is it time for a new owner?

[TRO]

If Lerner was a bad owner he would borrow against the club tp buy players, if it didn't workpput he could just walk away and leave us in a mess that could destroy the club.

If Man U don't make it into the champions league for a few seasons we will see the implications of real shit owners.

If he was to sell he would have to prepare the club by cutting costs, getting rid of the dead wood which would leave him with a clear conscience when it came to selling. Leaving the new owners totally responsible for any success or failure.

What I don't like is the lack of information from the club, FWIW Lerner is very similar to Doug, which isn't a bad thing IMHO

 

Its a bit of a paradox, because in some ways he is similar to HDE and others he's not.

 

Doug would at least make an attempt to explain things, good ,bad or indifferent....usually bad

Doug was always on site and governed Villa park in an autocratic manner...at least he left you in no uncertain terms who the boss was...The club had discipline....so that was good & bad, depending on the context.

Doug had no ability to raise personal funds for contingency, even if he wanted to, which I doubt if he would if he could.

 

The one thing i did like about Doug....yea just the one....He was reasonably open about what was going on( said guardedly).... I wrote to him once and he responded with far more information back ,than i expected and some things he said i was quite taken aback with his candidness.

 

but his self centered, self interest was enough to negate any good points....I must be mellowing with age, don't tell Jonathan Fear/Carl Chinn, they will say all that marching was in vain.

[TRO]

PL, RL & PF are all praise worthy of each other, so its hard to tell exactly what the situation is.

 

but as i said in one of my earlier posts... god forbid if things went "tits up" they would all come out of it much better than the "club" or "us"

[GENTLEMAN]

I have mixed views on Lerner, he is an enigma and totally confuses me.

[TRO]

I have mixed views on Lerner, he is an enigma and totally confuses me.

 me too. I find some things understandable and others perplexing and frustrating.

 

albeit his absence will only be an issue, while we are struggling....It probably makes no difference to Paul Lambert other than seemingly inhibiting his ability to trade.

[DelboyVilla]

PL, RL & PF are all praise worthy of each other, so its hard to tell exactly what the situation is.

 

but as i said in one of my earlier posts... god forbid if things went "tits up" they would all come out of it much better than the "club" or "us"

 

 

To be fair every manager to a man has said what a good relationship they have had with Lerner even whilst he has been an absentee from these shores!! Which to be fair they will say what a lovely bloke he is considering many of them have made several million from him over the years!!

 

Faulkner is IMO a yes man and toes the party line of Lerner at all times. He is Lerner's spy in the club. OK he has increased revenues but I think most clubs will have done so over the years and he still hasn't got the revenue to the level where we can support a Premier League wage. I don't think he is a Daniel Levy or David Dein yet or every will be, he's just a credit car office manager and always will be.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

All I want for Jesusmas is a message from Randy Lerner, and Brad Guzan singing 'White Christmas'.

[GENTLEMAN]

To be fair every manager to a man has said what a good relationship they have had with Lerner even whilst he has been an absentee from these shores!! Which to be fair they will say what a lovely bloke he is considering many of them have made several million from him over the years!!

 

Faulkner is IMO a yes man and toes the party line of Lerner at all times. He is Lerner's spy in the club. OK he has increased revenues but I think most clubs will have done so over the years and he still hasn't got the revenue to the level where we can support a Premier League wage. I don't think he is a Daniel Levy or David Dein yet or every will be, he's just a credit car office manager and always will be.

 

I think that is hugely unfair and very bleak. It is too one sided and not true. Surely you do not believe that rubbish?

Edited December 24, 2013 by GENTLEMAN

[smetrov]

I have mixed views on Lerner, he is an enigma and totally confuses me.

 

Quite simply and sadly he's got bored.

 

Start of his reign there was money for players and he was at most of the games. Now there's little money and he maybe gets to or two games a season....... #couldntgiveatoss

[GENTLEMAN]

 

I have mixed views on Lerner, he is an enigma and totally confuses me.

 

Quite simply and sadly he's got bored.

 

Start of his reign there was money for players and he was at most of the games. Now there's little money and he maybe gets to or two games a season....... #couldntgiveatoss

 

But would you really care about Lerner attending games if we were winning on a consistent basis? 

