Christian Purslow

[david-avfc]

The ridiculous thing about the Grealish video wasn’t the imaginary “greed-ish” comment but the whole explanation that we bought three separate players to do the same combined job as Grealish. A great idea apart from the fact your still stuck with only 11 players on the pitch so the three for one swap doesn’t really work, and yeah none of those signings have particularly worked that well anyway. A lesson to all that it should always be about quality, not quantity.

[fightoffyour]

 

11 hours ago, CVByrne said:

Of all the threads on VT this one is the most bizzare. 

As someone who frequents Off Topic, you know that's not true  Case in point:

 

On 17/05/2023 at 19:18, sidcow said:

I've got a mate who is well acquainted with the goings on at Villa Park who assures me the Purslow definitely does pee sitting down.  Was also backed up when I did an Anfield tour by the guide last year.

But does he wipe standing up?

[sidcow]

22 minutes ago, fightoffyour said:

But does he wipe standing up?

Damn Right! 

 

[AvfcRigo82]

On 17/05/2023 at 23:34, KMitch said:

You're the one talking nonstop these past few pages about wanting to be heard and have a debate/discussion regarding Purslow, but instead of stating anything besides "hE aPpOiNtEd GeRrArD!11!!1!!1" you act like it's a huge laundry list of egregious offenses that are too long to post when we're all sitting here very confused.  

Air them out and let's actually have a discussion then...

What a bizarre post.

Patience? My Last post clearly stated I will post it when I get round to it, What didn't you understand about that? Genuine question.

Nice to see you are suddenly Purslow's second biggest fan. Never once have you called for his head to roll though have you?

And wording your posts with fancy WoRdEd WrItInG dOeSn'T mAkE iT AnY BeTtEr!1!1!1!.  

[AvfcRigo82]

So… Christian Purslow

The smooth talking, charismatic CEO of our great football club.

 

His background before Villa

Whilst he is regarded as having played a ‘crucial role’ in managing the takeover from unpopular owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Liverpool, his time there was not without controversy.

Purslow is credited with averting the financial collapse of the club, against a backdrop of strained supporter relations.

During his stewardship, Liverpool did secure their then largest ever commercial deal, an £80 million tie up with Standard Chartered.  This deal was so large it actually had to be defended by the bank at a conference held in London.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing though.  Rafa Benitez was happy to go on the record in 2010, attributing Purslow directly for his departure from Anfield and questioning the financial position of the club.  This period coincided with Liverpool finishing outside the top 6, failing to qualify for the Champions League and in a surprise move he appointed Roy Hodgson as manager as Rafa’s replacement.

It’s important to put this in the context that the outgoing regime at the time saddled Liverpool with significant debt that the club found challenging to service just the interest on (£45million in 2010).  This had the knock-on effect where Purslow then restricted both the funds and authorisation for any transfer dealings, Liverpool were at real risk of being placed into administration by RBS. The fact that this was averted can in part be attributed to Purslow’s efforts at the time.

Purslow struggled to maintain positive relations with Liverpool supporters with a number of public actions or statements that appeared to put him at odds with fans.  This included attempts to revive plans for a shared stadium with Everton, which Liverpool officials privately ‘scoffed at’ as an attempt to ‘claim the limelight he craves’.  Separately, he infamously referred to the clubs ‘Spirit of Shankly group as ‘Sons of Strikers’, regarding them as ‘militant’ or ‘troublemakers’.

Liverpool fans were furious when he meddled in the football side of things and made more cock ups than none. (Signing of Joe Cole is one example)

He was over on the commercial side at Chelsea. Nothing to do with managerial appointments
- At Liverpool he appointed Dalglish, Comolli and Hodgson. Not a great track record.

Tyrrell operated behind the scenes at Liverpool but Purslow craved attention. The players nicknamed him ‘Forrest Gump’ because of his tendency to insert himself at the centre of every situation. The managing director had a more grandiose view when he looked in the mirror: he referred to himself as ‘the Fernando Torres of finance.’ He liked to be around the star players, making a beeline for the striker and Steven Gerrard whenever he entered the dressing room. It became a running joke within the squad at the time.

Despite this fractious relationship, he still remains a Liverpool fan (recently denied this on Sky news interview as 'supported' – bit of a sudden U-turn).

 

Managerial/Head Coach & Other Appointments

Both questionable so far at Villa.

It may seem strange that Suso Jesus García Pitarch left Villa after helping getting the team promoted earlier than planned, taking it to a cup final and guaranteeing its presence in the Premier League (that's to say, undeniable sporting success), but not all that glitters is gold either.

Purslow did not always welcome the owners' relationship with the Sporting Director Suso. Back then it was a case that if Dean Smith had to be replaced, he was asked for advice (Suso suggested Javi Gracia, Chris Hughton, Bruno Lage - Purslow wanted Steven Gerrard or John Terry)

Without the presence of the owners (they had not come to see the team in seven months at that time IIRC), Purslow covers a lot of ground. Thus, the signing of Drinkwater was his (Suso was in London signing Nzonzi apparently)

The owners asked Suso for an improvement in quality in the squad and on the bench for the following season. Contacts were made with high-level coaches eager to get on board. But the CEO fell on the side-lines and the relationship with Suso deteriorated.

Smith and Suso have received media criticism because self-serving information that protects Purslow is passed on. Difficult to work in these conditions. Suso preferred not to continue despite having one more year of his contract, and so he told the owners of his intention to leave and he was gone.

Suddenly eyebrows are raised why our new incoming sporting director Matheu Alemany has done a sudden change of mind and has decided to stay at Barcelona!??

Purslow hired Dean Smith, ...and also sacked Dean Smith.
Fans were calling for Smith to be sacked right before the Covid virus disrupted matters. He handed Deano a new contract when fans knew it was time for him to go – He eventually later on then sacks him and replaces him with...  His long-time friend and idol (and his dream manager that had been 12 years in the making at the time) Stevie G. - a disastrous appointment.

He delayed in sacking Slippy G when fans had been calling for his head for weeks! His reluctance saw Sawiris step in and pull the trigger instead. (Interestingly, Many fans on also stated at the time that if the Stevie G appointment leads to disaster, then Purslow also has to go - That's gone a bit quiet!)

