Well, is this a coincidence or am I just reading too much into it? A day after Anthony writes his first post questioning the reasons for Randy Lerner getting involved with Aston Villa, we hear that Martin O'Neill is going to be backed in the summer.

Now, I could very well be wrong about this, mostly because it is on Sky Sports and they're quoting something General Krulak has said on VillaTalk and not something from Randy Lerner.

Like I said, I could be wrong but this is possibly something General Krulak said quite a while ago, just like when he told us all that the new club website wouldn't just be a wickering of the old club website.

Back in January 2007, General Krulak was doing a lot of confirming along the lines of "Randy Lerner is committed to Aston Villa" and "this is not just a passing fancy ... this is an avocation". For those that don't know avocation is something you do in your space time, a hobby.

It's clearly not just this site that has questioned Randy Lerner then, if General Krulak was defending him like this over twelve months ago. But to coin a General Krulak phrase; actions speak louder than words. It looks like we'll see them this summer and it is most definitely needed.

We all want to see this money spent this summer and we all know that with a few players leaving at the end of the season that we're going to need quite a few players more to move forward.

Martin O'Neill, given the funds and the players, is the right man to take Aston Villa forward, but he needs that money to bring in the players that can play the right type of football and not just hit it long.

Anyway, just very interesting to see these quotes again, right before season tickets go on sale too, but it will hopefully be a summer of seeing it happen and next season could be a very exciting one.

Comments (30)

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WezAVFC said:

i have heard today that randy is set to have a new shirt sponser Acorn childrens charity which will give up upto 2m in revenue and help a much needy course. I think randy is willing to spend money and help the community while he is at it o'neil will spend cash when the time is and the player is right (dont quote Defoe tell me he is a decent buy after 1 whole season not while he is on honeymoon period) what we dont need is more wasteful signings UTV Keep the faith!

March 31, 2008

Damian said:

there is something here about acorns: http://www.avfcblog.com/content/view/2259/70/ we'll just have to wait and see how much is spent, but i have no doubt some will be spent, it's just a question of will it be enough for us to do more than just challenge for european football next season

March 31, 2008 | url

Holte1970 said:

As already been said we would all like AV to be in the top four and for it to happen immediately. MON has again managed to bring out the best of a set of average Premier players however to push on he must spend. I have to still believe that RL will dip into his pocket and we will land some quality players. I go back to when MON first joined AV. Ellis was in charge. Now, it is a common held belief/fact that MON joined on the understanding that Ellis was out of the door and RL was in. Also I have to believe that MON joined because that there would be substantial transfer funds available. With MON having the authority and responsibility as to when and where these funds will be spent. If substantial funds are not spent this Summer we could well be looking at a new manager arriving at AV. Why? 1. MON is a winner and there is no way he would have joined AV unless substantial funds were promised. 2. I can understand why quality money has not been spent to date and positive arguments that I agree with have been made on this site. 3. I have been able to see the development of the Team over the last 2 seasons however MON must know that even with all his powers of motivation he cannot move any higher up the league with this quality of football. 3. No funds spent means to me that RL has made broken promises to MON. 4. Therefore MON will be off. 5. If MON stays and no funds are spent it means to me that we have all been conned by both RL & MON. 6. Then AV Season Ticket holders and next season's attendances will talk with their feet.

March 31, 2008

vijayd said:

Im not expecting anything out of the ordinary this summer as far as transfers are concerned. Ive lost faith in Lerner and his cronies, 2 seasons have gone by and he said that in 5 we would champions league football, forget it cos i dont see us playing Barcelona in 3 years time! Its very sad cos i thought this was the new dawn we had been waiting for. As far as MON is concerned, i dont know, i dont think he has the money to do things the big way, he will be gone within 2 years, mark my words, and Lerner has taken us for a ride, the fans should make him know what we think if come next season we have another transfer window like last summer.

