Where to we go from here?

Statement on official site, from Xia...

I know that all the Villa fans experienced a very frustrating and disappointing Play-Off Final last Saturday. After seeing many Villa supporters on Twitter hoping that I can publish a statement as soon as possible, I feel like it would be best for me to write the following words when I am relatively calm.

I care as much about this club as anyone. Even though I am back in Beijing, I still can't recover from our game at Wembley. The emotion needs time to heal. However, I know that all our management staff, coaches, players and myself need to get back on our feet and prepare to fight again. Like everyone else, I'm delighted to see that under Steve’s management this season, we demonstrated character and unity. We fought like a team. Indeed, the loss is a pity, but we know how much effort and hard work our coaching staff and players put in this season. I want to thank Steve from the bottom of my heart, particularly for his remarkable level of professional focus despite losing his parents this year. With that, I would like to say thank you to Steve and his coaching staff once again for leading the team forward wholeheartedly throughout the season.

We are all aware that we will face severe FFP challenges next season. I am an Aston Villa fan. But I am also a businessman. Under the current circumstances, I think the club needs to rethink not only the past two years but also the past ten years. Villa needs to be a sustainable football club. People join. People leave. That is the cycle of football. But the football club always remains through it all. This is the ultimate reality that cannot be changed, but I can assure you that everyone behind the scenes is working tirelessly towards achieving our ultimate goal.

We have been heavily investing for the past two seasons. However, the loss on Saturday means that we need to change a lot of things. No one wanted to see the club have to go through this, but I believe that only changes can help the club to progress towards the positive direction and this requires the joint efforts of everyone associated with this great football club. No matter what the changes will be, I sincerely hope that everyone can unite and overcome the challenges together. Our goal has not changed and as long as we believe, regardless of how tough the process will be, I am sure we will succeed in the end.

Thank you very much once again for all your support.

Chairman
Dr Tony Xia

Not really sure what to make of that, can be read in a few ways...

The overall tone hints that Bruce might be on his way and maybe he's not the only one... But then I'm haunted by this sentence...

However, I know that all our management staff, coaches, players and myself need to get back on our feet and prepare to fight again

Which suggests the opposite... One thing we can deduce is that there's no grand masterplan to get around FFP.

Thanks DBA . I'm none the wiser after that, maybe the people leave part is referring to players ?

Notice how they release the News of Terry's departure straight after Xia's statement, as if to detract some of the attention from it, an attempt at burying bad news in other news.

bruka wrote:Thanks DBA . I'm none the wiser after that, maybe the people leave part is referring to players ?

Yes, unfortunately that made me think straight away that Grealish will be on his way.

Reading it again  especially the part you highlighted it seems that Bruce is staying. Might be the cynic in me but the bit about being a businessman just screamed "and until this thing sustains itself you can get fucked if you think you're getting any more money"

Yes it doesn't look good at all, Bruce staying, players leaving, massive cost cutting... I don't mean this as a criticism as such, but I bet we don't see much of Xia on twitter now... and I wouldn't be surprised if the club is put up for sale behind the scenes... not just because we've failed to get promotion but owing to other factors back in China too.

I think that statement, for me, is the confirmation that Xia doesn’t carry the wealth that many seemed to think he had 2yrs ago. We’re on our own and ready to wave goodbye to our Crown Jewels. Xia’s gamble has come undone and we’re ready to do a lord Lucan. Buckle up, it’s going to get ugly this summer.

In 2016 Recon paid $200m for a twenty percent stake in Wenyaun Cable, earlier this year they bought another ten percent stake in the same company, they've also agreed another deal to buy an industrial firm for $120m, they really do have money... I think it's a mixture of we can't spend it because of FFP the new rules in China. His ownership has been a disaster really, but he does have money.

That is the most depressing statement i have ever read regards Villa. It cries of a mediocre future with nothing but harsh times and second-ratedness incoming.

Basically this club is screwed until the day FFP is gone. This is the first time i have accepted that AVFC is done as a force in the game. There is no plan for a promotion push as they know it is fantasy talk and more likely a relegation battle looms next season.