Sawiris then went ahead and made the next appointment in Unai Emery. Despite Purslow trying to take credit for the appointment, It has been well documented that this is Sawiris man and bugger all to do with Purslow. (If you want links and stories to this then google is there to use).
The other concern is the fact Purslow thought a completely unproven John Terry as a management option was sensible!!

 

The sale of Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish – As already mentioned, Purslow thought he was clever by tieing Grealish down to a new contract and also inserting a clause in this contract that if any club in the champions league triggered it at £100m, Villa wouldn’t stand in his way – Purslow openly admits he didn’t think anyone would. So, when Man City came calling and triggered this and Jack packed his bags, Purslow got his knickers in a twist and became sanctimonious over the whole thing – over something that was his own doing to begin with in the first place!

As @blandy correctly states, his unprofessional soundbite surrounding the whole sale of Jack Greedlish (yes, he does say Greedlish and I’m glad I’m not the only person who heard it) I've since watched the interview again and it's since been 'buffered' on the point he says Greedlish.
– [conspiracy theory claimers - come on down!] It is not what a sour bitter CEO should be doing, regardless. Any excuse for a soundbite though!

and so, the Grealish money was used for….

Danny Ings – A signing for many reasons was an eyebrow lifter at the time – Maybe the high wages was one of those things? Sold 18 months later for a fee of approx. £15m – (£10m less of the £25m we paid for him). Not much some might think, but a £10m loss in 18 months in any business isn’t good on any level.

Leon Bailey – An exciting capture at the time, however, it is becoming increasingly concerning that he has what it takes to make it at this level on a consistent basis. A £30m capture – Will we get that back for him, highly unlikely?

Emiliano Buendia – The club record signing at £39m! sadly, he hasn’t looked like a record £39m player in his whole time at Villa and it’s safe to say when he is moved on, we will see nowhere near that figure from any potential buying club.

Money well spent? Is/has a profit going to be made on any of these players when sold? No & No!

Another example why he – Purslow, shouldn’t be meddling in transfer dealings or any football related decisions!

Other examples of meddling in football related interference come with the loan signings of Danny Drinkwater & Ross Barkley - both of which were Purslow projects that also failed drastically.

 

Transfer Policies

It was noted that after we gained promotion back to the Premier League, there would be no more loaning players from other clubs or to improve those teams’ players.

He made a big song a dance at the end of that season about how loaning players was a terrible business model and how we weren't going to that in the future, because teams say, ‘Well, you improved them so now pay more”.

So, as already mentioned, it came as a bit of a surprise of his interference and using his Chelsea contacts that he signed Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley and both arrived on loan. (Two of the worst players I have ever seen pull on a Villa shirt).

It should also be noted that we have also loaned Coutinho, Bednarek & Augustinsson.
The huge U turn and moving of the goalposts of our transfer policy of only signing young and promising players that we can develop and then sell for a profit was soon scrapped. I cannot think why this would happen? Well, actually I can and it is very obvious why - to accommodate his idol Slippy G maybe?

As many have stated – The signing of Coutinho on loan was a good and pleasant move for someone trying to reignite his career – However, the signing of Coutinho on a permanent basis on his eye watering high wages and length of contract was just pure stupidity.

Lucas Digne also not living up to his price tag so far yet either. I bet his wages are pretty high too.

Purslow has overseen the club spend an absolute fortune on rubbish. He should be held accountable and if I were the owners I’d be asking him what the hell he was thinking!
 

Sponsorships & Kits

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships at Liverpool and Chelsea (At Chelsea this guy negotiated multiple commercial partnerships, two of which - Yokohama and Nike - which were worth close to £1bn IIRC) yet we get used car companies and gambling firms.
 

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships he got in at Liverpool & Chelsea, we’re yet to see him repeat the feat here at Villa. [I know we have not been in the same position as these other two clubs to attract such names & numbers], but so far, we’ve had a gambling company, An online used car dealer and our latest is going to be another gambling sponsorship with a horrendous reputation and history surrounding them, was there nothing better out there in the world? We were apparently moving away from gambling sponsorships according to this very man only 8 months ago, but now we sign up another one. So, another U-turn on that front.

But hey, who cares... get the most money available regardless of the impact it has or the upset it causes right?

       - FWIW None of the sponsorships he has signed us up to so far at Villa are hardly ground-breaking deals really and are more reminiscent of something from the Doug Ellis years imo

Deals when they are struck with sponsors & kit suppliers are always misaligned too, Kits always revealed late, even later till you get your hands on one. He’s had five years to sort this and yet the same crap still happens season after season. “We can’t release x shirt by “Castore” because the deal with say “Kappa” still has 3 months to run.  We can’t release the new shirt by “Castore” because our sponsorship deal with “xx Gambling Company” doesn’t expire till another 2 months. It’s a continuous shitshow year after year. He’s had years to sort this out and the same shit is still happening.

Fanatics deal also continues to upset fans most seasons and delayed releasing of kits and their other documented logistical issues. He's been overseeing this for the last 5 years but yet fans are still having the same complaints year on year for the same varied reasons.

 

Rising Season ticket prices

All done whilst a cost-of-living crisis is happening and people feeling the pinch, but again, while we have 30,000 waiting for one, why should he give a damn what impact it has on others, but that is him all over. Do what you have to do, and if you have to slit someone’s throat or sell your gran to do it, he’s your man!

All great moves by the “Fernando Torres of finance” huh!?

 

The 5-Year plan

To those that are onboard on about this “5-year plan” and Purslow is delivering it successfully...
Well, He isn't and it's not without controversy.

We nearly got relegated under Smith...
We would have been relegated under Gerrard and the 5-year plan would have been nothing but a pipedream.

The fact is, We would have been a year or two behind had Nassif not acted in sacking Gerrard when he did - something Purslow was reluctant to do.
It couldn’t be helped but notice that he also went very quiet and disappeared off the scene for a while after Gerrard was sacked.

Thanks to the great work of Unai, has this so-called ‘plan’ remained possible.
Had it not been for Unai... We wouldn't be anywhere near how good we have been and it is on the foundations Dean Smith laid at this football club and carried on and complimented by Unai to get the best out of them is why we are where we are now... not because of some “5-year plan” soundbite that is preached and been delivered by Purslow.

