samjp26 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Why there is a deal in a fairly advanced stage: If you want to sell something, you don't start tearing pieces out of it. You don't dismantle the drive train of a car before listing it. You don't dismantle the electrical wiring of a house while you're waiting for a buyer. Not renewing contracts for Delph, Vlaar, etc. Means you are expecting a sale in relatively short order, those contracts can be sorted in plenty of time given the anticipated takeover time frame. Now, the expected deal could collapse...... but one is or at least was, expected to be done in weeks, not months, not no buyers in sight. It's just not plausible given the clubs ACTIONS. (which, after all, speak louder than words) This is Randy Lerner - nothing is off limits... How many times have we said 'of course Randy wouldn't do that he would be stupid' Announcing the club is for sale without a buyer in the pipeline, allowing Vlaar and Delph contracts to fizzle out so the club gets nothing, - don't think 'Oh Randy wouldn't do that' - It really isn't beyond the realms of possibility.... You also have to take into account that the agents of these players will be spreading their names around now. Think of it from the point of view of an agent/player, if they want to move on it will be possible to get a higher wage as the team acquiring the player won't be paying a fee, for the players in question it will also be 100% possible for them to move to a team where they won't be battling relegation every year. Now, what if they want to stay? Well, they can demand a higher wage because they can go elsewhere for free - is it likely that we'll pay Delph or Gabby a higher wage? Of course not. Gabby has a Twitter account where he doesn't let many people follow him, similar to his Keek thing, somebody posted a tweet on here the other day from it where he said it has 'never been about money' but now 'fair is fair'. I think he'll leave personally, although I won't miss him. Delph on the other hand, or Vlaar for that matter, will be huge losses should we lose them and I actually think we will if there is no new owner around the corner ready to increase their wages dramatically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a m ole Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Why there is a deal in a fairly advanced stage: If you want to sell something, you don't start tearing pieces out of it. You don't dismantle the drive train of a car before listing it. You don't dismantle the electrical wiring of a house while you're waiting for a buyer. Not renewing contracts for Delph, Vlaar, etc. Means you are expecting a sale in relatively short order, those contracts can be sorted in plenty of time given the anticipated takeover time frame. Now, the expected deal could collapse...... but one is or at least was, expected to be done in weeks, not months, not no buyers in sight. It's just not plausible given the clubs ACTIONS. (which, after all, speak louder than words) Could also be (hopefully not) you're just fed up of losing cash in an asset and don't want to spend anymore money on it. When you've lost £150m what's another £10m. £10m is worth a lot more to you after you've lost £150m than before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Why there is a deal in a fairly advanced stage: If you want to sell something, you don't start tearing pieces out of it. You don't dismantle the drive train of a car before listing it. You don't dismantle the electrical wiring of a house while you're waiting for a buyer. Not renewing contracts for Delph, Vlaar, etc. Means you are expecting a sale in relatively short order, those contracts can be sorted in plenty of time given the anticipated takeover time frame. Now, the expected deal could collapse...... but one is or at least was, expected to be done in weeks, not months, not no buyers in sight. It's just not plausible given the clubs ACTIONS. (which, after all, speak louder than words) This is Randy Lerner - nothing is off limits... How many times have we said 'of course Randy wouldn't do that he would be stupid' Announcing the club is for sale without a buyer in the pipeline, allowing Vlaar and Delph contracts to fizzle out so the club gets nothing, - don't think 'Oh Randy wouldn't do that' - It really isn't beyond the realms of possibility.... Unfortunately this is where I am too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsmithusa Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. But it is business decision ? - If we let 2 premier league players (Vlaar and Delph) leave for nothing - that's bad business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarpie Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. But it is business decision ? - If we let 2 premier league players (Vlaar and Delph) leave for nothing - that's bad business They have year left on their contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grobs Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Courtese would be good at Villa i think. Villa are fairly similar to Southampton with youth setup and selling players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. But it is business decision ? - If we let 2 premier league players (Vlaar and Delph) leave for nothing - that's bad business They have year left on their contracts. Yes - but the general precedent is that if it gets below a year - they don't stay - I don't have a problem with selling either - but to let them walk out for nothing is bordering on negligence... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo69 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. But it is business decision ? - If we let 2 premier league players (Vlaar and Delph) leave for nothing - that's bad business They have year left on their contracts. Yes - but the general precedent is that if it gets below a year - they don't stay - I don't have a problem with selling either - but to let them walk out for nothing is bordering on negligence... We probably will sell them this summer if the right offer is made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post AshVillain Posted May 21, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted May 21, 2014 Not ITK at all - I just have a feeling something has been in the pipeline for some time and it's just a matter of crossing the i's and dotting the t's. You don't simply put up a 'For Sale' sign on a football club with an asking price of £200mil, nor do you release a statement with the tone of RL's latest 'communication' with us if something hasn't already been happening or is in some advanced stage of discussion. While I do not work in the football sector, I