Good luck on getting someone like Poch to come when there's only self generated cash to spend. They've been great owners and obviously saved us from a huge mess, but it does look to me like their initial enthusiasm is on the wane. The summer transfer window after a bright start wasn't a good one, and wasn't nearly enough for us to kick on.
It all seems a bit mundane. When we realised on that glorious day in 2018 that we'd won the New Owners Lottery, was sell to buy and hoping to finish eighth really what we expected five years on?
Quote from: dave.woodhall on October 06, 2022, 11:08:31 AMIt all seems a bit mundane. When we realised on that glorious day in 2018 that we'd won the New Owners Lottery, was sell to buy and hoping to finish eighth really what we expected five years on?No, and I genuinely believe that was not their thoughts or motivation either.If hanging around mid-table and trying to avoid a relegation scrap is it, then I would rather be in the Championship with lots more traditional Kick off times, less chance of humiliating defeats and more fun generally.
I think there's 2 seperate points being smashed together fairly inelegantly on here.Sell-to-buy is about not having 'waste' in the squad. We can't keep bringing in players and letting the people they've replaced hang around training on their own and providing nothing. I can't see how anyone would have a problem with that. It means a senior squad of 22-23 players with 5-6 talented kids making up the numbers as they get introduced. After a year or 2 the kids are either good enough to replace a senior squad player or we sell them for as much as we can and bring through the next in line. That means when you buy it's because that next in line isn't there and there's a need for an immediate injection of quality. I've said many times that signing 6-7 players every window is a shit way to run a club, if we're doing things properly it should be 2-3 players in and out from the main squad, supplemented with kids both ways as well.Self-sustaining doesn't mean that we only spend what we make in transfers though, it means we try to only spend money we make from all revenue sources. In that model money in from the owners is targeted at growing revenue rather than supplementing the playing squad, so things like the work on the ground but also improving the facilities and scouting to ensure we're getting as much as possible from the players we have and the youth system. More importantly it means not skirting around FFP all the time and having to find excuses to get away with huge cash injections.In both cases what Gerrard is doing doesn't really fit, which is why I can't see him lasting much longer, I like the idea of running the club properly, but it relies heavily on having good coaches at all levels.
Quote from: eamonn on October 05, 2022, 12:16:39 PMSurely they suffer enough without miserable bastids from H&V joining their ranks?It was the miserable bastards from H&V who virtually started it.
Surely they suffer enough without miserable bastids from H&V joining their ranks?
I agree to a point with Boozey. The need for supporter groups is as great as it's ever been. The big battles might not happen now but there is still a fight on for the soul of clubs like Villa. The people in charge might dream of fifty thousand customers, a heady mix of corporates and happy, smiling families clapping along merrily to the club song and saying prices rises are necessary for success, but there's still plenty of us mardyarses turning up. We can't poke our heads round the door at the AGM anymore but we can still speak up when something ain't right.
Preece published this on the Brum Mail this morning.. "A spokesman for the Villa Trust commented: “The club’s policy would be more focused on outs for ins with transfers being more self-financing as the club could not rely on the owners - Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens - to continually fund transfers from their own pockets."
If you want to grow, you've got to win.
We’re only really going on what Purslow is saying, which may or may not be the full picture. If you were the owners would you be giving Purslow a tonne more cash to burn with his recent decision making seriously in question. No, you’d tell him he’s on a sell to buy policy unless he shows some serious progress against the milestones set out. I’m possibly reading too much into this, but it could be that Nas and Wes’ trust in Purslow and his star boy Gerrard is what is currently under the microscope not their ambitions for Villa or there commitment to supporting that financially. If I’m right, then fair play. If they’re settling for A Purslow/ Gerrard combo with a sell to buy policy then that’d be pretty disappointing as scraping by in the Prem would be about our level with the odd relegation and promotion thrown in.