Mark Ansell worked as finance director and deputy chief executive for six years under chairman Doug Ellis (right)
Aston Villa have "gone to the casino, rolled the dice and it hasn't worked" in their failed bid to return to the Premier League, according to the club's former finance director Mark Ansell.
Losing the Championship play-off final saw Villa miss out on around £160m.
And amid reports of owner Dr Tony Xia needing to sell the club, Villa are currently working with HM Revenue & Customs to resolve an unpaid tax bill.
"You have to question the management of the club," Ansell told BBC WM.
"The Revenue would have looked at the play-offs as a 'get out of jail free' card. When they didn't win that promotion, they would then have been questioning whether or not they could get their money.
"Villa have gone to the casino, they've rolled the dice and it hasn't worked."
Villa will spend a third successive season in the Championship following last month's Wembley defeat by Fulham, after which manager Steve Bruce warned that there might be "difficult times ahead".
Captain John Terry, who would have triggered a contract extension had Villa gone up, left the club last week.
Then, on Tuesday, Villa suspended chief executive Keith Wyness, who was appointed by Xia when he took over during the summer of 2016.
Wyness' suspension is in no way connected to the club's unpaid tax bill.
Former England captain John Terry joined Villa last summer but has left the club after their play-off final defeat
The club reported a loss of £14.5m for the 2016-17 season, their first in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League and first under Xia's ownership.
That was a significant reduction on the £80.7m loss in 2015-16, when Villa were relegated from the top flight for the first time since 1987.
'Far more questions than answers' - analysis
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire from Liverpool University
Villa bought players for £88m but a lot were on credit and a lot of those deals are yet to be finalised. They also probably had the highest wage bill in the Championship last season and meeting that on a monthly basis is a significant outgoing.
You have to pay your PAYE and VAT bills on a monthly basis. But the tax authorities don't normally jump up and down if you're just late on one payment. So you'd have to assume that tax bills have not been paid for two or three months. That's when HMRC start to get more nervous.
Tony Xia has put in about £4m a month from his own pocket since he took over. He can pay it from his independent wealth. Whether he can get the money out of China is another thing. That and whether he's reached the stage where he's fed up of subsidising it to the extent that he has done over the last two years.
They should get their financial parachute payment from the Premier League but there are currently far more questions than answers.
Aston Villa have been thrown into financial turmoil and face the threat of being served with a winding-up petition by HMRC, after the Championship club failed to pay a tax bill that was due last Friday. The news that Villa had missed a tax payment emerged on the same day that Keith Wyness, the chief executive, was suspended as a sense of crisis deepened at the Midlands club.
Aston Villa face task of keeping Jack Grealish after Wembley agony | Ian Malin Read more
Villa are currently working with HMRC to try to find a resolution to a problem that is likely to be solved in the short term but threatens to resurface in one way or another further down the line because of the wider financial issues at a club that has been operating beyond its means and was essentially gambling on returning to the Premier League.
It is understood that the outstanding HMRC tax bill is in the region of £4m. Even if Villa make that payment in the coming days – there are suggestions that HMRC will have their money by the end of the week – the feeling within the club is that another financial issue could be around the corner unless there is some sort of cash injection.
Tony Xia, Villa’s owner, is not short of money but moving funds out of China is not straightforward. The worry for Villa’s supporters will be that the unpaid tax bill is a sign of things to come, so much so that the threat of administration, which is seen as the worst-case scenario for the club, cannot be dismissed.
The decision to suspend Wyness is not directly linked to the missed tax payment and says more about the chief executive’s relationship with Xia, the billionaire Chinese businessman who bought Villa two years ago, and the way in which things have unravelled during talks between the pair since the play-off final defeat by Fulham at Wembley less than a fortnight ago.
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In a frank statement released last week Xia warned that Villa “will face severe Financial Fair Play challenges next season”. The club’s owner went on to say that Villa had been “heavily investing for the past two seasons” but that defeat against Fulham “means that we need to change a lot of things”.
Although there has been speculation about fresh investment at Villa via new ownership, no takeover is imminent and everything points to a hugely challenging summer ahead, with the departure of Jack Grealish, the club’s prize asset, looking increasingly inevitable.
Football has not seen too many falls off cliffs as spectacular as Aston Villa’s following their Championship play-off final less than two weeks ago at Wembley.
Steve Bruce’s side have gone from being 90 minutes from Premier League promotion to staring into the abyss of administration, unsure of what will happen next.
Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the serious issues which are mounting for Villa and answers your questions on the worrying situation.
Aston Villa have fallen off a financial cliff after losing the Championship play-off final
What’s gone wrong?
