MagicMushroom

So let`s say Lerner would sell in the summer, would you guys like to have an arab owner type who pumps money into the club ala city/chelsea or what?

Unfortunately, due to the way the league is structured and we want our team winning things, then thats the way to go. Im more than happy to have us chalenging top six every season with the odd cup run/success and odd challenge for top four.

Hate the modern game and the money involved, but thats the be-all and end-all of it.

 

 

4 wins 2 draws 6 defeats Would do it I think. Puts a lot of pressure on us to win the Fulham, Sunderland and QPR home games as I don't see us picking up more than 1 away win.

I reckon we are more than capable of achieving the 6 defeats but I have reservations about the 4 wins and 2 draws!

Haha yes, well it's only 5 defeats left now

I think we are a pretty good chance of getting it down to 4 after next Monday's match too!

 

If we do lose next Monday, as most people expect, that would leave us needing:

 

4 wins

2 draws

4 defeats

Needing a defeat is not the way to go

I'm confident that we will beat Reading.

Im confident we will bottle it.

On the other side of the coin, i think we will nick a point off Man City. Need Vlaar back though.

Well, you're right Blandy but how frustrating is it that all of that money was so badly spent?

He deserves criticism for that, even though it's his gamble to make, it's our club that suffers.

It's frustrating now to look back with hindsight, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

 

No it isnt 'our' club that suffers.

 

We suffer because we buy into the competitive world of football as Aston Villa supporters. Randy Lerner isnt sat at home worrying about whether Woodytom's enjoying the game. 

 

Its an industry that just isnt customer focused. It doesnt have to be. The product can be shit and yet you can still sell it because of the brand. 

 

Why is anybody paying to go and watch Villa? Its an absolutely awful product at the minute. We go because the brand of 'football' is too much of a pull. We are sold on football. Ive got sky. Can count on one hand the number of decent games Ive watched  - I wont get rid of it though.

 

Football - 'for the people'. 'The peoples game'. Bollocks. Ive followed football fro over 2 decades. Its never ever been about me and the people. 

 

When Randy Lerners weighing up risks, the potential for us to suffer doesnt even come into it. He couldnt give a shit. And neither could anybody involved in football who tells you otherwise. Now, if we started walking away. Maybe they would. But the brand of football is too strong for enough to walk away.

Hate agreeing with this, but so sadly true.

Bradford chairman saying just now that he doesn't expect to get his money back from the club, suggesting it isn't all about that.

 

Another f:-)k you to Lerner from me.

 

F:-)k you and... yes, f:-)k you.

 

so you think its ok that he loaned money and doesnt expect it back.

 

are you the same with your debts?

How much of it is his own money though?

The Lerner family trust from where most of it comes from ( if not all, if we ignore the PR of the past ) is made up of more than one investor. We know his ex wife is/was one, whom are the others and what are thier backgrounds?

Since we owe that trust and not whom its come through, then i think he is in no position to write off all of that debt.

I think the last 3 years puts doubt on a lot of things that we have been fed and told.

 

I think it's bizarre that one manager gets absolutely slaughtered by fans for doing a shit job under poor circumstances but another manager who does even worse under similar circumstances still gets his name sung at games.

 

 

 

 

Its where he came from. Im happy to admit that. It is afterall one of the biggest rivilries in football.

I'm not so sure about that. The opposition to McLeish was because he was shit.

That fact never helped

I guess the key difference for me is that when McLeish was the manager I actually believed that our squad was a lot better than it is. Now I look at every player bar Benteke and I think they're all pretty average. So I guess I kinda owe McLeish an apology.... but I also think Lambert is a very poor manager too. 

And changing him will not make a difference to our problems, though i actually think he will walkout at the end of the season. Then who?

I think it's bizarre that one manager gets absolutely slaughtered by fans for doing a shit job under poor circumstances but another manager who does even worse under similar circumstances still gets his name sung at games.

Its where he came from. Im happy to admit that. It is afterall one of the biggest rivilries in football.

Would be better playing down the left with a steady leftback behind him. Hes not a defender, and everytime i see him enforces that view.

 

 

Some fans like lambert and rate him as a top manager who will do well for us

Some fans don't and want him out regardless

I hold the first opinion butI appreciate that some may have a different opinion that's fine I can see why that may be the case. However what I can't understand is why those who hold the second opinion get frustrated and seem more interested and concerned that people don't want the manager out. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind on the manager, only he can do that although for most I doubt he will. And I'm not having a go at anyone who is slagging him off, that's upto them. I will debate the point but I'm not throwing digs around, can't understand why any villa fan would to be honest

It's not so much that people are more interested in people who don't want him out (I don't think many actively want him out) but rather that certain people just seem to complete ignore what a poor job he's done and continue to trot out the same line without really giving any facts to support it. Let's face it, if Houllier or McLeish had done what Lambert's done in this same situation they would both be getting absolutely slaughtered by the fans. In fact that's exactly what happened but as it stands they both did a better job than Lambert.

 

I just get the impression that we could be battling relegation this time next season in the championship and people would still be backing him 100%.

 

different managers , different people managing at different times and under different ownership styles and with arguably better squads, certainly houllier had a much better squad much better. Hence the different reactions.

The are a lot who want him out I think you know that. Don't get me wrong if we are battling relegation next season in the league below us, I'll be first in line with he pitchforks and burning torches

What about McLeish then? Working under difficult circumstances, did a shit job and rightly got slated for it by you. Lambert does even worse and yet suddenly he's a top manager? It's nothing more than blind faith.