March 31, 2008

davida said:

Face facts, no-one is going to break into the top 4 any time soon. Not us, not Everton, not Spurs, not Newcastle. No-one. Its a closed shop. What we are aiming for (and we are almost there) is to be the best of the bunch of teams competing for 5th place. 5th may not be something to celebrate in our glorious history. But then again, why should we celebrate 4th? You don't win anything for finishing 4th. And this blind pursuit of CL football is whats wrong with the modern game.

March 31, 2008

Damian said:

you see davida, i think top 4 is achievable and open i think you need the right players, the right manager and the right structure - but i think it's more than possible maybe i'm an optimist

March 31, 2008 | url

vivavilla! said:

Holte1970 - I would actually dispute your first point that MON would only join under the promise of substantial funds. Look at his record, he's never been a big spender. Even with the mega-rich Celtic board backing him he never REALLY broke the bank like he could if he wanted to. In my opinion it's just in his managerial genes to spend only when necessary, and to never (or hardly ever) overpay for a player when he has a clear value in his head. I'm not saying he'd take over with only a copper-filled piggybank at his disposal, but I can't imagine the difference between £say 30 million and £60 million was likely to sway his decision. That leads me on to my next point about just how suited MON is to take a club like Villa forward. Before I get shot down, I think he is; HOWEVER, consider this - this is a completely new challenge for him. His previous jobs were stabilising a newly introduced Premiership team as a mid-table Premiership team with little money, and continuing a winning tradition in Scotland with probably as much money as he needed. Now his challenge is to take a stabilised mid-table Premiership team and turn them into a European regular (and beyond) with again, presumabley, as much money as he needs. So when you take into account my point that spending big bucks is not something he is accustomed to... is there likely to be a bottleneck on how far he can take us? Obviously personal traits can change, and it could only take a matter of months for MON to decide he wants to break the bank and send this post into the intergalactic internet wasteland, never to be remembered again. But at this point in time, MON's managerial approach seems a tad unbalanced for Aston Villa's supposed 5-year plan. While his tactical and motivational approach will ensure that we will (usually) always play competitive football and keep us at the right end of the table, it will be interesting to see if the missing piece of the puzzle is slotted into place this summer. If MON doesn't spend (and spend big), I will seriously question if he is the man to take us forward. We need more than just an excellent man-manager, we need someone who isn't afraid of lots of zero's preceded by pound signs. But I love MON dearly (not in a homoerotic way I might add) and there is no other manager I would rather see taking us into the Champions League. Let's all give him our backing and stay positive that he'll do the right thing for the club!

March 31, 2008

feed the hare said:

i think the gaffer will spend what he gets in and maybe a extra £5mil on a 'big' signing like james beattie.i have lost faith in o'neil i do believe that there are funds but he just wants to get s**t players and make them ok.i hope he signs davies and do not want carson.we will never get into europe with the players weve got now beacause they cant last the whole season playing every game.he spent £1.5 mil in jan and hes never made the bench.he cant say there wernt anyone out there because there was.

March 31, 2008

Holte1970 said:

vivavilla! - I can take your points but MON was a winner as a player and also throughout his managerial career. With this in mind I do not see MON joining AV with a view of just finishing 4th or 5th and being personally fulfilled with such an acheivement. I need to believe that when MON took on AV he would have known that substantial monies needed to be spent in order to break into the top three and that these funds are available. I can fully understand while massive funds have not been spent to date however if MON is the winner that I maintain and in order for AV to progress for the third consecutive season significant funds must be spent in this coming close season. If RL does not come up with the funds I can see us with a new manager as MON will be away. I truly hope that this is not the case because in my opinion MON is one of the finest coaches in the Premiership.

March 31, 2008

vivavilla! said:

That's fair enough, it appears at the moment there is a divide between Villa fans. Some believe the issue lies with Randy Lerner - that there are discrepencies between what he promised and what he is actually providing, and the other camp seeing the issue with O'Neill - that he is being provided with more than enough cash but seems reluctant to spend it. You and I appear to be in Camp 1 and Camp 2 respectively and although I doubt we'll ever know what the real reason is - if indeed there is one, if the whole thing isn't just being blown out of all logical proportion which it might well be. The summer should help clear things up though, personally I hope if there is an issue it lies with O'Neill's spending ideals, as a reluctant-to-spend manager is a hell of a lot easier to replace than a reluctant-to-provide chairman.

