It only made sense that I start this blog off with a report on my beloved club, Aston Villa. The end of the 2013/14 season is fast approaching and Villa are amidst one of the tightest relegation battles in years. Minds are starting to worry (again!) and the promised rebuilding of the squad seems all but a distant memory.
Why Lambert?
So, why did Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner decide that Paul Lambert was the right man for the job? He had certainly made a decent name for himself, taking Norwich from league 1 to the top flight in just 3 seasons but is one impressive season in the premier league the real reason?
A quick comparison of Aston Villa and Norwich’s financial accounts for the 2011/12 season, Lambert’s last in charge of Norwich, shows what is most likely the real reason for his appointment. During the 2011/12 season, the wage/revenue ratio of Aston Villa was the highest in the league at 94% and there are no prizes for guessing which club had the lowest ratio. That’s right, Paul Lambert’s Norwich had a wage/revenue ratio of just 49%! It is important to remember that there is no split between players and back-room staff wages in this calculation however, it is likely that the majority of wages will be going to the players.
Now, I just want you to take that figure in for a minute…94% of the money coming in was being sent straight back out on wages, we were in a bad place and something needed to happen! My only guess for why the wages got in such a state, would have been our failed attempt at european football. I don’t want to go into detail about the extra income received from achieving european football, perhaps thats a topic for another day but it’s no secret that clubs will see a considerable boost in income. Perhaps this is what happened in the pre-Lambert era, money was thrown at ‘quality’ players without fear because the extra money from european football would mean the players practically paid for themselves. The only problem with this is that when you don’t reach european football, you’re left in a financial mess!
The Lambert Effect
So, have things changed since Lambert’s arrival? Well, we can only go based on figures from the 2012/13 season, as the 2013/14 season is still in play and the financial statements will not be filed until around March 2015. It would be unfair to judge Lambert’s wages fix, as 2 transfer windows to unload multiple high earning players is not enough. The wages costs actually increased by 3% during his first season in charge, which is most likely due to Lambert’s new signing as well as, the addition of a couple of his most trusted coaches. Luckily, we had a 27% increase in turnover (presumably due to increased broadcasting revenue, another topic that I won’t get into now), which reduced the wages/revenue percentage down to 76% and is a lot closer to the 2011/12 premier league average of 70%.
One of many controversial decisions made by Lambert, is his lack of inclusion of the ‘bomb squad’ members. Villa’s young squad are renowned for their inconsistency and are prone to making errors on the pitch, an issue that could be resolved by including some of our more experienced players. After all, we are still paying their wages, so why not play them?! Many fans have accused Lambert of falling out with the players but this might no be the case.
Originally, I thought that this may be down to employment law and the equal pay act that is in place. However, I think the more likely reason is the bonus agreements that are written into players contract, such as appearance bonuses, goal bonuses and clean sheet bonuses. I can imagine that there’s potential to lose a lot of money through this and we aren’t exactly a club that’s in a position to give more money away! I’m sure that our wage bill would be made considerably larger if Bent, Hutton and N’zogbia were starting every game. Sure, we might win a few more games but we then run the risk of losing money and ending up in liquidation. It’s likely that it isn’t even Lambert’s decision to not include them, it might be forced by the board of directors.
To Conclude
Were Villa right to appoint Lambert in the first place? Absolutely! The club had some serious issues with wages and who better to sort it out than the manager of the club with the best wage control?
Has Lambert reduced the wage bill? It’s hard to tell until the accounts for the 2013/14 season are released. During Lambert’s first season with Villa, the wages stayed roughly the same but it would’ve been a near impossible task to reduce them that quickly!
So, is he doing a good or a bad job? Again, it’s hard to tell until we can see this seasons accounts but, in my opinion, it looks like he is on track to do a good job so long as he can keep us in the top flight for another year.
All in all, It’s hard to assess how well the three year plan is going until we can see the figures for the 2013/14 season. As soon as they are released, sometime around March 2015, I will look to further analyse the club’s position to see if the Lambert effect is visible or not.
I hope this report has proved to be an interesting read for Aston Villa fans and that it has shown everyone the extent of the wages mess we were in prior to Lambert’s arrival.
If you ask me, the real test for Lambert will be the 2014/15 season. There are a few more contracts due to expire at the end of this season and hopefully we will be able to lose a few more members of the bomb squad. This should give us a little bit extra money to start re-investing and the squad rebuild can finally get underway!
Mike Jefferson
Sources: Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2013, Aston Villa FC Limited accounts for the year ended 31 May 2012 and 31 May 2013.
Football Finance Analysis Blog 