I know I did this the other day but I'm just reiterating what I wrote because it needs to be said. To get a new Ashley Young is going to cost somewhere in the region of £30mn and his agent knows that.
His agent also knows that in one more season at Aston Villa his player will be able to command £150,000 a week and quite possibly more. Football is all about money these days and if Ashley Young is on £65,000 a week, as is speculated, he needs to be offered something in the region of double what he is earning now.
It is about taking the next step and if we don't take it with the player, he will take it with someone else. What the club have to do is decide if they are going to take that next step. They didn't with Gareth Barry or James Milner and this summer we will see if they want to take it this time with Ashley Young.
The thing is, if it was Albrighton, Gabby or Gardner, they would likely be more willing to wait to see if we made the leap to the next level and quite possibly happy to stay within the unwritten salary cap that is in place at most clubs, because they are graduates of the Aston Villa academy. They are part of the club as much as the club is part of them.
Ashley Young isn't. He has already left his boyhood club for another club in the same league and those players are a little different. Those players have already demonstrated that they will move for more money and brighter lights.
What I'm writing is this; if the club really do have plans to make a move on the top four and if they really do see Ashley Young as part of that process and the player was telling the truth when he told us he was happy and enjoying his time at the club, then we all know what he wants and we all know what has to be offered.
I'm not saying it is right. I'm just saying that that is the game we are playing and those are the rules. We either play the game because we want to win, we play to stay in the game or we are playing for something else.
I write this because the speculation doesn't seem to want to go away and I want to draw a line under it, I want to wait until we hear from the player, the club or another club in some form of official capacity. I'm not stopping you, but I just want a post to reference.
Reserve team action
Right, some news! The reserve side beat the Liverpool reserve side 3-1 last night and Marc Albrighton got one and Gary Gardner got two. I mention this because it is connected to the Nigel Reo-Coker story from yesterday.
You see, Gary Gardner could be the replacement. Gary Gardner could very well be our very own Paul Scholes. But I'm only going on what I've read. Only seeing him play a handful of times, I can't comment with authority.
The Rooney affair
Now, this is an Aston Villa blog, but I want to touch on this. One of the papers talked about a severe punishment for Rooney over his swearing into the camera incident at the weekend and actually, it looks like his team is going to be punished for this as he faces a two match ban.
Is that right? I ask, because all the FA are then doing is passing the buck to them. Why not fine Rooney a proper amount. If the player is to be punished, why not hit the player where it hurts too?
I know this is fairly radical, but ban the player for two games; this puts pressure on the club to get an employee in line, but also fine him and really hit him where it hurts and not just half a weeks wage, but three months and then throw that money direct into grassroots football.
I know it has nothing to do with us, but how severe a punishment is a two match ban to the player? Right, that is it for now. Coffee and papers and a plan for lunch.