March 31, 2008

Damian said:

vivavilla!, i think you may very well be spot on. we could all be getting a little worried over nothing. this could be part of the plan - two seasons of seeing what we really have then season three is where it all happens .. it's not illogical to think it was a case of getting everything in order first - it's just that maybe our expectations were that it was going to happen straight away and like you say, this summer will tell us one way or the other

March 31, 2008 | url

aron_c said:

vivavilla theres also a third camp that believe that neither o'neill or randy have anything to answer for, and they are doing a good job. This is merely a blip that all clubs have in a season. Its just that ours came at exactly the wrong time. If this blip was at the start of the season, o'neill would now be hailed a genious for turning our season around. I really don't feel the club should be forced to release statements like this because of knee jerk responses by angry fans. I would have thought that by now there is a certain level of trust that we'v not had with previous owners and managers. Damian, you seem to set high benchmarks for the club then type criticism's until your heart is content. we haven't reached the first step of regulary challenging for european football. No your not an optimist, more a pessimist who is unreasonably idealistic

March 31, 2008

Satch! said:

actions speak louder than words, then why it is all we hear is words? World class signings anyone?

March 31, 2008

Arrlui said:

I think we need a big name signing in every department to push on. £10mil. per player per position would see us become more consistent and hopefully give us the 2nd wind to see out the season next year. MON will spend what he's given next summer or the faith will begin to fade. A 5 years plan doesn't include 4 years of mediocrity and then one final year of stardom. That wouldn't be the build up we need to break the top 4. Everton are gong about it the right way, we went the Spurs route. We'll be where they are next year if we don't spend now.

March 31, 2008

TOSH said:

I've been waiting a reading for a while now, One word comes to mind, EURO2008, this will make it so hard to bring in player's. no one will want too move before they play in EURO2008, why would they, if they play well then they might get the chance of a top 5 club after them, and more money. I feel a dry fruitless summer coming

March 31, 2008

AGVIlla said:

I think every thing is being blow out of proportion. We have had a bad run in the last 5 or so games but we are still up there. If we do manage to get into europe then would be ahead of schedule. If we do not add in the summer then i think it would be time to worry and to then question what MON is doing. At the moment i think things are as good as they can be with the players we have got. I can't wait for all those summer arivals at Villa Park.

March 31, 2008

Danboi said:

Why not we can but dream!!!

March 31, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

The funds i belive have allways been there the problem is getting martin o neill to speand it He dose nothing but complain about paying over the odds for players My message to martin would be this...Its not your money its randys money he wants you to speand his money so dose as the man asks and speand his money Instead of whingeing about paying over the odds i could understand if it was comming out of his own wages or pocket but its not so speand the flammin MONEY

March 31, 2008

Mick70 said:

There's no getting away from 1 fact: you either spend big and know how to spend it or there's not a hope in hell you'll EVER break in the top 4. Simple. Come to terms with it, cautious brigade.

March 31, 2008

Myself said:

When will we get prices etc for seson tickets?? Anyone have an exact date or past dates on which we can estimate? Are we expecting an increase/freeze in prices?

March 31, 2008

stevievillaa said:

i must agree with damian. i think o'neill wanted to c where he could do with only spendin average amounts on players instead of doin a west ham,man city r spurs,spendin millions on crap.. lets b honest we have spent less than these 3 teams and r currently ahead of em in the league.. this summer we'll spend big because o'neill knows he has 2 r else he is out the gap, europe is a must nxt season

March 31, 2008

eoin1981 said:

I think that VivaVilla makes a great point. Considering the players at MoN's disposal - i would have to say that we have probably overachieved in terms of results(although i am not happy with the style we are playing, and yes that is important to me at least). But the trouble is that as manager MoN is also responsible for the players that he buys and sells. I think our squad is nowhere near good enough and i believe he has had the time and MONEY to have brought us much farther ahead than we are now.