 

My final thoughts on our CEO

This guy seems to have mainly a commercial background, not much actual CEO experience though.

He goes behind managers/coaches backs to hire the players he likes rather than the good of the club.
He was pushed out at Liverpool for interfering in signing players whilst pissing off other clubs in the process of negotiations.
Whenever Purslow gets involved in football decisions it's a disaster.
He might be clever at obtaining a gambling sponsor and making a few phone calls for someone to put adverts up around Villa Park etc. but otherwise, He's not as much of a hero as people portray him to be.

I just find it hard to fully buy into anything he says. Purslow has a slightly laboured, calculated way of speaking where he really wants you to trust what he's saying but doesn't fully look like he believes it himself.

People acting like he is the only CEO on the planet capable of running a football club... guess what... there are better ones out there! - We may even see them here in the not-too-distant future.

He talks the talk that is for sure, but he is nothing more than a silver-tongued snake and a charlatan. The way he carries himself he thinks he is Mr Aston Villa.   Far from it.

 

[KMitch]

30 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

So… Christian Purslow

The smooth talking, charismatic CEO of our great football club.

 

His background before Villa

Whilst he is regarded as having played a ‘crucial role’ in managing the takeover from unpopular owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Liverpool, his time there was not without controversy.

Purslow is credited with averting the financial collapse of the club, against a backdrop of strained supporter relations.

During his stewardship, Liverpool did secure their then largest ever commercial deal, an £80 million tie up with Standard Chartered.  This deal was so large it actually had to be defended by the bank at a conference held in London.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing though.  Rafa Benitez was happy to go on the record in 2010, attributing Purslow directly for his departure from Anfield and questioning the financial position of the club.  This period coincided with Liverpool finishing outside the top 6, failing to qualify for the Champions League and in a surprise move he appointed Roy Hodgson as manager as Rafa’s replacement.

It’s important to put this in the context that the outgoing regime at the time saddled Liverpool with significant debt that the club found challenging to service just the interest on (£45million in 2010).  This had the knock-on effect where Purslow then restricted both the funds and authorisation for any transfer dealings, Liverpool were at real risk of being placed into administration by RBS. The fact that this was averted can in part be attributed to Purslow’s efforts at the time.

Purslow struggled to maintain positive relations with Liverpool supporters with a number of public actions or statements that appeared to put him at odds with fans.  This included attempts to revive plans for a shared stadium with Everton, which Liverpool officials privately ‘scoffed at’ as an attempt to ‘claim the limelight he craves’.  Separately, he infamously referred to the clubs ‘Spirit of Shankly group as ‘Sons of Strikers’, regarding them as ‘militant’ or ‘troublemakers’.

Liverpool fans were furious when he meddled in the football side of things and made more cock ups than none. (Signing of Joe Cole is one example)

He was over on the commercial side at Chelsea. Nothing to do with managerial appointments
- At Liverpool he appointed Dalglish, Comolli and Hodgson. Not a great track record.

Tyrrell operated behind the scenes at Liverpool but Purslow craved attention. The players nicknamed him ‘Forrest Gump’ because of his tendency to insert himself at the centre of every situation. The managing director had a more grandiose view when he looked in the mirror: he referred to himself as ‘the Fernando Torres of finance.’ He liked to be around the star players, making a beeline for the striker and Steven Gerrard whenever he entered the dressing room. It became a running joke within the squad at the time.

Despite this fractious relationship, he still remains a Liverpool fan (recently denied this on Sky news interview as 'supported' – bit of a sudden U-turn).

 

Managerial/Head Coach & Other Appointments

Both questionable so far at Villa.

It may seem strange that Suso Jesus García Pitarch left Villa after helping getting the team promoted earlier than planned, taking it to a cup final and guaranteeing its presence in the Premier League (that's to say, undeniable sporting success), but not all that glitters is gold either.

Purslow did not always welcome the owners' relationship with the Sporting Director Suso. Back then it was a case that if Dean Smith had to be replaced, he was asked for advice (Suso suggested Javi Gracia, Chris Hughton, Bruno Lage - Purslow wanted Steven Gerrard or John Terry)

Without the presence of the owners (they had not come to see the team in seven months at that time IIRC), Purslow covers a lot of ground. Thus, the signing of Drinkwater was his (Suso was in London signing Nzonzi apparently)

The owners asked Suso for an improvement in quality in the squad and on the bench for the following season. Contacts were made with high-level coaches eager to get on board. But the CEO fell on the side-lines and the relationship with Suso deteriorated.

Smith and Suso have received media criticism because self-serving information that protects Purslow is passed on. Difficult to work in these conditions. Suso preferred not to continue despite having one more year of his contract, and so he told the owners of his intention to leave and he was gone.

Suddenly eyebrows are raised why our new incoming sporting director Matheu Alemany has done a sudden change of mind and has decided to stay at Barcelona!??

Purslow hired Dean Smith, ...and also sacked Dean Smith.
Fans were calling for Smith to be sacked right before the Covid virus disrupted matters. He handed Deano a new contract when fans knew it was time for him to go – He eventually later on then sacks him and replaces him with...  His long-time friend and idol (and his dream manager that had been 12 years in the making at the time) Stevie G. - a disastrous appointment.

He delayed in sacking Slippy G when fans had been calling for his head for weeks! His reluctance saw Sawiris step in and pull the trigger instead. (Interestingly, Many fans on also stated at the time that if the Stevie G appointment leads to disaster, then Purslow also has to go - That's gone a bit quiet!)

Sawiris then went ahead and made the next appointment in Unai Emery. Despite Purslow trying to take credit for the appointment, It has been well documented that this is Sawiris man and bugger all to do with Purslow. (If you want links and stories to this then google is there to use).
The other concern is the fact Purslow thought a completely unproven John Terry as a management option was sensible!!

 

The sale of Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish – As already mentioned, Purslow thought he was clever by tieing Grealish down to a new contract and also inserting a clause in this contract that if any club in the champions league triggered it at £100m, Villa wouldn’t stand in his way – Purslow openly admits he didn’t think anyone would. So, when Man City came calling and triggered this and Jack packed his bags, Purslow got his knickers in a twist and became sanctimonious over the whole thing – over something that was his own doing to begin with in the first place!

