Christian Purslow

[DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth]

I’m genuinely not sure what gripe people have with Purslow apart from the Gerrard connection. Overall he’s always come across as a genuine guy who represents us well. 
My perception is that we are now a professionally ran outfit, light years away from his predecessors.

[The_Steve]

24 minutes ago, DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth said:

I’m genuinely not sure what gripe people have with Purslow apart from the Gerrard connection. Overall he’s always come across as a genuine guy who represents us well. 
My perception is that we are now a professionally ran outfit, light years away from his predecessors.

I agree. Nor do I like the projection of Gerrard's failings onto him, Purslow will make the right call.

[vreitti]

14 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

I agree. Nor do I like the projection of Gerrard's failings onto him, Purslow will make the right call.

Mind telling him to speed it up please! 

[KMitch]

The only bad call Purslow has made in the past 4 seasons has been to hire Gerrard and Hell, if we manage to pull off hiring Poch, Tuchel, or Emery as his replacement it wouldn't even be that big of a blemish on his track record...  He's also made so many brilliant moves... 

• Sacking Bruce & hiring Deano,
• Taking us from mid table in the Championship to mid table in the Premier League in 3 seasons
• Fleecing Man City for Grealish
• Securing Coutinho on loan at a fraction of his value then paying under the sticker price for him on a permanent deal
• Investing heavily in the academy and women's team
• Expanding/upgrading Villa Park and creating a downtown academy setup

People calling for him to be sacked are ridiculous.  

[Thug]

3 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Maybe we can then also strip out Purslow and NSWE and see if we would have been promoted or exist still. Lol

I'd say Purslow had an impact on us getting promoted in the first place.

He's also the one who sacked Bruce and hired Dean Smith.

 

Just like a manager’s stock rises and falls with their performance, so does the CEO’s.

Deano was performing magically, and rightly so was receiving plaudits for it.

Then the ‘wheels came off’ and all the good work was forgotten in an instant - and he paid the price.

Would/should the CEO be judged by the same yard-stick? Continual improvement? If our revenue starts to stagnate, should we not then say the CEO has reached his ceiling? That we need someone better to push us to that next level?

We have declined in our brand of football.  Our squad assets are declining by the day with his appointed manager in charge.  We are taking huge hits in transfer values of players that he ‘doesn’t fancy’.  Aside from Jacob Ramsey, is there any player in our squad who is worth more now than since Gerrard took over?

Are we any more attractive as a business now that when Gerrard took over?

The appointment has been shambolic.

it was a huge gamble that has backfired.  We should never have replaced smith with a rookie.

Should have been an experienced world renowned manager, or better to have stuck with Smith.

 

[Thug]

1 hour ago, KMitch said:

The only bad call Purslow has made in the past 4 seasons has been to hire Gerrard and Hell, if we manage to pull off hiring Poch, Tuchel, or Emery as his replacement it wouldn't even be that big of a blemish on his track record...  He's also made so many brilliant moves... 

• Sacking Bruce & hiring Deano,
• Taking us from mid table in the Championship to mid table in the Premier League in 3 seasons
• Fleecing Man City for Grealish
• Securing Coutinho on loan at a fraction of his value then paying under the sticker price for him on a permanent deal
• Investing heavily in the academy and women's team
• Expanding/upgrading Villa Park and creating a downtown academy setup

People calling for him to be sacked are ridiculous.  

Most of your points are correct.

except:

I’d rather have kept Grealish than get £100m for him.  

We got fleeced by Barcelona for Coutinho rather than vice-versa.

Calls for sacking him in this moment in time are obviously a little premature, but if we are involved in a relegation scrap this year, that is 100% on his failure to act.

[ozvillafan]

If Purslow is so good - why did Liverpool let him go?

I agree he's done a lot of good for Villa, but the concern is that his relationship with Gerrard is more personal than professional.

As such, he's possibly more reluctant to part ways with Gerrard rather than be the ruthless CEO he was with Smith.

There are also big question marks over his sanctioning of bringing in players at the end of their careers on large money compared to the "promising youth" policy before Gerrard arrived. That's a massive paradigm shift, not a continuation of a plan.

