Financial Figures (year ending in may 2011)

[sne]

I found this an excellent read, anyone else have any thoughts on it?

SwissRamble

Agree, The Swiss Ramble is by far the best blog ever when it comes to football and financial matters concerning football. Anyone intrested in these matters should remember the name.

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/ Read it!!

[CI]

I found this an excellent read, anyone else have any thoughts on it?

SwissRamble

Love the line about Hutton slide tackling a tree lol ;-)

[KHV]

We need a wage cap.

Tottenham have one and their wage bill is only 46% of its turnover. Thats how you run a football club.

If Lerner ever wants Villa to run with a profit then anybody that erans more than 35k per week needs to go.

Simple as that. Our wage bill compared to revenue is horrific, its the 3rd worst behind Chelsea and Man City so effectivley its the worst in the league as Mr Abramovic ans Sheik Mansour dont live in the real world.

I expect a mass exodus of players in the summer and a load of unemplyed Rangers players coming the other way

[Gabby0878]

The SwissRamble is always such a good read. We should do an Oakland A's (Moneyball) and make the author our CEO.

[Rodders]

that's an excellent blog.

From that:

i) Lerner has invested a shit-tonne of money into the club, very much not an Ellisian act

ii) We really really really need to cut wages down even further

iii) what the **** were we doing with the acorns non-sponsorship thing then when our revenue is low enough as it is? ( I mean I loved that we did it, but it wasn't concomitant with our 'cause' )

iv) not attending matches is a more significant and effective protest than I'd thought. Long term protest will outweigh retaining Mcleish as manager.

v) We can't currently reasonably aim ( barring gazabillionaire takeover ) for top 4 anytime soon. The revenue is a disparity. But, as we all know we should still be doing much better, top 7,8 is a perfectly valid expectation.

vi) I see nothing in the blog that suggests to me Lerner is looking to sell, at all. More aiming at righting the wrongs and then maybe preparing for a fresh assault in 2-3 years maybe.

vi) We do need to go scouting for the cheaper players abroad.

[snowychap]

One of the most important bits I took from that blog was:

Even so, it will still be a tough challenge for Villa to comply with the new regulations, unless they continue to make money by selling players. Of course, this only becomes an issue if Villa qualify for European competitions.

[PompeyVillan]

I wan't us to be sustainable. It's the only way to bring success to the club, not by Lerner ploughing in millions.

[Majkee]

that's an excellent blog.

From that:

i) Lerner has invested a shit-tonne of money into the club, very much not an Ellisian act

ii) We really really really need to cut wages down even further

iii) what the **** were we doing with the acorns non-sponsorship thing then when our revenue is low enough as it is? ( I mean I loved that we did it, but it wasn't concomitant with our 'cause' )

iv) not attending matches is a more significant and effective protest than I'd thought. Long term protest will outweigh retaining Mcleish as manager.

v) We can't currently reasonably aim ( barring gazabillionaire takeover ) for top 4 anytime soon. The revenue is a disparity. But, as we all know we should still be doing much better, top 7,8 is a perfectly valid expectation.

vi) I see nothing in the blog that suggests to me Lerner is looking to sell, at all. More aiming at righting the wrongs and then maybe preparing for a fresh assault in 2-3 years maybe.

vi) We do need to go scouting for the cheaper players abroad.

exactly this

plus

there is always a land called the rest of europe behind La Manche channel, esp. further behind iron curtain EU countries - good potential, cheap wages and low transfer fees, Czech, Slovak players etc. are good example of potential stored there (very good Slovaks produced in recent years i.e. - Hamsik, Weiss, Stoch, Kucka, Mak, Kiss; do not forget about Czech recent great U-21 European semifinalist etc.) but it means to stop to be dull and scout in the Europe or other places of the world.

quick reminder of other clubs, the competetive advantage will be gone in just year or two as clubs like Manure etc. are establishing scouting network here in Central Europe via former players (i.e. Szilard Nemeth is a scout of ManUre for Central Europe - translation needed)

[Voinjama]

The Swiss Ramble was an interesting read. But he basically implied the financial mess was MONs fault. Maybe he is right.

[Risso]

I wan't us to be sustainable. It's the only way to bring success to the club, not by Lerner ploughing in millions.

He has ploughed in millions though, and we're in the same position we were when he took over. Well actually, our financial position is a lot worse. So either he's going to start spending money again, which I doubt, or he's going to have to sell, which I hope for.

[Richard]

I wan't us to be sustainable. It's the only way to bring success to the club, not by Lerner ploughing in millions.

He has ploughed in millions though, and we're in the same position we were when he took over. Well actually, our financial position is a lot worse. So either he's going to start spending money again, which I doubt, or he's going to have to sell, which I hope for.

Exactly this. It bemuses me that people cannot see this as to me it is self evident

[Risso]

I wan't us to be sustainable. It's the only way to bring success to the club, not by Lerner ploughing in millions.

