Tony Xia (no longer involved with AVFC)

[hippo]

If as I expect we dispense with Bruce in the next couple of days - I hope no one posts 'I am sure Xia has someone lined up'  - pound to a penny he doesn't 

[TRO]

25 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

My mate who is Leeds fan thinks they will finish above us.  He is excited about the new owners and the Biesla appointment.  

 

We have been in that excitement Saloon, ourselves.

The tragedy is you still have to do it on the pitch....tell him best of luck.

[John]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

My mate who is Leeds fan thinks they will finish above us.  He is excited about the new owners and the Biesla appointment.  

 

They have not got Biesla yet nor the players to adapt to the type of game his team's play so I don't quite share his opinion. 

[rubberman]

Bielsa and Leeds sounds like the most toxic partnership ever. Will end in tears. 

[Rob182]

2 hours ago, John said:

He doesn't. Where we had longed for a new owner then we don't now. Lerner had a promising start but lost interest and pulled the plug on spending when we still could have done. Our present owner is being prevented from spending and is seeing our club's status in football fall but is having his hands tied behind his back by FFP and that frustration it is rumoured may lead to another change in ownership where few if any of us seek it. At least we're not Leeds or are we in danger of no longer being able to say that?

A voice of reason amongst the mayhem 

Xia got the RDM appointment wrong. That’s as clear as day. His other big failure has been trusting people to spend money on a few expensive flops.

However, it’s not all as black and white as many people make out.

- McCormack looked like a good buy at the time. He was the top scorer in the league across the previous 3-4 seasons, I think. I also don’t recall his attitude being a problem at previous clubs, so this was just a typical piece of Villa bad luck.

- Tishbola and Gollini, though not bank-breaking, we’re both highly rated, and who knows, under a different manager for a longer period, both might have fulfilled their potential.

- Hogan was the in-form striker at the time, and Xia was not to know that Bruce would buy him and use him completely differently to how he’s played before.

- Lastly, the appointment of Bruce. I think I’m right in saying that Bruce is the manager with the most amount of promotions from the Championship. At the time of his appointment we were in the relegation zone. It was the most obvious appointment, with good reason too! Bruce saved us from going the way of Sunderland, which seemed more and more likely with every game under RDM.

Most of our other business during Xia’s time has been ‘okay’ to ‘good’. Terry, Kodji, Chester, worth every penny. Hourihane, Elmo, Lansbury, bargains in this day and age. Snoddy, Johnstone, Grabban, our most influential loans in many a year! There are a few dodgy decisions too, like giving Taylor a long contract, but the good outweighs the bad.

Back onto the appointment of Bruce, I think it’d be fair to say that Bruce has brought the best out of Grealish too. Perhaps not with his playing style, but definitely with the work and team ethic that he’s drilled in here.

This season Bruce has failed. He’s got a squad capable of promotion and didn’t achieve it, but that blame shouldn’t be placed at Xia’s feet. I don’t think.

Xia made a few errors in his first year with us. But what else has he done wrong? Had he gone down the Brentford/Southampton-esq route of ‘scout far and wide, buy cheap, improve gradually’ then you can guarantee that there would be plenty more fans calling for him to spend money. Had he stuck with RDM for longer then we could easily be in League One right now.

Oh how we would be wishing for a 4th placed Championship finish, if that had happened.

[villa89]

5 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

- McCormack looked like a good buy at the time. He was the top scorer in the league across the previous 3-4 seasons, I think. I also don’t recall his attitude being a problem at previous clubs, so this was just a typical piece of Villa bad luck.

No he didn't. He looked waaayyy over priced given his age and lack of any sell on value. Also even a small amount of research would have revealed that his off the pitch behaviour meant he was a huge risk. 

[tom_avfc]

2 minutes ago, villa89 said:

No he didn't. He looked waaayyy over priced given his age and lack of any sell on value. Also even a small amount of research would have revealed that his off the pitch behaviour meant he was a huge risk. 

This is heavily tinged with hindsight in my opinion. McCormack had scored over 65 Championship goals in the three seasons before we bought him and had played the vast majority of games during that time.

Maybe the lack of sell on value is something which I could agree with you on but if he'd scored the 20+ goals which fired us into the Premier League, I think his sell on value is the last thing which people would have cared about.

[Rob182]

15 minutes ago, tom_avfc said:

This is heavily tinged with hindsight in my opinion. McCormack had scored over 65 Championship goals in the three seasons before we bought him and had played the vast majority of games during that time.