Villa are facing administration because of serious financial issues, which makes their loss to 10-man Fulham in the final all the more miserable.
Promotion to the Premier League is worth around £170million and it appears Villa were banking on that when they started paying out significant wages at the start of this season.
John Terry, for example, was earning £60,000 a week – a steep salary in the Championship and one they can no longer afford. Villa were also paying £42,000 of Robert Snodgrass’ £60,000 during his season-long loan from West Ham.
Now, Villa must raise around £40m to avoid being found in breach of the Football League’s Financial Fair Play rules.
Villa offered huge wages - £60,000 a week to John Terry for example - with promotion in mind
What was Tuesday’s fall-out all about?
Keith Wyness, the chief executive, was suspended on Tuesday after Villa failed to pay a late tax bill just shy of £5m to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
As Sportsmail’s Laurie Whitwell told us, it is believed Villa had been given until last Friday to settle the overdue sum but missed the date and were threatened with a winding-up order.
Villa claim it will be resolved soon with an initial payment of £2m, but owner and chairman Tony Xia has been accused of failing to put cash into the club for three months.
Xia, who has no financial issues himself with an estimated fortune of £1billion, is said to have been struggling to get money out of China following a government clampdown.
Keith Wyness, chief executive, was suspended on Tuesday after Villa failed to pay a late tax bill
Where is Xia and was it his call to suspend Wyness?
Xia has been in China since Villa’s play-off final defeat 10 days ago and he is said to have suspended Wyness after the two had a disagreement.
According to some, Xia was unhappy with Wyness advising they settle their hefty tax bill owed to HMRC. There is no suggestion that Wyness has been accused of wrongdoing but Xia has now announced he will take over as chief executive until further notice.
In an alternative version of events it has been claimed Wyness was attempting to bring together a consortium to buy the club without Xia's knowledge, who then found out and acted.
Owner Tony Xia suspended Wyness amid talk he was lining up an alternative takeover bid
Is there a solution?
There could be. What happens next may depend on the valuations of Xia. There is understood to be interest from Peter B Freund, a shareholder in baseball’s New York Yankees, in buying Villa for £75m.
These days, that kind of cash signs you a striker for a top-four Premier League club. Will Xia accept that? The Chinese businessman is believed to have valued Villa at £100m initially.
However, given the severity of their financial woes and issues with the HMRC, he could lower it. He may struggle to get a full £100m, given their threat of administration.
Peter B Freund, shareholder in New York Yankees, is understood to be keen on buying Villa
How does this have an influence on the actual team?
This has led to uncertainty over players’ futures. Terry, their captain of last season, is not set to re-sign when his one-year contract officially expires at the end of this month. West Ham’s Snodgrass is the same.
Meanwhile, we are already deep into the summer window and signings are no doubt down the list of priorities at Villa.
Plus, to find those £40m of savings to adhere to FFP regulations, Jack Grealish could be sold. Villa would want around £30m for him alone, as well as £10m for James Chester.
Villa are set for a reduced final year of parachute payments worth around £16m next season. That does not help you out a lot these days.
Tom Cairney's winner for Fulham at Wembley could prove extremely expensive for Villa
And the manager?
Bruce has still not been told by the club that they want him to continue and is said to be considering his future. The now-suspended Wyness was among his allies.
Also, without investment, it is unlikely Bruce will be able to push for promotion with Villa again next season, particularly as he loses the influence of Terry and potentially Grealish.
He is believed to be open to staying but does Bruce have the backing of the board? No-one knows yet, not even him apparently.
Villa manager Steve Bruce is now in an uncertain position amid behind-the-scenes issues
And Xia has stayed silent throughout this?
He is something of a maverick on social media. His last update on Twitter came three days after the defeat by Fulham.
It read: ‘Still hurting. Felt even more when you realise how much all ppl love the club, gaffer, the whole squad, including myself, have given everything but still didn’t achieve our target. Also very difficult to verify ppl showing their real personality and humanity at this tough moment.’
Villa released a statement about Wyness, but there is no comment yet about a takeover
What have the club said amid all this chaos?
Villa released a statement on Tuesday but only addressed the Wyness news, not whether they were looking for a buyer.
‘Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that chief executive, Keith Wyness, has been suspended by the club with immediate effect,’ it said.
‘Owner and chairman, Dr Tony Xia will assume the role until further notice. There will be no further comment from the club at this time.’
There will be a lot of work going on behind the scenes. Villa have found themselves pushed into a corner and have to fight hard to get out.
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Aston Villa owner, Dr Tony Xia, has been bankrolling the former European Champions from the moment he set foot inside Villa Park.