[ciggiesnbeer]

7 minutes ago, ozvillafan said:

If Purslow is so good - why did Liverpool let him go?

 

according to Wikipedia it was basically "job done"

---------------------------

Purslow was appointed managing director of Liverpool Football Club in June 2009, with a priority to renegotiate the £350m loan the club had outstanding with RBS and to assume overall management of the club until a new permanent CEO could be appointed.^[5][6] Three months into his tenure, a team headed by Purslow negotiated an £80 million 4-year shirt sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered Bank.^[7]

On 6 October 2010, Purslow voted in favour of the sale of the club from the unpopular then-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to the NESV group. In response to this, Hicks tried to block the sale by removing Purslow and Ian Ayre from the board and installing his son, Mack, and his business associate Lori McCutcheon to the board. On 13 October 2010, at a hearing in the High Court in London, Mr Justice Floyd held that Hicks’ actions were unlawful and in breach of the agreement he had signed with RBS.^[8] Floyd's judgment allowed the sale to proceed and, on 15 October 2010, NESV finally completed its £300m takeover of Liverpool in a deal which drastically reduced the club's debt to RBS.^[9]

Having completed his brief by finding a buyer, Purslow stepped down on 20 October 2010 after NESV assumed control of the club.^[10] He remained as a non-executive director and special adviser until February 2011.^[11]

Following the sale, Hicks and Gillett pursued legal action, however, a settlement was reached in January 2013 with Hicks and Gillett withdrawing all allegations made against Purslow and fellow directors Broughton and Ayre.^[12]

^{------------------------------------------}

Edited October 19, 2022 by ciggiesnbeer

[VillaParkAvenue]

Smith and Gerrard aren’t the only football  related appointments by Purslow, just as important are the sporting directors. Purslow’s picks so far are Suso and Lange. Have they been successful, has recruitment gone well and what is the current transfer policy exactly?

[ciggiesnbeer]

29 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

Smith and Gerrard aren’t the only football  related appointments by Purslow, just as important are the sporting directors. Purslow’s picks so far are Suso and Lange. Have they been successful, has recruitment gone well and what is the current transfer policy exactly?

Good questions. My answers 

"Have they been successful?"
Overall yes I think so. I regard his first priority to keep us in the premier league. We are in the premier league and while our trajectory has not always been upward Purslow has acted when he believed that we were not making sufficient progress. He would likely argue thats why he sacked Suso and Smith and will presumably sack Gerrard and Lange if he feels they are not making sufficient progress either.

"has recruitment gone well"
For players its an unqualified yes for me. I like our players and I believe (and have seen) these players consistently perform far better under different coaches. I think we are very fortunate to have such an excellent squad I couldnt name you a player I would worry when I saw his name on the team sheet. The entire squad is very good. They have simply been mismanaged.

"what is the current transfer policy exactly"

I think its changed. Before Jack left it was to value buy with good sell on potential. value buy because FFP limited our ability to spend big everywhere. and we had a full squad to relace. After the Jack windfall they changed to immediately improving the squad with higher quality or more expensive players. I think Gerrard helped them buy materially adding to bringing in our summer signings and Phil. Everyone is unlucky that our other two star signings got long term injuries but Coutinho is injury free. I expect him and a lot of other players to flourish under the next (presumably better)  coaching setup.

Anyway thats what I think. Just my impression listening to Purslow and seeing his actions over the years

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by ciggiesnbeer

[punkiller1981]

8 hours ago, DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth said:

I’m genuinely not sure what gripe people have with Purslow apart from the Gerrard connection. Overall he’s always come across as a genuine guy who represents us well. 
My perception is that we are now a professionally ran outfit, light years away from his predecessors.

My grip with him at the moment is this idea of giving him Fulham and Brentford which it looks like we are. These are must win games and if we are looking at them and going ok let’s see how we go as if they might deliver something different to the forest or Leeds games. Either you have decided he isn’t the man (which I agree with) then let’s just get rid now be decisive with action. Alternatively come out and say he is going to be manager until the end of the season at least and back him completely. I don’t think we or any club should be going on game by game.

[DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth]

1 hour ago, punkiller1981 said:

My grip with him at the moment is this idea of giving him Fulham and Brentford which it looks like we are. These are must win games and if we are looking at them and going ok let’s see how we go as if they might deliver something different to the forest or Leeds games. Either you have decided he isn’t the man (which I agree with) then let’s just get rid now be decisive with action. Alternatively come out and say he is going to be manager until the end of the season at least and back him completely. I don’t think we or any club should be going on game by game.

I don’t disagree with any of that. I too would like quicker action on Gerrard as, to me at least, it seems inevitable that the end is coming. I guess I don’t see the ‘Purslow must go too’ mentality that I have heard in many places. Bigger picture I think he has credit in the bank.

[DaveAV1]

Just as the bar has been constantly reset for the performance of the manager to keep his job, so it seems is it judged for the CEO. To judge his ability against the mob who almost destroyed our club, and think that’s a level that can get us anywhere’s near our aspirations is naive at best. The appointment and continued appointment of his hero makes no sense. Particularly now that Gerrard’s managerial ability or lack of, is laid bare for us all to see. 
 

Yes he can do the day to day stuff, probably, but his big decisions have largely failed. Remember he’ll have a hand in decisions like choosing an architect and main contractor for the new stand. Which still hasn’t got full planning approval by the way. Let’s  hope Stevie G hasn’t got a cousin in the building trade. The first time we built the North Stand was under questionable circumstances, we don’t want a repeat performance. 

[Demitri_C]

10 hours ago, DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth said:

I’m genuinely not sure what gripe people have with Purslow apart from the Gerrard connection. Overall he’s always come across as a genuine guy who represents us well. 
My perception is that we are now a professionally ran outfit, light years away from his predecessors.

My thoughts exactly. Certain portions of our fan base like to turn on any body at the club.

Purslow made a mistake with gerrard but shit happens thats football. You dont remove your ceo on one bad management appointment 

The next ones key

[NoelVilla]

He haven't corrected his mistake yet and I don't think he see at as a mistake. 

[Made In Aston]

12 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

He's also the one who sacked Bruce and hired Dean Smith.

I think a managerial change was driven by the owners, rather then Purslow. They wanted Henry to be their big statement signing originally but it didn't materialise in the end. 

[Sulberto21]

59 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

I think a managerial change was driven by the owners, rather then Purslow. They wanted Henry to be their big statement signing originally but it didn't materialise in the end. 

Henry was never wanted by the owners. @OutByEaster? has posted about this numerous times. 

Also Purslow overall has done a good job. 

[Zatman]

2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

My thoughts exactly. Certain portions of our fan base like to turn on any body at the club.

Purslow made a mistake with gerrard but shit happens thats football. You dont remove your ceo on one bad management appointment 

The next ones key

He is still making the mistake thats the problem. If he had cut his mate Gerrard at the end of last season then he wouldn't be getting this grief

[Woody1000]

43 minutes ago, Zatman said:

He is still making the mistake thats the problem. If he had cut his mate Gerrard at the end of last season then he wouldn't be getting this grief

Try and ignore the fact that you don’t like Gerrard for a moment, is Purslow really that bad for giving him a preseason and 10-12 games of the new season? He will have basically given him a year. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m glad we’re not that knee jerk - look at Watford, everyone just thinks they’re a joke the way they chop and change managers.

Of course what I am saying is moot if Gerrard continues in the job with this same level of performance, but I thoroughly believe with this news in the telegraph this week that SG is going to be gone very soon.

[Zatman]

21 minutes ago, Woody1000 said:

Try and ignore the fact that you don’t like Gerrard for a moment, is Purslow really that bad for giving him a preseason and 10-12 games of the new season? He will have basically given him a year. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m glad we’re not that knee jerk - look at Watford, everyone just thinks they’re a joke the way they chop and change managers.

Of course what I am saying is moot if Gerrard continues in the job with this same level of performance, but I thoroughly believe with this news in the telegraph this week that SG is going to be gone very soon.

Spurs sacked Nuno after 12 games last season and look how that turned out, progressive cluvs make sensible moves.

It was clear Gerrard was clueless in the last few months of last season and his love of Gerrard has cost us a full season of progression