban, except more of a fraudster.

I'm all for letting Lambert go as he clearly isnt up to it but our club is rotten to its core at the moment. I'm not sure a miracle coach exists that can transform our fortunes without totally ripping up the existing structures at the club and starting again.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I am STILL angry Makoun didnt work out. His chant was awesome.

I am holding out hope Sylla can still take up the slack chant wise.

[brontebilly]

I am STILL angry Makoun didnt work out. His chant was awesome.

I am holding out hope Sylla can still take up the slack chant wise.

He is taking up the slack in the being utter shite wise anyway.

[pauliewalnuts]

I am STILL angry Makoun didnt work out. His chant was awesome.

I am holding out hope Sylla can still take up the slack chant wise.

He is taking up the slack in the being utter shite wise anyway.

That made me laugh quite a lot.

[Monty]

The financial aspect is fine, but it does rather assume that Lambert was the only person in the whole world capable of doing that, of which I'm not so sure. It would, however, explain his continued employment, as it can surely have only a tangential relationship to the performance in the actual sport of football.

[silhillvilla]

Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere but anyone else heard rumours that culverhouse and Cowans clashed again at BH.
The sooner we are rid of This sort of conflict the better if true .

[Dave]

After two seasons of truly horrendous shite, why on earth would we want to give him more money to waste and more time to drag us backwards ?

I don't recall ANY of this 'lets give him more money/time' nonsense when McLeish was in charge. And he did just as bad (or good depending on how bad you think the job is being done) a job, if not slightly less depressing than Lambert's currently doing it.

The difference is McLeish didn't have the foresight to bring in the likes of Benteke, Kozak, Vlaar, Okore etc. He blew his money on N'Zogbia, Hutton and Given. We also played the kind of football which saw us create hardly any goalscoring chances.

Doubt there were too many dissenting voices here or elsewhere on Given or Nzogbia at the time.

There were a lot of dissenting voices at the time, certainly on Given.