Season ticket anyone?

Well done FFP for ruining a once decent football club. Morons!

The Utterer wrote:That is the most depressing statement i have ever read regards Villa. It cries of a mediocre future with nothing but harsh times and second-ratedness incoming.

Basically this club is screwed until the day FFP is gone. This is the first time i have accepted that AVFC is done as a force in the game. There is no plan for a promotion push as they know it is fantasy talk and more likely a relegation battle looms next season.

Season ticket anyone?

Well done FFP for ruining a once decent football club. Morons!

With Bruce in charge i absolutely agree. If we use this as an opportunity to build something using youth and clever aquisitions then it could be an exciting season. Still think we are set for at least 2 more years of the Championship though.

Whilst the signs aren't good, there's a danger of reading too much into both what Xia has said and what he hasn't said. I, like all of you, have no idea how this pans out from here, but all we can do is wait and see.

Terry going is no great shock but the silence on Bruce is more of a puzzler. I would have thought we'd have had some indication one way or the other by now and I don't think Xia's statement really spells out whether he is set to stay or not.

As I've said on Bruce's future, I can't get past this...


However, I know that all our management staff, coaches, players and myself need to get back on our feet and prepare to fight again

I think the only way he leaves now is if he goes of his own accord, either Wyness has convinced Xia it's the right thing to do, or maybe as a club we really can't afford his compensation.

Every summer since that summer when we signed all those French players, there's been an air of expectancy and excitement among the fans for the coming season, due to us spending lots of money or signing players like Terry and Snodgrass on loan, and each of the following seasons has resulted in utter disappointment, maybe this time it will be one of those ironic(?) things where it's the other way around and we expect the worst, but we have a really good year... But then again there's not really any logic to that, so maybe not.

The frustrating thing about this statement is that rather than clear things up, it's just confused the situation even more, would have liked to have heard more about what the strategy is going forward, doesn't have to be detailed, but something to give us a bit of hope, we need some wisdom in these worst of times.

deadbuzzardalive wrote:The frustrating thing about this statement is that rather than clear things up, it's just confused the situation even more, would have liked to have heard more about what the strategy is going forward, doesn't have to be detailed, but something to give us a bit of hope, we need some wisdom in these worst of times.

I honestly think Xia doesn't know. I think Bruce may want some time to consider things and for now it's up to Wyness to sort out what we can and can't afford and who needs to be sold. Mahrez to City could set off a chain that leads to us getting what we want for Grealish. Of his potential suitors would rather he go to United but Leicester could have the cash now.

A good point I have seen on another forum was that straight after saturday - Bruce talked about wanting Grealish to stay - about Terry he said 'its up to John' - Xia's statement probably means the options of keeping either was never feasible. It would also mean that the financial restrictions are more severe than Bruce thought on Saturday night.

I wonder if Bruce has now been fully briefed on next seasons budget deficit and been given a few days to consider his position ???

We should have had a plan in place, as losing on Saturday was always a possibility, hope the plan isn't stick with the same management use the youngsters and hope for the best, otherwise we really will be in a relegation battle.

On Leicester they'd probably have the money for Grealish without selling Mahrez such is the amount of money Premier league clubs have from TV deals, but I guess it now makes it more likely; they won't be the only club interested, I honestly think if someone can get him for between £20 and £30m, in a couple of seasons they'd double their money, and he'd end up somewhere like Man City, in a few years time he could potentially be England's best player.

smetro wrote:A good point I have seen on another forum was that straight after saturday - Bruce talked about wanting Grealish to stay - about Terry he said 'its up to John' - Xia's statement probably means the options of keeping either was never feasible. It would also mean that the financial restrictions are more severe than Bruce thought on Saturday night.

I wonder if Bruce has now been fully briefed on next seasons budget deficit and been given a few days to consider his position ???  

Bruce knew about the consequences of failing on Saturday, he said himself if we lost that we wouldn't be able to afford any of the loan players, and that the squad would look very different next season. Maybe we are hoping to keep Grealish, it's not been confirmed he's leaving, and the £30m can be raised in other ways.

