The Accounts are out.

[SheffieldVillain]

We have to brace  ourselves for drop in revenue next year due to having withdrawn from both cups in the early rounds.

I wonder how much difference, say, the LC SF run last year made. Money wise, I mean.

I mentioned it because cup run revenue last season was specifically mentioned in the report.

I know,  I was just thinking aloud, a propos of nothing really.

I remember (vaguely) reading how much teams earned from a Europa League run (the year of the Moscow incident) and it was surprisingly tiny.

In terms of prize money, this is the FA Cup chart for this season - I can't find the League Cup one but I guess it would be less?

FA Cup
Extra Preliminary Round winners   (185)   £1,500
Preliminary Round winners   (160)   £1,925
First Round Qualifying winners   (116)   £3,000
Second Round Qualifying winners   (80)   £4,500
Third Round Qualifying winners   (40)   £7,500
Fourth Round Qualifying winners   (32)   £12,500
First Round Proper winners   (40)   £18,000
Second Round Proper winners   (20)   £27,000
Third Round Proper winners   (32)   £67,500
Fourth Round Proper winners   (16)   £90,000
Fifth Round Proper winners   (   £180,000
Sixth Round Proper winners   (4)   £360,000
Semi-Final winners   (2)   £900,000
Semi-Final losers   (2)   £450,000
Final runners-up   (1)   £900,000
Final winners   (1)   £1,800,000

[dave.woodhall]

I would guess TV is where the big money comes in.

[PeterWithesShin]

I can't remember if any of our games before the semis were live. I don't think they were.

[Richard C]

I'd hate to think we'd be going in for Hoolihan in the summer. If that is the case then next season will be nothing more than the same as the last 4 seasons.

Oh I dunno I'd like to think we would be challenging for promotion at this time next season.

[ozzjim]

Calling the bloke who stood in the pouring rain selling H&V an idiot. Shoddy that, Ferg deserves far better.

You make it sound like he was doing it for charity.

BTW you're in no position to resurface here and start telling us who deserves better and who doesn't.

Do you want to get into a discussion about how we treat fellow posters? I doubt it.

I know precisely what you deserve. If you are planning to stay here, then you need to drop this new act, or it'll end in tears, Ian. Really quickly, too.

Paulie the snide posts will start soon don't worry.

Essentially people who have claimed for a long time Lerner is simply taking money from the Villa are finding a different line to bash a bloke who has sunk more money that I can comprehend into a football club, which is essentially a hobby that yes a lot of people love but means very little to normal life, and even less with the wages and money involved.

Even in this period of "not caring", no longer giving a shit, or doing nothing, the club have what, a net spend of 30 plus million since Lambert took over? Which puts us about 6th or 7th in money spent?

Made bad decisions - for certain. Stopped caring - the money he is still putting in would suggest otherwise. He does not have the funds to keep haemorrhaging like the titanic. He is barely a billionaire in UK terms. 90 million is a hell of a lot of money to him. There are not a long line of others to come and spend trillions. We are lucky in many ways if he no longer cares like people like to speculate that he has continued to prop us up, other owners have simply pulled the plug an look at those clubs. Owning a football club is a sink hole for cash and totally thankless with the fans who will turn face faster than Dave picking up a dropped pound from a Villa fan, the bad man.

[Steve67]

I suggest people read Simon Jordan's book about the purchase and operational running of Crystal Palace.  Worth a read.  Puts owning a football club, albeit a smaller one than Aston Villa, into perspective.  I do not hold Randy responsible (other than the appointment of AM).  Lambert is the man who selected the players to purchase and he alone, selects them to play.

[SheffieldVillain]

I suggest people read Simon Jordan's book about the purchase and operational running of Crystal Palace.  Worth a read.  Puts owning a football club, albeit a smaller one than Aston Villa, into perspective. 

I second that. Excellent book, very interesting and he really doesn't hold back his opinions!

[saunders_heroes]

I suggest people read Simon Jordan's book about the purchase and operational running of Crystal Palace.  Worth a read.  Puts owning a football club, albeit a smaller one than Aston Villa, into perspective.  I do not hold Randy responsible (other than the appointment of AM).  Lambert is the man who selected the players to purchase and he alone, selects them to play.

Who sets the wage budget? You don't honestly think our policy of buying cheap lower league players on low wages hasn't contributed to our decline?

[Steve67]

I suggest people read Simon Jordan's book about the purchase and operational running of Crystal Palace.  Worth a read.  Puts owning a football club, albeit a smaller one than Aston Villa, into perspective.  I do not hold Randy responsible (other than the appointment of AM).  Lambert is the man who selected the players to purchase and he alone, selects them to play.

Who sets the wage budget? You don't honestly think our policy of by cheap lower league players on low wages hasn't contributed to our decline?

I wouldn't disagree that Randy has asked Lambert to get rid of the high earners, they are fairly crap and don't pull their weight.  However, I wonder whether Lambert might have been better buying fewer players and paying them slightly more?  I am not sure whether this would have worked?  A tough argument and I do think that Randy has pulled the strings tighter, having given MON a free reign with transfer funds.  However, he HAS backed Lambert with over 40mill in the transfer market.  I would have thought that they might agree that fewer players will cost about the same in salary as buying loads of players?

[saunders_heroes]

I suggest people read Simon Jordan's book about the purchase and operational running of Crystal Palace.  Worth a read.  Puts owning a football club, albeit a smaller one than Aston Villa, into perspective.  I do not hold Randy responsible (other than the appointment of AM).  Lambert is the man who selected the players to purchase and he alone, selects them to play.

