Investor apathy towards football club shares is a fact, and escalating wage bills do little to quell concerns. Brummie club Aston Villa's price was static, just 9p off a 52-week low compared with a 250p high, despite revelations of a 'co-operation agreement' with Danish Super League club AB Football Club of Copenhagen. The teams are going to work together on scouting, training methods and player development. Deputy chief executive and financial director Mark Ansell said Villa's young players will be given experience abroad, while the club will gain access to the Scandinavian player pool, where it can 'source emerging players from within the EC without work permit issues'. These on-field developments are all well and good, but Villa recently unveiled a £1.4m (£2.65m) first-half pre-tax loss on sales of £16.9m (£13.2m). Its previous full-year figures showed profits before player trading falling from £5.4m to £4.3m, pegged back by a 16% rise in wages. Admittedly, house broker Old Mutual Securities has pencilled in a £4m profit and earnings of 22p for the year to 31 May, with £4.2m and 23.1p to follow in 2003. This leaves the shares trading on seven times forecast 2002 earnings. But ridiculous wages and the swings and roundabouts of player transfers can radically alter the picture. Still one for fans only.