As @blandy correctly states, his unprofessional soundbite surrounding the whole sale of Jack Greedlish (yes, he does say Greedlish and I’m glad I’m not the only person who heard it) I've since watched the interview again and it's since been 'buffered' on the point he says Greedlish.
– [conspiracy theory claimers - come on down!] It is not what a sour bitter CEO should be doing, regardless. Any excuse for a soundbite though!

and so, the Grealish money was used for….

Danny Ings – A signing for many reasons was an eyebrow lifter at the time – Maybe the high wages was one of those things? Sold 18 months later for a fee of approx. £15m – (£10m less of the £25m we paid for him). Not much some might think, but a £10m loss in 18 months in any business isn’t good on any level.

Leon Bailey – An exciting capture at the time, however, it is becoming increasingly concerning that he has what it takes to make it at this level on a consistent basis. A £30m capture – Will we get that back for him, highly unlikely?

Emiliano Buendia – The club record signing at £39m! sadly, he hasn’t looked like a record £39m player in his whole time at Villa and it’s safe to say when he is moved on, we will see nowhere near that figure from any potential buying club.

Money well spent? Is/has a profit going to be made on any of these players when sold? No & No!

Another example why he – Purslow, shouldn’t be meddling in transfer dealings or any football related decisions!

Other examples of meddling in football related interference come with the loan signings of Danny Drinkwater & Ross Barkley - both of which were Purslow projects that also failed drastically.

 

Transfer Policies

It was noted that after we gained promotion back to the Premier League, there would be no more loaning players from other clubs or to improve those teams’ players.

He made a big song a dance at the end of that season about how loaning players was a terrible business model and how we weren't going to that in the future, because teams say, ‘Well, you improved them so now pay more”.

So, as already mentioned, it came as a bit of a surprise of his interference and using his Chelsea contacts that he signed Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley and both arrived on loan. (Two of the worst players I have ever seen pull on a Villa shirt).

It should also be noted that we have also loaned Coutinho, Bednarek & Augustinsson.
The huge U turn and moving of the goalposts of our transfer policy of only signing young and promising players that we can develop and then sell for a profit was soon scrapped. I cannot think why this would happen? Well, actually I can and it is very obvious why - to accommodate his idol Slippy G maybe?

As many have stated – The signing of Coutinho on loan was a good and pleasant move for someone trying to reignite his career – However, the signing of Coutinho on a permanent basis on his eye watering high wages and length of contract was just pure stupidity.

Lucas Digne also not living up to his price tag so far yet either. I bet his wages are pretty high too.

Purslow has overseen the club spend an absolute fortune on rubbish. He should be held accountable and if I were the owners I’d be asking him what the hell he was thinking!
 

Sponsorships & Kits

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships at Liverpool and Chelsea (At Chelsea this guy negotiated multiple commercial partnerships, two of which - Yokohama and Nike - which were worth close to £1bn IIRC) yet we get used car companies and gambling firms.
 

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships he got in at Liverpool & Chelsea, we’re yet to see him repeat the feat here at Villa. [I know we have not been in the same position as these other two clubs to attract such names & numbers], but so far, we’ve had a gambling company, An online used car dealer and our latest is going to be another gambling sponsorship with a horrendous reputation and history surrounding them, was there nothing better out there in the world? We were apparently moving away from gambling sponsorships according to this very man only 8 months ago, but now we sign up another one. So, another U-turn on that front.

But hey, who cares... get the most money available regardless of the impact it has or the upset it causes right?

       - FWIW None of the sponsorships he has signed us up to so far at Villa are hardly ground-breaking deals really and are more reminiscent of something from the Doug Ellis years imo

Deals when they are struck with sponsors & kit suppliers are always misaligned too, Kits always revealed late, even later till you get your hands on one. He’s had five years to sort this and yet the same crap still happens season after season. “We can’t release x shirt by “Castore” because the deal with say “Kappa” still has 3 months to run.  We can’t release the new shirt by “Castore” because our sponsorship deal with “xx Gambling Company” doesn’t expire till another 2 months. It’s a continuous shitshow year after year. He’s had years to sort this out and the same shit is still happening.

Fanatics deal also continues to upset fans most seasons and delayed releasing of kits and their other documented logistical issues. He's been overseeing this for the last 5 years but yet fans are still having the same complaints year on year for the same varied reasons.

 

Rising Season ticket prices

All done whilst a cost-of-living crisis is happening and people feeling the pinch, but again, while we have 30,000 waiting for one, why should he give a damn what impact it has on others, but that is him all over. Do what you have to do, and if you have to slit someone’s throat or sell your gran to do it, he’s your man!

All great moves by the “Fernando Torres of finance” huh!?

 

The 5-Year plan

To those that are onboard on about this “5-year plan” and Purslow is delivering it successfully...
Well, He isn't and it's not without controversy.

We nearly got relegated under Smith...
We would have been relegated under Gerrard and the 5-year plan would have been nothing but a pipedream.

The fact is, We would have been a year or two behind had Nassif not acted in sacking Gerrard when he did - something Purslow was reluctant to do.
It couldn’t be helped but notice that he also went very quiet and disappeared off the scene for a while after Gerrard was sacked.

Thanks to the great work of Unai, has this so-called ‘plan’ remained possible.
Had it not been for Unai... We wouldn't be anywhere near how good we have been and it is on the foundations Dean Smith laid at this football club and carried on and complimented by Unai to get the best out of them is why we are where we are now... not because of some “5-year plan” soundbite that is preached and been delivered by Purslow.

 

My final thoughts on our CEO

This guy seems to have mainly a commercial background, not much actual CEO experience though.

He goes behind managers/coaches backs to hire the players he likes rather than the good of the club.
He was pushed out at Liverpool for interfering in signing players whilst pissing off other clubs in the process of negotiations.
Whenever Purslow gets involved in football decisions it's a disaster.
He might be clever at obtaining a gambling sponsor and making a few phone calls for someone to put adverts up around Villa Park etc. but otherwise, He's not as much of a hero as people portray him to be.

