horsefly

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-financial-results-nswe-20353613 At the moment Villa are financially stable purely because of the beneficence of extremely wealthy owners who have covered massive financial losses. If those owners lose the will or financial ability to continue that project they will be in serious trouble. Call me a "happy clapper", call me "lacking in ambition", but I absolutely love the fact that our club has embraced a self-financing model which keeps us free of the threat of self-destruction at the whim of a feckless owner. Football finances throughout the game have been a dreadful mess for many years and, post covid, we are likely to see many clubs struggle to survive, and not just those in the lower leagues. The threatened break-away European Super League would also have seen many clubs in the PL (like Villa, et al) in genuinely serious trouble as Sky's massive financing would have drained away. Many experts still believe that something like this will happen at some point in the near future. Frankly, the business model of the majority of clubs would be unsustainable in most other areas of industry (for example, the wage to income ratio is often unsustainable under normal circumstances). Arguably, a day of reckoning is long overdue for football regarding its financial security and probity. Perhaps a big reset which sees football taken back from billionaires, corporations, and conglomerates, and returned to fans largely funding the game through stepping through the turnstiles wouldn't be such a bad thing.

I'm not sure why you keep ignoring the fact that for many years Delia made it clear that the club was available for sale to an appropriate buyer committed to safeguarding and improving the club. No one meeting those basic criteria has ever come forward. Frankly you should thank God she didn't sell out to a far wealthier individual only interested in asset stripping. Go ask the lot down the road what it's like to have a billionaire owner, or Bolton, or Portsmouth, or Sunderland or ...

Or a degenerate paedophile apologising cnut like you. And it's a small "c" in canary you illiterate tw^at!

I'll take one of the Reading and Turkey shirts (although I'm not quite sure how the teams are connected)

Surely a joke.

If we're selling him below a realistic price why haven't other clubs (especially Arsenal) gazumped the Villa bid?

I don't think Buendia staying would have made any real difference to the reality of our ability to attract PL level talent. If anything his departure frees up an opportunity for a talented player to come in, get lots of games, and show that he is genuine PL quality.

I think it signals to ambitious players that City is a fantastic club for furthering their careers.

I understand the disappointment about Emi leaving but these are experienced professional footballers you're talking about and transfers happen every season. I'm sure they will look forward to working with whoever else arrives.

Last season we sold Godfrey and Lewis for around about £40m in total. We bought (after loan) Gibson and Giannoulis for about £14m in total. Our defence performed far better with the latter two players than the former. There is no straightforward correlation between money spent and performance.

Frankly that sounds a good deal if it's true. At least the deal is done pretty early and it gives us time and money to rebuild a stronger team for PL survival this time round. I, like probably all City fans, would have loved Buendia to stay. However, it was always highly probable that he would leave, so time to move on and trust that Webber has his mind firmly focussed on improving the overall ability of the squad.

Did you enjoy that exciting run of league 1 nil-nils? Must have been worth a tenner on Ifollow to see no shots on target week after week.

Silly me, you couldn't possibly forget suffering the PL record defeat against Man U. I believe it was 9-0 wasn't it?

It really wasn't difficult to out you as a binner was it! typically thick Ipswich fan who just can't hide the anger of the last decade of living in the shadow of yellow and green. Enjoy your derby with Cambridge next season (Wes is certainly going to).

I didn't even realise that herpes was something that one won.

To be relegated from the PL you have to have been there in the first place. Can you remember that far back to know what it is like to have played in the PL?

If you don't know the answer to that question you have serious identity issues.

Ditto! Not a Norwich fan are you? best you stop now binner

A real fan says "we" not "they". OOPs!

Nope it's called having a business model that ensures we don't end up like Charlton, Bolton, Sunderland, Portsmouth, QPR, Derby, Ipshi*t, etc, etc, etc. A business model that has seen Norwich play some of the highest quality football ever seen at Carrow road, and secured promotion to the PL as champions twice in three seasons. If you want Norwich to be Man City I suggest you simply go support Man City instead. We'd all be grateful, and you would be a lot happier. But we all know you're just a sad old binner angry that your team has to shop from Iceland's bargain bin while we''ll be selecting from Waitrose.

so about a week ago then

So, since you are such an authority, do tell us exactly what the balance is between the money Delia has put into the club and the money she has taken out.

Well she can stay at the Ritz for all I care, her hotel bills won't get close to the millions she's given to the club.

Nope! City owe her millions that she will never reclaim

You mean like when we signed Buendia?