The College Dropout

Why is net spend more important than overall squad cost and wages? Como have double the net spend of the second highest in Serie A but they're 6th. Is that a major underachievement? No their total squad cost and wages will be closer to 6th.

If you stay up and keep De Zerbi you should get a European spot.

Yeh next year I expect a European push. I just hope Villa aren’t able to consolidate a top 5 squad in the summer. Anything like this current squad wouldn’t be able to cope. But their squad at the end of their last CL campaign would be a mega issue.

It’s cope. Agreed.

Exactly. Both clubs have maxed out their investment on players - just in different ways. We have a bigger net spend in recent years than Real Madrid or its close. Is the investment in players the same? No, Real invest far more into players hence the 4x wage bill. Squad cost and wages combined paint a much bigger picture than net spend. Net spend is a fairly useless metric.

It’s not. It’s a poor indicator compared to squad cost and wages. Even Mike Ashley paid midtable salaries for the PL. Which is why we spent more seasons in the PL than not, and comfortably most of the time even with managers like Bruce and Pardew. Players like Shelvey and Wilson would have had offers from other PL clubs.

If we keep any of our strikers I think we keep Osula.

Think Colo would've been a monster in this team and era. Alas destroyed one too many times by Romelu Lukaku and Shane Long to make my XI.

Yeh we had great leaders for 2/2.5 years. They built that team and staff but they've long gone. Another 2 years of poor leadership and decisions is in large part why we are fighting to be top half. Net spend is rubbish. Villa's squad cost is similar to our own (think ours is higher) but their wage bill has been bigger. Most importantly, their owners have done everything in their power to make Villa competitive. That is a major reason why Villa will have had sustained success. Ours have not.

Agree with this fully. He wasn't at his best at times last season and made mistakes. But he wasn't poor at all. Often imperious at his best and in the big moments. And as you've said, he's the best we have at our style o of defence which holds the team together. That front foot defending, he's the best at it. Brings a level of composure and mental strength that has disappeared without him. It's like how people say Bruno was poor last season - he wasn't. He was great just not at his very best. Poor is what we are without Bruno.

Got their money back for Diaby - i'm not counting Gerrard era signings. Bailey is literally still there. Villa have a high turnover of players. But they've done enough to finish top 6, 4 years in a row. That is impressive and has required investment (including time, quick decisions) from owners to achieve it. Academy, stadium, training ground, PSR hacks - doing all they can. Our Owners don't do all they can. They actually do a lot less. But it's still relatively early days for them. PIF to their credit haven't had a Gerrard era. But Summer 2025 was a massive waste of resources.

He's absolutely playing.

We are also restricted by PSR and Villa will have finished above us 3 out of the past 5 seasons at the end of the month. They have accumulated more points than us over 3-5 seasons. Man u are going to finish 3rd in the league. I expect us to finish above Bournemouth next season. Our 4 full-season average under PIF/Howe will be something like 7th. You are being entitled. 6th-8th is fair. Let's see how the summer goes for everyone. If Spurs go, Man U keep Carrick and buy dross, Chelsea do Chelsea and we buy quality I can see us finishing high up the league.

Sold loads of top players? Douglas Luiz - replaced him with a younger player / a free transfer. Duran - ticking time bomb Legit who else have they sold as a top/key player? The likes of the winger and Ramsey - got good fees for middling talents. Villa have done everything they can to be competitive. They've largely avoided selling their very best players. Got good players in when doing FFP malarky. Quick to do FFP hacks. Ended up building a very strong squad when in the CL from January and unlucky to miss out on B2B CL finishes. Heading into their 4th consecutive season of European football. Owner puts public pressure about FFP/PSR. Academy investment is paying off. Announced plans to expand Villa Park to probably more capacity than SJP. Agreed expansion to training ground. Obviously maxxed investment into the squad and likely beyond. I agree with this. They need that CL spot and even then I think they might have to sell to be compliant again. Emery really needs to win that Europa League though. They choked against Palace last season in the FA Cup. This is another huge opportunity.

And we had it with the positive atmosphere, getting the likes of Isak Bruno etc. Howe was ahead of the curve at a point too

As much as I like the Jackson's and Nunez's. I feel like their profile at 20-23 isn't that hard to find again. Assuming the wages are massive, I don't love it

You can follow the same line. Shouldn't the top 6 have a better coach as well? We need to eek out advantages everywhere, not just the manager.

PIF man...

Maybe you do. I'm far less emotional and up and down than most fans. I never rated Gordon as highly as most did after his breakout season, i'm also probably one of the least eager to see him leave. I look at the squad - it's not stacked with quality. Maybe half a dozen would get moves to top 7 clubs and become key players for them. Without any European football, I would expect us to fight for Europe. For a non-European squad it would have a lot of depth in some areas.

I'll say it now. If Spurs stay up and keep De Zerbi, they get top 6*. *Assuming the injury situation improves I fancied Man U to get CL at the beginning of the season. If they keep Carrick the entire season I expect a much tougher season for them next year - although a lot will depend on transfers.

Wilson deserves more respect. Willock is still getting minutes for us and so would Almiron if he was here. We caught a lot of teams on the hop back then too. We haven't evolved properly since and there's an established way of beating us now. We are also a lot weaker defensively and will be much younger next season most likely. That was a back 5 at their prime. Our strikers scored 28 PL goals that season. And what another 15 from the wingers? Halcyon days. (numbers are guesstimated). That's my big issue with Eddie. A lack of genuinely new ideas and a disinterest in playing more football.

Based on what? Who of Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U, Spurs, Chelsea, Villa wouldn't expect to finish above us if they got their houses in order? If they all have a good summer, good managers in place - the top 6 should get top 6. Villa got 66 points the last time they were in the CL - that's CL 90% of the time.

Because we don't have Europe we should finish above 2 of Chelsea (no Europe most likely), Man U, Villa and Spurs (no Europe)? Not for me.

Playing once a week is a huge advantage. Brighton have a deep squad and Conference League isn't the strongest. But they can't cope with a 60-game season.

Yep. I wasn't sure about the business at all.