Who sets the wage budget? You don't honestly think our policy of by cheap lower league players on low wages hasn't contributed to our decline?

I wouldn't disagree that Randy has asked Lambert to get rid of the high earners, they are fairly crap and don't pull their weight.  However, I wonder whether Lambert might have been better buying fewer players and paying them slightly more?  I am not sure whether this would have worked?  A tough argument and I do think that Randy has pulled the strings tighter, having given MON a free reign with transfer funds.  However, he HAS backed Lambert with over 40mill in the transfer market.  I would have thought that they might agree that fewer players will cost about the same in salary as buying loads of players?

It depends if Lerner has told Lambert that he can't sign a player who earns over a set amount per week. No decent PL standard footballer will sign for us if we don't pay the going rate. That's why we look at the lower leagues and that's why we're a perennial relegation battlers, in my opinion.

[Steve67]

I suggest people read Simon Jordan's book about the purchase and operational running of Crystal Palace.  Worth a read.  Puts owning a football club, albeit a smaller one than Aston Villa, into perspective.  I do not hold Randy responsible (other than the appointment of AM).  Lambert is the man who selected the players to purchase and he alone, selects them to play.

Who sets the wage budget? You don't honestly think our policy of by cheap lower league players on low wages hasn't contributed to our decline?

I wouldn't disagree that Randy has asked Lambert to get rid of the high earners, they are fairly crap and don't pull their weight.  However, I wonder whether Lambert might have been better buying fewer players and paying them slightly more?  I am not sure whether this would have worked?  A tough argument and I do think that Randy has pulled the strings tighter, having given MON a free reign with transfer funds.  However, he HAS backed Lambert with over 40mill in the transfer market.  I would have thought that they might agree that fewer players will cost about the same in salary as buying loads of players?

It depends if Lerner has told Lambert that he can't sign a player who earns over a set amount per week. No decent PL standard footballer will sign for us if we don't pay the going rate. That's why we look at the lower leagues and that's why we're a perennial relegation battlers, in my opinion.

If, and we don't absolutely know for sure, IF Randy has said that to Lambert, then, yes, fair enough, I would hold Randy somewhat responsible (alongside Lambert) and tell him that he deserves a club that is struggling every season as we need better players.  I would also say that we have signed a fair few players from abroad who probably weren't earning a great deal for their clubs before coming to Villa.  Hopefully, we can sign slightly better foreign players if the salary cap really exists.  I have always said, if you buy enough championship players, you will become a championship side.  We have a very, very poor side at the moment and fully deserve to be where we are.  Equally, if the salary cap does exist, sacking Lambert would make no sense as any manager will have the same unworkable conditions.

[supertom]

I don't care what budget we're working on, how much money we have for players...there is no excuse for Tonev...none...not one...3-4 of the other signings have been very shoddy too.

Again, Randy's footballing naivity lets him down. No complaints on how much money he's put in over his near 8 years at the club. However on the pitch there's just no excuse for how poor we look at times and even with a tight budget, you cannot excuse the home form from McLeish-Lambert. If you don't spend the money you're given wisely, you'll have problems. On top of that if you can't organise the team properly, or get them playing with any cohesion and consistency, you'll suffer further.

We are a long way off the quality of team we could put out 5 years ago, certainly. But we've still got enough quality left, and Lamberts had more than enough money, that we should be around Newcastle and Southamptons position. We should be competing with them, not in the dross club. I'd trade Helenius, Sylla, Tonev, Luna, Bennett, and KEA for 2 half decent players.

[kippaxvilla2]

At the end of the day if a £42.6m operating loss is considered to be on the right road, just how much shit were we in last year.  And how did we end up being in that much shit - it has to be down to the 'kid in a sweet shop' scenario of the early years of his ownership.  Trusting MO'N to make cash and player decisions was complete folly in hindsight and then, to compound it all, bringing players like Given in on 5 year contracts at the age of 35 is borderline criminal - but it is something I am sure would not have happened with a proper footballing brain on the Board.

[Locko]

There is a difference between, for example, spending £10m on a player we think is worth £10m and spending it on a player we value at £6m. As Chris says, over paying is what got us in the mess in the first place.

But we're talking about Wes Hoolihan here, and he was hardly going to break the bank even if we offered over the odds.

One minute you're calling him 'bargain basement stuff', now you saying we should have maybe paid over the odds.

He is bargain basement stuff! We were desperate for a midfielder and we couldn't even raise the funds to buy such a cheap player. It's pathetic.

Every indication was that we could pay for him but Norwich didn't want to sell him.

So why not set your sights elsewhere? No plan B. Sums up Villa over the last 4 years.

How do you know they didn't try to sign someone else?

you cannot prove a negative. Circumstantially, he was plan A,B,C and Z..

 A poor state of affairs.

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

I don't care what budget we're working on, how much money we have for players...there is no excuse for Tonev...none...not one...3-4 of the other signings have been very shoddy too.

He was signed as a diuretic.  At least I assume so, judging by the amount of pant-wetting he's caused on this site (I hope the poor sod never visits it).  In all seriousness, he was recommended by Stan Petrov and he's a Bulgarian international.  That's two "excuses" off the top of my head.  He's played badly and not settled in as we hoped, that's all.  He isn't the first foreign player to struggle like that and he won't be the last.  No need to be so over-dramatic.