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Jones
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Damian - the figure you quoted on your previous post of £100m investment that was needed to "take us to the next level" was unrealisticc to say the least. It's probably between 5 and 10 % of Randy's net worth and although some of it would be funded by the Sky money it would require a personal level of investment that is simply not going to happen. He simply does not have the personal wealth of an Abramovich that will enable him to write cheques ad infinitum that will result in Champions League Football. Having said that I am in total agreement that this article was the last thing that we wanted to hear - and I'm amazed it has been published BEFORE season tickets have gone on sale. If no major investment in the squad is forthcoming this summer, both the Board and indeed the manager will have lost an awful lot of credibility in the eyes of the fans. I include MON in this as we will presumably be chasing the same pool pf players as many other teams with money to spend - Man City, Newcastle, Spurs - and it will be up to MON to convince them that Villa is where they need to be. The time quite simply is now and whilst I think £100m was wildly OTT I don't think that buying blokes from Barnsley on the strength of a couple of decent games in the FA cup is the way forward either. |
villadaz
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Damien, I think you are right in your estimate of funds required. However, I think you can take 30M off that. I think we will spend big and maybe 3 £10m plus players as I think MON is starting to realise that 1) We are not Leicster 2) we are not in the SPL with only four games a season. The five year plan thing does not wash in modern day footbal....by that time we will have lost a load of young fans. Next year is vital for us, as we now have the faithful back and really don't want to go away again. Keep The Faith |
davida
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"I'll expect £40mn spent on eight players .... this summer" If you're not happy with that, then you might as well give up. Have you really such as short memory of where we were only 2 years ago? Have you not seen us playing some fantastic football this season (Blackburn, Chelsea, Spurs, Boro etc etc). |
DLS
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Damian, do you not like Bill Howell :-) :-) Just read that back and it sounds like a Graham Taylor comment :-) |
CSM
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Does anyone ever get a sense of de ja vu? How many seasons go by where watching a game during commentry it is mentioned that Aston Villa have the smallest squad in the Premier league. I am a big fan of Martin O'Neil's and think we have progressed since the days of David O'Dreary but can't beleive MON is still using the excuse of players being tired and haven't got the squad to rotate players. Either stop selling players or Buy more!!!! I agree its going to take an investment of at least 75M to make Villa a competitive top six side but how likely is that? Even if we do have some money to spend which world class players are likely to come to the park when we only pay peanuts as wages. Hands up who think we will be heading into next season with 4 new average Joes and still having 'the smallest squads in the premier league'. Boy and I thought I was a positive Villa fan! |
robvilla
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Surely its not just about "What Randy Is Worth" dont transfer funds also come from Sky / Kit Sales / Ticket Sales / Sale of other players etc ?? Therefore why shouldnt 100 Million be spent ?? Isnt Villa one of the only Prem clubs in the Black and has been for years.. We need to take afew risks for a change.. |
LoveDon
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Ok, i think MON will get some good players in come the summer, he definately has an eye for young talent, look at webcam Ashley, we are almost guarenteed to sell him for more money than we bought, look at Ronaldo at Man U, bought for just over 12 million and is now the most expensive footballer in the world. My point is, we dont need to spend huge sums of money to challenge for the top 4, although money helps, someone ask Mourinho what he thought about Shevshenko (biggest waste of money ever!) I have faith in MON and know he will bring in quality talent, ok routledge and Harewood were a bit ropey, but Harewoods come good (ish) and sure he can improve and in little Shaun Maloney we got a bargain there as well. He going to be worth more than we got him for. |
Badger
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I see your point Damian and agree with you, but £100 million is just pie in the sky and was never going to happen anyway, IMO. I personally think we'll bring in a 3 or 4 average joes as well as a couple of really decent buys, totalling nearer £30 million. Some of the names being bandied about make pretty depressing reading, but I guess we either trust MON or we don't. I do. |
aron_c
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yes lets do a leeds, i'v always wanted to get free midweek highlights on itv of the villa against gillingham. If you look harder you'll find o'neills comments regarding recent performances. Which it seems, are in direct reference to fans criticisms and our high expectations. An article covering this would be nice |
Jones
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Robvilla - staff (not just players) salaries account for over 50% of the turnover in all Premiership clubs. Sky money / season ticket money will help but if we want to spend any real money in the transfer market then it will have to be funded by Randy. If we say we are going to spend £50m in transfer fees then we also have to account for signing on fees, agents fees and increased wages - so we need to get realistic about the whole process and how much it actually costs. As for your "speculate to accumulate" policy - if Villa spent £100m on transfer fees without the backing of Randy you'd be looking at the next Leeds United. |
nhuggy
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I just hate the attitude that if you spend money you will "be the next Leeds". What about teams that spend and do well? This kind of lack of ambition gets those Villa fans what they deserve and lets the club keep drifting on doing nothing. And please can people stop talking about the UEFA cup (any season) as the competition is a total waste of time ( even Bolton don't care about it ) |
