Tony Xia (no longer involved with AVFC)

[peterms]

31 minutes ago, villarocker said:

Didn't Dr Xia's Recon group have something to do with the re-homing of folks in order to build the Beijing Olympics? Think I read that somewhere. If so, do you really think he's going to allow players, that he pays a lot of money to, to rule him? He'll get Recon in and knock down their fancy fanny-magnet pads and have them in a Labour camp if they try that shite with the Villa now. 

Well, China did indeed jail people who organised protests against the forcible removal of 1.5m people to make way for the stadium, and also rounded up 200 human rights lawyers and activists (according to the papers), but that won't have been his responsibility.

There was a claim that he was involved with designing and building the stadium (made by Hollis during the takeover), but as people have shown earlier in this thread, that wasn't true.

I suppose if he was involved in property it's more plausible that his firm had some involvement in rehousing people.  But it's hard to know what his firm is involved with, other than producing food additives, since the claims made at the time of the takeover about controlling five companies with a wide range of expertise and interests also turned out to be incorrect, according to the FT. (link may require an FT login, if so, then googling "Birds nest recon" should produce a link which works without having a subscription) 

People have discussed this article earlier in the thread, but it's a long thread and many won't have noticed it, so bits copied again for people who may not have seen it (and apologies for those who have):

Quote

The Chinese business group which has agreed to buy Aston Villa football club admitted on Friday that it controlled only one listed company, not the five previously claimed in a press release...

...The Recon Group website appears to show the group has several listed subsidiaries, however stock exchange filings show that Recon Group only has a significant stake in Lotus Health.

A Hangzhou-based spokesman for Recon reached by telephone on Friday, who identified himself only as Mr Jin, admitted the company “currently only has controlling share in Lotus Health”.

Meanwhile, he said: “The acquisition deals for the remaining four companies are still being finalised and should come out soon.” He declined to name the companies.

The Recon Group said the mistaken information contained in the press release had been the result of a “miscommunication” with Aston Villa, and they would ask the football club to change the wording of the statement.

The information raises questions not just about the truthfulness of the claims surrounding Mr Xia’s business dealings, but about the financial health of Mr Xia’s business group, which agreed this week to pay an undisclosed sum for Villa.

Last month, Lotus — Recon’s only verifiable asset — announced it had made a net loss in 2015 of Rmb508.5m ($77.6m) on revenues of Rmb1.7bn, compared with a net profit of Rmb23.9m the previous year...

...Recon Group’s other revenues were unclear as the group does not appear to have ever published an audited financial statement.

In addition Mr Jin denied an assertion by Steve Hollis, Villa’s Chairman, who was quoted on Thursday saying that Mr Xia had helped to build the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing.

“Again, you need to ask him but he is responsible for the Bird’s Nest in Beijing and some of the other major iconic developments in China” Mr Hollis was quoted in an article in the Birmingham Mail.

“Xia was never involved in the planning or designing of the Bird’s Nest stadium. Xia’s expertise is in urban design” said Mr Jin.

A spokesman for Aston Villa confirmed that Mr Hollis was accurately quoted, but said he was not sure what information Mr Hollis was citing.

 

[CastleBromVilla]

7 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Yeah, we've spent way too long pussy-footing around this 21 year old goalkeeper who joined the club a whole six weeks ago. 

Can't believe we've allowed his reign of terror to go unchecked for so long.

He doesn't like it, he knows where the door is. I'm glad we've got an owner that stands up for the club and doesn't tolerate being short changed. I don't care how young the keeper is, he's good enough to pick up 20K a week or whatever he's on,  but he's not doing his job, so much so we'd be better using a keeper that was part of last seasons mess in Mark Bunn instead.

[magnkarl]

8 hours ago, GodsBarkeep said:

I'm calling bullsh*t on this tweet

I agree wholeheartedly. You can see that it's been photoshopped. I don't even know why we are arguing over something that is so obviously fake. Seriously guys, let's all enjoy the nice summer weather while we can and not argue about things that are as stupid as this. Up until now he's pushed several big headed players out the door that you all have been moaning about for years. Now that is wrong too. Our owner expects our team to deliver? Gosh golly, how rude. If you paid 85k a week to a player like Lescott and he won't move - would you not try to push him out? It's called management - read up on it. It's what Man Utd have done to huge players for years.

Lerner wasn't present and has no idea how to run companies nor sports teams, that is why this is so new to you. He inherited wealth from his father and played around with it. Xia expects results like any business would - if you are not making profit you make redundancies. (see Bennett, Lescott, Richards, Agbonlahor et. al.) 

 

Peace out.

Edited August 29, 2016 by magnkarl

[Richard]

It's genuine 

[This Could Be Rotterdam]

11 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

Peace out.

And pulis too while we're at it! 

[Ingram85]

9 hours ago, Chindie said:

Xia might be a billionaire but I don't think that makes him an untouchable genius at anything he turns his hand to.

He's quite easily and justifiably criticised. His Twitter posting too often strays from refreshing honesty into unprofessional and potentially damaging. He simply shouldn't be so openly and clearly discussing players, and certainly not individuals so obviously. At best it potentially fosters friction and image problems (already the story of who is actually calling the shots at Villa Park is pretty much written for any journalist who wants it in a few months if the wheels really fall off the campaign, and would you as a player prefer to go to the club where nobody knows who the owner is or the one where next week you having a bad day has the owner openly criticising you to the world? Etc), at worst its going to cause genuine problems if managers don't like his vocalness or he says the wrong thing at the wrong time.

He needs to wind down his posting, if not stop wholesale and revert to official releases that are vetted and have been past a few wiser heads. It might be fun for some now but soon enough it's going to go south.

