Silent_Bob

If hope Harewood, if he signs, is not a statement of intent...

If we're seriously interested in SWP I would be surprised if MON/Randy didn't discuss it with Chelsea representatives tonight. Chelsea would never allow him to sign for us before the game. So maybe he will sign tomorrow then?

Eastwood and Savage has something in common then? I wouldn't rule out Eastwood choosing Blackburn ahead of us, if they are after him.

Alan Smith said he'd never go to Man Utd. Real Madrid said they'd never sign David Beckham Egghead said he wouldn't sack Pardew Arsenal said Ashley Cole wasn't for sale Chelsea said they didn't want Ashley Cole any more. My dad said Santa doesn't exist. The world's full of liars! If my dad said something like that I would never trust him again.

Foster Stearman Davies Jaidi Bale Sidwell Cahill McSheffery Ashton Nugent Bent All players playing in or bought from the Championship. I bet that team would put up a pretty good account of themselves in the Premiership. I should have added "at the same time". More or less all of these have been put together with more experienced players, and as a result they have improved themselves.

A good championship player might be a useful addition to a team consisting of established internationals. To build an entire team of Championship players would probably make us end up in the Championship. So I agree. Let's hope we go for both established players and lower league players that are both determined and have the ability to succeed in the Premiership.

yeah his one goal in twelve games last season proved this, he's in my no thanks folder along with Keane and Defoe It depends I think... If he is our new main striker I would be dissapointed. I'm sure he could be a decent squad player.

Good point but the problem is that if they are currently playing for teams in Europe, would they leave in January? Then it obviously follows that if they aren't playing for teams in Europe, are they the kind of players you are alluding to? It depends on how their team is doing? A good player at a team that doesn't have the season they were expecting might be available? I'm sure we're not the only team that rebuilds and think six months ahead? Besides, the Scandinavian leagues should be finished now. Scandinavians traditionally settles in well, and I'm sure there are players there that are good enough. A new Mellberg or Ronny Johnsen would be fine.

Would it be fair to say Earnshaw would be a good replacement for Baros? Anyway, I would like us to sign a couple of European players in January. So if they require 6 months setteling in, then they are ready for 07/08.

Great to see a member of the board on this site. Good luck with transforming the club. We will support you all the way. If you are still in touch with your former employers, a tactical air strike at St Andrews would be appreciated as well.

You're right there I suppose. I don't think he will call it off if he only reaches 74% by the deadline.

Wasn't the offer only valid if RAL got 75% of the shares? Is RAL really buying atm? Or are they just signing soft irrevocable deals that will not go through unless they reach their target of ownership within 21 days?

To me big difference between Villa Park and, let's say Emirates, is the fact that Villa Park allready has a name. If Arsenal changed the name of Highbury to Emirates, people would still call it Highbury. If we change the name into MBNA Villa Park it won't really change a thing. We would still call it Villa Park. I wouldn't mind.

I'm not impressed. Which flag will it be? The Swedish one?

If possible, a countdown on the frontpage would be nice.

Perhaps he, like Ellis, like to be away when there are important decisions to be made?

It will take an extra 5% to remove the "soft irrevocable deals" with Ellis and Petchey. But Padfield is willing, according to rumours, to top that by paying another 5%. Why is that? It can be only one reason for that. His bid is inferior in many ways, but he is hoping an additional £4M could make the offers seem even. I have NOT changed my mind yet. I think Lerner is the best option. And that another chapter in the "Aston Villa book of what might have been" will be written these days unless Lerner's bid is successfull.

True. And I'm much more comfortable by having a good businessman run the club, rather than a life long fan. I am a life long fan, and I'm quite sure I'm not the right man to buy the club, even if I could afford it. Thinking of the club strictly as a business, there is only two things that will attract a business man looking for profit. It's either the possibility of asset stripping if the company is undervalued. Or when a profit can be made by improving certain areas where the company is currently underperforming. From what I know about Lerner, he falls into the second category. He has the knowhow from running a similar business in the US, most probably has got the right connections to improve our turnover considerably by marketing our brand in his home market. And he has a reputation to look after as well. If he is indeed an asset stripper I'm sure he would be better of buying more low-profile companies rather than a Premier League club with fans all over the world. If what I think of him is correct, then a successfull Aston Villa is necessary for him to have his profit. I don't see how that makes him into a demi god. We simply have mutual interests. He wants a profit and I want a club competing with the best. And I think both of us has a good chance achieving what we want if his bid is accepted.

PB I think you are right. There might very well be some silent partners in there with Lerner. But I think the numbers you give don't fit. I would assume he (or they) bought AV PLC with money borrowed against some of his (their) assets. If Lerner owns shares worth £700M, even a 5% return of investment means he has £35M to throw around each year. That should be more than enough to cover the downpayments on a £65M loan. He could then grant the rights to market the AV brand in USA to one of his companies. By the way, the US market is much better than the Asian ones as some PL clubs have targeted earlier, since americans can afford buying official merchandise, while the Asians would prefer copies costing only 10% of the price for official products. Anyway, he will make money in the US from the AV brand. I then assume AV PLC would borrow against it's assets to fund transfers. And I don't really see a problem in that either, because Lerner has enough money to clear our debt if needed. I do not expect him to put his own money into the club unless that is absolutly necessary. If there is silent partners in there with him, I'm sure that they too will use the club to make money in one way or the other. But I assume they too would require a rather successfull team over here for them to make money over there. So the last thing they would do would be to reduce the club's ability to compete, by taking money directly out of the club. If Lerner, alone or with partners, buy the club, it will be an investment done for financial reasons. But it will require a successfull Aston Villa for him (them) to make money. So we have mutual interests.

They consider themselves frontrunner. I would be very surprised if Rothchild and/or the club considers them frontrunners. However, they might have chosen another strategy. If they become Petchey's prefered bidders, it might be difficult for Lerner or whoever to get both the major shareholders to accept their offer. I'm only speculating, but perhaps Petchey and Ellis prefer different offers, and that is the reason for the delay?

But it's not very comparable. Just buying and selling goods is not as complicated as running a football club. Besides Villa has a lot more potential for making money than a Tesco superstore.

Thank you Mr Trees.

Julie, Rumour has it that 10.000 ST holders did not review. It would take Doug about 5 years to meet each and every one of them for one hour each.

If Ellis is left with 10% of the shares he need to cover 10% of the total amount of money injected into the club. Lerner won't give Ellis a free ride.