If Bruce decides to step down, I think it will be to take a break after the difficult year he's had with his parents passing away.

If it's not nailed down, we will sell it. Players/people come and go he said. Cut our cloth accordingly and not take the same risks as we have previously etc. Nothing to see here, very bland statement that any of us could have written.

Apart from the part about the management and coaching staff coming back fighting, I actually think all the other things mentioned might be just what we need, for the last three or four seasons we've been a laughing stock for throwing money at it without any real plan, and then failing, whilst other clubs do the complete opposite and succeed, it's about time we followed suit and had a long term sustainable plan of our own, I'm excited to see what these changes might be.

I'm gloomy that it looks like Bruce is staying and that Grealish will probably leave, but I'm still fairly confident that we'll challenge for promotion next season, and new heroes will emerge.

deadbuzzardalive wrote:Yes it doesn't look good at all, Bruce staying, players leaving, massive cost cutting... I don't mean this as a criticism as such, but I bet we don't see much of Xia on twitter now... and I wouldn't be surprised if the club is put up for sale behind the scenes... not just because we've failed to get promotion but owing to other factors back in China too.

You might have hit the nail on the head there?

Yes, I don't think he'd be desparate to sell us, he's said himself that owning us has actually helped his other businesses in China despite us being in the Championship, and it's also helped him get in with Birmingham City Council on the 'Smart Cities' side of things... and plans are in place for the redevelopment of the training ground, that's not pie in the sky the plans are online as is the planning permission which was recently granted, and of course it's doubtful that Recon would have sponsored the training ground, if they planned on selling up on failure to get promoted, going up didn't exactly look a guarantee.

Only thing that makes me wonder if he might sell is the new rules in China which make it harder to move money out that country, and he's been having a few problems with Lotus Health. To be honest another thing that's crossed my mind is that he might consider selling a stake in the club to someone else, to take away some of the burden off himself, but at the same time keep the connections he's made in other businesses.

ok time to put a positive spin on it all.

What if the statement is intentionally written like that so people, especially the Media, jump all over it and assume the worst whilst in the background Xia sponsors Bodymoore Heath (which we have heard numerous times will happen) for the shortfall in meeting FFP. They wouldn't need to disclose this until they need to report for FFP and this would be a benefit in several areas.

Firstly, we wouldn't get screwed over in the transfer market any more as clubs think we're poor.
Secondly, it would help in moving on the big earners and squad fillers that are excess.
Thirdly, it would allow us to keep a strong core from what we currently have, if we kept Chester, Hutton, Grealish, Birkir, Hourihan, Adomah, Green, and Kodjia that's not a bad core for the first 11. Add to that Jedinak, Hogan, Davis and the other youngsters and it's not as bad as everyone assumes.

We would still shift a heap from the squad and wage bill, and even make a little in transfers on some, so we wouldn't need to purchase/loan that many.

The big thing to remember this year is we lost last seasons best player for the whole season(Kodjia), grealish was injured until Xmas, and Green only played a few games at the start. Key is keeping the right players and losing the rest...

We can hope can't we?

Well about as positive as i can muster is this...

Terry was always going to be gone this year or next anyway due to age etc so hey ho.

We do have some youngsters to move in to the first team which will be interesting although could of course go either way.

We could work the loan market again and i have to say i thought SB used it well last season in the main.

It sounds like they are trying to renew Huttons contract.

Gabby is gone off the wage bill

Thats about all i can think of lol!

Someone here pointed out that we've kept loads of clean sheets when Taylor's played. We already have a bunch of players cherrypicked from other teams - Bree springs to mind - so shouldn't be overly concerned about selling on the likes of Hutton and Elmo. In fact if Bruce goes to Leeds we can probably make back half the FFP debt just by selling him the players he signed for us. Maybe we could make it a condition of him going there?

The alternative would be to bring in someone solely in charge of tactics and team selection. Bruce won't like it and it's probably not allowed in his contract but we can but hope. He needs a massive amount of help in that department.