I am sure I am not the only one when I say I am absolutely fed up of hearing about FFP and how it is effecting Aston Villa at the moment.
I don’t need to go into detail about why we are currently in the position we are in at the moment as we all know why but It really annoys me that every time we don’t sign a player that the press claim we are interested in is because of FFP.
It never seems to come down to the club only showing an interested and having other better options or because the player doesn’t fancy joining Aston Villa for whatever reason. It is always down to FFP.
The latest story is the contract situation with Alan Hutton. According to the press last week, the former Tottenham full-back has been told that he won’t be offered a new contract at the club.
First and foremost before I go into detail. Hutton has been a model professional at our football club and I would love nothing more than for him to stick around but there is no room for sentiments in modern day football.
Hutton will turn 34 in November and IF we get promoted, questions will be asked if he could still do a job in the top league. On top of that, he currently earns an estimated £30,000 a week. That’s a whopping £1.56 million a year. You can see why FFP is starting to come into it now can’t you? The club isn’t short in that position either.
Bruce said to The Birmingham Mail: “I think I said to Alan, I had to be honest with him to say, ‘Look, at this position where we are we’re not in a position to offer anybody a new contract. The way the situation with the club is in finances and Financial Fair Play and I think we all need to know where we are, whether we’re in the Championship or we’re in the Premier League – if we’re in the Championship we’ll have to cut, it’s as straightforward as that.”
The sad reality is, that is the position the football club currently finds itself in. The problem I have with FFP is it shouldn’t be the problem of the football supporter and ultimately that is who it is affecting right now.
There are a handful of football clubs on this planet who can buy themselves pretty much anyone. The rest of us, can’t! Even Manchester City have recently pulled out of deals because they claim they can’t compete financially because of FFP with their city rivals, United.
FFP was originally bought into the game to stop the richer clubs running away with the titles, buying who they want and making club football much more competitive. For me and a lot of other fans, it appears to be having the effect FFP was introduced to prevent. The richer clubs are still getting richer and running around with titles leaving the rest of the footballing world behind.
FFP wasn’t brought in to stop rich clubs running away with titles
It was brought in to try and force clubs to live within their means, be they big or small. The aim is to try and prevent the Peter Ridsdale effect of boom or bust management.
I think there is plenty of money sloshing around at Villa Park . The big problem we have is that it is going in the wrong direction . We can all shake our heads at some of the bad decisions made by those that Direct us . The legacy of all this is that the funds that should be going to reward effort , commitment and passion – as should be the case with Alan Hutton , it finishes in the fat bank accounts of players that contribute absolutely nothing . Using FFP is a cop out . Management have put the handcuffs on our developing back into Premiership contention and will continue to have their noses in the trough long after the disappearance of an excellent example of an individual that has shown us all the way to achieve . How old was Irwin at Man U when he finally left the stage ?
[…] a week where it has been revealed that Alan Hutton, a player who has given his all for the club in the face of adversity, will not be given a contract […]