Ben Johnston
@bmj106.bsky.social
Engineer. Remainer. Leftie. In that order.
I think Villa suffer more from early injuries in games than most others do. Like Emery has a game plan and spends all week working on it. Then McGinn gets injured in the first 20 and he has to throw it out the window. Add to that nothing on the bench and it messes everything up.
January 25, 2026 at 4:24 PM
I think Villa suffer more from early injuries in games than most others do. Like Emery has a game plan and spends all week working on it. Then McGinn gets injured in the first 20 and he has to throw it out the window. Add to that nothing on the bench and it messes everything up.
Hopefully playing more regularly will help him maintain fitness.
January 23, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Hopefully playing more regularly will help him maintain fitness.
This wording is so vague. Guna be interesting to get Ornstein and Tanswells take to understand whether Ozcan is on top of Abraham fee.
January 23, 2026 at 3:25 PM
This wording is so vague. Guna be interesting to get Ornstein and Tanswells take to understand whether Ozcan is on top of Abraham fee.
I think that's the most galling thing with all these PSR/SCR rules. They specifically allow clubs who are owned by gulf states to completely distort their finances. While at the same time forcing crazy anti competition rules on private companies and individuals.
January 22, 2026 at 5:09 PM
I think that's the most galling thing with all these PSR/SCR rules. They specifically allow clubs who are owned by gulf states to completely distort their finances. While at the same time forcing crazy anti competition rules on private companies and individuals.
This was my big takeaway too. Really need to hope we did the same this year too. But I haven't seen any big announcements that will move the needle.
January 22, 2026 at 12:32 PM
This was my big takeaway too. Really need to hope we did the same this year too. But I haven't seen any big announcements that will move the needle.
Yeah I felt that was likely. Presumably the sale of the women's team excluded too. The big questions are, did our amortization go up significantly with the purchase of Maatsen and Onana? Have we managed to further increase non broadcasting revenue to compensate for not getting CL football.
January 22, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Yeah I felt that was likely. Presumably the sale of the women's team excluded too. The big questions are, did our amortization go up significantly with the purchase of Maatsen and Onana? Have we managed to further increase non broadcasting revenue to compensate for not getting CL football.
Yeah me too. I don't really read any of them other than the villa one. But happy to keep the subscription purely because the level of detail justifies it.
January 22, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Yeah me too. I don't really read any of them other than the villa one. But happy to keep the subscription purely because the level of detail justifies it.
Having said that we made losses of 145m in 23/24 excluding transfers. That was off 120m less revenue so it stands to reason that we may actually be about there.
January 22, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Having said that we made losses of 145m in 23/24 excluding transfers. That was off 120m less revenue so it stands to reason that we may actually be about there.
Though whether they would be enough to ensure we break even or keep losses below €60m I have no clue.
January 22, 2026 at 7:36 AM
Though whether they would be enough to ensure we break even or keep losses below €60m I have no clue.
Would that revenue likely include any profit from the sale of Duran and Ramsey? Or is that treated differently?
In the Swiss Ramble model (which I can DM you if you want) they assume that transfers are separate.
So with the sales of them we would be at around SCR 70% for 2025 and passing.
In the Swiss Ramble model (which I can DM you if you want) they assume that transfers are separate.
So with the sales of them we would be at around SCR 70% for 2025 and passing.
January 22, 2026 at 7:35 AM
Would that revenue likely include any profit from the sale of Duran and Ramsey? Or is that treated differently?
In the Swiss Ramble model (which I can DM you if you want) they assume that transfers are separate.
So with the sales of them we would be at around SCR 70% for 2025 and passing.
In the Swiss Ramble model (which I can DM you if you want) they assume that transfers are separate.
So with the sales of them we would be at around SCR 70% for 2025 and passing.
If we could get almost any money for him it would free up a LOT of funds for a replacement. If we pay his replacement only £100k we could spend up to £30m replacing him in the summer.
January 22, 2026 at 6:56 AM
If we could get almost any money for him it would free up a LOT of funds for a replacement. If we pay his replacement only £100k we could spend up to £30m replacing him in the summer.
I think so. But that would depend heavily on how important we feel he is for the dressing room. It wouldn't surprise me if the squad were a little sick of his antics too and he hasn't been that good this year (though the stats say he has).
He is on £150k with about £5m left on his transfer fee.
He is on £150k with about £5m left on his transfer fee.
January 22, 2026 at 6:53 AM
I think so. But that would depend heavily on how important we feel he is for the dressing room. It wouldn't surprise me if the squad were a little sick of his antics too and he hasn't been that good this year (though the stats say he has).
He is on £150k with about £5m left on his transfer fee.
He is on £150k with about £5m left on his transfer fee.
It is stunning to me that he has found a way to sound tough while threatening to raise taxes on his own people.
Imagine if Starmer wandered around saying "If Mauritius don't offer us a better deal I will raise VAT by 2 points"...
