Sam3773

Clearly the Chinese, fronted by Cortese, got wind the club might be up for sale soon and approached Lerner. Lerner, following a thorough 'tattoo' check was unimpressed and wanted to sell to someone he knew and could trust back in the US of A. All his friends shunned and ignored him so he picked up the phone. "Hi Corto! It's Randy! That unpleasantness back in June? Yeah with the tattoo incident.. Sorry about that. Let's talk sale!" Well that's probably what happened anyway.

I'm happy the statement has been made. It might not have the big headline we were hoping for but some positives none the less. I'm glad he has finally let the fans know what's happening. Pre-season training started today as far as I know so it sounds like this was his personal deadline. Might mean funds or it might just mean he wants to put some reassurance to the players and staff. Either way, we can all crack on and... Yeah... We go again.

Of course there will be a takeover. We're for sale. How long that takes is another matter. Everton have been for "sale" for years upon years. different situation, city, infrastructure etc. however just pointing it out. Yeah but you get the feeling that kenwright doesn't really want to sell, they must have had offers. I think he says publicly that they're for sale to keep the fans off his back but actually he's turned down offers, pure opinion. Lerner would bite the dick off any offer remotely close to the asking price, I'd believe That would explain peoples reluctance to make an offer Any billionaire eunuchs out there? All this sexism. Who knows what Delia Smith is in the market for now.

All this Saudi talk reminded me straight away of the 2012 Saudi prince story. I can't remember exactly but it was something like an unnamed Saudi Prince watched a training sesson and Bodymoor as a guest. I think they said it was because the Saudi royal family spend loads on conferences at Villa Park so they invited them to watch a session. It could be linked! I love this straw clutching game.

I see this and I raise you February 2nd: "I can categorically confirm that Aston Villa Football Club has absolutely not been put up for sale and that Randy Lerner is not actively looking to sell the club. You never know what can change in a week or two. Or what was bullshit from the start.

Interesting that he's putting it to the relevant parties first. Only thing I can think is they've agreed a date to announce a deal is done and given him the exclusive which they want to vet first. [/optimism]

Russ Lynch having more for us next week could be related to all this "Bob Rich. 12th June. Remember the name, remember the date." Stuff that's been about on Twitter for about a week now. It could also be nothing at all.

Edit: Noob move. Ignore. I learnt how to read!

Anyone seen the release cartoon that just came out? Shows Vlaar, Gabby and a blacked out player then says "To be continued.." I'd link it but it came up on Facebook. Could just be the away kit. Who knows?!

Just read back and he is good. His previous form is getting Benteke and Bennett signings bang on. Took a lot of stick for being a typical ITK, hung around to see his predictions right, then left Twitter. Now he comes back with this. Talks a lot to ol' Kendrick too by the looks of it.

Read this with my usual ITK filter. But the comments would suggest this guy used to be accurate with this stuff. Interesting..

Didn't the FBI investigation start later though? Fair point. Just looked and it was about a year after the sale. I just don't think Randy is going to care too much about a 4 year old accusation for which he was acquitted. If he has the bills, I can't see Randy's moral fibre kicking in and turning him down.

Well this got serious quickly. The man was accused and acquitted years ago. What's the problem? If he had just finished a 10 year sentence then I might have my doubts. I've never seen him run a football club so I'm not going to say if he can do it well or not. I'm a Villa fan and I want what's best for the club. Is he it? Not a scooby. He might be. He might, like anyone, ruin it. At the end of the day, I believe we are a big club with a huge history and should be fighting for everything. As for who Randy would or wouldn't sell to, let's just take a minute to remember that he sold the Browns, a team given to him by his father, to someone who is being looked into by the FBI. Villa have less sentimental value to him so I firmly believe it will be a decision made by his wallet as opposed to his heart.

All I'm seeing is a business man who already has substantial football links through his Doyen group. And come on.. You don't get to that level of rich without at least some controversy! I just wonder what part, if any, the Doyen group will play in our players..

To add more to this, did a little research and found this article from the Daily Mail posted last night about half way down: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2642015/Charles-Sale-David-Beckham-hits-campaign-trail-Miami-looking-new-home-MLS-team.html?ico=sport%5Eheadlines "The sale of Aston Villa this summer looks likely to be a slow process, particularly with Randy Lerner’s £200million price tag. But one billionaire reportedly showing interest in buying a Premier League team is New York-based Kazakh-born property developer Tevfik Arif, whose Bayrock group work in partnership with Donald Trump."

Can't find this article on the Independent website by search or browse. I'll remain skeptical after the Doughnut Kings. Edit: Found it on there now. Very nice!

I know they're annoying but violence really isn't the answer.

I have it on good authority that Randy has just received a promising Email from a Nigerian Prince. Watch this space.

Keen to see some of this 'Evidence' you speak of. Saying there's no interest and we're doomed to Championship football is as speculative as saying we'll be fighting for Europe next year. Until the OS categorically says what's happening, I'm open to any theories. Edit: Typo. Again. Actually saying there is no interest and we are doomed to championship football is currently how it stands as far as we are aware. So it's not speculative at all. I disagree. All I've heard is stuff from people like PL who skirt around the question and use terms like "As far as I know.." I haven't read a club statement saying that categorically. I agree officially it would look that way because of the interviews, but everything is still speculative. But until we are made aware there are interested owners or a takeover is going to happen we only know that nothing has changed. So how can it be speculative to say nothing has changed when we don't know otherwise? Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes complete sense. My point is that the only official statement we've had is to say the club's up for sale. Anything on top of that is mere speculation and opinion. There being no one bidding is as speculative as there being 10 interested parties. For all we no there could be a deal completed tonight. It's unlikely and I agree a lot of this is optimistic, but it's not impossible.

Keen to see some of this 'Evidence' you speak of. Saying there's no interest and we're doomed to Championship football is as speculative as saying we'll be fighting for Europe next year. Until the OS categorically says what's happening, I'm open to any theories. Edit: Typo. Again. Actually saying there is no interest and we are doomed to championship football is currently how it stands as far as we are aware. So it's not speculative at all. I disagree. All I've heard is stuff from people like PL who skirt around the question and use terms like "As far as I know.." I haven't read a club statement saying that categorically. I agree officially it would look that way because of the interviews, but everything is still speculative.

Keen to see some of this 'Evidence' you speak of. Saying there's no interest and we're doomed to Championship football is as speculative as saying we'll be fighting for Europe next year. Until the OS categorically says what's happening, I'm open to any theories. Edit: Typo. Again.

If it is a slip, I love the idea that it was on purpose. Like a big FU to Randy for not giving him any money. Edit: Typo.

I just can't hear it. I hear talk of getting transfers in being tough and how the new people (transfers in) will understand the situation. After that he says it would be different if there was something imminent. I admire the optimism, mind. I hope you're right!

... I think he's on about new players coming in understanding the situation. He is talking about transfers in at the time.

I agree, I think PL staying on for at least the first year is a good thing. The transition period under a new owner will be tough enough as it is. PL has all of summer to prepare, probably has more information than he's letting on in terms of transfer budget, and knows the team.