Jones
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So who, with the exception of Chelsea have "spent and done well"? That's spent over and above what we have in the last couple of years? |
villafandan
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damian, you're constantly deriding the "5 year plan" because it's not achieving it's goals inside 2 seasons... what part of "5 years" don't you understand?? |
kohoutek
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@nhuggy: And please can people stop talking about the UEFA cup (any season) as the competition is a total waste of time ( even Bolton don't care about it ) _________________________________ I think the UEFA cup is worthwhile in getting the squad used to playing European tournament football. It also lends credence to Villa's ambition of being a CL team in terms of attracting players. If they can participate and maintain league position. And that's a challenge they need to learn to deal with. @Jones and villafandan: Spot on. No one, apart from Chelsea, have spent big money and barged their way into the big 4. I have to echo everyone who says, "what happened to five years?" Liverpool's league struggles to hang on to fourth, and our being up in contention there for a while seem to have convinced many to scrap MON's vision and go all in right now. He's not going to do that. He's got the bare bones now, and he'll be trying to add quality and numbers. But it's unrealistic to expect he could just revolutionize the squad in January with world-class talent. 2010/11 would be the season MON and RL have ostensibly targeted for breaking into the top 4. I seriously doubt MON was even targeting European qualification this season anyway. I'm sure he's pleased, but obviously knows they're nowhere near ready. MON has made plenty of comments acknowledging expectations, his responsibility, and Villa's form of late. Accept that managers have to play games with their public comments, and simply take him at his word. I don't think I've ever heard MON say his squad were tired. He says the opposite, that none of them are looking to be dropped. He does say they're small, but again, this is to deflate expectations and take the pressure off the players. It's not an "excuse" for underachieving. It's simply a recognition of the facts. They are a small squad, but they're in the top half, and have played some very decent and exciting football. They've also played some rubbish. The players might be mentally tired, but having them work through that is necessary and part of their development. Stevie G is tired, too, but finds a way to push on. No matter how big the squad, there will always be a core expected to play every meaningful game, and they won't be sitting out many. I'm sure C Ronaldo has played as many if not more games than virtually every Villa player, and he looks alright to me. I'm still content to enjoy what they've done so far, and am rather sure the football is only going to get better. The passion for success is wonderful, but let's not get carried away just yet. Year two, top half. I'm okay with that sort of progress because I know that's not MON's ultimate goal. He'd like to be a legend, so realize his ambitions are as big as any of ours. He's got more at stake in making good on expectations than anyone. |
Mike F
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MON needs to realize that he will have to splash some cash to attract the talent. How much would the 7 goals Dafoe has scored since January be worth for us right now?? We need at least 2 major signings this summer and about 4 minor and will need to spend at least 40m. Crouch back to Villa Park? |
Badger
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Aaaargh, can't someone sort out why posts keep disappearing?  And yes, I've done a refresh. |
AVMark
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The test is next July. By then MON needs to have collected sufficient momentum to take us up a few more places until then I won't criticise or judge. He's made mistakes no doubt but give him a break, he was outside the premisership a while, I would rather he made those mistakes buying average players at average prices and learning from it. Unlike Brian Little and John Gregory who were given intial large sums and blew them, I think MON is cute enough to have given himself a bit of extra space. |
Mick70
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Thank you Damian. Thank you because you have the courage to say it like it is rather than side with the sleepy "consolidation" brigade, thank you because at last someone has the balls to "dare" admitting this club is moving at the pace of a snail, thank you because we have been witnessing years and years of mediocrity and now, approaching season 3 of this bizarre 5-year plan and having witnessed anything but the improvement expected, it is time to quit the utterly laughable rubbish about being patient and is time to spend some cash on many, many quality players and finally thank you because AT LAST someone has decided enough is enough - because it had to come from a person able to be noticed on this website rather than from a random comment in order to make an impact. Two years without a recognised right back, 3 transfer windows spent raiding Celtic and grabbing the odd youngster with alternate success IS NOT progress. It's time MON leaves his comfort zone and shows us why we have all been so eager to witness this Villa Revolution. Jesus, how many more seasons of rubbish can some of you stomach before admitting this is not good enough? |
Mick70
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..and as for the Uefa Cup being rubbish..hell, I'd be quite happy to be part of that rubbish..amazing what denial can do. |
DLS
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Mick70 - take a chill pill, bad day at work mate? Your views and opinions obviously makes sense to some Villa fans but there are some of us who can see the improvements over the last 2 seasons. I'm staggered that you or Damian can't, but won't go into a rant about it :-) As kohoutek points out, the only team who have ever spent big and achieved in the way you and Damian are proposing is Chelsea, but boy did they spend big and boy did they make big mistakes. |
taglor
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We have only progressed from DOL when we win something otherwise it all means f all, I mean really what is the point of even going through another season if we don't win or get into europe. |
