Amo69

2 million for Hooli?

Quick City, snatch their ruddy arms off!

Absolutely no chance, you won't be getting any more cash from us any time soon.

Good, he is where he belongs in the Championship!

£2m for a bench warmer in a Championship team? They are joking right?

Nah that's the criteria for a Jan loan signing.

I wonder if bookies would give odds on no sale all year and relegation.

Or maybe odds on bottom by new year. Might check it out.

I've gone £25 on both Spain and Argentina to win World Cup with sky bet. They got an offer on where they refund stake if Brazil win it.

I don't think this time around its going to be an easy sale.

last time, it was an attractive proposition....not now.

Not saying we're an attractive proposition but how the hell are we a less attractive proposition now than we were in 2006?

Cost a lot less and much higher chance of making Champions League. No farcical rules such as FFP to restrict an owners spending either.

I know there is the new TV deal and inflation to consider. Plus the money spent on training ground etc. But taking all that in to account are we really worth nearly 3 times more than what we were back then?

In all seriousness though, I hope you're okay.

The worst facial injury, maybe not the worst but the most irritating, was when I got hit in the face with a shotgun, I know there's worse injuries to receive from a shotgun, and it fractured my entire maxilla/maxillae. which is basically the entire middle of my face.

How did that happen If you don't mind me asking?

I want us to be taken over by Elon Musk

The bloke really is a wild entrepreneur he;s already talking about sending expeditions to mars building hyperloops and shit

His net worth is constantly on the rise and sitting currently at 12 bill

We could also get sponsored by his own company SpaceX or Tesla motors

I am long past wanting some multi-Billionaire owner. Over the last few months I have come to the conclusion that they are all clearings in the woods who will always be self interested and only treat AVFC as extension of their already inflated egos. I just want some who truly LOVES AVFC.

In fact I find it hard to stomach the way so many fans are willing to almost sell their souls for the want of some rich owner, irrespective of their background or morals, in the quest for honours. Sadly PL clubs are nothing more than pounds of flesh to be traded between rich wan-kers.

I know all the arguments etc etc - this is just how I feel.

Kind of see where you are coming from. Which is why I asked before would relegation be so bad?

Having experienced it several times, relegation is always "bad" in the extreme and wouldn't recommend it.

I am just saddened by the fact that our survival/success/destiny will always inevitably be in hands of some wealthy individual for no other reason than their self gratification. Before anyone piles in, I see little alternative and offer no other solutions - this is reality for PL football clubs. But if we are eventually purchased by some rich oligarch, Arab or American, I am not going to jump for joy.

I suppose I've only supported us a premier league team so can't talk about other experiences. But what is the enjoyment in supporting a team that loses the majority of games at home each season? The sole purpose each year being to not get out classed too much and scrape a few point here and so we can survive and do it all again. At least if we went down we would win things and have something to play for.

Seriously what is the point of supporting a Premier League team these days unless you are one of the elite?

Count me in

I want us to be taken over by Elon Musk

The bloke really is a wild entrepreneur he;s already talking about sending expeditions to mars building hyperloops and shit

His net worth is constantly on the rise and sitting currently at 12 bill

We could also get sponsored by his own company SpaceX or Tesla motors

I am long past wanting some multi-Billionaire owner. Over the last few months I have come to the conclusion that they are all clearings in the woods who will always be self interested and only treat AVFC as extension of their already inflated egos. I just want some who truly LOVES AVFC.

In fact I find it hard to stomach the way so many fans are willing to almost sell their souls for the want of some rich owner, irrespective of their background or morals, in the quest for honours. Sadly PL clubs are nothing more than pounds of flesh to be traded between rich wan-kers.

I know all the arguments etc etc - this is just how I feel.

I hope our new owner is Goose Gladwell.

Hoddle talking about what should have been done for month in terms of preparation for the WC. To be fair the team in 98 were good and unlucky not to beat Argentina. But I also remember the same team being destroyed by Salas in the last game before the World Cup.

These friendlies are all about dealing with the conditions and getting match practise.

Look, more overreactions.

Hardly, very poor these 3 friendly games, Italy and Uruguay are a whole different kettle of fish compared to the teams England just played against.

But they are friendlies. It's not like we just drew 1-1 to part timers is it?

Italians should be more worried.

I'm not going to be praising Honduras because they were pants, although I agree they aren't part timers. Sturridge should have taken his chances, Johnson is a very poor and Rooney (who is meant to be the so called English talisman) was AWOL once again.

As I said before, these games may be friendlies but it doesn't look very positive at all. Italy aren't doing well, I agree with you there too, but that doesn't make England any better.

True but I would rather us be poor in a friendly than when it counts. Sturridge would normally score and Johnson has had a good season overall.

Let's face it, this team isn't going to win the World Cup but getting to the knock out stages and giving us a chance to go far is possible.

Look, more overreactions.

Hardly, very poor these 3 friendly games, Italy and Uruguay are a whole different kettle of fish compared to the teams England just played against.

