Prem is NOT the top target this season Purslow: We don’t expect or require Villa to get up quickly – we are trying to do things the right way...
CHRISTIAN Purslow does not believe the plans owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have for Aston Villa demand that the club is promoted to the Premier League this season.
The chief executive, who was appointed in August, has claimed the new regime is ‘profoundly ambitious’ in the long term after rescuing Villa from a dark period in its history, following the 1-0 play-off final defeat to Fulham in May.
Villa are into the final year of receiving parachute payments following relegation from the top flight in 2016. But having already brought in Dean Smith as successor to Steve Bruce, and with Villa threatening in recent weeks to put together form that would force them right into the Championship promotion reckoning, Purslow insists Villa are relatively relaxed about their credentials.
“It’s not critical at all. The club was at its lowest ebb the day after the play-off final. A winding-up order was served – the club was unable to meet a payment of under £5 million to the tax authorities,” said Purslow, when asked if promotion was a must. “Nassef and Wes sent in tens of millions of pounds directly into the club, clearing the liabilities and effectively creating a clean slate on which to build a recovery for the club.
“We’re not expecting or requiring to get promoted quickly. We’re trying to do things the right way in terms of the people we bring in to run the club and the way we play. It’s my job to make sure we manage the club sensibly and sustainably. They’re profoundly ambitious to get Aston Villa to its natural level. It’s a wonderful club, it sits in a hugely important region.
“Unlike London and Liverpool, Villa dominates, institutionally, the Midlands.
“The people have been unbelievably welcoming. On four separate weeks we’ve had the fourth-largest crowd in Britain. It’s my duty to do everything to get the club back to the upper reaches of the Premier League; to below the top six who, for financial reasons, the depressing predictability is they’ll be the top six for the foreseeable future.”
Purslow, who has previously worked at Chelsea and Liverpool, is not short on experience of elite football at board level. He was quick to point towards the passion and knowledge of Sawiris and Edens as a way of explaining just why they decided to purchase the club.
“I’ve been lucky to work at two great clubs prior to this, and when I was asked to meet Nassef and Wes, who’d just bought the club, I went with an open mind,” he explained. “When they described their plans and their reasons for buying the club and their approach, I felt they’d be excellent owners and I couldn’t resist the temptation to take my privilege and the luck I’ve had to be in football and apply it to a club at the lowest point in its history.
“We’re (the owners) in daily contact but one of the things I like about them is they are demonstrably capable in their own business and have experience of professional sport at the highest level.
“We all know a number of American owners struggled initially with that transition, but they’re good owners. Nassef is the largest shareholder of Adidas – they’re not new to the world of football.”