McGregor1888

I'd rather be the club at the end of the process buying the player for £50 million.

This post epitomizes why a lack of success has become acceptable to some of our fans. Its a fine notion to have home grown players in your team but will our academy ever produce enough quality at the one time to form a successful team in the Premiership? a ) People, including yourself, need to **** off with this "lack of success has become acceptable", "lowered expectations" nonsense. We've won 2 trophies in 31+ years - 0 trophies in 18 years. Of course I accept that we're not a top team, for **** sake. b ) Depends what you define as successful. A league winning team, though? No. No academy will. Do you have the ambition for Villa to be a top team? Winners dream, think big and make things happen. Losers tend to rest on their laurels, have low expectations of themselves and those around them. I think so many fans have had the hope kicked out of them by years of Doug Ellis and Lerner that they dare not think of Villa competing for big prizes. It's almost as if people think Villa should never be allowed to compete or that there is some latent gene in the club's DNA that means we should never compete. Villa fans have every right to want their club to win the Premier League, Champions' League, F.A. Cup, etc. People wanting new owners who have those ambitions (and the means to make it possible) are spot on.

So let's replace Lerner for a guy who will give us more of the same? In Dragon's Den style: I'm Out! Why are people so keen to rush into bed with the first person who seems interested in Villa? It smacks of desperation.

Do you want Villa to be a feeder club for the big money bag teams year in year out? IMO this is why this boy is interested. With Fifa going to ban 3rd party ownership only other way round it is buy a club and let them own the player. I dont care about what type of character he is to be fair but what i dont want us to be is a feeder club. We are the 4th most successful club in the best league in the world and are better than that. Epitomises everything that is wrong with football at the moment. Every club outside of the top 4 is a feeder club. Look at Southampton already, being picked apart in an instant. We had the press calling for Arsenal to pry Benteke away from us just 4 months into his first season. Villa need to be a top four club and we need owners who can take us there. We won't get there with this guy using the club as a shop window for his players.

I'd rather Villa were doing very well and competing for trophies year in year out as a proper football club.

I seen an article last night saying $3 billion Due to FFP, the net worth of our owners is pretty irrelevant nowadays. Its all about business acumen and links to bring in major sponsorship. FFP can be handled no problem by people with watertight plans and significant financial backing. How? How can it not? There are plenty of clubs that have got around various spending rules and player regulations these past few years. Rules and regulations in football are constantly breached by people who understand the industry, move in the right circles and have the finances in place to pay fines. There is very little integrity in football.

I seen an article last night saying $3 billion Due to FFP, the net worth of our owners is pretty irrelevant nowadays. Its all about business acumen and links to bring in major sponsorship. FFP can be handled no problem by people with watertight plans and significant financial backing.

It strikes me that some fans are simply desperate to sell the club to the first person that comes along. Looking at it rationally and using gut instinct this bloke should not be allowed anywhere near Villa Park. Just looking at his business model for loaning clubs money to buy his players, the whole concept is part and parcel of what makes football today such an unappetising business. He's part of the "modern football" problem. Hopefully he's 2014's version of the Cromer brothers, being used to flush out more realistic, wealthy/ambitious and fitting buyers for Villa.

There is zero chance that this group would be looking to buy a Premier League club. Their business is lending clubs money to buy players. What are they going to do, let all the players on their books play for Villa and then lend other clubs the money to buy the players off us? The two hundred million they are looking to invest is surely for keeping their business model ticking over and expanding, not for buying actual football clubs.

No but you can sell assets, Villa have assets Leeds don't. While the playing squad isn't up to much it is probably worth around £40-50m on its own but lets not get into player valuations. There are better people than me to talk about accounts and assets, Risso for example being the expert on here, but players in terms of a valuation of a club aren't really a consideration. What is taken into account is income, expenditure and profit and fixed assets such as land and property. A comparison with Leeds is a little daft as they have no assets, they don't own their ground, they don't own their club shop, they don't own anything other than the players, their name and league registration. They don't even own their training ground. Yes totally agree Trent but McGregor stated we were worth £200m because of our history which is rubbish. Just because we are valued or capitalised at £200m does not guarantee we will find a buyer who is willing to pay this. The value on paper is not always the price paid, that's all I am trying to say. I didn't state we were worth 200 million because of our history. It's part of the package, for sure, but we're not worth 200 million for history alone. Infrastructure, easily expandable stadium, demographics/location and the fact that we get 70 million plus a year in prize money guaranteed is why £200 million is a bargain for Villa.

