Premiership: Gregory - we've got to move forward

Aston Villa manager John Gregory has warned of the dangers of not strengthening his squad and claimed: ‘‘You have to spend a lot of money to even stand still in the Premiership.’’

Gregory has been effectively banned from bringing in any new players because of the continued unwilligness of the board of directors to make funds available for transfer fees.

The Villa chief calculates he has spent less than £3m (€4.85m) in the past 12 months - a mere drop in the ocean compared to the sprees of clubs like Leeds United and Manchester United.

Gregory has told his players not to rest on their laurels and believes the squad, currently seventh in the Premiership, has exceeded expectations given the limited amount of investment.

Gregory said: ‘‘Where we are at present is where we deserve to be, considering what we have spent.

‘‘I think the squad we’ve got at present, if you look at what we’ve spent and what we’ve got in return, has done better.

‘‘In the last two or three years, we’ve always been in or around that top six and then slipped out of it in the last couple of months of the season.

‘‘We’ve spent between two and £3m (€4.85m)in the last 12 months and we’re in about the same position as this time last year.

‘‘You’ve got to spend a lot of money to even stand still in the Premiership. You cannot afford to rest on your laurels.

‘‘Look at the champions of last season (Manchester United). They won the league by 10 points, were coasting at the end and then went out and spent nearly £50m (€81m).

‘‘They spent £19m (€30.7m)on probably the best striker in Europe in Ruud van Nistelrooy.

‘‘That’s how they viewed it. Despite winning by 10 points and having the league effectively sewn up by New Year’s Day, they still wanted more and still wanted to be better than anyone else.’’

Meanwhile, Gregory was waiting to see how chairman Doug Ellis would respond over his reaction towards a denial that former Holland coach Louis Van Gaal was lined up to replace him.

Gregory said that he had been unconvinced when Ellis had rang to inform him there was no truth in Saturday reports linking van Gaal with Villa.