With Aston Villa seemingly on the brink of civil war, Dave Woodhall, editor of the Villa fanzine Heroes and Villans, asks just who was behind Friday's statement.
Whoever was behind the alleged statement launching the latest 'Crisis at Villa' headlines has a justified case. Though it's rare for Premier-ship footballers to think much beyond which sports car they'll be buying this week or which Caribbean island they fancy retiring to, I've no doubt that morale at Bodymoor Heath isn't all that it should be.
With a predictable denial from the club that none of the first-team squad was involved in presenting any such statement to the press, the story took another twist. There are questions now as to the involvement, if any, of David O'Leary, in the affair.
Whether the statement exists, whether a few players or the entire first-team squad agree with its sentiments, and who may or may not be pulling the strings behind the scenes, is irrelevant.
The events of the weekend may, in the long run, prove beneficial in that they might bring events to a head, but at the moment Villa are being seen in the wider football world as a laughing stock - more than a month before the first ball of the season is kicked.
We're being talked about as relegation candidates, and one recent survey showed that many supporters believe this to be a strong possibility. A club of Villa's stature should at the very least be in the position they were five or six years ago - regulars in the top eight and challenging for Europe. Now, even mid-table mediocrity seems a difficult task.
The sentiments of the statement were entirely correct. The club appears to have no ambition besides avoiding relegation, the penny-pinching ethos by which Doug Ellis sets such store has proved itself totally inadequate to the needs of a 21st century football club and an air of decline surrounds Villa Park.
Not since the summer of 1987, when Graham Taylor arrived from Watford, declared the place a "mess" and proceeded to transform the club from top to bottom, have things seemed so bad.
There needs to be a clear-out, and it should begin this morning. Whatever his successes or otherwise since 1982, Ellis should announce his intention to retire and a proper replacement with full executive powers appointed as a priority. O'Leary should be backed, or sacked - preferably the latter.
The players should each look in the mirror and ask themselves if, far from questioning the club's ambition, they are giving their all. They certainly didn't show much ambition to move out of the bottom six throughout most of last season.
The summer should be a time of hope for all football supporters, with old failings forgotten and new arrivals providing confidence in the future. But I can see only one way that Aston Villa are going - the same place as we did 20 years ago.
n Steven Davis believes Aston Villa have been given a pre-season lift by the return to fitness of Martin Laursen and Patrik Berger.
Danish defender Laursen and Czech midfielder Berger made only ten appearances between them last season, with Laursen sidelined after a single match.
But the pair returned for pre-season training last week and Davis said: "They missed most of last season through injury but they're quality players and it is a boost to have them back. We need that competition. It pushes every player and it can only be good for the squad."
Northern Ireland midfielder Davis is hoping Villa can make a flying start to the new campaign even though it starts against Arsenal in their first Premiership match at the Emirates Stadium.
He said: "We start with what is obviously a tough game but we just have to prepare right, get down there and do our best. After that we've got two home games (against Reading and Newcastle) and we know we have to improve on the poor home record last season."