He has ploughed in millions though, and we're in the same position we were when he took over. Well actually, our financial position is a lot worse. So either he's going to start spending money again, which I doubt, or he's going to have to sell, which I hope for.

Exactly this. It bemuses me that people cannot see this as to me it is self evident

Not everybody has the benefit of professional accounting skillz Richard!

(Certainly not Lerner, Russell and Faulkner in any case)

[PompeyVillan]

But sell to who? The only deal that could benefit us would be to sell to a super rich sheik but that's not likely really isn't it?

And if he sells to someone equally as wealthy as himself, then, well, we're back to square one. A not quite wealthy enough owner, owning a club with not a big enough financial infrastructure to compete at the very top.

We need to grow the club organically, in order to make the profits for sustainable growth. We need to be looking at Tottingham and take the things they do well and try to emulate them. That in itself is very difficult, and what's to say Tottenham are going to stay where they are?

Until football changes, Villa as a club grow or we're bought out by a super rich investor we're mediocre, and that's the best we can hope for. We've had a few seasons of hope and now it's back to reality with a bang.

[Risso]

But sell to who? The only deal that could benefit us would be to sell to a super rich sheik but that's not likely really isn't it?

And if he sells to someone equally as wealthy as himself, then, well, we're back to square one. A not quite wealthy enough owner, owning a club with not a big enough financial infrastructure to compete at the very top.

We need to grow the club organically, in order to make the profits for sustainable growth. We need to be looking at Tottingham and take the things they do well and try to emulate them. That in itself is very difficult, and what's to say Tottenham are going to stay where they are?

Until football changes, Villa as a club grow or we're bought out by a super rich investor we're mediocre, and that's the best we can hope for. We've had a few seasons of hope and now it's back to reality with a bang.

Haw many teams of the 14 teams ahead of us in the league are owned by immensely rich Arabs? One. It's a lazy, trite argument that just doesn't stack up.

[OutByEaster?]

So the huge financial support from the Chairmans own pocket is the only thing keeping the club afloat during the period of poor management by the current Chairman. Perhaps he'll sack himself?

[PompeyVillan]

The nationality of a potential owner doesn't matter though does it? Unless we sell to someone who's super rich, the sale is unlikely to magically cure all of our ills.

Obviously there are other factors that will determine success, like having a decent manager... but the overriding factor these days is £ and we've spent ours.

[Richard]

Just some bits from that swiss ramble

The controversial decision to appoint former Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has not proved to be a glittering success to date, though his lack of popularity with some Villa fans is surely as much to do with his poor track record (leading the Blues to two relegations in four years) and his dour brand of football as his stint at St. Andrews

I think the descriptive bits in there need altering a bit. So "with some Villa fans" should become "with most Villa fans" and "as much to do" becomes "is more to do"

The article then goes on to recognise that the appointment of Houllier was a total disaster, so credit for that as this is not something that is recognised widely in other places

It goes on to mention the sale of Downing but neglects to mention he was sold under Mcleish or that Mcleish said he was going nowhere for less than 50M. It then further recognises the poor quality signings made (total of 20M all told I think), but again neglects to mention that Mcleish signed them.

Talks about the "least" we could have ecxpected under Oneill and the "colossal" wage bill, but doesn't say there were still 5 clubs in the league paying more than us so maybe 6th was the most we could achieve not the least?

Again 20M per year in transfer fees is said to be a huge amount compared to most clubs. Most clubs competeing for top 4? Most clubs who came from a position of 16th and shite squad to try and compete for top 4? Most clubs who had been spending those amounts for years before us? Especially as it recognises we only spent 25M in the five years before this, not exactly a good base to build for champions league push without spending 20M per year net is it?

Can see how some will like this article and it does have some merits. Plenty of drawbacks too though

[Risso]

The nationality of a potential owner doesn't matter though does it? Unless we sell to someone who's super rich, the sale is unlikely to magically cure all of our ills.

Obviously there are other factors that will determine success, like having a decent manager... but the overriding factor these days is £ and we've spent ours.

A decent businessman who would appoint a good manager would be a huge improvement on Lerner. £200m spent [wasted] by Lerner, and we've been overtaken by the likes of Stoke and Norwich. Criminal.

[BOF]

I was actually going to respond to Risso with the point that a sheikh is unnecessary but that someone super rich is mandatory. The thinking being that the number of those 14 teams above us goes from being 1 rich sheikh to a much higher number of super rich. Turns out the super rich above us only number 4. Chelsea, Man Citeh, Man United & Liverpool. The rest are just really well run clubs. You could argue Arsenal have super rich but then they're being run in such a way as to not need it so for the purpose of this discussion they don't really count. So there you have it. Maybe we just need better nouse.

[Bazdavies79]

The finances need to be brought under control, but he needs to appoint a good manager to guide the club through the tough times, he's failed on that score.

It's worth remembering Daniel Levy was failing at Spurs for a long time, the upturn in fortunes came after they finally bungled their way to appointing Redknapp. Now, apparently, he's brilliant.