Maybe the lack of sell on value is something which I could agree with you on but if he'd scored the 20+ goals which fired us into the Premier League, I think his sell on value is the last thing which people would have cared about.

Exactly. I’m sure some Man Utd fans thought that Robin Van Persie was a rip-off with no sell-on value at the time, but his goals won them the league.

I’m sure some people thought Chester was an expensive baggies flop too at £8m. 

Some people said that Newcastle buying Crystal Palace failure Dwight Gayle was too expensive at £10m, but he helped them win the league. His sell-on potential would be better, being young, but if we’d have achieved promotion with McCormack’s goals then the Premier League money would have easily outweighed any lack of sell-on fee.

Kodjia is only 3 years younger than McCormack, and cost a similar amount. So I guess you’d rather we hadn’t signed him either @villa89?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Edited June 5, 2018 by Rob182

[hippo]

Lots of other clubs sniffed around Mccormack - but backed off - Fulham were glad to be rid off him, it would seems we were the only ones who didn't due the due diligence.

Gollini was a daft signing - a 21 is very young for a goalkeeper - add in the fact the he was coming to a foreign country - it was obvious he was going to take time to settle even if he was a major talent - yet he was thrust in as no 1 keeper.

Bruce I think was a good appointment - he was the obvious choice at the time - so obvious even Dr Tony couldn't miss it. If Bruce goes the next couple of days there is no obvious stand out candidate - so we are back to Dr T choosing a manager - and that terrifies me.

 

[villa89]

47 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

Kodjia is only 3 years younger than McCormack, and cost a similar amount. So I guess you’d rather we hadn’t signed him either @villa89?

only 3 years younger is not a small amount in football terms given that a career at championship/premier league level is typically ~10 years (21-31) in total.

[Zatman]

1 hour ago, rubberman said:

Bielsa and Leeds sounds like the most toxic partnership ever. Will end in tears. 

be shocked if Bielsa is still there by September

[lapal_fan]

2 hours ago, Rob182 said:

A voice of reason amongst the mayhem 

Xia got the RDM appointment wrong. That’s as clear as day. His other big failure has been trusting people to spend money on a few expensive flops.

However, it’s not all as black and white as many people make out.

- McCormack looked like a good buy at the time. He was the top scorer in the league across the previous 3-4 seasons, I think. I also don’t recall his attitude being a problem at previous clubs, so this was just a typical piece of Villa bad luck.

- Tishbola and Gollini, though not bank-breaking, we’re both highly rated, and who knows, under a different manager for a longer period, both might have fulfilled their potential.

- Hogan was the in-form striker at the time, and Xia was not to know that Bruce would buy him and use him completely differently to how he’s played before.

- Lastly, the appointment of Bruce. I think I’m right in saying that Bruce is the manager with the most amount of promotions from the Championship. At the time of his appointment we were in the relegation zone. It was the most obvious appointment, with good reason too! Bruce saved us from going the way of Sunderland, which seemed more and more likely with every game under RDM.

Most of our other business during Xia’s time has been ‘okay’ to ‘good’. Terry, Kodji, Chester, worth every penny. Hourihane, Elmo, Lansbury, bargains in this day and age. Snoddy, Johnstone, Grabban, our most influential loans in many a year! There are a few dodgy decisions too, like giving Taylor a long contract, but the good outweighs the bad.

Back onto the appointment of Bruce, I think it’d be fair to say that Bruce has brought the best out of Grealish too. Perhaps not with his playing style, but definitely with the work and team ethic that he’s drilled in here.

This season Bruce has failed. He’s got a squad capable of promotion and didn’t achieve it, but that blame shouldn’t be placed at Xia’s feet. I don’t think.

Xia made a few errors in his first year with us. But what else has he done wrong? Had he gone down the Brentford/Southampton-esq route of ‘scout far and wide, buy cheap, improve gradually’ then you can guarantee that there would be plenty more fans calling for him to spend money. Had he stuck with RDM for longer then we could easily be in League One right now.

Oh how we would be wishing for a 4th placed Championship finish, if that had happened.

I agree with all of that, but even though I know it's ultimately true, I still don't like the words "Bruce failed" - For what he's done here, in the short time (relatively speaking) - those words are just a tad too harsh - even though as I said, it's true. 

When you look at the situation we were in, when he took over - I think many non-villa fans would say "**** me, he's done a good job, and came 1 goal away from getting promoted".  

