FFP

[PeterWithesShin]

PL has over 150 players at the WC
Bundesliga 94
Ligue 1 78
La Liga 74
Serie A 66

Based on numbers online. The very top players are spread across the PL and the small number of clubs around the world that can compete with Bournemouth.

[Beard82]

Come on - you know I mean the top 10 - 20 players

[PeterWithesShin]

It's pretty well accepted that English clubs will dominate the Europa and Conference, but less so in the CL as the strength in depth of the PL is so much higher than any other league there's little chance to heavily rotate, whereas the gulf between say PSG and everyone else in Ligue 1 means they can rotate heavily through the season.

[Beard82]

Cool - if everyone else thinks the PL have nailed it than I'm happy to concede.

[PeterWithesShin]

The vast majority of best players are in the PL or play for PSG, Bayern, Real Madrid or Barcelona.

[Sexual Ealing]

Can we not all just agree that some rules are good - the current rules specifically seem to hamstring clubs like us.

This obviously means they are the worst thing ever for us - but we have found away around them by employing a truely amazing managerial team.  This comes with its own risks - which at the moment we are navigating but may well come back to bite us in the arse.

I think its perfectly fine to say the rules need changing so that the fact you have 800m of debt, but a Beycone concert shouldnt necessarily mean you are allowed more financial freedom than a club with a Guns N Roses concert and virtually 0 debt.  Without it being interperted as saying "lets have a free for all"

Clearly we are at the top end, and most other clubs will group us in with the Spurs and Chelseas. But that doesnt make our opinions invalid because we are one of a select few who it impacts the most, whilst still being privileged to be in that group.

For what its worth I think for a large part it generates what we see - a few very powerful teams who the media favour, but very few of the very best players or teams - relative to the wealth of the league.  I also think this spills into the national team. 

To summarise: it's ok when we do it.

Thats not what I mean at all.

I get we're biased about the current rules because were one of 2 or 3 clubs that are being held back - and for the other clubs its not a problem.

However, there is still a legitimacy in our frustrations.  In the same way there is legitimacy in some of the things levelled at us. 

As I said - think it leads to a poorer league, with poorer players than a more balanced approach might lead to.

Im more than happy to admit I am biased, and accept that my views might not be shared - but its nowhere near as trite"its ok when we do it"

Really, what even is a 'poorer league'? If we were still bottom feeders, every single post would be bitterly lamenting Stoke/Derby/Burnley if they were in our place, having been found guilty of financial doping. Ask Mostar or Go Ahead Eagles what they think of us. I hate the whingeing victimhood, even more when we're the bad guys.

[Skipper_The_Eyechild]

How keen would we be for the spending rules to be lifted from Newcastle, for example?

There has to be some kind of limit, it just needs to be thought out and planned in such a way as not to have unintended consequences, ie the value of selling homegrown products rather than keeping them.

It's like VAR. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the concept, it is the application (in the UK) that is totally fucked.

I completely agree, but also, I reckon let Newcastle let rip. I don't think their owners give a fuck anymore.

[PeterWithesShin]

Someone else would come along if there's no rules.

I don't know how you find the balance between stopping a few clubs spending billions and allowing debt free clubs to continually improve. The current system is broken, not so much because we want to spend another hundred million and aren't allowed to but there's something distasteful about young players being stockpiled and traded around like they are Pokemon cards which clubs are doing to stay compliant.

[Toronto Villa]

So it would be back to what it was before the rules came in. What were the rules brought in for? To protect football from itself? To stop clubs going broke? How often has that happened? I’m not saying a free for all and there probably needs to be some universally accepted governance. But the current rules limit owners from investing in their businesses essentially. It’s a restriction of trade. I’m all for responsible ownership and tighter rules around that so that the Tony Xia’s of the world cannot buy teams. I am also against nation states and for all intents and purposes a royal family buying teams like Man City or Newcastle. But the rules today restrict spending to those clubs who built huge wealth and brand equity across the world when rules weren’t in place, and the rules now shut the door to anyone doing the same to grow revenues as they did. Which is fine until you cannot get close to those clubs so it becomes a closed shop.

[Percy McCarthy]

I just wish we’d stop feeling sorry for ourselves, and so fatalistic that it all ends in defeat. When we had the kind of shit owners that many clubs have to put up with we were fucked, having lost a play-off final with a team we couldn’t afford to keep together and an unpaid tax bill. Enter NSWE. Soon afterwards, enter Deano. We sold Villa Park to ourselves so we could get promoted without breaching PSR, and spent £120m that we hadn’t yet generated to buy a team that just about stayed up.

We produced youngsters in our academy that we sold for hundreds of millions of pounds so we could progress without breaching PSR.

We sold the women’s team to ourselves and developed the Warehouse and sold it to ourselves so we could avoid breaching PSR.

We consistently sail as close to the wind as we possibly can, to spend as much money as we possibly can, on players who will do things like qualify for Europe and compete for trophies and finish above so-called Big 6 clubs and whaddya know - it worked. We’ve more than doubled our revenue in what, 4 years?

I think the people at the top of the club knew the UEFA rules, and knew the punishment, and did what they did anyway, knowing it was worth it and knowing they could roll with the punch. And hopefully they’ll keep doing it. UTFV.

[PeterWithesShin]

Loads of clubs were going into administration and/or bust before the rules. The rules as they are also mean loads of clubs have little chance of catching us. We don't like the rules because we have billionaire owners, if we supported someone like Sheff Weds we'd most likely think Villa are a massive part of the problem and the club and fans are wankers.

[Rory]

Loads of clubs were going into administration and/or bust before the rules. The rules as they are also mean loads of clubs have little chance of catching us. We don't like the rules because we have billionaire owners, if we supported someone like Sheff Weds we'd most likely think Villa are a massive part of the problem and the club and fans are wankers.

Well, in your case 😉

[PeterWithesShin]

 :'(

[Rory]

Ah relax.

I got called 'a fat Alex Horne' the other night.

[Skipper_The_Eyechild]

Ah relax.

I got called 'a fat Alex Horne' the other night.

Didn't really get that at all, you look nowt like Alex Horne. And I'm bigger so can't say anything on the other front.