[adzii_nufc]

If I didn't know Newcastle had plenty of cash behind them I'd be worried now. At near £30 million and Benitez bent on persuading Townsend to snub any release clause, its already likely Newcastle as a championship club will outspend quite a few Premier League clubs. Without massive cash backing, failure to be promoted would be catastrophic. At the same time spending this money and failing promotion would be embarrasing to say the least.

I say this and obviously I can rest easily but the point was to reflect on the situation Aston Villa find themselves in. If they take a gamble and match spending but fail to be promoted then the club could be in financial ruin. Newcastle went down with the same £300million transfer pledge at £50-60m per window and then received a parachute payment. Not to mention massive recoups of money from certain players should they opt out. Villa went down with just the Parachute payment and absolutely no backing from the owner whom has truly ruined their club. Can give Mike Ashley all the stick in the world but he wouldn't let Newcastle die the way Lerner has pulled the rug from under Villa. Can't believe he couldn't provide the financial backing to keep Villa competitive whilst searching for a buyer.

I'm putting Lerner is the same boat as those nutters at Blackpool.