Italians should be more worried.

Lol we looked so shite

Couldn't even break down 10 man Honduras

The italians build their teams around their defence i can't see us scoring

If you are basing it on friendless then let's not forget that Italy drew 1-1 with Luxembourg! A team ranked 119th in the world!

Heskey was definitely the most underwhelming one. I pretty much gave up on MON there and then as I knew we wouldn't finish in the top-four trying to accommodate a donkey like him in the team.

I can remember exactly how sick I felt when Heskey was announced and we then proceeded to sign NOBODY else as we watched our starting eleven start burning out.

And there was money available for signings!!!

Would never read to much in to any friendly but I do think this England team is capable of getting out the group stages.

No not at all, but I'm glad he's not leaving us with a 'Randy Lerner Stand'.

Haha good point. But it does go to show that as time goes by it's easy to forget about the name of a stand and not think anything of it. May as well make some money at the same time.

It wouldn't :S I'm just responding to BJ10s post, where someone said that Lerner looked after the heritage more than Doug, but BJ10 responded that he is more concerned about results. (it's all there, in the post you quoted.. .)

Are we supposed to thank him for that?

All I need is my hand and my iphone!

Google it. Terms of gaining custody. Anyway this is OT. Back to the takeover.

what the owner is ot in the takeover thread - lol

have googled cant find anything that legally restricts randy's travel movements - not that I would expect to find details of his divorce settlement on line - as we know he is a very private man.

pretty sure if Randy wanted to attend half a dozen home games a season - there is no law restricting him....where there is will there is a way

It's entirely possible that, in light of his divorce, his family commitments became a lot more important to him. Certainly, his personal circumstances changed considerably following the first four years of his period in charge. Whatever we as fans think, family > business.

Have a couple of links from a cursory google...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2080499/What-wrong-Villa-How-Randy-Lerners-dream-turning-nightmare.html

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/the-custodian/Content?oid=2805785

Even if he has legit reasons for not attending games it doesn't mean the club has to be run badly.

Just get out of our club, we were better off with Doug.

Doug was at a point where he had to go but his last year was better than the last 3 we've had under Lerner.

Each are bad but for different reasons. At least Lerner has looked after the heritage and history which keeps him light years ahead of Doug.

TBH I buy a season ticket to watch the team and how they perform and the results they get is the main concern for me. My time watching villa under Doug was more enjoyable than watching villa under Lerner.

Would you be happy with someone like Red Bull buying us then BJ10? Someone who would really try to make us successful, but would change the colours, crest and stadium name.

I know you're asking John the question but why would it have to mean drastic changes to the heritage of a club for us to be successful? Stadium name to be changed yes. But why colours and crest?

Should we be grateful to Lerner for not changing any of this?

We are already a small brand in world football.

But you can't seperate the two. Good players cost lots of money,we all know that. Good managers cost lots of money too, they also want lots of money to spend.

Good up and coming managers/coaches/ scouts can find good players that other managers have missed or they can see potential others miss....they can also develop them on their training grounds.

We have not got lots of money .....all the more reason to try and find a manager that can do the above.

We thought we had one, but we haven't.

I hear some folk say all mangers get SOME wrong.....ALL of our managers over the last ten years get MOST wrong.

It could have all been so different but I guess it's easy to say in hindsight.

Yeah, the whole thing was a vanity project for Lerner. He was in over his head from Day One.

Disagree - Lerner doesn't seem to be a vain individual whatsoever (evidenced by the fact that he doesn't like the limelight at all) and I think he bought the club because he was genuinely interested in it at the time.

But going from genuine interest to not showing up to watch a match in person for months on end suggest that maybe the thing WAS a vanity pursuit. Once things got tough, he couldn't be bothered.

I assumed that people knew that the reason he wasn't attending games was due to his divorce settlement and the requirement to spend more time in the US with his kids? Nobody seems to ever mention it when they accuse him of staying away from games because he's lost interest.

what requirement is that then ?granted it might make him a less frequent visitor - but zero attendances in 18 months...come on

Maybe it's zero attendances, maybe it's not - there have been suggestions that he's been here 'undercover'. Anyway, he has to spend at least 6 months every year in Ohio due to the terms of his divorce settlement. 3 of his 4 kids are living with his ex-wife in NYC while he has custody of the fourth. He spends most of the week in Cleveland with the fourth kid, and then goes to NYC to see his other kids at the weekend. Google it, it was mentioned in a few places in the media about 18 months ago.

so for some one who has committed no crime and could possibly afford the best lawyers - he is subject to restriction of movement limiting him to Ohio for 6 months - not buying that myself

Or he just doesn't give a shit!

Lee Dixon has picked my team

My team too.

At least no chance of injury if cancelled.

Well, back on topic, it looks like its either going to be an American or Middle Eastern takeover.

Inflated ego against inflated personal wealth?

Whichever way it goes, its gonna be a bumpy ride.I

Does it? Looks more like it's going to be no takeover to me.