McGregor1888

After doing a lot of research (!) today I have returned to my initial gut reaction about this potential sale. I don't think these guys will change things greatly but they should do enough to get Villa back competing in top half premier League territory for the short term. Whoever our manager is (and I wouldn't be surprised if they stick with Lambert) I reckon he will get a good transfer budget this summer to build on what we already have. I don't see Simpson and Davis as people who will change too much: AVTV, the North Stand and so on are aspects of the club that need rehauling but I'm just not sure these guys have the funds or desire to go that deep into Villa. Both men are relatively old and I reckon this will be a short and sweet two-three year association with our club. If we're back somewhere in the 6th-8th slots these guys (I reckon) will be happy. Purely guess work and assumption on my part, of course.

It's irrelevant when there's enough of it. It's not irrelevant if owner's wealth is 1 billion USD. Isn't RL worth more than a billion currently - yet we're fighting relegation. Liverpool's owner is worth less than a billion and they've all but won the title. In premier league terms it's irrelevant. Guys, forget about the worth of the people "fronting" ownerships. The crucial thing to understand is that these are "groups" of people financing the investments. John Henry's wealth is immaterial - he is fronting a group of people with access to money. Likewise, it would appear - if the Texas Rangers model is anything to go by- Simpson and Davis are heading a group of investors. How much they are worth collectively or (more importantly) how much they are willing to invest in Villa is anyone's guess. This figure of a collective worth of four billion for the two men heading the deal is fairly meaningless in the context of their "group's" worth and ambitions. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

They would be the 4th richest in terms of wealth, behind the owners of Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal. If you just take the wealth of the pair of them, yes. However, if they have the same kind of ownership model for us as at their baseball team it could mean there is more money behind them than we realise. (From the article above: "All of it happened since Simpson and Davis, along with a slew of other investors, purchased the club.")

Just doing a bit more reading, Simpson and Davis head an ownership "group" behind their baseball team. Who knows, maybe they have access to more resources than we assume?

It'll be interesting to listen to their plans. Reading up on them they seem to be good people and self-made which counts for a lot. Here's hoping they have the ambition, clout and contacts to get Villa back to the very top.

Sounds promising.

More of the same I feel. I don't think they have any track record of building successful sporting teams - someone please prove me wrong(!) These are a couple of guys in for the investment, keep villa tick along in the Premier League and then sell up in maybe five years. That's my hunch but it'll be interesting to see what they have to say for themselves.

I think the main reason why anyone would buy Fulham for £190 million is the location. Just taken purely as a prime location asset it would be very hard for a buyer to lose money on their investment - even if the club got relegated I'm sure the owner would get a good deal of their money back.

Still Lambert for me. He deserves a chance to develop this squad with healthy financial backing.

Well, with two of our coaches being dismissed and the head of our youth development retiring one could argue an overhaul is beginning to happen right under our noses.

Thanks for the tip: A tenner on this will get me a grand back with Paddy Power!

Taking over the reigning league champions and being able to spend millions is a breeze compared to what Lambert has had to do.

I'm not sure they'd be much of an improvement on Lerner. Baseball owners tend not to be too wealthy, relatively speaking, and rather hands-off and distant, too. Liverpool's owner is a baseball club owner and he seems to know what he is doing. I've just seen a report that lists the 10 richest MLB owners, and they're all worth at least $1bn, with the Liverpool owner at no 8. Plenty of rich people in baseball it would seem. Although the name of the second richest made, me shudder. Theodore Lerner. Yikes. If we end up with a (single) owner worth, say, 1-2 billion, I fear we will be no better off than we are now. I know beggars can't be choosers and we have no divine right to success BUT we desperately need dynamic people with a plan and genuine ambition to come on board. Looking through that list of owners there are a couple of guys who might be good for Villa but, as far as I can see, most of them seem to be low-key, hands-off men with no track record of building winning sports teams. Taken individually they don't seem to have the wealth that could get us back up there. Hopefully, if we do get one of these baseball guys in, he will be a figurehead for a larger consortium with the backing and intent to make a huge impact on our club and the region. If ever we needed people who can think and dream big it is now.

Not necessarily. You might be relatively loaded and be able to take on such assets as investments but that doesn't mean you will have the resources and know how to turn the teams into winning outfits on the field. Ah, I'm just a bit worried that our Randy will make a horlicks of it all when he sells us on - I have little confidence in him selling us on to the type of people we are crying out for. I hope I'm wrong!

I'm not sure they'd be much of an improvement on Lerner. Baseball owners tend not to be too wealthy, relatively speaking, and rather hands-off and distant, too. Liverpool's owner is a baseball club owner and he seems to know what he is doing. The way The Mirror are reporting this though, it sounds as though they think the club will be sold to a singular owner as opposed to a group or consortium like Fenway. If this baseball owner is part of a wider, wealthier group with the ambition and ideas to get Villa back on top then count me in.

I'm not sure they'd be much of an improvement on Lerner. Baseball owners tend not to be too wealthy, relatively speaking, and rather hands-off and distant, too.

There was a good thirty minute spell there where Marc was on fire, running the show. Superb stuff.

Yeah, Saurez, Sturridge, coutinho Mignolet all came for next to next nothing - Ive heard that Gerrard and Suurez are 10k per week - what is it that compels people to say things which blatantly aren't true about Liverpool ? They haven't spent Chelsea/City amounts of money is the point. 'Obscene' being the key word you obviously failed to register. Suarez's wages are obscene.

the new Liverpool. could we not be called something less vile We were doing the "signing players under 25 thing" before Liverpool. The difference is that Liverpool were able to spend more than us on the back of Henry calling in his mates to provide Liverpool with an over the odds kit deal and shirt sponsorship, meaning they could shell out a good bit more than us on wages and player quality. This fella who writes for the Metro really gets on my goat. I'm sure he's a nice guy but he doesn't half write rubbish.

These are the kind of "fans" that no club needs. Why on earth do these people spend their hard earned cash to do this? They must collectively be as thick as several short planks.

I can't separate the two of them for their sheer talent. They're the best two players I have ever seen in the flesh (including opposition players).

That's the effect of these types of things, they spread fear and don't do the club any good. There's five games to play, look up the table and fight for every point that will get us to a position that betters last year's. Ignore the negativity and believe in the team and club.

Get behind the lads - plain and simple.

Laudrup's record at the two clubs he was at prior to Swansea is worse than Lambert's at Villa. What is it about his achievements to date that makes anyone think he could take Villa forward in this period of austerity? When he left Swansea they were (I think) lower down the table than Villa, too?

Paul Lambert is still the man to take us forward. There's still so much football to play this season and the only time I would re-assess this situation is when the season has ended. If Lerner remains as Chairman and if the club operates on the same budget there are very few mangers out there who could take us forward. We're two years into a plan and - as with all plans - you need to be strong enough to stick with it if you want it to yield fruit.