Going Under ?

[Mandy Lifeboats]

1. No we are not. There are tough times ahead but it's only a matter of time until we bounce back.

2. Villa has a brand and a history. That's worth something.

3. Football is one of the few businesses where you can operate badly, produce a poor product but still get people buying your product out of pure loyalty. 

4. We have a fan base that is larger than 95% of English clubs. We may go into lower leagues but we will eventually find a level where even our worst levels of support are far superior to our competitors.

5. There's always FC Villa of Aston to fall back on.

6. What we are facing now is no worse than what Wolves, Brighton and Rangers faced in fairly recent history. 

7. Disasters sell papers. The Media aren't going to give us a fair and reasonable picture. They are going to portray the worst possible scenario. The Millenium bug didn't cause us to go back to the Stone Age; no-one caught aids from swimming in Freddie Mercury's local baths; the UK banking system didn't collapse; that idiot  TV reality star Trump suffered a humiliating defeat in the presidential election.*

* OK. .........I accept there are exceptions. 

Edited June 6, 2018 by Mandy Lifeboats
Speeling mishsteaks

[markavfc40]

4 hours ago, R.Bear said:

Loyal to what exactly? That we give them our hard earned money? No-one at football clubs is loyal except the fans. The players, the owner, the manager and every other member of the staff aren't loyal and will leave to go anywhere that provides a better situation for them. I dont begrudge them that, we'd all do the same and probably have done in our lives. But this loyalty to the club, what is the club? What are football clubs? This isnt a war where you stay loyal to your country/side. There is no Aston Villa core to bow down too and worship. Football clubs are glorified piggy banks for the (usual) scumbags who own them who prey on football fans because no matter they do or how they do it, we will keep coming back for more and keep giving them money. Don't kid yourself.

 

This is an interesting post and the point you raise about what is a football club is something I was thinking about earlier whilst out for a run.

You are right players come and go and there is little loyalty. Likewise with managers. Owners will often stay a little longer but as I have found in all of my 35 odd years following us to varying degrees they have either been out to make a few quid, feed their egos or simply incompetent.

You then come down to things like the stadium and training ground. As plenty of other clubs have shown these can be bought and sold.

For me what makes a football club is the only constant. The only thing that stays loyal. It is us the supporters. That is the heart and soul of a football club. That passion, that love, that being willing to going through days, months, years of pain to feel those moments of ecstasy when a goal is scored, a win is secured or if your lucky enough a trophy is won. It is hard to explain to someone that doesn't share that passion but that feeling we have for our football club that lives within all of us is Aston Villa and no matter what happens, who plays for us, in whatever division we play in, that will never die.

So I think when people say we should stick together and be loyal it is simply a call to arms that as long as we do that then that heart and soul of the club remains and while there is a heart and soul there will always be an Aston Villa to support.

Edited June 6, 2018 by markavfc40

[Spoony]

Am I the only one that thinks everything is going to be fine? HMRC thing will be resolved, no issues. Then it’s the case of having no money. Fine, sell some players and get rid of the dead wood we have wanted rid of for ages.

There will be plenty of creative ways to ensure there is enough money to keep the club afloat but it probably means we can’t buy anyone unless Xia’s China issues are resolved.

What concerns me is whether Xia is going to have learned from these lessons or, if we do sell up, the new owner is going to have a long term strategy and not just throw irrational amounts of money at the problem like Lerner’s first years and Xia’s first years.

There also needs to be a huge change in mentality for the fans. It’s all well and good sitting here now saying things like we need to build for the future and do this in a stable way, but all fans want instant gratification and if they don’t get it heads roll. It’s almost impossible to do anything gradually and sustainably in football and, for a large part, that is the fans’ fault.

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

Good news, now hopefully a decent new owner comes in quickly.

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

1 minute ago, Spoony said:

Am I the only one that thinks everything is going to be fine? HMRC thing will be resolved, no issues. Then it’s the case of having no money. Fine, sell some players and get rid of the dead wood we have wanted rid of for ages.

There will be plenty of creative ways to ensure there is enough money to keep the club afloat but it probably means we can’t buy anyone unless Xia’s China issues are resolved.

What concerns me is whether Xia is going to have learned from these lessons or, if we do sell up, the new owner is going to have a long term strategy and not just throw irrational amounts of money at the problem like Lerner’s first years and Xia’s first years.

There also needs to be a huge change in mentality for the fans. It’s all well and good sitting here now saying things like we need to build for the future and do this in a stable way, but all fans want instant gratification and if they don’t get it heads roll. It’s almost impossible to do anything gradually and sustainably in football and, for a large part, that is the fans’ fault.

I got the feeling around the time of the Hogan transfer that most fans weren't happy with the money that was being squandered, maybe I'm wrong.

