Aston Villa Banter Archive August 18 2011

18 Aug 2011 10:49:35
The reason no activity is happening is because the banks have stopped lending to Prem clubs and are asking for any money back, when a club purchases a player they tend to borrow the money from the bank with a view to paying it off at a later date. A lot of the clubs have been restricted, not just Aston Villa

It is possible, in fact probable, that the banks are restricting lending but the numbers don't stack up in Villa's case. Sold Young for £16.5m, Downing for £20m and spent £13m on N'Zogbia and Given. even if we had to pay some of the Bent transfer that would still leave a surplus. Is it not also true that Liverpool and Sunderland, and even the baggies, have "splashed the cash" which seems to discredit the restrictive banks argument Villa is a great club with a fantastic history and fanbase, season ticket sales of 20,000 plus prove that. If no one is spending that would indicate that this is a buyer's market and there to be exploited. Surely now is a great time to sign the two/three players we need to ensure we are competitive and vying for a european spot in 2012.

Just because we have sold at those prices does not mean we get the full cash amount upfront. Most clubs pay up to half now and will pay the rest over a period of time or the following season - hence why they try to get the banks to fund them in a loan. But looking at it another way Young 16.5 + Downing 20 = 36.5mil - N'Zog + Given = 13m both on 5year deals 60k week for N'Zog + at least 35k for Given = 24.7m Add this to 13m = 37.7Mill = Money all gone

If you are going to start factoring in the wages that N'Zogbia & Given will be paid over the next 5 years then let's have some consistency and calculate the savings in wages we have made with the departure of Young, Downing, Reo-Coker, Carew and the many others who have left since the end of last season, plus the £10m in season ticket sales/corporate suites etc., Whichever way you look at it, we have generated far more income from our sales than we have spent on new signings, whether deferred on not

Even with those savings in players wages gone, we still have to pay the current staff wages - not including any back room, ground staff etc.. say average wage is 15k a week (obviously not) squad of 20 (again obviously more) 15000x20= 300000. Over the year = 15.6mil - there is your 10mil in season tickets sales and savings in players going. Where is this extra money to buy more players coming from then? Unfortunately our owner is a multi millionaire (in £ pounds) and not a multi billionaire who is able to waste his cash.

Lets be honest. Randy Lerner has had enough and though i agree that your financial conversation has valid points within it, it misses the point that seems obvious to me and that is that he has lost all interest in moving the club forward. In all honesty i reckon hes getting ready to sell up or he just wants to run it as a business ready to receive an extra nice retirement income (not that he needs it). He has done good things for the club and there is no doubt he has invested a lot of cash but to be honest none of that seems to be happening this year. I mean yeah nzogbia and given are in and they are decent signings but its there for every1 to see that we are lacklustre at the moment and we need to strengthen. Problem with that is when you arent an arab billionaire and you are running the club as a business you cannot please every fan who wants new players. But like you all say we have earned a lot of income (with regards to a fall in wages and the big money transfers) and this does not seemed as if its going to be reinvested. Hence the fact that Randy has lost the passion that he once has and we as villa fans are just going to have to deal with it. No point blaming the manager in this situation and to be honest i admire him for taking the job knowing what an uphill struggle its going to be to keep villa in this league. I know i seem pessimistic but to be honest i think more realistic. I would love to see villa go on sign these players that people are posting rumours about but the fact is unless we get a new owner OR he starts to see that we are a club worth fighting for again, then these season could be a very rocky road with no light at the end.

Long rocky rd indeed eh chavs lol