Each month, money would arrive from China, into Villa's bank account to make good the shortfall in normal trading operations.
That has happened, without fail, for the past two years.
Only last month, it didn't. April's money was received. May's wasn't. There was no sign of it turning up. It still hasn't.
Incredibly, that is all it has taken to bring this great football club – this cornerstone of the English game - to its knees.
One missed monthly payment. It's a sizeable one. Aston Villa are running a £5-6m monthly deficit on their current outgoings. But still.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
(Image: Neville Williams)
And now that has set in motion a chain of events that is likely to see the club change ownership. That is one scenario.
The other is far more unpalatable. Administration – or, if a position with HMRC is not met – a winding up order may be issued.
No more Aston Villa. Doesn't bear thinking about.
Obviously, promotion to the Premier League would have solved the on-going cash crisis.
No wonder Xia, who sat stony-faced at Wembley as Fulham cavorted around the pitch just ten days ago, was unable to show any other emotion.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
His world was just about to come crashing around him.
Perhaps it was a taste of things to come. Xia did not sit with his chief executive, Keith Wyness, at the play-off final. Behind the scenes, they had been seated on separate tables.
Strange, you might think, for the two chief decision-makers not to be joined at the hip – to not share the inevitable joy or pain that was about to be inflicted upon them.
But the writing was on the wall.
A few weeks earlier, Wyness, along with director of football Steve Round, had delivered a presentation to Xia at Bodymoor Heath, outlining the two courses of action that would be taken once Villa had qualified for the end-of-season lottery English football calls the play-offs.
One was promotion to the Premier League, the other staying right where Villa were, in the Championship.
Xia received the news. Didn't blink. Didn't move a muscle. Did not utter one single word.
The three-minute silence was eventually broken by Rongtien He, Xia's eyes and ears at Villa Park.
The result of that meeting led Wyness to confess later to a high-level colleague: “Anything other than promotion is not an option.”
By the time the final whistle blew at Wembley, the chief executive knew that he had to act. He had to take action as per his fiduciary duties as a director of the club.
He knew that the money from the Far East had not been received into Villa's bank account. He had to do something. And swiftly.
(Image: PA)
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Late last week, with the club's payroll due on Friday, Wyness was on the phone, trying to raise the cash to pay it.
Burnley were contacted. Villa were due another chunk of money from Ashley Westwood's £5m transfer later this month.
They took a hit but the money turned up and the staff were paid. Wyness knew that this could not keep going indefinitely.
Any director who has an inkling that the club is trading insolvently must take advice. That was incumbent upon him.
As a director, he could also put the club into administration. It was that which has led Xia to trashing Wyness's reputation after Villa released a statement suspending their chief executive yesterday afternoon.
(Image: REUTERS)
(Image: Action Plus)
The next bill was from HMRC for £4.2m. That was the lever for Xia to use to put Wyness on gardening leave.
The authorities have been as aggressive as you might expect them to be in recovering that cash.
In just over three weeks time, Villa are due to make another payroll payment.
The bills just keep coming. And the cash position is little short of horrendous.
Anyone seeking to take on Villa as a going concern will have to make good a staggering £70m shortfall during the course of the next 12 months.
Due to existing contractual commitments the budget is showing a £25m deficit for 2019-20.
That is a £100m hole that needs plugging.
The parachute payment from the Premier League has dropped to £15m. The cash call is growing, not slowing.
Anyone interested in Villa will have to show a commitment to meeting those costs.
At this rate, Xia won't be seeing much back for his £150m gamble during the past two seasons.
He will be lucky to see the club change hands for £1 because someone has got to make good on his reckless calls.
(Image: Birmingham Mail)
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
Due to the football creditors' rule, the likes of Micah Richards, Pierluigi Gollini, Ross McCormack – none of whom kicked a ball in anger last season – will all have to be paid their monstrous salaries.
Xia will be lucky if he trousers anything from this.
He could, of course, raise some cash from selling assets.
Jack Grealish is the main one. A public auction might top £30m for the playmaker who has the world at his feet.
That would meet some of the on-going costs. Buy him some time, potentially, to off-load the club to a buyer.
(Image: REUTERS)
(Image: Clive Mason)
And what of Steve Bruce, the manager who drew together a disparate dressing-room and took Villa to within 90 minutes of diverting this disaster from public attention?
His future has been a subject of debate on message boards and in social media.
He will stay put. He's a tough cookie, Bruce. And anyway, paying him off is a long way down the club's list of priorities.
For now, Xia's got bigger issues to sort out. Like keeping Aston Villa afloat.