Jones
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Last year we finished 11th with 49 points. Despite the worrying dip of the last 5 games I fully expect us to pass this comfortably and finish higher than 11th. Say next year we finish 6th with a higher points total still how can that not be considered good progress??? We should be looking at Everton as more of a model as to how MON is trying to bring the club on. David Moyes has been given the time (and money) to rebuild the club from the bottom up and now he has solid foundations and a base on which to build and challenge the top 4. Yes, sometimes it has been "two steps forward and one step back" but to build that kind of stability takes time. Now I know all of us Villa fans would love to be there now but we are a couple of years behind that sort of position but we will not get there with some Chelsea style display of largesse. If you look ay some of the players they have bought and have then moved on at a massive loss - Veron, Mutu, Glen Johnson the list goes on - they have been able to do that only because one of thr richest guys on the planet is in charge. The list of clubs that have tried to better their situation by buying beyond their means and getting themselves into trouble is a long one indeed. Chelsea were in dire financial straits before Abramovich took over, ditto Newcastle with Ashley, Leeds onbiously , Cardiff and Coventry too. I'm sure there are more but you get the point. Quick fixes and blowing £100m will not work long term. I think we will see the spend being ramped up consideravly this summer but let's try and keep some perspective. We are further forward than two years ago - maybe not as much as some would like but mo-one can deny we have moved on since the dark days of DOL. |
Leroy
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This season we had a chance to really have a crack at europe and were up there in 5th at the half way point (smashing Newcastle the pinnicle,who can forget). Our downfall was January. Or more to the point MONs transfer dealings, or lack thereof. We sold Cahill, had offers come in for Berger (who hasnt played all year) Mellberg (who looks disinterested now)and Moore (who has been casper the ghost even when given a go (lazy twat) and we end up with another guy (Routledge) who hasnt played yet either. Couldnt we have sold all of those players and possibly kicked in a couple of mil and bought a few guys for the run in? We have been linked with Bullard (likely to be relegated with Fulham) Sean Scanell , Richard Stearman and Sam Vokes (all young championship players) Miguel Angulo (RB from Valencia) since the window. Now i dont personally think that these are the names that will propel us to the champions league, but with the cash recieved for Cahill,Berger,Moore and Mellberg plus a little change from Uncle Randy we could have made those signings and at the very least would have looked as though this "5 year plan" was semi legit. We have the smallest squad but have 4 or 5 guys who havnt been used yet. Is cant be because of lack of opportunity (Petrov sucks) plus a few injuries have hit. Now Gabby looks awful, Young is being shut down,Laursen has been missing, Reo Coker has been, well Reo Coker, Davies is injured,Gardner is inj.........These are things that come up in a long season of football, were not whinging about that. Were whinging about the fact that our "saviour" manager didnt see it, or did but left it too late, or just thought we would last 39 plus games with 21 players or perhaps were whinging because we think he has totaly lost the plot since January.......... |
Villa_Rules
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All tho a lot of us moan you would have to say we are the most patient set of fans the world has seen Doug ellis era patient was the key Randy lerner era patient is yet again the key I really really hope this is the last time we have to be patient For me the summer transfer market is the key as im sure that it is the same for the club and the rest of you we really have to buy big in the summer no more routledges no more knights it has to be big players if we are to compete and beat flammin man untied And i still think we need at least 10-15 players sounds a lot infact it is a lot but with mellberg leaving berger possibley leaveing and possibley carson going back thats why we need 10 or 15 |
somersetvilla
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What makes you think that even if we had the money,we would be able to sign eight players..with the way oneil arses around in the market it would take him 3 years to get 8 players..unless of course there crap and not playing for there club.. sorry guys,,but i dont think we would get that amount of players to come to us,,not even if a manager who knows what hes doing when it comes to signing players was in charge of the transfers..but i have heard there is some real crap going cheap in the 2nd division,,those sort of players are what we need to keep up this lie about moving forward etc etc...me thinks at the current rate of the 5 year plan,we mite have to add a couple of years to it,as we will be scrapping it out to stay up next year. unless we sign 10//12 real quality players. and get rid of the likes of...coker,,petrov,,,knight,,routledge,,salifou...oh and scot carson(suspect keeper personified) |
jedi
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What about this for fantasy football. Boruc Nelson, Van Buyten, Davies, Bouma, Ronaldinio, Deco, Barry, Young, Henry, Agbonlahor, It's only 6 new players who are apparently available this summer and about 50-60million in all, use your sky money Martin along with the money you have received for players sold and add a little bit more = Champions league, and very happy supporters who will sing your name forever. give me a job recruiting them i could sell a freezer to an eskimo, in the winter, LOL. |
carvillan
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Don't get me wrong, but didn't Bill Howell also say last summer that Matt Taylor and other players were in talks with us with fees agreed betwen clubs. They didn't materialise and he had egg on his face. He is only trying to sell papers and bad news sells better than good news. He is probably regurgitating other stories from the previous 6 months. |
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