I just find it hard to fully buy into anything he says. Purslow has a slightly laboured, calculated way of speaking where he really wants you to trust what he's saying but doesn't fully look like he believes it himself.

People acting like he is the only CEO on the planet capable of running a football club... guess what... there are better ones out there! - We may even see them here in the not-too-distant future.

He talks the talk that is for sure, but he is nothing more than a silver-tongued snake and a charlatan. The way he carries himself he thinks he is Mr Aston Villa.   Far from it.

 

I'm done.  It's like trying to have a discussion with a flat earther.  I don't care who Purslow was before he came to the Villa or which club he supported as a child.  Raising season ticket prices is the only concrete criticism you have in here for him.  99% of this is hearsay and unfounded conspiracy theories about undermining his employees and/or going behind their backs.  

[Adam2003]

42 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

So… Christian Purslow

The smooth talking, charismatic CEO of our great football club.

 

His background before Villa

Whilst he is regarded as having played a ‘crucial role’ in managing the takeover from unpopular owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Liverpool, his time there was not without controversy.

Purslow is credited with averting the financial collapse of the club, against a backdrop of strained supporter relations.

During his stewardship, Liverpool did secure their then largest ever commercial deal, an £80 million tie up with Standard Chartered.  This deal was so large it actually had to be defended by the bank at a conference held in London.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing though.  Rafa Benitez was happy to go on the record in 2010, attributing Purslow directly for his departure from Anfield and questioning the financial position of the club.  This period coincided with Liverpool finishing outside the top 6, failing to qualify for the Champions League and in a surprise move he appointed Roy Hodgson as manager as Rafa’s replacement.

It’s important to put this in the context that the outgoing regime at the time saddled Liverpool with significant debt that the club found challenging to service just the interest on (£45million in 2010).  This had the knock-on effect where Purslow then restricted both the funds and authorisation for any transfer dealings, Liverpool were at real risk of being placed into administration by RBS. The fact that this was averted can in part be attributed to Purslow’s efforts at the time.

Purslow struggled to maintain positive relations with Liverpool supporters with a number of public actions or statements that appeared to put him at odds with fans.  This included attempts to revive plans for a shared stadium with Everton, which Liverpool officials privately ‘scoffed at’ as an attempt to ‘claim the limelight he craves’.  Separately, he infamously referred to the clubs ‘Spirit of Shankly group as ‘Sons of Strikers’, regarding them as ‘militant’ or ‘troublemakers’.

Liverpool fans were furious when he meddled in the football side of things and made more cock ups than none. (Signing of Joe Cole is one example)

He was over on the commercial side at Chelsea. Nothing to do with managerial appointments
- At Liverpool he appointed Dalglish, Comolli and Hodgson. Not a great track record.

Tyrrell operated behind the scenes at Liverpool but Purslow craved attention. The players nicknamed him ‘Forrest Gump’ because of his tendency to insert himself at the centre of every situation. The managing director had a more grandiose view when he looked in the mirror: he referred to himself as ‘the Fernando Torres of finance.’ He liked to be around the star players, making a beeline for the striker and Steven Gerrard whenever he entered the dressing room. It became a running joke within the squad at the time.

Despite this fractious relationship, he still remains a Liverpool fan (recently denied this on Sky news interview as 'supported' – bit of a sudden U-turn).

 

Managerial/Head Coach & Other Appointments

Both questionable so far at Villa.

It may seem strange that Suso Jesus García Pitarch left Villa after helping getting the team promoted earlier than planned, taking it to a cup final and guaranteeing its presence in the Premier League (that's to say, undeniable sporting success), but not all that glitters is gold either.

Purslow did not always welcome the owners' relationship with the Sporting Director Suso. Back then it was a case that if Dean Smith had to be replaced, he was asked for advice (Suso suggested Javi Gracia, Chris Hughton, Bruno Lage - Purslow wanted Steven Gerrard or John Terry)

Without the presence of the owners (they had not come to see the team in seven months at that time IIRC), Purslow covers a lot of ground. Thus, the signing of Drinkwater was his (Suso was in London signing Nzonzi apparently)

The owners asked Suso for an improvement in quality in the squad and on the bench for the following season. Contacts were made with high-level coaches eager to get on board. But the CEO fell on the side-lines and the relationship with Suso deteriorated.

Smith and Suso have received media criticism because self-serving information that protects Purslow is passed on. Difficult to work in these conditions. Suso preferred not to continue despite having one more year of his contract, and so he told the owners of his intention to leave and he was gone.

Suddenly eyebrows are raised why our new incoming sporting director Matheu Alemany has done a sudden change of mind and has decided to stay at Barcelona!??

Purslow hired Dean Smith, ...and also sacked Dean Smith.
Fans were calling for Smith to be sacked right before the Covid virus disrupted matters. He handed Deano a new contract when fans knew it was time for him to go – He eventually later on then sacks him and replaces him with...  His long-time friend and idol (and his dream manager that had been 12 years in the making at the time) Stevie G. - a disastrous appointment.

He delayed in sacking Slippy G when fans had been calling for his head for weeks! His reluctance saw Sawiris step in and pull the trigger instead. (Interestingly, Many fans on also stated at the time that if the Stevie G appointment leads to disaster, then Purslow also has to go - That's gone a bit quiet!)

Sawiris then went ahead and made the next appointment in Unai Emery. Despite Purslow trying to take credit for the appointment, It has been well documented that this is Sawiris man and bugger all to do with Purslow. (If you want links and stories to this then google is there to use).
The other concern is the fact Purslow thought a completely unproven John Terry as a management option was sensible!!

 

The sale of Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish – As already mentioned, Purslow thought he was clever by tieing Grealish down to a new contract and also inserting a clause in this contract that if any club in the champions league triggered it at £100m, Villa wouldn’t stand in his way – Purslow openly admits he didn’t think anyone would. So, when Man City came calling and triggered this and Jack packed his bags, Purslow got his knickers in a twist and became sanctimonious over the whole thing – over something that was his own doing to begin with in the first place!

As @blandy correctly states, his unprofessional soundbite surrounding the whole sale of Jack Greedlish (yes, he does say Greedlish and I’m glad I’m not the only person who heard it) I've since watched the interview again and it's since been 'buffered' on the point he says Greedlish.
– [conspiracy theory claimers - come on down!] It is not what a sour bitter CEO should be doing, regardless. Any excuse for a soundbite though!

and so, the Grealish money was used for….

