Handy Randy
Ian Symes - May 28, 2008 @ 11:09 am
Randy’s smart enough to know not to piss about too much with things he doesn’t understand, and I’m sure that he’ll continue to use his minions to keep in touch with what supporters want. The dream team of Randy and Martin O’Neill working together on a daily basis has got to be a good thing, especially during transfer windows.
*knock knock*
“Hello, Mr. Lerner.”
“Martin! What can I do for you?”
“I need a hundred million pounds.”
“OK!”
In other news, Luke Moore’s signed permanently for West Brum, for three million quid. This is a bit of a shame, as I always thought he’d be a big star for us one day. Mind you, I thought the same about his brother, and he’s recently signed for Walsall. It was that shoulder injury last year that probably scuppered Moore’s chances, given that the signings of Carew and Young, plus the rise of Agbonlahor, took place in his absence. Good luck to him, but he’ll need to improve his alleged attitude problems if he’s going to help West Brum stay up.
Excellent. I’m guessing this means he now considers Villa to be be his primary business concern? Not that his American base was much of a problem before, but like you say, if he’s here and on hand it can only be a better case of affairs. What with this and a relatively alarming shedding of players, let’s hope this points to a VERY busy summer, cheque book wise.
How much money does Randy Learner actually have to spend?
There seemed to be a fair bit of hype last year that he had Megabuck$, but despite improvements across the team as a whole (Ground Improvements, Training facilities etc) the first team spending didn’t seem all that spectacular.
Of course having a sensible rather than splash-the-cash sort of financial backer is a very good thing, but to force there way into the Top 4 Villa will surely have to match or even surpass the amounts the big 4 are currently spending on a yearly basis.
I think it’s all a matter of trust. Lerner is an incredibly rich man, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that our budget is pretty much infinite. There hasn’t been that much first team spending (although, Ashley Young and Reo-Coker were two big money buys), but I think the fact that there’s been so much spent on other aspects of the club makes up for this, and it’s all part of Martin’s grand plan.
The club was in a right state before the new regime took over, not just on the pitch but off it. The Bodymoor Heath redevelopments had been on ice for years, and now it’s one of the best facilities in the country. The ground has improved a hell of a lot too - not in terms of physical redevelopment as such, but in terms of the facilities offered, the supporting aspects like the club shops and the Holte pub, the general atmosphere, etc. And we’ve seen the benefit of that with an average attendance of over 40,000.
These changes needed to be made first, which is why we didn’t immediately go all guns blazing in the transfer market. Now that the foundations are there, I think this summer will be much more focussed on spending money on players. This is where the trust I mentioned comes in - both Randy and the fans trust Martin to go about his business in the best way possible.
Which isn’t to say I’m completely happy with the transfer policy so far. The reason our squad is so small is that Martin has a policy of only buying players that are better that what we already have. Which is admirable, but sometimes in football you need stop-gaps! I’d rather have had a mediocre right-back than no right-back at all, for instance. Plus, bringing in Zat Knight and selling Gary Cahill is not what I’d call an improvement.
But despite this, I do trust Martin, and I fully believe that the cash will indeed by splashed where necessary.