Here is an article submitted by Jaymo83, it may be a little late but I’ve had exams all week so I do apologise for the delay. Non-theless it’s still a good article.

Hi all,

Though I regularly comment on articles, this is the first time I have written one. It’s pretty rushed so it wont be my best but what I have just worked out has allowed everything to click into place about the future off the Villa.

I heard a comment from Keys and Gray on TalkSport which alluded to McCleish’s tenure and the role he had, upon talking to Alex it seems his role was to halve the wage bill and keep the club in the Premiership, he felt he had done both and would keep his job. Obviously, as we all know, that didn’t happen. Lamberts role seems to be very similar with the idea to reduce the wage bill by getting rid of high earners and replacing them with young hungry players, on lower wages with higher resale values.

All this got me thinking about Villa’s wage bill and could it really be cut anymore. I believe the figure quoted during ONeil’s tenure was that our wage bill for playing staff was around the £80 million mark. By looking through the squad and going on widely reported, sensible estimates of players wages I have calculated that the current wage bill is now in the region of £41 million (excluding any contributions for players out on loan). Now, I’m sure we’ll all agree that’s a massive cut which got me thinking, what else can Lerner possibly cut from it?

Well……. if we were to get rid of players at the club who seem to have no future and players who are out of contract at the end of the season, quite a lot actually. IMO the following players (for various reasons) will not be in the manager’s thoughts much longer. I have listed these players along with their estimated weekly wage below:

Given £56k
Hutton £35k
Dunne £56k
Ireland £56k
Warnock £45k
Bent £65k
Makoun £30k
Petrov £50k
Marshall £8k
Lichaj £8k
Delfounso £10k

Based on these estimates I believe wages for these players could account for around £21 million per year – FRIGHTENING! Whilst Lerner wont be able to get rid of all these players in one go, I’m sure he will be trying.

Now, some of you may look at that list and argue that the players listed are our most experienced players and we need to keep them, but, look at it from business owner’s perspective and honestly answer the following:

Could we find a reserve keeper to replace Given for around £15k per week – YES

Hutton has not played for the Villa all year, what impact would removing him from the wage bill have – NOTHNG

Dunne has not played for the Villa all year, what impact would removing him from the wage bill have – NOTHNG

Could we find a better midfielder than Ireland for half his weekly wages – YES

Warnock has not played for the Villa all year, what impact would removing him from the wage bill have – NOTHNG

Could we find a striker who adds more to the current team than Bent for half his weekly wages -YES

Makoun has not played for the Villa all year, what impact would removing him from the wage bill have – NOTHNG

Petrov has not played for the Villa all year, what impact would removing him from the wage bill have – NOTHNG

Marshall – could a youth team keeper move up to the role of 3rd choice keeper at a much lower cost? YES

Could we keep Lichaj on similar wage or get a better player for the same money? Probably

Delfounso has not played for the Villa all year, what impact would removing him from the wage bill have – NOTHNG

So, it is almost impossible to argue that you couldn’t replace the above players with the same number of players at half the cost yet have a positive impact on the team/squad.

What this tells me it 2 things:

Firstly, Lerner will continue his cost cutting measures as he sees fit to do so, and on the evidence above it’s hard to argue with. Secondly, and most importantly, the idea that Lerner wants to get the club on an even keel and then start again with sensible investment is a complete fallacy. If the above players are removed from the wage bill and replaced at half the cost the wage bill will have been reduced by almost £50 million since O’Neil left, added to that next year if we stay in the Premiership there will be an extra £70 million in the club coughers, which will allow the club to show an enormous profit, allow Randy to pay back the bulk of his investment in the club and then sell at a good price, making himself a tidy profit.

To all of those (including myself) who believed Lerner has the clubs best intentions at heart, who thought he would begin spending again at some point, who feel things will still “come good” under him – hope this is an eye opener to you all as it was to me. Lerner is gambling with our clubs future for his own enormous financial gain, if it pays off it will only pay off for him as we will continue to fight relegation under his ownership, if it fails, the parachute money and transfer fees for existing players will keep the club in contention to get back n the Prem. WIN/WIN for Randy, LOSE/LOSE for the fans.

Feel free to let me know your thoughts.