[DelboyVilla]

 

To be fair every manager to a man has said what a good relationship they have had with Lerner even whilst he has been an absentee from these shores!! Which to be fair they will say what a lovely bloke he is considering many of them have made several million from him over the years!!

 

Faulkner is IMO a yes man and toes the party line of Lerner at all times. He is Lerner's spy in the club. OK he has increased revenues but I think most clubs will have done so over the years and he still hasn't got the revenue to the level where we can support a Premier League wage. I don't think he is a Daniel Levy or David Dein yet or every will be, he's just a credit car office manager and always will be.

 

I think that is hugely unfair and very bleak. It is too one sided and not true.

 

 

 

You think it's all untrue? What makes you think that things aren't bleak? What signs or quotes are there out there that things will improve? PF goes on about FFP but isn't that only relevant if you are in Europe? Our only chance of Europe at the moment is the FA Cup and I don't hold out much hope there.

 

How do any of us know if PF is doing a good job really as for all time here we have been in decline as a club on the pitch?

 

Hoping that the purse strings are loosened is just hoping we don't know what is going to happen but in my mind why get the wages down only to increase them again?

[smetrov]

 

 

I have mixed views on Lerner, he is an enigma and totally confuses me.

 

Quite simply and sadly he's got bored.

 

Start of his reign there was money for players and he was at most of the games. Now there's little money and he maybe gets to or two games a season....... #couldntgiveatoss

 

But would you really care about Lerner attending games if we were winning on a consistent basis? 

 

 

No of course not - but it is a symptom of the deeper cause

[jacketspuds]

Is there a plan if we do go down? Or will we have to make further cutbacks to League One wages, continuing the downward trend?

I think we have one of the worst combinations of Owner and Chief Exec in the Premier League. Individually I think they'd be ok but I don't get the impression that either have a great interest/passion for football.

I would like a football man (like Graham Taylor) to come in and work alongside Faulkner to balance, what should be, the dual focus on football and finance.

I have no idea what kind of a guy Faulkner is as I have never met him.

On the face of it though, he is maturing into an excellent football chief exec and will, if he stays around, become one of these mythical 'football people' craved by some on here.

Should Mr Lerner sell up, don't be surprised if PF ends up at one of the so called top 4 clubs.

None of us on here are football people but we seem qualified enough to tell PF where he's going wrong

I don't think Faulkner is a bad Chief Exec. I'm just not sure him and Lerner make a good combination.

[GENTLEMAN]

You think it's all untrue? What makes you think that things aren't bleak? What signs or quotes are there out there that things will improve? PF goes on about FFP but isn't that only relevant if you are in Europe? Our only chance of Europe at the moment is the FA Cup and I don't hold out much hope there.

 

How do any of us know if PF is doing a good job really as for all time here we have been in decline as a club on the pitch?

 

Hoping that the purse strings are loosened is just hoping we don't know what is going to happen but in my mind why get the wages down only to increase them again?

 

I do think what you have written is miles away from the truth and is totally cynical. I believe the club has embarked on a long term project to re-establish us in the top half and that is going to take some time and overcoming a lot of difficulties along the way. 

 

Becoming sustainable is the correct decision in my opinion, you only have to look at Leeds United and Portsmouth to see what could potentially happen by spending and spending without no viable return to support it. It has nothing to do with attaining European football, it was/is about safeguarding our future without a over reliance on a benefactor and making gradual progress in the league. European football is a long term goal at the moment but achievable.

 

"Our only chance of Europe at the moment is the FA Cup and I don't hold out much hope there." - That is being overly negative. Wigan won the FA cup last season and Swansea won the League Cup, it is not totally beyond the club to win a trophy. 

 

Again PF/RL are not accountable for actions on the pitch or the results we have received during the last three years, it is the manager's responsibility to win football matches. That is my view on the subject, I doubt it will change. The club becoming sustainable is the testament to the job PF is undertaking, and we have witnessed increases in the income during the last three years despite the struggles on the pitch. I think he is doing a good job.

 

"but in my mind why get the wages down only to increase them again?" - Benteke, Westwood, Lowton were all given pay rises by the club. It is about getting value for money and rewarding hard work and quality when it is necessary in my opinion. I am hoping we will show more ambition in the coming transfer windows.

