Game of the day, actions speak louder than words, but words sell tickets and create optimism

Aston Villa are not actively for sale. That was yesterday. Today, it's money will be made available in the summer. None of this is news. First, the rumour started about Lerner looking for a buyer in December and right now, they're not actively looking for a buyer and that was why they never responded to the question when they were actively looking.

And now there is a story that money will be made available to the manager in the summer. But this isn't news either. Most knew that Lerner would provide more funds, just as soon as the club was in a good enough position to sustain the debt. The debt is where Lerner makes his money.

And I wrote that back in November 2011, so it coming this summer doesn't surprise me and you shouldn't be surprised either. It's about time for more debt.

But I'm not saying I knew, it was just a guess. Call it educated if you want, but why would Lerner borrow money from a bank and pay interest to them when he could lend it himself and make the money himself. And don't get me wrong, we'd all do the same. This is business for Lerner.

But the news coming out now is just PR and it's not a surprise it's coming from James Nursery either. His paper and the local press are all part of the same group and they're all tabloids. They write what the club want them to write so they get access that other papers and other media outlets don't get.

But this is where it gets interesting

O'Neill got access to funds, spent it and took us to sixth place. Sadly, his style of football was only ever going to take us that far unless he had a lot more cash. To take the next step up the ladder in a sustainable way, you have to play better football.

And if Lambert was to come in this summer and we were all full of hope and optimism and the money was made available to him, we'd all think that we were going to have another good go.

The thing is, the style of football we've seen from Lambert over the past 18 months, more often than not, reminds me of the football we used to get under O'Neill. And that worries me.

For O'Neill and for that matter Lambert, to break into the top four, you'd need unsensible and unsustainable spending and we all know that Lerner doesn't have the type of money or for that matter, that he's that stupid.

He will be sensible with the spending and here's the kicker; it's enough to take us to the next level, but not with this style of football. We need the style of football that the type of player we will bring in will want to play.

We need the style of football that these players will ultimately end up playing rather than using us as a stepping stone. So for me, unless Lambert focuses on that, we're just going in a circle.

And that circle will see us make the same mistakes and even though it's a circle that Lerner is happy to be in (he lends, the club pays him back, he doesn't lose anything) are we going to be happy with false hope?

Make no mistake, the money is coming, it's time. But do you trust Lambert to get the right players and do you think he'll be able to get the players we have playing the right way?

I think he can, but I think he has to make real changes. If those changes aren't made, I think he'll get us close, but like O'Neill, it wont be close enough.

Expect an exciting summer; it'll be the highlight of our season if things don't change. But I also wrote that before too.

Game of the day: Where's Randy

Our owner isn't at Villa Park, so the game of the day is to find Randy Lerner. Can you find him?

He isn't at Villa Park, so where is Randy Lerner