March 31, 2008

kohoutek said:

I keep saying it, but I think MON has wanted to establish a new ground floor. He's given youth the games, brought in bigger, stronger, more athletic players, and has given it all time to play out and see what he's got. He can't be that bad a judge of talent if Capello is looking at Gabby, Young, and Davies and seems happy with Barry playing with Gerrard. Young and Gabby will be much more prepared to either compete with or support more quality players being brought in now they've had this season under their belts. MON has seen that Petrov may not be able to cut it, though still seems to believe in his innate ability, and will obviously need to bring in the RB, etc. I don't think MON has wanted to splash the cash because there wouldn't have been much point bringing in a couple stars to play with the rubbish he inherited. Clear out the dead wood, build a new ground floor, then take it from there. It's not an overnight approach, but that hasn't really gotten anyone else very far, so why copy that?

March 31, 2008

avfc-anthony said:

whats happend to the doc

March 31, 2008

Burn Small Heath said:

Come the first day of next season I may reassess my position but at this moment, Im with aron_c in the third camp, this summer will be the true tester of which direction the club is going now that both manager and chairman have a realistic understanding of the challenge that they face. BTW very good point Tosh, hadnt even thought of the impact of Euro 2008 on our transfer dealings, not sure if i'm looking forward to the summer anymore!

March 31, 2008

Burn Small Heath said:

Come the first day of next season I may reassess my position but at this moment, Im with aron_c in the third camp, this summer will be the true tester of which direction the club is going now that both manager and chairman have a realistic understanding of the challenge that they face. BTW very good point Tosh, hadnt even thought of the impact of Euro 2008 on our transfer dealings, not sure if i'm looking forward to the summer anymore!

March 31, 2008

12 said:

get a grip lads!!!apart from the last 3 games we've had a great season!!! just look at mon! the way he reacts 2 every kick during the games!!! he could be sat next 2 u in the holte end cheering us on if he wasn't the manager!!!! i talk 2 many man utd fans( we av lots of em in redditch1!! they aint all from essex!!!)and they wud luv mon 2 succeed sir alex!!!

March 31, 2008

villavision said:

look lads lets keep this in perspective!!!!!!! its only the last few games that av gone tits up!!!! its just a small and very tired sqaud now but mon and rl will change all this in the summer!!!! i hope!!!!

March 31, 2008

harleystaggers said:

kohoutek speaks wisely and I hope it is correct, We all know how much respect we lost for Chelsea when they bought the title...why would we want that with Villa? The work has started and it is a long road. Even now we are a far more attractive option for a player than we were when O'Leary was managing. The club has taken a step up across the board. The training ground, the marketing, the perception of the club from outside is improving all the time. Remember what happened at Sunderland in the summer....Keane had more money than he could shake a stick at and he could'nt persuade people to move to the north east....because the lifestyle there isn't an attractive proposition to cash hungry 'world class' stars..... Sadly, either is birmingham at the minute....the people that will come will be buying into an idea....a project.....and will want to pull on that shirt when it's lashing rain in middlesbourgh on a wednesday night and give it 100% Individual moves from MON will not make our break us....every one keeps going on about Cahill going and Knight coming and using that as a metaphor for what is happening to the squad....I think we did well to get 5m for the lad and in reality he was a squad player....like Knight is... I am looking forward to the day when we have reserves like wes brown or wayne bridge to call on but we are not there yet. Look at us....angry cause we are going through our bad patch at the wrong time in the season and it is costing us a european place potentially... I can't believe we were in a position for a european place in the first place......Let's let the club set the bar and then try to live up to it.....with us giving them time. We as supporters will always want it all....

March 31, 2008

jeremiaswodo said:

I expect that we'll bring in at least two quality players, plus maybe some more squad players to bolster the squad - and then something similar next summer. If they're taking the slow, cautious approach, that wouldn't be surprising. I'd like to see four, though - a new goalie, a creative midfielder, a right back, and a new striker. We should at least see a new goalie and a new right back. That's what I'm hoping, anyway.

April 01, 2008

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