Board 2015 Takeover Thread

[dudevillaisnice]

Here we go. I'm on my mobile so it might not come out right

Randy Lerner was on holiday in Barbados a few months ago when he felt a tap on the shoulder, turned around and found himself facing Martin O’Neill. The last time they had spent any hours together was with teams of expensive lawyers in a bitter, scarring employment tribunal, but, over a couple of days in the Caribbean, they sat by the pool and in the bar reminiscing, remembering the good times.

They talked fondly about when Villa finished sixth in the table three years running, knocking on the door of that elite Champions League club, happy days with Ashley Young, James Milner, Stewart Downing flying down the wings, before disagreements over spending and direction and control in 2010.

Lerner may yet have an unexpectedly joyous conclusion to his regime if Villa win their first trophy in almost 20 years on Saturday, but that chance encounter only emphasised how much it had gone sour, for Lerner, for Villa, since that acrimonious parting.

Things did not work out as intended in so many ways. Lerner had planned to move to England, owning properties in London and the Midlands, but family life and business kept him in the United States. As he became more distant, Villa lurched from Gérard Houllier (one season before heart trouble) to Alex McLeish (one season of fan antipathy) to Paul Lambert (two and a half moribund campaigns including an ill-judged double act with the brooding Roy Keane).

Instead of knocking on the door of the elite, Villa have spent the past couple of seasons perilously close to the trapdoor of relegation. An American billionaire with the Villa tattoo and good intentions has ended up battered by fans who once saw him as a welcome replacement to “Deadly” Doug Ellis.

“However much I know that being a football chairman carries with it brutal criticism, my love for Villa makes the negativity pretty biting at times,” Lerner said this week in a rare interview.

“On the other hand, the club’s performance over the last five or so years has left quite a lot to be desired and that falls squarely on my shoulders. Happily we’ve not been relegated, but I haven’t gotten it nearly right enough. So what reaction would I expect?”

Lerner, 53, holds his hands up about his mistakes, and especially the difficulty of trying to be an executive chairman while juggling all aspects of a busy life. Villa needed direction. “The responsibilities that I have at home, in the US, both personal and professional come first,” he says, candidly. “If I lived and worked in England, it would be entirely different matter.”

He still runs numerous businesses passed down by his father, who died 13 years ago, and was effectively a single parent for nine years. A few years ago he decided to cut down his commitments including sports ownership, selling the Cleveland Browns and pulling out of Villa for several reasons.

“Why? I’m a believer in flux. In change,” he says. “Some of my career goals have shifted. My appetite for the media exposure has certainly waned and just simply my feeling that I’m not the right guy any more for the job.”

Absenteeism is one criticism levelled at him by Villa fans, but he decided not to show up at games purely for the sake of it. “I knew that the answer was not to pander to the criticism, but rather to fix or address the issue,” he says from his home in Long Island.

He recruited Tom Fox from Arsenal to be chief executive and began to hand over responsibilities, including the managerial search that led to the galvanising appointment of Tim Sherwood in February.

“That was driven by Tom,” he says. “When Tom came to Villa last summer, we had an explicit understanding that he was going to run the club day to day. With respect to making a change as manager, he had detailed criteria that addressed the short and long term. Given those, he felt that Tim was uniquely suited and available.”

It has been a long time — O’Neill’s days — since Villa have punched close to their wage bill and Lerner admits envy for the work at Southampton and Swansea City, in particular. He hopes that Sherwood can bring significant improvements to scouting and recruitment. “Tim and I have had three or four good visits since he’s come,” he says. “He’s become Villa very quickly.”

Lerner is hopeful that the new combination of Sherwood and Fox, a positive end to the season and the guarantee of TV riches to come make it more likely that a buyer will be found this summer than last.

But what of the restraints of Financial Fair Play that could mean Villa, even if they did get everything right as a business, could once again hit that glass ceiling that they reached under O’Neill? Is there not a futility for a club outside the top four?

“That’s a tough one,” Lerner says. “I recently met a cardiologist in America who was from Dublin originally, who had been a Chelsea fan until, he said, they started buying players in the current fashion and at their current levels. My point is that it can cut both ways.

“Sure, facing clubs with vastly larger payrolls can be dispiriting, but, there are always other angles. The big clubs also provide important liquidity for smaller clubs. For clubs like Southampton and Swansea, their ability to sell players at premium prices wisely has been, to my mind, a key part of their ascent and their increasingly established position in the top half.

