I wrote recently about the fact we were about to find out if Paul Lambert was a bastard and, in the context I wrote it, it turns out he is who I expected – a hard-as-nails boss. Which, for Aston Villa, is about the best kind of boss we could hope for.
In an era where money is rife and loyalty is, well, less so, Lambert has created something of a landmark moment, not just for Villa, but for the wider community.
As we are all well aware, we have seen a transfer saga pan out regarding Christian Benteke. Fair offers were made, were subsequently refused, and then all hell broke loose.
Some suggested it would be mayhem unfolding with Tottenham Hotspur getting Villa’s number 20 at a cut down price, presumably set to the soundtrack of a laughing Daniel Levy.
But they were wrong.
Instead, a steadfast Lambert has proved that Spurs don’t always get their man, leaving Villa with a striker who will, in all reality, be welcomed back with open arms by most fans.
Sure, I expect a smattering of shouted insults the next time Villa fans see Benteke play but, for the most part, I think it will blow over.
For those watching Villa from outside, there is an underlying message to be learned – we’re not about to let other clubs take our players unless it is on our terms.
Had Spurs offered £25m for Benteke, I’d have taken it. As I said before his transfer request was even announced, Christian is just one player, one cog in a machine, to be treated as an equal part of a larger Villa machine.
That Villa are building a team, more specifically one that is a great sum than its composite parts, is a significant positive. Villa have, in recent years, been very much about individuals, many of which were poached by other clubs as they succeeded – Gareth Barry, James Milner, Ashley Young, and Stewart Downing all left the club in search of greener pastures, grander stages on which to strut their stuff.
Nowadays, the team is more about what the team can accomplish rather than the performances of individuals. Despite Benteke’s performance last season, his goals formed just half of those scored by the club’s attacking trio.
In midfield, few could doubt that Ashley Westwood has been great value, especially when one consider he was on less than 15% of the money that Stephen Ireland was paid last season, and less than 10% of what Darren Bent was paid.
Which leads me into a point about value propositions, and how Villa are making a business out of the creation of them, a significant difference from just a few seasons ago. To prove this point, one only need look at a player who had left the club in recent times – Eric Lichaj.
Lichaj was on a reported £25k a week contract. In abstract terms, that isn’t particularly high for a Premier League player, and less than the usual contracts offered to some of the money when Martin O’Neill was manager. However, £25k is that same amount of money as Benteke was being paid last season.
Think about that for a second. If the Lichaj terms are correct, a fringe player was earning the same amount of money as one of our contenders for player of the year. Hardly seems right in that context, does it?
Continuing in the context, it would put Lichaj at three times the salary of Westwood last year. Good value? Not in my opinion, and clearly not in the eyes of Lambert who decided not to renew his terms.
Whilst finance is not exactly the most pulse-racing concept to discuss for many in the football world, we have to accept our constraints that money (or a lack thereof) creates, and the value choices we need to make.
If, and this is a big if, we can sell the contents of Villa’s self-proclaimed “Bomb Squad”, we will have over £250k a week off the wage bill. To put that back in context, that is 10 Bentekes at last year’s rate.
That’s right – TEN Bentekes, and at a “price” of selling players we don’t even want. Suddenly this Randy Lerner “running Villa as a business” concept doesn’t seem so mad after all.
Why? Buy a player on £10-25k and you take a risk, but a fairly calculated one. Should they do well, you up their contract or sell them for a big profit. Should they do badly, they can be sold to a Championship team at a wage that isn’t particularly high – many Championship teams get more money than that.
Which, depending on one’s angle, might be a strong argument that Villa are aiming for the Championship if they pay such wages, but such a view would be missing the point.
After all, if Benteke can be a success, why not Jores Okore? Or Leandro Bacuna? Or any other one of our new signings? Surely if they can be a success, and at a reasonable price, it is far better than paying mega money and, as with the “Bomb Squad”, finding them hard to sell at any price?
Money may not be the most interesting concept for some, but it does constrain all clubs. The fortunate situation we have is that we have a good chance of making returns on our players, whether in financial terms or in terms of increased success.
Which, in all honest, means a win/win for the club, and that has to be a good thing, right?
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