h&v.net

We’re 2 years into Randy’s Grand Five Year Plan to lead us to the promised Champions League land.

We’re managed by someone who is widely acknowledged to be the best person-driven leader in football.

When O’Neill joined us we needed a goalie and a right back. Now, 5 transfer windows on we’re still searching for those apparently mythical creatures. We we’re expecting signings like Kaka and Eto’o and got Harewood and Routledge.

So the question is, what is holding us back?

a) Is Martin unable to persuade big names to come to us?

b) Is Martin unable to make up his mind on who to sign, or

c) Is the money that we thought would be there in spades simply not available?

Villa are clearly not strapped for cash. It’s not every club that can afford to give up a multi-million pound income from shirt sponsorship. Work on the training ground, “to attract top talent” was the reason and other measures around the ground suggest that we’re a club with money going places.

So, why can’t we hang on to Barry? Why does he want to move to Liverpool? It can’t simply be that he wants to go to work with Steven Gerrard each day does it?

Is it down to the fact that, from his perspective, he doesn’t see the Villa making the signings to propel us towards the Champions League? Perhaps he’s as frustrated as supporters at the lack of a right back? After 10 years at a club it must be a terrible wrench to move on when Villa appear to be on the cusp of great things. Perhaps we’re not, perhaps he’s fallen for a line that says, “Champions’ League as the be all and end all of football achievement.” Well that and their Bentleys. Barry might be the wrong example here. Whilst we can all question his reason for a move, it could be simply down to greed. If rumours that his agent has been hawking him around clubs since December, barely 2 months after establishing himself in the England set up, are correct it may well be.

However if the former is case, how can you attract quality internationals without offering them Champions’ League football?

Money won’t do it alone, because, you need the money from the Champions’ League to pay for international stars. Teams in the Champions’ League have the money to buy, not one, but two internationals for every position because of the Champions’ League money.

So it’s a catch 22. The rich clubs buy all the players to stop the also-rans stealing their place in the Champions’ League.

But I don’t want to concentrate on the Barry situation. Why haven’t we signed players that will qualify us for the Champions’ League? It simply that Martin O’Neill believes that the sum of the team should and can be stronger than a team of 11 individuals?

I get the impression that he is a dither in the transfer market. Ensuring that everything about the deal and player is right before putting pen to paper. That would obviously mean we weren’t even in the market for players that should have been snapped up when they were available to us.

I get a feeling that the new owner isn’t entirely impressed by Martin’s ability to not spend his money. It may be one of the reasons why he’s made himself CEO, to be closer to the dealing, ensuring things go through.

However, and as by way of balance, I also get the impression that the purse string are tighter than we have come to be expected. A transfer budget of £25M was rumoured several months ago. Something that I laughed at at the time, but hearing Martin O’Neill on the BBC last night, talking about getting a lot of money from the sale of Barry “to spend” made me sit up and take notice.

Which brings us back to Barry. Selling Barry to Liverpool makes them stronger and us weaker. We can’t buy an equivalent replacement because if there was one, they’d be on their way to a Champions’ League team.

So where do we go from here? Are we destined to always finish up outside of the top 4, or do we wait and see if Liverpool run into financial difficulties. Are can’t believe that they would for Gillette and Hicks could sell to the Dubai lot tomorrow and walk away with a profit. Who knows what untold riches lie there for Liverpool to spend?