 

I said not many ACTIVELY want him out. He's certainly getting treated a lot better by the fans than McLeish and Houllier, which is bizarre.

Nothing bizarre in realising that despite what manager we have, the real problem remains, namely the missing yank and his utterly useless bum chum.

Until they have gone, things will continue to get bad to worse. And do you trust them picking our next manager?

BBC Radio 5 Live are doing a special interview with Darren Bent at the training ground on Tuesday this week. I'm writing the brief for it atm and need to suggest questions to be asked. Anything in particular that would interest folks?

Who does he blame for the clubs current plight?

Perhaps the forthcoming accounts will give us some clues?

I just think he will cut his losses and run, because thats all he will be doing from now on, counting those losses. There was a story emanating from the US some time ago, that the Lerner family trust had told Lerner to cut his investment in us, other than to keep us ticking over. Could be our future was decided a while back by a group of unknown people whom we know very little about.

Dont ask me where or when i read that though, since my memory is no longer at its best

Please refer to Daniel Levy

If only this club had somebody like him.

Hands up all those tat have been banned from it

Happy that we are starting to show some fight, but i still thnk we will be gone. Hate saying that, hate seeing it, and i utterly despise the people responsable for it.

Last summer he put 50 odd million in, then more for the summer transfers - another 20 odd. There will be more to make up for the wages being too high. There was very little further in the Jan window, but then having already spent 70 odd mill in the previous 12 months, is that a surprise?

 

He may, or may not, be wanting to afford it, but nevertheless he's still putting a lot in. It seems he wants to stop doing that, and for the club to look after itself - balance the books, but you'd think from reading some of the stuff that he's not put anything in recently (last couple of years, say). Completely untrue.

 

Unfortunately because they messed up on the wages and lost the gamble for 4th, there's legacy of overspending to sort out, and loans to pay back. no doubt it's gone wrong, from what he wanted, and it's his responsibility, ultimately. But to say he's totally withdrawn funding etc. is not how I see it.

 

I think we'd all love to know what's going on.

I think its pretty obvious to whats going on.

Sometimes we just have to accept what our eyes are telling us, however hard it hurts or how angry it makes us.  Lerner will be gone within 12 monthes, so lets hope he does not balls that up by not looking at whom he sells us to. I wont hold my breath.

Here's some optimism...

We're creating chances and scoring goals. Enough that should we being some semblance of order to the defence, offer some protection from midfield, we might just stay up by the fur on our teeth.

Don't ask me how, I'm lost for ideas. But we look dangerous when we break, as dangerous as we have for years.

If we can only cut out the defencesive lapses. If we had held on against both the baggies and Everton, we would be out the relegation zone. If we could have held on against the sides we have led against, we would be mid table.

Makes the decision not to bring an experiened Defender in January even more ridiculous, or even suicidal.

Yeah, I'm stupid - Wolves sold a crap CF to Sunderland for how much?

 

 

Hes not crap though. 

 

Fletcher scored a similar amount of goals last term to that of Gabby over the past 3 years.

 

January shows that nobody wants Bent and why would they.

Why pay through the nose in January when you can get Bent for almost nout after we go down?

Bet you there will be one or two sniffing around once our fate is sealed.

So have we hired a replaceent yet?

Vital part of a football club this, especially one where the owner has decided to restrict finance. Good indicator to Lerners long term commitment?

How much of that is left after taxes?

I think US Tax evasion might be part of the reason as to why the Lerner Trust moved money into us, rather than for any our benefit, hence why we have to give them interest on top of the loan.

The man comes from the banking industry so has no scruples.

"In fact, you could argue that he is quite the genius because he is potentially going to make money out of a product that is completely shit!!"

How is he going to make money from Villa now?

 

 

Simply by cutting more costs. 

.......and then selling.

Debate, counter debate, argument, counter argument.

 

Randy Lerner can be summed up quite quickly and easily.

 

He is a proven failure as a sports club owner.

 

The evidence is there for all to see and be witness to.

 

End of story and really should be the end of this thread (but it won't be!).

 

 

Well it depends what his aims are.

 

You cant just call him a failure as a sports club owner because the team are doing shit. 

Hes ran two sports teams and been a disaster with both, so yes..........hes a failure.

Whoever goes to these remaining games will need to support the team as loudly and encouragingly as possible as it will help the team if they feel we are behind them

Supporting and being loud aint going to turn what are poor players in to the Messi's et al of this world.....this team is gone and hurts me to say it.

Cant help thinking that the Chelsea drubbing is the game that killed us. Too much on so young heads.

Even if we beat West Ham with other results going our way, we will still be in the bottom three with two "write-off" games to follow. Unless the earth stops spinning, i dont see us getting out of this.

 

A little bird told me that Shaun Teale had offerd his services to help coach the defence....and villa declined.

 

anyone else heard ?

 

 

It was mentioned on Radio WM the other day.

 

Would never happen, since accepting would be accepting that our defensive coach is shit

 

Shaun Teale was a good defender but who is to say he is a good coach - I'm sure every out of work ex-centre half would be happy to come in and coach but that doesn't mean they should

 

On corners, I don't understand why we don't put a man on each post? Old fashioned thinking? don't know?

The whole Teale thing is just a gimmick. He comes across has somebody whom wears his heart on his sleeve, so is prone to making gestures like that.

On defending.

I just think we need Dunne back in there, or a more experienced Baker. Vlaar and Clark are pretty awful in the air and thats our major problem, since they are prone to let crosses come across them. Dunne would hopefully solve that.