Barry Fry, Director of League One club Peterborough United, has accused Aston Villa owner Dr Tony Xia of a lack of ambition.
Barry Fry has never been one to hold his tongue. But the Peterborough United Director’s stinging criticism of Aston Villa owner Tony Xia feels entirely unfair.
“What I am amazed at is the lack of ambition shown by the Villa owner – why buy Villa if you don’t want to take them back to the Premier League?” Fry said in quotes reported by the Birmingham Mail. “They have a great stadium, training ground and a huge fan base – I cannot believe the club is not backing Steve to the hilt.”
For one, Xia has backed Bruce to the hilt, keeping his faith in the Geordie gaffer even when results had turned at the start of the season. And that is without mentioning the £70million-plus that the Chinese businessman invested in transfers last season.
True, Villa have barely spent a penny this time round, but that is down to Financial Fair Play restrictions rather than any unwillingness from Xia to put his hand in his pocket.
And there is one way that Aston Villa’s affable owner can prove a point to Fry. By signing his star striker.
According to The Daily Mail, Villa are looking closely at Peterborough’s red-hot marksman Jack Marriott. QPR and Sunderland are also understood to be interested – while Fry admitted to the Peterborough Telegraph that Posh have turned down a £2million bid, believed to be from Leeds United.
Since signing from Luton Town, Marriott has scored 21 goals in 35 games for Peterborough, a remarkable record that makes him the most prolific striker in the Football League.
But will Villa be tempted to stretch their budget enough to tempt Peterborough into a sale? If they do, there should be no doubt in Fry’s mind about the club, or the owner’s, ambition.
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