Edited December 24, 2013 by GENTLEMAN

[GENTLEMAN]

 

 

 

I have mixed views on Lerner, he is an enigma and totally confuses me.

 

Quite simply and sadly he's got bored.

 

Start of his reign there was money for players and he was at most of the games. Now there's little money and he maybe gets to or two games a season....... #couldntgiveatoss

 

But would you really care about Lerner attending games if we were winning on a consistent basis? 

 

 

No of course not - but it is a symptom of the deeper cause

 

Not caring or giving up? I do not understand that.

[Big_John_10]

establish us in the top half and that is going to take some time and overcoming a lot of difficulties along the way.

I don't see why establishing a club like ours in the top half is a difficult task which should take some time to do.

I'm sorry but that sort of attitude is just a way to continue to support the owner while we continue to struggle.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Big_John_10

[GENTLEMAN]

 

establish us in the top half and that is going to take some time and overcoming a lot of difficulties along the way.

I don't see why establishing a club like ours in the top half is a difficult task which should take some time to do.

I'm sorry but that sort of attitude is just a way to continue to support the owner while we continue to struggle.

 

Not at all. I am just realistic about how our chances of success are going to be created in the future with Lerner at the helm. Have you missed the last three years? We have regressed, we need to rebuild.

[tinker]

We're building a club on a championship budget with a few premiership players already on board, it's a hard hand to play, especially for a club with the expectations a club like our has.

I/ We need to wake up and look at what little facts we have, Lerner has less money than he used to have, divorce and the banking fiasco plus a few panic buys.......

The games changed with all the false money being pumped in via super rich owners.......

The press being London. Based, despite our history, high profile fans and all the rest we still have a real small profile, especially when we look at clubs like QPR, West Ham ..

I know we can compete and I also feel were a few steps ahead of clubs we are all looking at with envy atm, UTV

.

[srsmithusa]

establish us in the top half and that is going to take some time and overcoming a lot of difficulties along the way.

I don't see why establishing a club like ours in the top half is a difficult task which should take some time to do.

I'm sorry but that sort of attitude is just a way to continue to support the owner while we continue to struggle.

Seriously? Getting to top half is not a difficult task that takes time? At least half the teams in any soccer league in the world would argue against that. (Because they are trying and failing to be in the top half). And in the Premier League, they've all spent millions trying. I'll admit there's a bit of over the top hyberbole in my post, but mine is trying for irony. Yours? Sounds like you seriously think it's easy. If it's not a difficult task, why doesn't every team do it?

[jacketspuds]

The two extremes of spend spend spend under MON and cutbacks cutbacks cutbacks under Lambert is the reason I have an issue with the current regime.

I am all for financial stability and it was obvious that cost cutting was essential, but we are in a position of taking a huge gamble filling the squad with players on good Championship wages, whilst removing the majority of Premier League experience.

I would have liked to have seen a more balanced approach allowing for 3 or 4 younger players and a couple of experienced heads each season.

Just feels like a massive risk, especially as we could probably achieve good things under the current manager, under the right circumstances.

[Big_John_10]

establish us in the top half and that is going to take some time and overcoming a lot of difficulties along the way.

I don't see why establishing a club like ours in the top half is a difficult task which should take some time to do.

I'm sorry but that sort of attitude is just a way to continue to support the owner while we continue to struggle.

Seriously? Getting to top half is not a difficult task that takes time? At least half the teams in any soccer league in the world would argue against that. (Because they are trying and failing to be in the top half). And in the Premier League, they've all spent millions trying. I'll admit there's a bit of over the top hyberbole in my post, but mine is trying for irony. Yours? Sounds like you seriously think it's easy. If it's not a difficult task, why doesn't every team do it?

This is a very strange post.

Why doesn't every team do it? Well for starters not every team has the income we do. Which on last recorded results was a top half income. Also have you not witnessed our premiership history when we were an established top half team?

I stand by what I said. It shouldn't be a difficult task that takes years to get a club like ours to be an established top half team.

Posts like these blow my mind. Ignore most things in order to defend Lerner's poor performance.