Imagine if Starmer wandered around saying "If Mauritius don't offer us a better deal I will raise VAT by 2 points"...
January 20, 2026 at 8:57 AM
It is stunning to me that he has found a way to sound tough while threatening to raise taxes on his own people.
Imagine if Starmer wandered around saying "If Mauritius don't offer us a better deal I will raise VAT by 2 points"...
Imagine if Starmer wandered around saying "If Mauritius don't offer us a better deal I will raise VAT by 2 points"...
I'm so grateful that I get to watch the team do everything that it is. After the days of Lerner and Xia it's almost miraculous. But it is so exhausting how fleeting it all feels. The rules are stacked against us but we don't seem to help ourselves. Thankfully Unai is working his magic on the pitch
January 15, 2026 at 6:40 PM
I'm so grateful that I get to watch the team do everything that it is. After the days of Lerner and Xia it's almost miraculous. But it is so exhausting how fleeting it all feels. The rules are stacked against us but we don't seem to help ourselves. Thankfully Unai is working his magic on the pitch
Hmm. I assumed it was different hence they refer to the 2025 reporting for 26/27 sporting sanctions. Regardless I don't think it makes much difference. The wording states "club has a football earnings deficit in reporting period 2025". Does that mean any deficit at all, or does it mean >60m
January 15, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Hmm. I assumed it was different hence they refer to the 2025 reporting for 26/27 sporting sanctions. Regardless I don't think it makes much difference. The wording states "club has a football earnings deficit in reporting period 2025". Does that mean any deficit at all, or does it mean >60m
Correct but it is 2025/26 now. So the 2026/27 situation depends on whether we managed to break even in the 2025 reporting (which I gather is to December 26)
January 15, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Correct but it is 2025/26 now. So the 2026/27 situation depends on whether we managed to break even in the 2025 reporting (which I gather is to December 26)
Though how on earth we replace him without missing out on European football in 27/28 I don't know.
January 15, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Though how on earth we replace him without missing out on European football in 27/28 I don't know.
I guess that list A restriction will apply in 2026/27 as I can't see that we would break even on football earnings in 2025. Though I guess we could make a big sale like Rogers for +£100m this summer and that would mean many of the sanctions would go away in the longer term.
January 15, 2026 at 10:46 AM
I guess that list A restriction will apply in 2026/27 as I can't see that we would break even on football earnings in 2025. Though I guess we could make a big sale like Rogers for +£100m this summer and that would mean many of the sanctions would go away in the longer term.
Yeah. They seem extremely tight. Suspect we will be hoping to move on a lot of higher earners who aren't starters like Mings, Bailey (permanently), Digne, Barkley, and one of Martinez or Watkins. But we will struggle to replace them with a big sale I guess.
January 15, 2026 at 10:40 AM
Yeah. They seem extremely tight. Suspect we will be hoping to move on a lot of higher earners who aren't starters like Mings, Bailey (permanently), Digne, Barkley, and one of Martinez or Watkins. But we will struggle to replace them with a big sale I guess.
I was re-reading the Swiss Ramble summary on our finances from the start of the season. Makes for grim reading tbh. Really don't see how we can hope to comply without another summer of sales. I suppose because of the work we have already done we shouldn't have any issues with the new PL rules.
January 15, 2026 at 8:34 AM
I was re-reading the Swiss Ramble summary on our finances from the start of the season. Makes for grim reading tbh. Really don't see how we can hope to comply without another summer of sales. I suppose because of the work we have already done we shouldn't have any issues with the new PL rules.
Yeah I was very surprised how crazy undervalued Iroegbunam was in that deal. Dobbin was known to be okay. Tim was one of our best prospects.
January 14, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Yeah I was very surprised how crazy undervalued Iroegbunam was in that deal. Dobbin was known to be okay. Tim was one of our best prospects.
You think Dobbin won't go for much? He is still young and I thought he was having an okay season. 7 goals and 5 assists in 17 games would seem pretty good for a 23 year old. Maybe £10m is a stretch but he's certainly not crap.
January 14, 2026 at 4:42 PM
You think Dobbin won't go for much? He is still young and I thought he was having an okay season. 7 goals and 5 assists in 17 games would seem pretty good for a 23 year old. Maybe £10m is a stretch but he's certainly not crap.
I make that 16 successes, 6 meh, 7 flops, and 3 TBD.
Of the flops Guess and was the most expensive.
There has obviously been a lot of reading and I would like to see that settle down. But in general it's a very positive picture
Of the flops Guess and was the most expensive.
There has obviously been a lot of reading and I would like to see that settle down. But in general it's a very positive picture
January 14, 2026 at 4:37 PM
I make that 16 successes, 6 meh, 7 flops, and 3 TBD.
Of the flops Guess and was the most expensive.
There has obviously been a lot of reading and I would like to see that settle down. But in general it's a very positive picture
Of the flops Guess and was the most expensive.
There has obviously been a lot of reading and I would like to see that settle down. But in general it's a very positive picture