MikeMcKenna

Definitely not. This was as big a shock to Neville as everyone else

Its definitely true! The Comer Brothers gave up but Neville has kept plugging away and is now very close to making a bid. Before anyone dismisses the guy remember he is Villa through and through. He's a successful businessman with BIG plans for Villa. He needs our support this is a big chance! He's originally fro the Aston Area and has supported Villa for nigh on 46 years.

Personally think they have got the wrong end of the stick, 2 + 2 = 5 type thinking. You may be right but imo its back on again. Here's the scenario: Ellis: F**k Neville and the Comer Brothers if they think they can get the club for 10 mill less. Stridey boy get Rothchilds in here. We'll stick AVFC on the market and get loads of interest at the asking price. Three months later.... Stride: Mr Ellis, sir, Ive called Rothchilds on the the hour every hour for the last three months and they still havent come up with a buyer. D-D-Do Y-Y-You think we should call Neville and the Comers Brothers again? Ellis: Stridey my boy, I'm not getting any younger but I am damned if I'll sell to a couple of itinerant plasters from Galway for less then the asking price!!!!!! Give it a couple more weeks and we'll leak it via someone at the meaning evil that we might be prepared to negotiate!

Sorry this statement really is b*****ks! Football has very little to do with reality for fans whoever they support. It has however a lot to with peoples dreams and therefore living in fantasy land. Long may we revel in past memories and continue to dream of reliving former glories. F**k realityville! The day fans go there is the day most quit following football. Unlike the Egyptian and Roman civilizations you refer to in your analogy, Aston Villa Football Club still exists. It very much has the potential to return to its former greatness once Nero Ellis stops fiddling and f**ks off

Richard are you saying that what ever he does "that DOL is NOT the right manager for us."? What would change your mind? Pardew at West Ham was villified etc etc - but turned it round and they now love him.

Found this picture and snippet about our possble new owners http://tinyurl.com/bfltf

lol

Hi Ian I dont buy the idea that he is trying to hang on. He MUST be selling. If he had no intention of selling the deal would have foundered before now. I dont trust the old bastard one iota BUT the notion that he is trying to hang on to the club just doesnt make sense. There must be something more to why it is taking so long. It has to be related to the value of business 1) Petchey wants to sell 2) The Comers knew the asking price back in Sept/Oct? 3) BUT a year on year, month on month analysis of the finances I am sure will indicate, that the value of the business is declining rapidly I know that football businesses are not strictly valued like a typical business, but there still has to be some kind of formula. AVFC in Sept 2005 was on paper definitely worth more than it is now- this imho is the problem. By not spending they are trying (in the short term only!) to enhance the value

Is this now the "Go v Don't Go Thread" ? :winkold:

Tell us more.....

Possibly. Maybe they are just interested in the land? Interesting how Ellis a few weeks back mentioned he wouldn't sell to asset strippers? Can't see it being the only reason but I accept that they could just buy the club plus all the assets and then just move the club onto other buyers at some point. The Comers are very sharp property developers - they would have a much greater knowledge of land values that ellies etc They knew about the failed planning application so must have other ideas. There can be no doubt that they would know the value of the land that Villa owns - it is possible I suppose that they may view the Bodymoor Heath land as having more potential and being more valuable for housing etc ellies reference to "asset strippers" is imo indicative of the sticking point being the value of the land and may be true but I still think we will be better off away from ellies or anyone like him who uses a football club to feather his own nest and boost their own ego's

I refer the honourable gentleman to the the post I made last night ;-) Just read it and I am beginning to agree. At least the Glazers had an interest in Sports. These people have no interest whatsoever. There was an interview with the chairmn of Leyton Orient and he basically said you don't take over a football club to mke money, you'd never get the books to balance. He never met with Ellis then. Do you really think the Glazers bought ManUSA because they have "an interest in sports"? his takeover was financed by, banks and or other financial institutions and through loans secured against Manchester United itself. He didnt put any of his own money in (to the best of my knowledge) The Comers have never made any secret of the fact that see it as business and surely it is naive to expect them or anyone else to part with£50-60 million for the "love of it". We have had 23+ years of someone whose business methods are akin to running a corner shop and we have rightly criticised him for it. Along come a couple of very successful business people who have a proven track record and there are already suggestions that they would run the club in a similar fashion to ellies "We could end up in a situation where there is no cash to buy players season in season out, just like now really" Do people seriously believe they would spend this amount of money with their background just to maintain the status quo on the football front and are only in it to develop some brown field sites in Aston?

The way the club are leaking information is a f'cking disgrace its supposed to be a plc not a tinpot business! Its all down to ellies amateurism and money grabbing yet again. In case anyone forgets the old bastard has already made a killing in terms of millions from the first sharelisting, dividends and salaries. He now wants to make another killing to prove to his ego that he is a great businessman. In reality he is just a money grabbing C***! ellies is obviously using the media to do his negotiations for him and the Comer brothers team is having to in turn respond to all the leaks "off the record". Clearly the Comers are not "short" by £10 million but have obviously said that £54 million (?) is on the table and ellis and his cronies are trying to out bluff them. Note there is no longer any debate about whether the Comers will invest etc in AVFC or have the clubs best interests at heart...... its ALL about the "asking price"!!!!!