A lot people seized on the fact that his statement had an element of 'goodbye' in it - with a sale starting to look some way off - I'm just wondering has he washed his hands of us ? - Like the Randy Lerner years were 2006-2014 - Whatever happens now isn't on his watch. Also looking at the prices that championship clubs go for, why would pay £200m for Aston Villa. I know Reading have debts which need to be paid - but the bidding price is £1 !!!!1 - buy that ...£30m on players - would give you a decent crack at promotion - perhaps another £40 to keep them in the prem. Where as Aston Villa is £200m - £30m to stay in the prem - perhaps £70-80m to make us competitive. It would seem to me the value for money thing to do is to buy an ailing championship club.. Clubs like Reading simply don't have the potential of Villa. Why not buy a Conference club for peanuts, spend ten million to get them up to the Championship and then take it from there? It's doable but, at the end of the day, you will always be limited by infrastructure and demographics. The fact is Villa are a large, historic club of 140 years standing. They are one of the names in English football. Just because Randy has run us into the ground these past four years, the potential and story behind the club remains the same. Looking at the some of the prices quoted for other big city English Premier League clubs I'm pretty certain 200 million quid for Villa would be viewed as a bargain. You can't sell history? Look at Leeds whose standing, fan base and potential are probably on a par with ours? How much were they sold for? The only Prem club I can think of being sold recently is Fulham and they are sitting on a piece of prime West London real estate so their value will be skewed by that. Plus I wonder what they are worth now sat in the Championship for next season? I think we are all kidding ourselves if we think we are worth £200m. We are like a Ferrari with the engine from a gee whiz stuck in by the current 'careful' owner? 8 years of poor investment doesn't make us valuable at £200m. Let's see how much Lerner get's for us? Leeds are in up to their armpits in debt sitting in the Championship. They are a club that have won roughly five major trophies in their history. They will not be getting a minimum of seventy million a year in prize money either and there's no guarantee any investment in them will lead to promotion...and their infrastructure needs serious investment. To get Leeds to Villa's level (right now) in terms of stadium and training ground investment, Premier League status and breaking even as a business would take time and many millions of pounds. The fact is if you buy Villa now for two hundred million, you will get that back in three years guaranteed. Any prospective Villa buyer simply needs money to invest in the team and wages to ensure we are constantly in the Premier League and breaking even...it's far less hassle and risk than buying Leeds.

We'll see? 8 years ago we were worth £62.5m so in 8 years our value has trebled? Any investor should be jumping at that return? A companies worth is based on profit levels, turnover, assets, goodwill and potential. If a new owner buys us today to stay in the Prem they need to invest around £50m in new playing staff otherwise their £200m would be devalued to £50m to £100m in the Championship. That's a big risk and a big investment on top of the £200m. Realistically if I was a buyer I would tell Lerner I will pay him the £200m less the £50m required for investment. A bit like if I was buying a house for £100k and the survey revealed I need a new roof at the cost of £25k, either pay £75k and get the roof fixed yourself or the seller does it and you pay the £100k. Personally I wouldn't trust Lerner or his management team to spend my £50m wisely so I'd pay the £150m and let my new management team spend the £50m. Buying a Premier League football club isn't like buying a house - they are very different kinds of assets operating within very different and varying dynamics. For starters, buying a house won't guarantee you £70-odd million in prize money every year. Buying a club of Villa's potential and history for £200 million quid would be a bargain. Well Lerner must be so busy beating the offers away with a shitty stick that he just doesn't know who to sell us to. This is also a business that has lost money for the past 7 years? That must add to the attraction?? It's lost money because of the way the man who owned the club ran it. I could take over Arsenal tomorrow and it would soon be a failing business again. Villa, in the right hands, would be a successful business and i'm sure there are plenty of folk out there who know this. None of us know how many offers Randy is having to beat off with a shitty stick - and that's as it should be.

We'll see? 8 years ago we were worth £62.5m so in 8 years our value has trebled? Any investor should be jumping at that return? A companies worth is based on profit levels, turnover, assets, goodwill and potential. If a new owner buys us today to stay in the Prem they need to invest around £50m in new playing staff otherwise their £200m would be devalued to £50m to £100m in the Championship. That's a big risk and a big investment on top of the £200m. Realistically if I was a buyer I would tell Lerner I will pay him the £200m less the £50m required for investment. A bit like if I was buying a house for £100k and the survey revealed I need a new roof at the cost of £25k, either pay £75k and get the roof fixed yourself or the seller does it and you pay the £100k. Personally I wouldn't trust Lerner or his management team to spend my £50m wisely so I'd pay the £150m and let my new management team spend the £50m. Buying a Premier League football club isn't like buying a house - they are very different kinds of assets operating within very different and varying dynamics. For starters, buying a house won't guarantee you £70-odd million in prize money every year. Buying a club of Villa's potential and history for £200 million quid would be a bargain.