Danny Ings – A signing for many reasons was an eyebrow lifter at the time – Maybe the high wages was one of those things? Sold 18 months later for a fee of approx. £15m – (£10m less of the £25m we paid for him). Not much some might think, but a £10m loss in 18 months in any business isn’t good on any level.

Leon Bailey – An exciting capture at the time, however, it is becoming increasingly concerning that he has what it takes to make it at this level on a consistent basis. A £30m capture – Will we get that back for him, highly unlikely?

Emiliano Buendia – The club record signing at £39m! sadly, he hasn’t looked like a record £39m player in his whole time at Villa and it’s safe to say when he is moved on, we will see nowhere near that figure from any potential buying club.

Money well spent? Is/has a profit going to be made on any of these players when sold? No & No!

Another example why he – Purslow, shouldn’t be meddling in transfer dealings or any football related decisions!

Other examples of meddling in football related interference come with the loan signings of Danny Drinkwater & Ross Barkley - both of which were Purslow projects that also failed drastically.

 

Transfer Policies

It was noted that after we gained promotion back to the Premier League, there would be no more loaning players from other clubs or to improve those teams’ players.

He made a big song a dance at the end of that season about how loaning players was a terrible business model and how we weren't going to that in the future, because teams say, ‘Well, you improved them so now pay more”.

So, as already mentioned, it came as a bit of a surprise of his interference and using his Chelsea contacts that he signed Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley and both arrived on loan. (Two of the worst players I have ever seen pull on a Villa shirt).

It should also be noted that we have also loaned Coutinho, Bednarek & Augustinsson.
The huge U turn and moving of the goalposts of our transfer policy of only signing young and promising players that we can develop and then sell for a profit was soon scrapped. I cannot think why this would happen? Well, actually I can and it is very obvious why - to accommodate his idol Slippy G maybe?

As many have stated – The signing of Coutinho on loan was a good and pleasant move for someone trying to reignite his career – However, the signing of Coutinho on a permanent basis on his eye watering high wages and length of contract was just pure stupidity.

Lucas Digne also not living up to his price tag so far yet either. I bet his wages are pretty high too.

Purslow has overseen the club spend an absolute fortune on rubbish. He should be held accountable and if I were the owners I’d be asking him what the hell he was thinking!
 

Sponsorships & Kits

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships at Liverpool and Chelsea (At Chelsea this guy negotiated multiple commercial partnerships, two of which - Yokohama and Nike - which were worth close to £1bn IIRC) yet we get used car companies and gambling firms.
 

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships he got in at Liverpool & Chelsea, we’re yet to see him repeat the feat here at Villa. [I know we have not been in the same position as these other two clubs to attract such names & numbers], but so far, we’ve had a gambling company, An online used car dealer and our latest is going to be another gambling sponsorship with a horrendous reputation and history surrounding them, was there nothing better out there in the world? We were apparently moving away from gambling sponsorships according to this very man only 8 months ago, but now we sign up another one. So, another U-turn on that front.

But hey, who cares... get the most money available regardless of the impact it has or the upset it causes right?

       - FWIW None of the sponsorships he has signed us up to so far at Villa are hardly ground-breaking deals really and are more reminiscent of something from the Doug Ellis years imo

Deals when they are struck with sponsors & kit suppliers are always misaligned too, Kits always revealed late, even later till you get your hands on one. He’s had five years to sort this and yet the same crap still happens season after season. “We can’t release x shirt by “Castore” because the deal with say “Kappa” still has 3 months to run.  We can’t release the new shirt by “Castore” because our sponsorship deal with “xx Gambling Company” doesn’t expire till another 2 months. It’s a continuous shitshow year after year. He’s had years to sort this out and the same shit is still happening.

Fanatics deal also continues to upset fans most seasons and delayed releasing of kits and their other documented logistical issues. He's been overseeing this for the last 5 years but yet fans are still having the same complaints year on year for the same varied reasons.

 

Rising Season ticket prices

All done whilst a cost-of-living crisis is happening and people feeling the pinch, but again, while we have 30,000 waiting for one, why should he give a damn what impact it has on others, but that is him all over. Do what you have to do, and if you have to slit someone’s throat or sell your gran to do it, he’s your man!

All great moves by the “Fernando Torres of finance” huh!?

 

The 5-Year plan

To those that are onboard on about this “5-year plan” and Purslow is delivering it successfully...
Well, He isn't and it's not without controversy.

We nearly got relegated under Smith...
We would have been relegated under Gerrard and the 5-year plan would have been nothing but a pipedream.

The fact is, We would have been a year or two behind had Nassif not acted in sacking Gerrard when he did - something Purslow was reluctant to do.
It couldn’t be helped but notice that he also went very quiet and disappeared off the scene for a while after Gerrard was sacked.

Thanks to the great work of Unai, has this so-called ‘plan’ remained possible.
Had it not been for Unai... We wouldn't be anywhere near how good we have been and it is on the foundations Dean Smith laid at this football club and carried on and complimented by Unai to get the best out of them is why we are where we are now... not because of some “5-year plan” soundbite that is preached and been delivered by Purslow.

 

My final thoughts on our CEO

This guy seems to have mainly a commercial background, not much actual CEO experience though.

He goes behind managers/coaches backs to hire the players he likes rather than the good of the club.
He was pushed out at Liverpool for interfering in signing players whilst pissing off other clubs in the process of negotiations.
Whenever Purslow gets involved in football decisions it's a disaster.
He might be clever at obtaining a gambling sponsor and making a few phone calls for someone to put adverts up around Villa Park etc. but otherwise, He's not as much of a hero as people portray him to be.

I just find it hard to fully buy into anything he says. Purslow has a slightly laboured, calculated way of speaking where he really wants you to trust what he's saying but doesn't fully look like he believes it himself.

People acting like he is the only CEO on the planet capable of running a football club... guess what... there are better ones out there! - We may even see them here in the not-too-distant future.

He talks the talk that is for sure, but he is nothing more than a silver-tongued snake and a charlatan. The way he carries himself he thinks he is Mr Aston Villa.   Far from it.