I agree & it sort of prooves us all right in the end, the geezer could never ever see the big picture of either football or business. I think the deal is done & all this Bolox smells of Ellis. This is all smoke from him. I predict the following to come out of Ellis:- "After weeks of hard ball I have got X more millions for the club" translation for the real world "Could have been done months ago but I thought I would string it out a bit too make out I am a hard nosed Business man when everyone knows I am a blue nosed tosser. I am sitting pretty now with millions of pounds in my bank & all i gave them was the 2 oke coke cups in 20 years" LOL Post of the day imo

Obviously they dont value the business as highly as ellis. I doubt very much that they can't raise £10 million - more likely they cant justify the valuation

I don't know if this is a rehash but it was published 2 hours ago - still no quotes but it looks totally dead now......... **** ELLIS!

Hmmm can't agree on that, £lies is still trying to get the best deal possible for himself and himself alone. For once its not £lies thats pulling away from this deal its the primary investors of AVIL (the Comers) because they dont think their interest in the deal (the associated land) is worth the investment and given the previous planning permission fiasco they are probably right about that. But moving on to Neville finding other investors, even if he does I don't think I want him as chairman, Yes he's a Villa man, Yes he has the best interess of the cluyb at heart but ultimately he won't have that much power as his backers could decide to pull the plug at anytime. If Neville was to take charge, in chairman terms he'd be just like Bill Kenwright constantly looking for outside investment to try and keep the club moving along and in all likelyhood he'd be failing in the task as its not easy to find investors inf football as our many failed taleover attempts have shown (as have Kenwrights continual investment announcement bungles for that matter) What we really need is someone who is financially strong in themselves and can commit his own funding in the short to medium term whilst trying to build the club but unfortunately the club being a PLC does hinder this type of takeover. Bicks, You are absolutely right imo on whether ellies is trying to find someone "who loves the club" - the money grabbing bastard will sell to whoever meets his asking price. I am still staggered that some people believed all the spin that ellies puts out As regards finding someone who "can commit his own funding in the short to medium term" In an ideal world I again agree but in the absence of this single wealthy individual there is also a lot to be said for having an avid Villa fan as chairman representing a consortium of investors. Bill Kenwright inherited a load of debt - that wouldnt the case at Villa. The Abromavitch's of this world are far a few between - even Glazier at ManUSA used financiers to raise the money rather than his own. A consortium of wealthy (if not super wealthy) individuals could imo work.

True but its also been reported that Villa have used up the English quota and can only loan from overseas. I believe DOL had a CB lined up to purchase and because the "Takeover" has dragged on he has had to put his plans on ice. He may now not have time to get an overseas loan in place

I still believe the deal will happen. As someone said earlier I also believe the the "takeover" is the reason that the money for a CB has dissapperared. A moratorium on major spending is often a standard practice/requirement during due diligence.

Silent Bob I really can't see the rationale for this statement. Whether we like it or not premiership football is "business" and we know that anyone that buys Villa is not being purely altruistic. Also we knew from the outset (or at least assumed) that the Comer Brothers were not just in it for the fun of it. You then go on to talk about the land AVFC owns and say even though it's less than the £20m that Ellis seems to want for it. If this is true do you not think that the Comer Brothers are right to play hard ball (if this is what they are doing) and lets face it, both they AND ellis are "in it for the money" £60 odd million is a lot of dosh and frankly I would want to analyse in AVFC finances in minute detail after ellis had been in charge for 23+ years.

Personally I cheer a Villa goal and not Hendrie - he is and never has been a favourite or hero of mine, and over the last 3 seasons in particular - I have come to view him as a makeweight because the club wouldnt fork out for true class. IF he WAS that good imho he would have left years ago and rather than staying through loyalty I think none of the other premiership managers rated him as highly as Villa did. I have always been at loss to understand why so many Villa fans have rated he so highly. imo his lack of class has been part of the problem we have had for so long in midfield and other than a few brief flashes he has rarely looked like becoming a class act. He has always been good at short one two's, little through balls and rapid interplay, but he lacks vision, rarely make a long pinpoint pass, has little pace over distance. His inability to control his mouth and indiscipline on the pitch has cost us much over the years. I dont deny that he has shown "passion" but I doubt few fans will ever claim that he was one of the a great or even very good players of his generation.

Got to be Davis. We should have got rid of Hendrie years ago, no bottle, no brains, massive ego and over-rated to boot! Over the last 3/4 seasons in particular his contribution at best has been in 4/5 game spells but in reality he has never had the class, attitude, skill or temperament to be great. But ellis and several Villa managers have hung on to hope that he "will one day reach his potential" rather than buy someone with class. I dont think Davis is the finished article yet - but he could with time become the next Dennis Mortimer!!

Because Man City have more ambition than us? What a load of bollox eh! Get our money then shit on us as usual!

We won't know this till August 31st. Until then you and Dick are just guessing. dont_do_it_doug, Until then you are just HOPING!

BL could no longer bear the smell of piss every day!