FFP

[eye digress]

It's a pretty well-written article containing quite a few fair points, in my view (though it seems a very parochial issue for a national newspaper).

What would you take issue with, in particular?

[Dante Lavelli]

I also think it’s a good article, even if it’s not nice reading. 

I think he’s mostly correct; we have somewhat sulked our way into a crisis rather than actually being a poor squad.  Like Wilson says, the rules are less than perfect but should not have come as a shock. 

Overall we’ve played them quite well, pushing it (and the spirit) to optimise growth year on year.  We are almost there. From playing in the championship six years ago, our position nowadays means we can justifiably hope to qualify for Europe every season. 

Given our position in the midlands we should keep growing, but sustainably, as we convert plastics.  Furthermore, NSWE can keep pumping money into the infrastructure, youth and facilities so we still have a cheat code compared to most of our rivals.

[Dave]

Yeah, Wilson is a lazy hack who trades on old glories far more than he should, but there's not a single thing in that piece to take issue with.

[olaftab]

Articles like these do my head in. The inconsistencies are legion. What passes for journalism these days!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/oct/11/aston-villa-psr-premier-league-europa-league

Thanks for putting up the link as it gave me a chance to read a very good piece.

[Percy McCarthy]

Our FFP fundamentals are good IMO. We trimmed a hell of a lot of fat from the wage bill in the summer and hopefully learned some lessons. We have a treble-winning academy and lots of potential out on loan. The recruitment of Martinez, Konsa, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans and McGinn for next to fuck all and the emergence of Bogarde are huge positives. It goes without saying that we need our big money signings of late to pay off and the signs with Pau, Elliott, Guessand, Onana, Maatsen and Malen are that they could still go either way.

Long-term, we have no debt, another new owner on board and a 52k stadium in the pipeline for a fraction of the cost of some other clubs. The future is bright.

[RamboandBruno]

Articles like these do my head in. The inconsistencies are legion. What passes for journalism these days!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/oct/11/aston-villa-psr-premier-league-europa-league

Thanks for putting up the link as it gave me a chance to read a very good piece.

Yep a good read

[garyellis]

Our FFP fundamentals are good IMO. We trimmed a hell of a lot of fat from the wage bill in the summer and hopefully learned some lessons. We have a treble-winning academy and lots of potential out on loan. The recruitment of Martinez, Konsa, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans and McGinn for next to fuck all and the emergence of Bogarde are huge positives. It goes without saying that we need our big money signings of late to pay off and the signs with Pau, Elliott, Guessand, Onana, Maatsen and Malen are that they could still go either way.

Long-term, we have no debt, another new owner on board and a 52k stadium in the pipeline for a fraction of the cost of some other clubs. The future is bright.

Thanks Percy, your positivity based on the facts give a good balance to where we are and what we can achieve.

[LeeB]

A lot is fair but he marks himself as the the chippy prick he is with reference to us getting relegated if that Sheff Utd goal had counted, despite it being before half time and with several league matches still to play.

He's Mr Wise After The Event.

[Sexual Ealing]

Yeah, Wilson is a lazy hack who trades on old glories far more than he should, but there's not a single thing in that piece to take issue with.

Is he?!

[LeeB]

Yeah, Wilson is a lazy hack who trades on old glories far more than he should, but there's not a single thing in that piece to take issue with.

Is he?!

Yes, he is. He's a football historian, and he's good at that, but when he looks the other way it's as Dave says.

[Percy McCarthy]

Our FFP fundamentals are good IMO. We trimmed a hell of a lot of fat from the wage bill in the summer and hopefully learned some lessons. We have a treble-winning academy and lots of potential out on loan. The recruitment of Martinez, Konsa, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans and McGinn for next to fuck all and the emergence of Bogarde are huge positives. It goes without saying that we need our big money signings of late to pay off and the signs with Pau, Elliott, Guessand, Onana, Maatsen and Malen are that they could still go either way.

Long-term, we have no debt, another new owner on board and a 52k stadium in the pipeline for a fraction of the cost of some other clubs. The future is bright.

Thanks Percy, your positivity based on the facts give a good balance to where we are and what we can achieve.

Cheers Gary. Always look on the bright side, as we used to sing.

[Dave]

A lot is fair but he marks himself as the the chippy prick he is with reference to us getting relegated if that Sheff Utd goal had counted, despite it being before half time and with several league matches still to play.

I did think about mentioning that as the only blot in the piece, but he doesn't quite say that. He says it would have put us a goal down in a game that had we lost, we'd have been relegated.

So it's more in relation to people saying "we'd be in the Champions League had Rogers' goal counted" - we wouldn't, we'd have been a goal up in a match we needed to get a result in, much like the Sheffield Utd "goal" would have put us a goal down in a match we needed to get a result in.

[Gareth]

Our FFP fundamentals are good IMO. We trimmed a hell of a lot of fat from the wage bill in the summer and hopefully learned some lessons. We have a treble-winning academy and lots of potential out on loan. The recruitment of Martinez, Konsa, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans and McGinn for next to fuck all and the emergence of Bogarde are huge positives. It goes without saying that we need our big money signings of late to pay off and the signs with Pau, Elliott, Guessand, Onana, Maatsen and Malen are that they could still go either way.

Long-term, we have no debt, another new owner on board and a 52k stadium in the pipeline for a fraction of the cost of some other clubs. The future is bright.

That’s the type of positivity we need…thanks Percy!

[Ian.]

Our FFP fundamentals are good IMO. We trimmed a hell of a lot of fat from the wage bill in the summer and hopefully learned some lessons. We have a treble-winning academy and lots of potential out on loan. The recruitment of Martinez, Konsa, Kamara, Rogers, Tielemans and McGinn for next to fuck all and the emergence of Bogarde are huge positives. It goes without saying that we need our big money signings of late to pay off and the signs with Pau, Elliott, Guessand, Onana, Maatsen and Malen are that they could still go either way.

Long-term, we have no debt, another new owner on board and a 52k stadium in the pipeline for a fraction of the cost of some other clubs. The future is bright.

That’s the type of positivity we need…thanks Percy!

That’s a lovely summary when it’s put like this.

[Dave]

Yeah, Wilson is a lazy hack who trades on old glories far more than he should, but there's not a single thing in that piece to take issue with.

Is he?!

Yes, he is. He's a football historian, and he's good at that, but when he looks the other way it's as Dave says.

Thinking about, "lazy hack" is unnecessarily harsh.

"Wilson, while having a tendency to phone in his contemporary analysis and not applying the same rigour and enthusiasm to his historical analysis, nevertheless nails it with this one".

I feel happier with that.