 

Did you… did you write all that? About someone you’ve never met? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone on here write that much about a player, let alone a back office exec. Fair play on how passionate you are about this…

[AvfcRigo82]

13 minutes ago, Adam2003 said:

Did you… did you write all that? About someone you’ve never met? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone on here write that much about a player, let alone a back office exec. Fair play on how passionate you are about this…

@tomav84 asked me to raise a few points. Didn't want to let him down.

...although it's more than the 5 he asked for!   

[NoelVilla]

[villa4europe]

Without reading it all I'm pretty sure purslow shit in his kettle

[MaVilla]

1 hour ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

 

The sale of Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish – As already mentioned, Purslow thought he was clever by tieing Grealish down to a new contract and also inserting a clause in this contract that if any club in the champions league triggered it at £100m, Villa wouldn’t stand in his way – Purslow openly admits he didn’t think anyone would. So, when Man City came calling and triggered this and Jack packed his bags, Purslow got his knickers in a twist and became sanctimonious over the whole thing – over something that was his own doing to begin with in the first place!

As @blandy correctly states, his unprofessional soundbite surrounding the whole sale of Jack Greedlish (yes, he does say Greedlish and I’m glad I’m not the only person who heard it) I've since watched the interview again and it's since been 'buffered' on the point he says Greedlish.
– [conspiracy theory claimers - come on down!] It is not what a sour bitter CEO should be doing, regardless. Any excuse for a soundbite though!

and so, the Grealish money was used for….

Danny Ings – A signing for many reasons was an eyebrow lifter at the time – Maybe the high wages was one of those things? Sold 18 months later for a fee of approx. £15m – (£10m less of the £25m we paid for him). Not much some might think, but a £10m loss in 18 months in any business isn’t good on any level.

Leon Bailey – An exciting capture at the time, however, it is becoming increasingly concerning that he has what it takes to make it at this level on a consistent basis. A £30m capture – Will we get that back for him, highly unlikely?

Emiliano Buendia – The club record signing at £39m! sadly, he hasn’t looked like a record £39m player in his whole time at Villa and it’s safe to say when he is moved on, we will see nowhere near that figure from any potential buying club.

Money well spent? Is/has a profit going to be made on any of these players when sold? No & No!

Another example why he – Purslow, shouldn’t be meddling in transfer dealings or any football related decisions!

Other examples of meddling in football related interference come with the loan signings of Danny Drinkwater & Ross Barkley - both of which were Purslow projects that also failed drastically.

 

 

 

 

Purslow stated that it was Grealish (or his agent) that demanded the release clause in the new contract, Purslow then agreed to this in the belief that a 100m clause probably wouldnt be triggered.

At least, thats what Purslow himself said, so have no reason to doubt the validity of it.

[DaveAV1]

3 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

At least, thats what Purslow himself said, so have no reason to doubt the validity of it.

Was his mouth moving at the time?

[MaVilla]

20 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Was his mouth moving at the time?

i really dont get all the hate for Purslow, i really dont.

[tomav84]

19 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

i really dont get all the hate for Purslow, i really dont.

what's not to get? a whole host of reasons has been listed above...my favourite is how he goes behind managers backs to sign players and is so bad at his job that the owners have to step in and do it for him (yet still finds himself in his role)

 

[AvfcRigo82]

1 hour ago, KMitch said:

I'm done.  It's like trying to have a discussion with a flat earther.  I don't care who Purslow was before he came to the Villa or which club he supported as a child. 99% of this is hearsay and unfounded conspiracy theories about undermining his employees and/or going behind their backs.  

Interesting. I'll take your word for it.

 

On 03/09/2018 at 19:06, KMitch said:

Not getting too excited about this guy...  I got excited about Tom Fox, who had a similar background in the business world and at another big club, getting Arsenal bumper sponsorship deals.  I got excited about Keith Wyness, who had experience at other large clubs and seemed to talk the talk and walk the walk when he arrived here.  Disappointment and Villa go hand in hand, so I'm going to take a new approach with everything...  Have no expectations and you can't be disappointed. 

As impressive as Purslow's commentary on Sky has been, Liverpool fans have nothing good to say about him.  They saw him as a silver-tongued snake who masterminded shoving Benitez out of the club and replacing him with the footballing genius of Roy Hodgson.  I'll wait and see, but some of the things he preaches in a lot of the videos I've watched with his commentary about Arsenal/Wenger and Liverpool/Klopp don't at all match up with what he did at Liverpool when he had the reins. 

 

[wishywashy]

Another 10 pages of arguing in circles about the extent to which Purslow should be held responsible over the misgivings at Villa, given how our success means we can't have one about a player/manager at the moment? Means everything is going well, so sign me up.

Edited May 21, 2023 by wishywashy

[KMitch]

27 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Interesting. I'll take your word for it.

 

 

How long did that take you to troll back through 5 years of my posts to find anything negative I posted about Purslow?  What a sad and pathetic waste of time that was...  

Edited May 21, 2023 by KMitch

[Steero113]

2 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

So… Christian Purslow

The smooth talking, charismatic CEO of our great football club.

 

His background before Villa

Whilst he is regarded as having played a ‘crucial role’ in managing the takeover from unpopular owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Liverpool, his time there was not without controversy.

Purslow is credited with averting the financial collapse of the club, against a backdrop of strained supporter relations.

During his stewardship, Liverpool did secure their then largest ever commercial deal, an £80 million tie up with Standard Chartered.  This deal was so large it actually had to be defended by the bank at a conference held in London.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing though.  Rafa Benitez was happy to go on the record in 2010, attributing Purslow directly for his departure from Anfield and questioning the financial position of the club.  This period coincided with Liverpool finishing outside the top 6, failing to qualify for the Champions League and in a surprise move he appointed Roy Hodgson as manager as Rafa’s replacement.

It’s important to put this in the context that the outgoing regime at the time saddled Liverpool with significant debt that the club found challenging to service just the interest on (£45million in 2010).  This had the knock-on effect where Purslow then restricted both the funds and authorisation for any transfer dealings, Liverpool were at real risk of being placed into administration by RBS. The fact that this was averted can in part be attributed to Purslow’s efforts at the time.

