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Aa Champions League relegation fodder

hopes for the decline of the club was marked as out of bounds

It was May 2010 and Randy Lerner was his court in the pub Holte, an iconic Aston Villa benevolent owner had spent ? 4 million restoration of an early manifestation of his generosity. Villa finished sixth for the third consecutive season and felt that with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City becoming major players in the Midlands club had reached a glass ceiling. Lerner, however, agree. "I'm not sure if the game is over in terms of catch or make us better," he said.

It was the last time Lerner gave a press conference at the Villa. His words have a hollow ring to them now. These days are closer to Villa Championship Champions League. They flirted with relegation in 2010-11, under Gerard Houllier, finished just two points above the relegation zone last year during the term of Alex McLeish miserable, and the face of a great battle maintain their status as Premier League in the first season of Paul Lambert, who began with great optimism, but it has become nothing less than a disaster.

Villa, who make the short trip to West Brom on Saturday, is third in the bottom of the Premier League and, to put it bluntly, playing down of football. Queens Park Rangers have only scored in what some (17) and reading conceded that a greater number (42). Perhaps most damning of all, Villa collected only 30 points in his last 38 games, which is a point behind QPR, who went 16 games without a win earlier this season, and 13 points lower than any other Premier League club.

Capital One Cup, which promised to deliver much-needed good news when Villa were drawn up to deal League Two Bradford City in the semifinals, threatens even more shame if no Lambert player can cancel the humiliating 3-1 defeat they suffered at the parade of the valley in the first inning. The second step takes place at Villa Park on Tuesday and is followed by a link awkward in the fourth round of the FA Cup Millwall on Friday night and the Premier League match at home against Newcastle important fellow wrestlers four days later. There seems to be a period of the season set, especially with the window open and the transfer of Villa desperately need new players to breathe new life into a struggling team and inexperienced.

Aa> All clubs go through ups and downs, but sharp decline in recent years, Villa feels more alarming because of the huge amount of money was pumped Lerner during his reign six years to fund the considerable expense in transfer fees and wages in particular. According to the latest set of accounts for Reform Acquisitions Limited (RAL), held Lerner, owner of the Villa and a number of related companies, the total payroll in the 2010-11 season totaled ? 83 million, which was ? 25m more than Everton equivalent of the company. Club net transfer spend over the last five years is fourth in the Premier League behind Manchester City, Chelsea and Stoke. But despite these figures, the Villa is in the wake of clubs like Albion, Norwich and Swansea, who have done much better over the last 18 months, even if they operate on a completely different level financially.

Villa finished 16th last year, which was also its final position when David O'Leary was commissioned in 2005-06, the season before the appointment of Lerner and Martin O 'Neill as manager. The average attendance in 2005-06 was 34,111 compared to 34,084 today. Villa, in other words, are back to square one on the field and in the stands, it must be difficult to accept when Lerner reflects on 200 euros invested and think back to the time when the club was chasing a place in the Champions League with plans to increase capacity to 50,000 at Villa Park.

Lerner rarely seen in the city these days - since his divorce Much of their time is spent in the United States, showing the most matches live TV signals - for despite already stressed that his absence on game days should not be interpreted as evidence that he has lost interest and intent to sell. Knows and respects the history of Villa and his affection for the club extends beyond the lion rampant taken from the club crest, which is tattooed on his right ankle. The end result, however, is that for all the good intentions Lerner has made some bad decisions at the Villa and paid dearly for them.

was a mistake to let Steve Stride, operations manager of the football club and a highly respected administrator who worked for Villa for 35 years, leaving less than 12 months after the takeover was completed . We can say that the biggest mistake of judgment Lerner, however, was to ignore the contribution that an athletic director or coach could have done throughout his reign, particularly the American n ' had no experience of managing an English football club.

Lerner hope that their investment will lead to qualification for the Champions League and the club was near. Some big names worked - the club received ? 25 million more for Stewart Downing, Ashley Young and James Milner of what they paid - but other costly acquisitions, including Curtis Davies, Marlon Harewood, Steve Sidwell, Nicky Shorey and Habib Beye, did not.

At the end of the 2009-10 season, Villa finished runners-up to Manchester United in the Carling Cup and were in contention for fourth place until the last two games before losing Tottenham. Other factors that football may have been involved, but at the time of holding salary account amounted to ? 80 million, which represents 88% of its turnover. made regarding managers in recent years . In June 2011, he moved to the Villa Houllier and his assistant Gary McAllister, after the French fell ill and left office nine months after his appointment. Villa later this summer paid compensation for McLeish Birmingham City. The following May, McLeish was sacked less than 12 months into his three-year contract. Villa reached an agreement with Scottish and his assistant Peter Grant. Last month, the House has agreed to pay compensation of Norwich Lambert. The total cost of these departures and arrivals are considered more than ? 15m.

This disorder was aggravated by the fact that the absence of a sporting director means that the equipment is checked every time you make a new appointment because the recruitment strategy of the player is dictated by the time director. Villa, therefore, have gotten into a situation where players are signed by high costs and given lucrative contracts, only to gamers even be quickly discarded or abandoned - Jean Makoun, Alan Hutton, Shay Given, Stephen Warnock and Darren Bent has signed for a club record ? 24m by Houllier, come to mind - when you change the manager. It is an expensive way to a football club.

For an example of how the role of sporting director may work well for a club in the Premier League, Villa look no further than his opponents on Saturday, who, despite having had three directors in recent years, as many have made some changes to a team game that is balanced and mounted at a fraction of the cost. Albion made a profit of ? 9m in its last set of accounts covering the 2010-11 season. Villa holding lost a record ? 54m this season and the club finished one point ahead of Albion. Last year, Albion came tenth places, six above Villa. In summer, Villa spent more than 20 million pounds transfer budget of Albion was the lowest in the Premier League. Albion are currently seventh and Villa 18.
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