And that's without taking into account the other areas I wouldn't give the 'self made billionaire' a carte blanche on running a club successfully - it's fairly difficult to significantly **** up in a couple of months, but a few years? We'll see. We might be in excellent health. Or we might be Portsmouth. Who knows.

I'm quite happy to see some cautious criticism and skepticism of the latest custodian.

I didn't say he was perfect and immune from criticism though? I just said I'd rather follow his judgement on how to run a successful business than some people on here? 

[sexbelowsound]

1 minute ago, Ingram85 said:

I didn't say he was perfect and immune from criticism though? I just said I'd rather follow his judgement on how to run a successful business than some people on here? 

That's too logical though. You didn't factor in people thinking they know better. 

It's fine to criticise and disagree but when people start actively suggesting they know better then we've strayed into fantasy land.

[romavillan]

What did the delted tweet say?

[Richard]

Which one ? There's been a few

[blandy]

1 hour ago, magnkarl said:

You can see that it's been photoshopped. I don't even know why we are arguing over something that is so obviously fake.

It's absolutely genuine - if you want to look at a timeline of his "likes" you can click here (not a link to an article, but to his timeline).

 

[Jareth]

I'm looking forward to a good run of results if only to ensure there's no room for the petty criticisms that for some reason creep back in every time theres a lull. 

[terrytini]

Anyway.  I was going to say.....I'm not in favour of him tweeting, said so all along, I'd prefer a more 'controlled ' release of information - much of the same stuff, but with some planning, maybe a weekly News update - I think that could have acheived the same goal without the risk and more importantly without all the awful wierdos and their tweets being given a platform.

But.........

It has, on the whole, enlivened the place, invigorated things, got, and kept, our interest, and distinguished him from the previous owner.

If you add to that the fact it is now beyond debate that he has put his money where his mouth is, both in acquisitions and getting rid of that shower from last year, I have to say criticising him is way way down on my list of things to do.

Although there is a day or so to go its not too early to say, in my view, he has made a great start and, as things stand, we  are lucky to have him.

[Vive_La_Villa]

End of the day it all boils down to results. We start winning games he can say and do what he pleases. We continue to lose then he is the devil for posting and liking tweets. 

[Grasshopper]

3 hours ago, KSV said:

 Either that or he didnt realise his phone was in his pocket and accidentally liked it. 

Like

[a m ole]

Have we considered the possibility that he just liked a tweet from a fan because he wants to show he values their opinions?

"retweets, links, likes and follows are not endorsements."

[Tommo_b]

2 minutes ago, a m ole said:

Have we considered the possibility that he just liked a tweet from a fan because he wants to show he values their opinions?

"retweets, links, likes and follows are not endorsements."

Think it just shows he acknowledges the point. 

If Gollini doesn't like it, then it might make him knuckle down more, for what it's worth, I think Gollini could become a great player for Villa, but it's going to take a few years to get there. 

[VILLAMARV]

I get the not messing with the team bit. But I cant help feeling if I dislike his Twittering I'd be on the side of the bookies and the press trying to protect their luddite cabal from the new century "flat and crowd".

[TRO]

it doesn't matter how much you find yourself agreeing with someone, there will always be a time when you don't.....

Tony, has been like a breath of fresh air, he is wealthy, intelligent, but young too in business terms, he is new to this culture and new to football.He has done so many things that we would have done....don't too surprised if not everything is to your liking, but is that reason to pick him up.

I like to think that I am of reasonable intelligence, but when we "crash" in games, when we are on top, that intelligence gets tested and rage takes over...... I suspect thats what happened with Tony......The game is driven by passion and sometimes we can be too intelligent and calm for our own good....We have just escaped from an owner who was passive personified who resembled a corpse, For Tony to criticise a player may not be conventional, but its honest and transparent.

We cannot continue along a path as we have of accepting failure as some kind of hidden agenda to all and sundry and it can only be discussed at the inner sanctum of Bodymoor Heath.....It ends up becoming years and years of accepting failure.

Don't misconstue this ,but we could do well to employ a few lines from the  of the old "Crazy Gang ".....I do get the impression( rightfully or wrong) that we pussy foot, behind the scenes.

If I was one of those players now who had ****** up I would be expecting the worst Monday morning.....It has an amazingly quick route of focusing the mind.These players need to be accountable.

Fash and Vinnie would sort some of these problems out in no uncertain terms.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by TRO

[TRO]

I think there is "short fuse" with Tony and it is something that appeals to me.

We have years of the passive approach.....and it will all be ok in the end.....and no it won't and yes it didn't.

Either way this project is going to be a bumpy ride, but I don't think passive will be anywhere close to him.

He will be assertive, impatient, enthusiastic, not suffer fools.....There will be some strange things happen I suspect, but there will be no one treading water on his watch.

That may  be music to some of his critics who are looking for Political correctness, before a winning football team.

[peterms]

4 hours ago, blandy said:

If a goalkeeper is undermined because Tony liked a supporters tweet saying that we need to strengthen with an extra keeper, then I wonder what the manager and coaches telling him he needs to improve, or supporters groaning and shouting at games, or being dropped might do to the poor delicate flower.

I should think being told to improve without being told how, being shouted at, being dropped, and being criticised on social media by the head of the company are all pretty negative experiences which will do little for someone's performance in a setting where performance is strongly linked to confidence.

Being told in a training context that your performance needs improving, and having people work with you on tackling identified problems, will be far more productive.  Isn't that why successful coaches do the latter and not the former?  And try to keep criticism to the training ground or dressing room?

As for management staff, jumping on to social media to criticise junior staff would be pretty much unthinkable in any workplace I can think of.  It's not acceptable here, and I had thought it would be even less acceptable in China, with their greater emphasis on saving face, and respect between colleagues.  But perhaps someone with a better understanding than me of Chinese working culture could comment.