do work in the financial sector and deals as big as this do not happen overnight, on the contrary, it can take many months to hash things out and actually sign the contracts required. I suspect at the moment we are in the due diligence phase which essentially means the buyers are making sure there are no massive debts hanging over the club, no ridiculous overheads that cannot be removed (bomb squad can be removed fairly easily (at a cost)), confirming with various authorities what land Aston VIlla FC actually own outright etc etc. What I really cannot believe is that RL's statement has been made without ANYTHING in place - that is business suicide in any sector, let alone football, and even with his poor choices of manager I do not think a multi billionaire is in the practice of making bad business decisions. He has made some bad ones with us, but someone who is as wealthy as RL you have got to assume he has a business head on him, anything other than that seems folly to me. In terms of who might be taking us over, put 30 names in a hat and pull one out - I have no idea and I think that only a select few will know until the official Club Statement we are all waiting for. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo69 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. But it is business decision ? - If we let 2 premier league players (Vlaar and Delph) leave for nothing - that's bad business If we let them leave and get relegated that's even worse business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted May 21, 2014 Moderator Share Posted May 21, 2014 Not ITK at all - I just have a feeling something has been in the pipeline for some time and it's just a matter of crossing the i's and dotting the t's. You don't simply put up a 'For Sale' sign on a football club with an asking price of £200mil, nor do you release a statement with the tone of RL's latest 'communication' with us if something hasn't already been happening or is in some advanced stage of discussion. While I do not work in the football sector, I do work in the financial sector and deals as big as this do not happen overnight, on the contrary, it can take many months to hash things out and actually sign the contracts required. I suspect at the moment we are in the due diligence phase which essentially means the buyers are making sure there are no massive debts hanging over the club, no ridiculous overheads that cannot be removed (bomb squad can be removed fairly easily (at a cost)), confirming with various authorities what land Aston VIlla FC actually own outright etc etc. What I really cannot believe is that RL's statement has been made without ANYTHING in place - that is business suicide in any sector, let alone football, and even with his poor choices of manager I do not think a multi billionaire is in the practice of making bad business decisions. He has made some bad ones with us, but someone who is as wealthy as RL you have got to assume he has a business head on him, anything other than that seems folly to me. In terms of who might be taking us over, put 30 names in a hat and pull one out - I have no idea and I think that only a select few will know until the official Club Statement we are all waiting for. Excellent post. I agree with all of it, other than I dunno about 30 names - I suspect it's far fewer. I also suspect that due dilligence may have thrown up one or two things which have put people off from previous strong interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVillain Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. But it is business decision ? - If we let 2 premier league players (Vlaar and Delph) leave for nothing - that's bad business If we let them leave and get relegated that's even worse business. IMO this is even more ammunition to the fact that something is already happening. A smart businessman who has had lots of success and earned shed loads of money doesn't make stupid decisions like the ones mentioned above. All it takes is for new owners to buy before January then it's their problem and their choice - which is more attractive to a buyer than having 2 x 5 year contracts for players that they may want to replace with a higher calibre of footballer. Calm down and have patience lads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clip on mullet Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I hope you,re right Ashvillian, however, everything in the public domain suggests we don' have a buyer in place. We all want to believe so much that something is in the pipeline, we hang on to every glimmer of hope. I honestly feel we have to take everything on face value. So that would me the club has only been up for sale 2 or so weeks. Lambert will be in charge for the new season and we have very little money to spend, which is clearly highlighted by the bomb squad etc... Lets face facts, its going to be a long season but all we can do its get behing the club and hope the players can pull us out of this mess we find ourselves in. I really hope im wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo69 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Not ITK at all - I just have a feeling something has been in the pipeline for some time and it's just a matter of crossing the i's and dotting the t's. You don't simply put up a 'For Sale' sign on a football club with an asking price of £200mil, nor do you release a statement with the tone of RL's latest 'communication' with us if something hasn't already been happening or is in some advanced stage of discussion. While I do not work in the football sector, I do work in the financial sector and deals as big as this do not happen overnight, on the contrary, it can take many months to hash things out and actually sign the contracts required. I suspect at the moment we are in the due diligence phase which essentially means the buyers are making sure there are no massive debts hanging over the club, no ridiculous overheads that cannot be removed (bomb squad can be removed fairly easily (at a cost)), confirming with various authorities what land Aston VIlla FC actually own outright etc etc. What I really cannot believe is that RL's statement has been made without ANYTHING in place - that is business suicide in any sector, let alone football, and even with his poor choices of manager I do not think a multi billionaire is in the practice of making bad business decisions. He has made some bad ones with us, but someone who is as wealthy as RL you have got to assume he has a business head on him, anything other than that seems folly to me. In terms of who might be taking us over, put 30 names in a hat and pull one out - I have no idea and I think that only a select few will know until the official Club Statement we are all waiting for. He shouldn't make bad business decisions because he would hire top advisors. In fact he would probably do this for all of his investments be it sporting or otherwise. This way he will always make sensible decisions...........hang on a minute! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarpie Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Not ITK at all - I just have a feeling something has been in the pipeline for some time and it's just a matter of crossing the i's and dotting the t's. You don't simply put up a 'For Sale' sign on a football club with an asking price of £200mil, nor do you release a statement with the tone of RL's latest 'communication' with us if something hasn't already been happening or is in some advanced stage of discussion. While I do not work in the football sector, I do work in the financial sector and deals as big as this do not happen overnight, on the contrary, it can take many months to hash things out and actually sign the contracts required. I suspect at the moment we are in the due diligence phase which essentially means the buyers are making sure there are no massive debts hanging over the club, no ridiculous overheads that cannot be removed (bomb squad can be removed fairly easily (at a cost)), confirming with various authorities what land Aston VIlla FC actually own outright etc etc. What I really cannot believe is that RL's statement has been made without ANYTHING in place - that is business suicide in any sector, let alone football, and even with his poor choices of manager I do not think a multi billionaire is in the practice of making bad business decisions. He has made some bad ones with us, but someone who is as wealthy as RL you have got to assume he has a business head on him, anything other than that seems folly to me. In terms of who might be taking us over, put 30 names in a hat and pull one out - I have no idea and I think that only a select few will know until the official Club Statement we are all waiting for. Great posting, agree with this 100%, It's also quite the coincidence about what Kwan said about the potential owner and then *boom*, Rich's jet lands on Birmingham, along with the law firm who has handled sport team/franchaise buys/sales. Hopefully it's not just a coincidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsmithusa Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. But it is business decision ? - If we let 2 premier league players (Vlaar and Delph) leave for nothing - that's bad business That's my point. (although they aren't set to leave this summer, their contract is for another year) you just don't dismantle everything good and positive in a product your trying to sell... If there's not a deal in the pipeline, Randy is licking the white cream out of an Oreo and hoping to sell the two chocolate wafers for the full price. He'll hire a manager (mcliesh) that baffles me, but his business and financial decisions have been quite sound long before he got here and since. Again, that does not mean the deal could not fall through. I just think the actions we see the club making all point toward a deal is anticipated sooner rather than later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 If the name K had in mind was the same guy who owns a baseball team and has had his jet at Birmingham Airport recently then why would Randy be weary. Given that the two of them are meant to be friends or at least the two families are closely associated through that Clinic in Cleveland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Not ITK at all - I just have a feeling something has been in the pipeline for some time and it's just a matter of crossing the i's and dotting the t's. You don't simply put up a 'For Sale' sign on a football club with an asking price of £200mil, nor do you release a statement with the tone of RL's latest 'communication' with us if something hasn't already been happening or is in some advanced stage of discussion. While I do not work in the football sector, I do work in the financial sector and deals as big as this do not happen overnight, on the contrary, it can take many months to hash things out and actually sign the contracts required. I suspect at the moment we are in the due diligence phase which essentially means the buyers are making sure there are no massive debts hanging over the club, no ridiculous overheads that cannot be removed (bomb squad can be removed fairly easily (at a cost)), confirming with various authorities what land Aston VIlla FC actually own outright etc etc. What I really cannot believe is that RL's statement has been made without ANYTHING in place - that is business suicide in any sector, let alone football, and even with his poor choices of manager I do not think a multi billionaire is in the practice of making bad business decisions. He has made some bad ones with us, but someone who is as wealthy as RL you have got to assume he has a business head on him, anything other than that seems folly to me. In terms of who might be taking us over, put 30 names in a hat and pull one out - I have no idea and I think that only a select few will know until the official Club Statement we are all waiting for. Great posting, agree with this 100%, It's also quite the coincidence about what Kwan said about the potential owner and then *boom*, Rich's jet lands on Birmingham, along with the law firm who has handled sport team/franchaise buys/sales. Hopefully it's not just a coincidence. On flip side of this, why did he tell us it was up for sale instead of waiting to the t's were dotted? Its not as if he or the club were very forth coming with info in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMcKenna Posted May 21, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) while I agree Randy has made some decisions that have baffled me from the standpoint of fan relations and from footballing, I think assuming he's foolish with financial and business decisions is a leap. On the contrary, I think it is no leap at all. Time and again he has shown poor judgement in terms of his "financial and business decision" making skills. That he was Chairman of MBNA because of his families shareholdings is not evidence of his personal business acumen. He was very much a figure head and not directly involved in the strategic decisions beyond ensuring that he and other major shareholder insiders like Krulak made a killing when it was sold to Bank of America. Edited May 21, 2014 by MikeMcKenna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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