“My view is that a compelling sort of football ecosystem has evolved in the English league that not only benefits those clubs that are extremely well run with effective academies, but has also become the place of stunning competitive rivalries and unforeseen achievements.”

Villa’s run to the FA Cup final could certainly be included as unexpected. It gives Lerner a chance to say an upbeat farewell after nine years if Villa can win the competition for the first time since 1957, their first trophy since the League Cup in 1996. He will be in the stands with family at Wembley. He has promised to step down as chairman even if he cannot sell Villa this summer, and English football will say goodbye to one of the more eclectic characters.

Talking of Villa attracting global interest, Lerner says it is “kind of like a Boetti Mappa”, citing the work of the Italian conceptual artist.

Among his future intentions is to write a book, saying that his inspirations include Geoffrey Barraclough and Llewellyn Woodward, the late British historians. “So something straightforward and simple,” he laughs.

He wants more time for other projects and says it is not that he has stopped wanting the best for Villa, but simply about priorities. The big mistake was not bringing in someone earlier to fill his role when he realised that he could not devote the attention.

The fans will have their own deep frustrations, but Lerner has no regrets about becoming involved nine years ago even if, when he sells, he will have lost some of his considerable fortune.

He would do it again, but bumping into O’Neill heightened his own sense of “what ifs” and hopes that were never fulfilled. Soon it will be someone else’s turn.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/clubs/astonvilla/article4451970.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2015_05_26

[MikeMcKenna]

Enigmatic to the end. I don't pretend to understand Lerner's reference to Boetti's Mappa other than that possibly he is suggesting a new owner will reveal himself in time. But it doesn't sound like a takeover is in the offing to me.

Of his work the "Mappa" Boetti said:

"For me the work of the embroidered Mappa is the maximum of beauty. For that work I did nothing, chose nothing, in the sense that: the world is made as it is, not as I designed it, the flags are those that exist, and I did not design them; in short I did absolutely nothing; when the basic idea, the concept, emerges everything else requires no choosing." Alighiero e Boetti, 1974"

[mikeyp102]

Wonder who will be new chairman..

To me that article also reads that we will selling players (Benteke?) as he sees that as the way Southampton and Swansea have been successful.

[GENTLEMAN]

Wonder who will be new chairman..

Tom Fox?

[ozvillafan]

Wonder who will be new chairman..

To me that article also reads that we will selling players (Benteke?) as he sees that as the way Southampton and Swansea have been successful.

 

If he's not chairman, he can't make those decisions can he?

 

What he said was that there is an ecosystem in place and there is always another angle.

[Chicken Field]

Honestly, how many owners would come out and admit that they have failed ? I really like Lerner and am sad that it did not work out with him. We are so lucky to have an owner that admits mistake and is willing to set a chairman just for the best of the club. If only we had got top 4 with O'Neill or if Lerner had brought in a football man (like Tom Fox) in earlier, we might have been in such a good place today.

 

"Lerner could have sold Villa last year but was not happy with the way that the deal was progressing so pulled out of negotiations. He insists that he will not sell unless he is happy with both the offer----saying that recent sales in the Premier League "suggest somewhere in the £150million to £200million [region] is the likely range"---and the commitments of the new owners."

 

That say so much about the person and that he only wants what is best.
 

[Ponky]

Surprisingly frank words from Randy. Given all we have really had from him in the past is carefully worded statements it almost makes you wonder if this is actually the same person.

One wonders if he'd been a little more open and accessible like this a few years ago the fans just might have been a bit more patient and forgiving.

[lexicon]

One wonders if he'd been a little more open and accessible like this a few years ago the fans just might have been a bit more patient and forgiving.

 

Considering this is football, I'd say probably not.

[villan_007]

Wonder who will be new chairman..

To me that article also reads that we will selling players (Benteke?) as he sees that as the way Southampton and Swansea have been successful.

 

I literally have no idea how you can come to that conclusion. He doesnt say that at all, just he envys how they've been run well.

[Isa]

Wonder who will be new chairman..

Tom Fox?

I was thinking this. With Lerner outlining just how much authority has been invested in Fox in terms of the general running of the club, what exactly would a seperately appointed chairman do beyond that? I mean I look at Spurs where Levy is basically Chairman and CEO in one and think that is the set-up Lerner should be looking at if he wants a more withdrawn role.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Isa

[lexicon]

Works for me - I think Fox has done well so far.

