Relegation?

[Concrete John]

You're right Brian.

That can only sit in one place and that is with Lerner. We can't blame a manager who's working under an extremely tight budget and had to replace virtually the whole squad. It's crap and you'd think and expect that we were at the very least competing with Everton and Spurs. The others all have massive amounts of money, either because they have huge sponsorship opportunities or billionaire benefactors.

Lambert hasn't had an extremely tight budget - he's spent over £40m on players .
Granted some have spent more but it's not an extremely tight budget and he hasn't spent all his budget either .

£40m on how many players, exactly?

That's why it's a tight budget.

By his choice - he chose to ostracise Ireland, bent,bannan  given , Hutton , etc .

Yeah, of course he did.

Given was replaced by better, Hutton was never good enough and Bannan needed shipping out also.  A slight argument for Bent could be made, but that's about it.

[Dante Lavelli]

You're right Brian.

That can only sit in one place and that is with Lerner. We can't blame a manager who's working under an extremely tight budget and had to replace virtually the whole squad. It's crap and you'd think and expect that we were at the very least competing with Everton and Spurs. The others all have massive amounts of money, either because they have huge sponsorship opportunities or billionaire benefactors.

Lambert hasn't had an extremely tight budget - he's spent over £40m on players .
Granted some have spent more but it's not an extremely tight budget and he hasn't spent all his budget either .

I truly hope that level of spending is maintained.  Now we're not trying to replace an entire squad £20m a season is quite a considerable sum especially if topped up by sales.  With the right manager - and I'm not yet discounting Lambert - that is enough to keep us in or around 5-9th.  Everton and Spurs have managed it on a lot smaller sum.

[Richard E]

You can get 2 - 4 decent players with £20m, but the problem is whether players in that price range are going to come with our wage structure. I think that has been the issue rather than transfer fees ever since we became Austerity Villa.   

[Concrete John]

You can get 2 - 4 decent players with £20m, but the problem is whether players in that price range are going to come with our wage structure. I think that has been the issue rather than transfer fees ever since we became Austerity Villa.

The hope is that we've got it to where we want it sufficiently that we can spend again with the likes of Ireland now going.

[Dante Lavelli]

You can get 2 - 4 decent players with £20m, but the problem is whether players in that price range are going to come with our wage structure. I think that has been the issue rather than transfer fees ever since we became Austerity Villa.   

I think we can.  Moreso we already have over the past few years.  Off the top of my head we've signed Nzogbia, Benteke, Okore and Kozac (Given?) during the austerity years, so such players will come.  Hopefully now they'll arrive over say two transfer windows rather than hmmm I dunno about 6.

[Dave]

You can get 2 - 4 decent players with £20m, but the problem is whether players in that price range are going to come with our wage structure. I think that has been the issue rather than transfer fees ever since we became Austerity Villa.   

Nobody is asking for us to be rivalling Man Utd for Mata or Man City for Negredo though.

More players along the lines of Vlaar and Benteke will be absolutely fine. If our current squad had say, Fer, Lovren, Barry and Mirallas then we'd probably be a fair bit higher up the league right now and I don't see us struggling to compete in wages with the likes of Norwich, Southampton or Everton.

[eastie]

Lambert has bought some decent players in - I'm more concerned whether he can get the best out of the players at his disposal as too often we fail to turn up.

[brian green]

My long term view of 10 - 20 years hence is the same as it was in the 1960s We will rise to the very top again. Not with this owner or this manager but it will happen.  In Chinese ownership probably.

[eastie]

My long term view of 10 - 20 years hence is the same as it was in the 1960s We will rise to the very top again. Not with this owner or this manager but it will happen.  In Chinese ownership probably.

I hope so brian, and I couldn't care if the owner is chinese, Russian or anything else - I want to see a winning and successful team on the pitch - it's all about what happens on the pitch for me .

[brian green]

Me too eastie I think the old historic clubs will become status symbols for the ultra mega wealthy of China just like the founders of American industry bought French chateaux and took them stone by stone across the Atlantic. Last year when Mr Hassan and I sold our good horse to run in Shanghai we mixed with the agents of the Chinese and not only do they have vast fortunes they are by nature risk takers.

[eastie]

Me too eastie I think the old historic clubs will become status symbols for the ultra mega wealthy of China just like the founders of American industry bought French chateaux and took them stone by stone across the Atlantic. Last year when Mr Hassan and I sold our good horse to run in Shanghai we mixed with the agents of the Chinese and not only do they have vast fortunes they are by nature risk takers.

Pity you didn't pass a few DVDs around of our glory days to them

[Richard E]

Me too eastie I think the old historic clubs will become status symbols for the ultra mega wealthy of China just like the founders of American industry bought French chateaux and took them stone by stone across the Atlantic. Last year when Mr Hassan and I sold our good horse to run in Shanghai we mixed with the agents of the Chinese and not only do they have vast fortunes they are by nature risk takers.

I hope they're going to put on free travel if we have to cross the Atlantic once a fortnight to visit VP after it is demolished and rebuilt!

[brian green]

Unfortunately you only get to deal with their agents who are invariably the unemployable offspring of the English aristocracy who think Birmingham is not so much a city as a gathering of riff raff with the same speech impediment Even the likes of Magnier and McManus (who owned a third of Yanited) rarely get behind the bamboo curtain.

[brian green]

I think Richard if Ellis had not committed his monumental architectural and historical vandalism the notion of Villa Park being rebuilt in Soccerworld is not so far fetched but the Ikea flat pack we now call home would not even make good hardcore.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

Me too eastie I think the old historic clubs will become status symbols for the ultra mega wealthy of China just like the founders of American industry bought French chateaux and took them stone by stone across the Atlantic. Last year when Mr Hassan and I sold our good horse to run in Shanghai we mixed with the agents of the Chinese and not only do they have vast fortunes they are by nature risk takers.

Pity you didn't pass a few DVDs around of our glory days to them

Selling DVDs to the Chinese. Now thats a new one.