It's a minor point, and you are right, but it's just a little too harsh for me. 

We were a joke before he came, we're now winning more than we lose, we're somewhat feared in this league - it's just very hard to take that we didn't go up. 

hmm. 

 

[ViewFromT2]

.... Re the club sale rumour

 

I know a (genuine) football agent and I messaged him the other day regarding the Matt Southall rumour. I asked him if he knew him and whether there was any truth in the story.

He replied this morning. Yes, he knows Matt Southall personally, and there is definitely truth behind the story, but there are many interested parties. He reckons Xia has run out of cash....I don't know if that's a guess or whether he means that's the 'word on the street', so to speak!  -  Anyway, to read this morning that we had cash flow problems last season, this could make sense?

I've asked if he knows who any of the other interested parties are, but he hasn't replied yet. He did say however that Amanda Staveley has no 'real' money....whatever the hell that means!

Think we could be in for another eventful summer.

[Rob182]

2 hours ago, hippo said:

Lots of other clubs sniffed around Mccormack - but backed off - Fulham were glad to be rid off him, it would seems we were the only ones who didn't due the due diligence.

Gollini was a daft signing - a 21 is very young for a goalkeeper - add in the fact the he was coming to a foreign country - it was obvious he was going to take time to settle even if he was a major talent - yet he was thrust in as no 1 keeper.

 

Even if I would have preferred a Sorensen-type ‘old head’, Gollini is only 2 years younger than Johnstone. Also, wasn’t he at Man Utd as a youngster? So it’s not like he came to a new country and culture that he’d never experienced before. Not to mention, from seeing some of the players’ snapchats, he seems to speak better English than half of our brummie lads!

 

I only recall it becoming common knowledge that Fulham were glad to be rid of McCormack last January when there were talks of him leaving us, and apparently some Fulham players said they didn’t want to re-sign him. As I recall, there were other clubs sniffing around McCormack, but we just outbid them.

[rodders0223]

4 hours ago, hippo said:

If as I expect we dispense with Bruce in the next couple of days - I hope no one posts 'I am sure Xia has someone lined up'  - pound to a penny he doesn't 

We need Bruce now more than ever. Someone with vast experience, who has seen all sorts and gets people pushing in the same direction... we are on the cusp now and it could get very nasty.

[rodders0223]

15 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

How can Doug Ellis look like a better owner every year since he has sold Villa? Its baffling we have had 2 billionaire owners both of which come in with good intentions and lots of big ideas- and yet we are on a seemingly endless downward spiral .  Just thought I say that to cheer everyone up.

Where is the proof though that he even is a billionaire? Other posts saying we are being hamstrung by FFP...where is the proof of that?

I am losing faith with every story that comes out.

[KSV]

Not looking good for Dr. I think he thought we would be promoted by now. He thought we would be competing with europeans finest within 5-10 years. 

His silence is concerning me. Normally he would debunk a bad rumour on twitter quite quickly. Calling them Jerknalists. Now about himself selling the club... hes deadly silent?

[hippo]

2 hours ago, ViewFromT2 said:

.... Re the club sale rumour

 

I know a (genuine) football agent and I messaged him the other day regarding the Matt Southall rumour. I asked him if he knew him and whether there was any truth in the story.

He replied this morning. Yes, he knows Matt Southall personally, and there is definitely truth behind the story, but there are many interested parties. He reckons Xia has run out of cash....I don't know if that's a guess or whether he means that's the 'word on the street', so to speak!  -  Anyway, to read this morning that we had cash flow problems last season, this could make sense?

I've asked if he knows who any of the other interested parties are, but he hasn't replied yet. He did say however that Amanda Staveley has no 'real' money....whatever the hell that means!

Think we could be in for another eventful summer.

Sounds feasible - I am not sure he ever had that much in the first place - given that no one is really sure what Recon do - other than buy and sell companies. I got lambasted on Friday for saying 'hes done here' - but the signs for him and Aston Villa are ominous.

Is he working on a refinancing plan ? - or has he just done a runner ! 

[villarule123]

No 'tweets' for over a week, rumours of selling up, no response to said rumours. Statement a week ago which heavily hints there's no money left and that we need to cut costs.

We're in for another tough time. 

[hippo]

4 minutes ago, villarule123 said:

No 'tweets' for over a week, rumours of selling up, no response to said rumours. Statement a week ago which heavily hints there's no money left and that we need to cut costs.

We're in for another tough time. 

At least were not Sunderland  (that's as good as its gets )