[HanoiVillan]

Is Boetti's Mappa a painting of a Shunnamite?

[Oaks]

I don't think I'm as easly forgivable as some. He's pretty much left this club to rot for 5 years, no plan and out of pretty much laziness. Yeah his personal life has changed, all this should have been thought through when investing in a business so many people care about. It still stinks of a rich boys toy that's he's got bored of playing with.

I've always liked him as a person, but I can't forgive these last 5 years. If we win the cup on Saturday it will be little to do with him.

[lexicon]

It's not laziness, is it? It was about priorities. 

 

That doesn't make it any better but let's at least be accurate. 

[pooligan]

Pretty much agree with you Oaks

[KSV]

Where's the comments re buyers?

[useless]

LERNER VOWS TO WALK AWAY FROM VILLA

Exclusive Matt Dickinson

Chief Sports Writer

Randy Lerner will step down as Aston Villa chairman this summer even if he retains ownership of the club. The American still hopes to sell Villa but has made moves to put a new board in place if no takeover is completed.

In a rare interview, Lerner told The Times, that he accepts he should have stepped aside several years ago because of work and family commitments in the United States. He has come under fire from supporters as the team has battled relegation in recent seasons. "I don't disagree with the criticism," he said. "And what i should have done several years back was to bring in a chairman."

He insists that he has already taken steps to help to revive the Midlands club, who hope to win their first trophy in almost 20 years by beating Arsenal in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

Victory would provide an upbeat end to another difficult season, as well as a place in the Europa League, and Lerner believes that the retention of top- flight status could accelerate the sale of the club he bought from Doug Ellis in 2006.

Talks are continuing with several parties including groups backed from China and the United States, although reports that a consortium led by Paul Smith, the former Chelsea chief executive, and Tony Adams is close to completing a deal are understood to be wide of the mark. "Yes, the club remains for sale," Lerner said. "but as we've seen, 'Club for sale' doesn't necessarily mean it will change hands so fast."

Lerner could have sold Villa last year but was not happy with the way that the deal was progressing so pulled out of negotiations. He insists that he will not sell unless he is happy with both the offer----saying that recent sales in the Premier League "suggest somewhere in the £150million to £200million [region] is the likely range"---and the commitments of the new owners.

"I have had interest from nearly every corner of the globe", he said. "Germans, Italians, Americans and Chinese among others have expressed interest in and fondness for the Villa. The key of course is to try to put the club in custodial hands that can take the club forward. Resources and competence and a willingness to immerse themselves in the local fabric".

Lerner says that if no party can complete a swift takeover, and he may set a time limit to ensure readiness for next season, he will stay on as owner but will appoint a new chairman. There could also be other additions to the board.

"Last year at this time i had a plan A, which was to sell, and a plan B which was to rethink the club's business management, which led to the hiring of Tom Fox [as chief executive]." Lerner said. "This year the plan A remains to find a buyer if on the cards or, plan B, find a new chairman."

 

 

 

No link as I think it's from The Times which is paywalled. But hope this link to Vital Villa where it's been copied & pasted, will do.

[CrackpotForeigner]

Enigmatic to the end. I don't pretend to understand Lerner's reference to Boetti's Mappa other than that possibly he is suggesting a new owner will reveal himself in time. But it doesn't sound like a takeover is in the offing to me.

Of his work the "Mappa" Boetti said:

"For me the work of the embroidered Mappa is the maximum of beauty. For that work I did nothing, chose nothing, in the sense that: the world is made as it is, not as I designed it, the flags are those that exist, and I did not design them; in short I did absolutely nothing; when the basic idea, the concept, emerges everything else requires no choosing." Alighiero e Boetti, 1974"

 

How nice of them to celebrate the club's centenary by releasing such a quote.

[AlwaysAVFC]

Are there many football chairmen that don't have at least some stake in the club they run?

If there is no sale do you think a new Chairman means that he will look at the possibility of selling a share of the club or that it will purely be a job role?

[Villarocker]

Wonder who will be new chairman..

To me that article also reads that we will selling players (Benteke?) as he sees that as the way Southampton and Swansea have been successful.

 

I literally have no idea how you can come to that conclusion. He doesnt say that at all, just he envys how they've been run well.

I read Lerner's comments as; The elite will remain the same and bit part players like us will feed off them by over-charging them for any of our players that they want to buy from us.

Hardly inspiring but, sadly, probably true about how the Premier League now works.