A lot people seized on the fact that his statement had an element of 'goodbye' in it - with a sale starting to look some way off - I'm just wondering has he washed his hands of us ? - Like the Randy Lerner years were 2006-2014 - Whatever happens now isn't on his watch. Also looking at the prices that championship clubs go for, why would pay £200m for Aston Villa. I know Reading have debts which need to be paid - but the bidding price is £1 !!!!1 - buy that ...£30m on players - would give you a decent crack at promotion - perhaps another £40 to keep them in the prem. Where as Aston Villa is £200m - £30m to stay in the prem - perhaps £70-80m to make us competitive. It would seem to me the value for money thing to do is to buy an ailing championship club.. Clubs like Reading simply don't have the potential of Villa. Why not buy a Conference club for peanuts, spend ten million to get them up to the Championship and then take it from there? It's doable but, at the end of the day, you will always be limited by infrastructure and demographics. The fact is Villa are a large, historic club of 140 years standing. They are one of the names in English football. Just because Randy has run us into the ground these past four years, the potential and story behind the club remains the same. Looking at the some of the prices quoted for other big city English Premier League clubs I'm pretty certain 200 million quid for Villa would be viewed as a bargain.

It's not where they park, it's how they park. After it became apparent that Randy Lerner's aircraft was being observed it started parking at an angle where the door was not visible from landside. Passengers would be driven to/from the aircraft with no fear of close scrutiny. The Rich aircraft was parked in a similar fashion, as some other completely unrelated aircraft are from time to time. Signature, the handling agent, are well versed in protecting their important clients, and there was/is a notice in their office forbidding any employee to speak about Randy Lerner's aircraft to any enquirer. Trees, is it possible that these private jets are shared around and "loaned" between wealthy folk? I just don't see how Robert Rich would be interested in buying Villa but I do wonder if Randy might have asked him to loan a jet in order to protect certain identities and cover tracks?

True. But still a step up for us. Sadly. A step up? Not on the evidence of last season.

His worth wouldn't go down after buying Villa though, would it? He'd now have a new asset that would be part of his calculated net worth. The figures on Forbes don't equate to the amount of cash in a billionaire's bank.

There's no xenophobia. If they were any nationality on earth I would be of the same opinion: they don't have the wealth/backing/track record to take Villa where it needs to go. This type of sale would be disastrous for Villa.

Never, ever try for a job in corporate finance! Nobody's going to buy us for our history, as that hasn't translated into us being a 'brand' like Man U or Liverpool. "Brand" simply takes money to establish - just ask Man Utd. Of course Villa's history is attractive to any investor because it gives the money and PR men something very real and tangible to market and "brand". Villa's unique selling point is that it is the birthplace of league football. Savvy marketing people could use that fact and McGregor as the focus of a very real and valuable brand.

I suspect he supports another team and reports back to his usual forum telling all his pals about the hilarious ways he tries to wind Villa fans up.

Abramovic and Mansur will never make a profit off their investments, they will never get their money back. You might be able to make a club sustainable after a while, but that is only after a vast investment that far outweighs any increase in the value of the club. And missing out on CL for a couple of seasons makes you very unsustainable again. To use Man utd revenue as an example is not a valid comparison, Man utd and even Liverpool have a following that far outweighs teams like Chelsea and Man City, it would take a generation to change this. No jonny come lately clubs have anything close to this sponsorship potential without their owners paying vastly over the odds . Merchandising worldwide is not the potential cash cow you seem to think, few countries will sell more than a few thousand Man City shirts a season. Most people can't afford them. City will get a few promotional gigs, but the main ones all go to Utd, Barca and Real, etc. I live in Indonesia, and there is probably 1 Chelsea fan for every 40 Man Utd fans. For Man City it probably 1 in 100. Yes, people here choose the successful teams to support or teams with popular players, but this is also very fickle, a few poor seasons and they won't stick around or a few transfers of the popular players can have the same effect. You used to see Leeds and Blackburn shirts in Asia, not so much now. Man Utd and Liverpool are the 2 exceptions to the fickle fan. Man Utd probably have 30 'corporate partners' here, Man City promote an energy drink for manual labourers. There is no business model in investing in an English Premiership football club and throwing cash around. A few titles will never give you the clout of Man Utd. It won't even make you Liverpool. A few years of success doesn't make you an elite worldwide brand, and unless you are one of the brand name clubs, you only get left with their crumbs. I don't think it would take generations to change the the earning potential of clubs. Mass media and commercialism controls everything. The media controls everything from teenybop bands to football club exposure. Who were One Direction five years ago? No one had heard of them and now they are making millions worldwide. If the media wants to get behind a club it will. Chelsea and Arsenal both make more than Liverpool and Man Utd will soon start losing "clout" should they repeat last year's league performance on a regular basis.

In the immediate short-term, the picture you paint sounds okay but, long-term, we'd still be in a pretty mediocre place, not winning trophies, and being routinely beaten by clubs we should be beating. I would imagine the fans would grow restless again after a couple of seasons, too. If we are want to be a successful club again we can't allow short-termism to cloud our view - selling out to someone who promises no more than a mediocre future would be a huge waste.

You're making the huge assumption he'd rather play for England!

No need to write "Utd" as "UTD".

He's 66 I think.