[Jareth]

1 minute ago, Spoony said:

Am I the only one that thinks everything is going to be fine? HMRC thing will be resolved, no issues. Then it’s the case of having no money. Fine, sell some players and get rid of the dead wood we have wanted rid of for ages.

Since Wembley the two bits of news are Wyness suspended, and a tax bill needs paying. Both had the potential to signal major problems, but as it stands, both could be quite boringly the end of the saga. It's possible it will now just be a bit dour, but that was always going to be the case. 

[srsmithusa]

6 minutes ago, Spoony said:

Am I the only one that thinks everything is going to be fine? HMRC thing will be resolved, no issues. Then it’s the case of having no money. Fine, sell some players and get rid of the dead wood we have wanted rid of for ages.

There will be plenty of creative ways to ensure there is enough money to keep the club afloat but it probably means we can’t buy anyone unless Xia’s China issues are resolved.

What concerns me is whether Xia is going to have learned from these lessons or, if we do sell up, the new owner is going to have a long term strategy and not just throw irrational amounts of money at the problem like Lerner’s first years and Xia’s first years.

There also needs to be a huge change in mentality for the fans. It’s all well and good sitting here now saying things like we need to build for the future and do this in a stable way, but all fans want instant gratification and if they don’t get it heads roll. It’s almost impossible to do anything gradually and sustainably in football and, for a large part, that is the fans’ fault.

I agree with everything except the part where it’s the fans fault clubs feel pressure to advance and go up.  I think clubs want to advance and go up because that’s where the money is.  

[VillaJ100]

The kids won't save us. They are in their late teens and early 20s, any sort of decent talent would have broken through in the championship or at least impressed on loan. 

[Davkaus]

Very concerning that we've had to reach any agreement other than 'sure, here's your money'. 

[robby b]

8 minutes ago, Eastie said:

I feel very fortunate to have seen villa win the league, conquer Europe and win a couple of Wembley finals in my time - it saddens me that our younger fans may never taste success for years to come .

its already 22 years since our last major trophy - I doubt I will be around if we win another

I'm glad I watched 3/4 of the European Cup final on television when I was seven... I watched the first half and then just after the second started the stress suddenly got to me and I ran upstairs to hide in my bedroom! :s  Then I had an idea, I turned on the radio cautiously to hear what was happening. Then about 15 minutes later my older brother shouted "What are you doing?! Come back downstairs now and watch the rest of the game!" So I did, a bit sheepishly, and just in time for the goal. If we'd won it five years later or more it would have meant more. At seven years old I was a bit too young to fully appreciate it.

[Davkaus]

My eyes have seen the glory of the Villa lift the (intertoto) cup.

[punkiller1981]

I do love the Ironic workings of the football league were the are restrictions stopping owners putting money into a club do to FFP while also running a process of fit and proper person testing which seems to do nothing to check that the new owner could support the club anyway

[omariqy]

Only two things can happen for us to operate normally as a championship club. 1) Xia gets money out of China or 2) we get sold. 

[TheAuthority]

14 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

My eyes have seen the glory of the Villa lift the (intertoto) cup.

Mate, we'll always have this moment.

[supermon]

3 minutes ago, omariqy said:

Only two things can happen for us to operate normally as a championship club. 1) Xia gets money out of China or 2) we get sold. 

I hear Howard Hodgson is helping the Doc out, he mentions on Twitter he is helping short and long-term, do you think he could come up with another British backed consortium to buy the club?

[VillaJ100]

It's a bit bad on all the Chinese businessmen who were kind of encouraged to invest in sports clubs due to the presidents interest in sports yet now they've bought some they are told 'no' and they are basically going to wither and die as theres no funding. 

[Eastie]

4 minutes ago, omariqy said:

Only two things can happen for us to operate normally as a championship club. 1) Xia gets money out of China or 2) we get sold. 

The premier league have reportedly agreed to release the £15m parachute payment early to us so hopefully that will help buy us some time , I expect Grealish to be next to go . 

However the original reports of £45m needed seem to be maybe optimistic - it may well take considerably more than that to sort this mess.

[Davkaus]

4 minutes ago, supermon said:

I do you think he could come up with another British backed consortium to buy the club?

Without a doubt. He's never failed to deliver before.

[Rob182]

11 minutes ago, omariqy said:

Only two things can happen for us to operate normally as a championship club. 1) Xia gets money out of China or 2) we get sold. 

I’ve thought of a third option.

My idea will mean that Dr X can put money into the club as he pleases and means we’ll quickly become one of the best teams in the country. The only downside is that we’ll need to move Villa Park to China.

[supermon]

4 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Without a doubt. He's never failed to deliver before.

I don't know much about the dude but admire his drive and clear love for the club, I wouldn't be averse to having his consortium buy the club. At least there would be someone who genuinely cares for the club at the helm.