Richard Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 15 minutes ago, mwj said: How was it unwise? He's just paying a little lip-service to the fans. He doesn't need to impress shareholders or the wider stockmarket. The only person who's opinion he should be worried about is Randy's (as his boss). I imagine Randy would also have issued him some equity, just to make sure their interests are aligned (and I imagine Hollis is no fool and made sure he got some). I think that's a naive stance and one thing I doubt Steve hollis is is naive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwj Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Just now, Richard said: I think that's a naive stance and one thing I doubt Steve hollis is is naive. I don't understand what your point is then? That the letter was a heartfelt attempt to connect to the fan base? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 (edited) 20 minutes ago, mwj said: I imagine Randy would also have issued him some equity, just to make sure their interests are aligned (and I imagine Hollis is no fool and made sure he got some). I would be incredibly surprised if that was the case, and we'd have almost certainly heard about it if it was. Edited January 18, 2016 by Stevo985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwj Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Just now, Stevo985 said: I would be incredibly surprised if that was the case, and we'd have almost certainly heard about it if it was. Why would you? Its a privately owned company, Randy can do as he pleases. Its very common for the board members (and senior staff) to be issued with equity or at least options as a way of "aligning interests" and to be fair its a much "better" incentive than a huge cash bonus ala city bankers. You might see something in the Companies House submission at the end of the financial year but I don't there there is any requirement as such Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 Just now, mwj said: Why would you? Its a privately owned company, Randy can do as he pleases. Its very common for the board members (and senior staff) to be issued with equity or at least options as a way of "aligning interests" and to be fair its a much "better" incentive than a huge cash bonus ala city bankers. You might see something in the Companies House submission at the end of the financial year but I don't there there is any requirement as such Assuming you're just talking about share equity, as in ownership of the club, Randy owns 100%. He is the sole owner of all the shares. I'd be very surprised if he gave some of that away to a new chairman. Incentives yes, absolutely I'm sure Hollis has plenty built into his contract. But I'd be very surprised if any of them were shares in Aston Villa. If Randy had given up sole ownership of the club I would imagine we'd have heard about it. I don't know if it's a requirement, I'm just saying it would be news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvillafan Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 1 minute ago, Stevo985 said: Assuming you're just talking about share equity, as in ownership of the club, Randy owns 100%. He is the sole owner of all the shares. I'd be very surprised if he gave some of that away to a new chairman. Incentives yes, absolutely I'm sure Hollis has plenty built into his contract. But I'd be very surprised if any of them were shares in Aston Villa. If Randy had given up sole ownership of the club I would imagine we'd have heard about it. I don't know if it's a requirement, I'm just saying it would be news. The privately owned company I work for has 1 owner, yet the director/founder, CFO and CEO all have equity in it (albeit small percentages - owner has over 90%). I would have thought that was the norm as an incentive for senior staff? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 Quite possibly. I thought Randy had 100% though, could be wrong. I know Randy had around 90% when he first took over but I thought the extra 10% were the shares he hadn't got back from fans. But that could explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I wouldn't be surprised if one of his incentives is a small percentage from the sale of the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwj Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Technically, Reform Acquisitions LLC owns 100% (through Reform Acquisitions Limited UK). We don't know what the share structure is because they are US based, but you would assume Randy would be a majority shareholder of that. But yes its very common for equity or options of to be used to incentivise senior staff.. we're talking about tenths of, or at most single digit percentages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wezbid Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 20 minutes ago, useless said: I wouldn't be surprised if one of his incentives is a small percentage from the sale of the club. If Hollis manages to get us sold then he deserves every penny he gets! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 It might be case of sell the club or all it's assets, I don't know. On another well respected forum, a few have mentioned that he seems more like an Administrator than a Chairman. Whatever the case may be he's just following Randy's instructions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 2 hours ago, mwj said: I don't understand what your point is then? That the letter was a heartfelt attempt to connect to the fan base? Issue is basically he said he wanted to shake it up, but from your analogy he would not have the means to shake it up. So him saying one thing but not having the chance to do it is naive on his part, if we follow your explanation. You also said it was basically a cut and paste from an old KPMG thing, firstly it wasnt, secondly if it was that is further evidence of being naive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwj Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 3 minutes ago, Richard said: Issue is basically he said he wanted to shake it up, but from your analogy he would not have the means to shake it up. So him saying one thing but not having the chance to do it is naive on his part, if we follow your explanation. You also said it was basically a cut and paste from an old KPMG thing, firstly it wasnt, secondly if it was that is further evidence of being naive You misread buddy. Of course he has the means, he's Tom Fox's boss. I said its not usual for a Chairman to get involved in the nitty gritty of day-to-day running of the club, especially consider he's already involved with 3 other organizations (Sorbus, Birm Met Uni & that Solihul business thing). The "shaking up" will be done by Fox, and rubber stamped by Hollis. See here: https://www.iod.com/MainWebSite/Resources/Document/roleofthechairman_1006.pdf And I didn't LITERALLY mean it was a cut and paste email from KPMG, just the usual corporate, rallying cry bullshit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykeyb Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Lets hope he understands that a football club is not like ordinary businesses. Success in not judged on how big our profits are...... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 19 minutes ago, mwj said: You misread buddy. Of course he has the means, he's Tom Fox's boss. I said its not usual for a Chairman to get involved in the nitty gritty of day-to-day running of the club, especially consider he's already involved with 3 other organizations (Sorbus, Birm Met Uni & that Solihul business thing). The "shaking up" will be done by Fox, and rubber stamped by Hollis. See here: https://www.iod.com/MainWebSite/Resources/Document/roleofthechairman_1006.pdf And I didn't LITERALLY mean it was a cut and paste email from KPMG, just the usual corporate, rallying cry bullshit... Ahhh ok misread. It's just that when you said "I'd be amazed if he was at Villa Park more than a few days a month" and "Day to day running, finances, transfers, staff etc etc... this will all be going through Tom Fox. Hollis will be doing little more than the odd mission statement, shareholder meeting and rubber stamping of stuff" I sort of got the impression that having the chance to "shake it up" was not going to be a part of that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 As to " the usual corporate, rallying cry bullshit... " I'm afraid that will not wash with the fan base and that, if true, singularly fails to understand the industry within which this business is operating. More than any other customer brand loyalty is paramount. Not for revenue so much but for a successful organisation, or certainly one that people would like to invest in. This fan base after having 5+ years of being told nothing / fed bullshit / just plain lied to, will not look favourably on further bull shit such that if it affects a large part of the fanbase even further they may be inclined to just walk away. A club with a half full stadium will sit well. Giving bullshit at the start , if that is the case, is more than just patronising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissmith921 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 The guy will have a fair idea what he's doing. The club maybe struggling but if you think Randy will put someone in charge of an asset of his currently worth £100m ish that's not qualified for the job then you're mad in the bonce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 All the clubs around us fighting for their life are signing players in the hope they give them a boost. We sign a new chairman. Can he play up top? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted January 18, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2016 15 hours ago, nick76 said: I'm a bean counter and we aren't all about cutting costs. My role in my company is to squeeze the best out of the resources we have and find ways of increasing that revenue base through synergies, new avenues for revenue generating and exploring new markets. Obviously there are far more people than me involved in my business but I am a senior person and over the 5 years our revenue has doubled and our employees have almost doubled. You squeeze the resources you have , re-invest and just just keep growing. Bean counters always get the bad rub of the green in terms of "come to cut costs" which is not true, we get value for money from the cost some of us use that to generate more. I'm not defending him, I'm defending the argument that because he's a bean counter he obviously wont benefit Villa and will continue to cut costs. I'm pretty sure that if I was put in his role, with my background you would say the same about me but if you talk to anybody that knows me I'm all about growth, expansion and improvement. Nah, I don't buy it. You just want to cut costs, like you all do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysAVFC Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 3 hours ago, mykeyb said: Lets hope he understands that a football club is not like ordinary businesses. Success in not judged on how big our profits are...... This is quite important. I don't care if he has no football experience and I don't care that he supports Man City or any other non business related questions over his head, as they aren't really relevant. Someone making sure the club is being run well and efficiently is what we need. Although like you said, football isn't an ordinary business. The club should really consider hiring someone to be a devils advocate to advise and put the needs of the football side across, preferable someone with a history in the club. Garde is going to have his say but he needs support in that area and should focus on the the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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