Purslow struggled to maintain positive relations with Liverpool supporters with a number of public actions or statements that appeared to put him at odds with fans.  This included attempts to revive plans for a shared stadium with Everton, which Liverpool officials privately ‘scoffed at’ as an attempt to ‘claim the limelight he craves’.  Separately, he infamously referred to the clubs ‘Spirit of Shankly group as ‘Sons of Strikers’, regarding them as ‘militant’ or ‘troublemakers’.

Liverpool fans were furious when he meddled in the football side of things and made more cock ups than none. (Signing of Joe Cole is one example)

He was over on the commercial side at Chelsea. Nothing to do with managerial appointments
- At Liverpool he appointed Dalglish, Comolli and Hodgson. Not a great track record.

Tyrrell operated behind the scenes at Liverpool but Purslow craved attention. The players nicknamed him ‘Forrest Gump’ because of his tendency to insert himself at the centre of every situation. The managing director had a more grandiose view when he looked in the mirror: he referred to himself as ‘the Fernando Torres of finance.’ He liked to be around the star players, making a beeline for the striker and Steven Gerrard whenever he entered the dressing room. It became a running joke within the squad at the time.

Despite this fractious relationship, he still remains a Liverpool fan (recently denied this on Sky news interview as 'supported' – bit of a sudden U-turn).

 

Managerial/Head Coach & Other Appointments

Both questionable so far at Villa.

It may seem strange that Suso Jesus García Pitarch left Villa after helping getting the team promoted earlier than planned, taking it to a cup final and guaranteeing its presence in the Premier League (that's to say, undeniable sporting success), but not all that glitters is gold either.

Purslow did not always welcome the owners' relationship with the Sporting Director Suso. Back then it was a case that if Dean Smith had to be replaced, he was asked for advice (Suso suggested Javi Gracia, Chris Hughton, Bruno Lage - Purslow wanted Steven Gerrard or John Terry)

Without the presence of the owners (they had not come to see the team in seven months at that time IIRC), Purslow covers a lot of ground. Thus, the signing of Drinkwater was his (Suso was in London signing Nzonzi apparently)

The owners asked Suso for an improvement in quality in the squad and on the bench for the following season. Contacts were made with high-level coaches eager to get on board. But the CEO fell on the side-lines and the relationship with Suso deteriorated.

Smith and Suso have received media criticism because self-serving information that protects Purslow is passed on. Difficult to work in these conditions. Suso preferred not to continue despite having one more year of his contract, and so he told the owners of his intention to leave and he was gone.

Suddenly eyebrows are raised why our new incoming sporting director Matheu Alemany has done a sudden change of mind and has decided to stay at Barcelona!??

Purslow hired Dean Smith, ...and also sacked Dean Smith.
Fans were calling for Smith to be sacked right before the Covid virus disrupted matters. He handed Deano a new contract when fans knew it was time for him to go – He eventually later on then sacks him and replaces him with...  His long-time friend and idol (and his dream manager that had been 12 years in the making at the time) Stevie G. - a disastrous appointment.

He delayed in sacking Slippy G when fans had been calling for his head for weeks! His reluctance saw Sawiris step in and pull the trigger instead. (Interestingly, Many fans on also stated at the time that if the Stevie G appointment leads to disaster, then Purslow also has to go - That's gone a bit quiet!)

Sawiris then went ahead and made the next appointment in Unai Emery. Despite Purslow trying to take credit for the appointment, It has been well documented that this is Sawiris man and bugger all to do with Purslow. (If you want links and stories to this then google is there to use).
The other concern is the fact Purslow thought a completely unproven John Terry as a management option was sensible!!

 

The sale of Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish – As already mentioned, Purslow thought he was clever by tieing Grealish down to a new contract and also inserting a clause in this contract that if any club in the champions league triggered it at £100m, Villa wouldn’t stand in his way – Purslow openly admits he didn’t think anyone would. So, when Man City came calling and triggered this and Jack packed his bags, Purslow got his knickers in a twist and became sanctimonious over the whole thing – over something that was his own doing to begin with in the first place!

As @blandy correctly states, his unprofessional soundbite surrounding the whole sale of Jack Greedlish (yes, he does say Greedlish and I’m glad I’m not the only person who heard it) I've since watched the interview again and it's since been 'buffered' on the point he says Greedlish.
– [conspiracy theory claimers - come on down!] It is not what a sour bitter CEO should be doing, regardless. Any excuse for a soundbite though!

and so, the Grealish money was used for….

Danny Ings – A signing for many reasons was an eyebrow lifter at the time – Maybe the high wages was one of those things? Sold 18 months later for a fee of approx. £15m – (£10m less of the £25m we paid for him). Not much some might think, but a £10m loss in 18 months in any business isn’t good on any level.

Leon Bailey – An exciting capture at the time, however, it is becoming increasingly concerning that he has what it takes to make it at this level on a consistent basis. A £30m capture – Will we get that back for him, highly unlikely?

Emiliano Buendia – The club record signing at £39m! sadly, he hasn’t looked like a record £39m player in his whole time at Villa and it’s safe to say when he is moved on, we will see nowhere near that figure from any potential buying club.

Money well spent? Is/has a profit going to be made on any of these players when sold? No & No!

Another example why he – Purslow, shouldn’t be meddling in transfer dealings or any football related decisions!

Other examples of meddling in football related interference come with the loan signings of Danny Drinkwater & Ross Barkley - both of which were Purslow projects that also failed drastically.

 

Transfer Policies

It was noted that after we gained promotion back to the Premier League, there would be no more loaning players from other clubs or to improve those teams’ players.

He made a big song a dance at the end of that season about how loaning players was a terrible business model and how we weren't going to that in the future, because teams say, ‘Well, you improved them so now pay more”.

So, as already mentioned, it came as a bit of a surprise of his interference and using his Chelsea contacts that he signed Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley and both arrived on loan. (Two of the worst players I have ever seen pull on a Villa shirt).

It should also be noted that we have also loaned Coutinho, Bednarek & Augustinsson.
The huge U turn and moving of the goalposts of our transfer policy of only signing young and promising players that we can develop and then sell for a profit was soon scrapped. I cannot think why this would happen? Well, actually I can and it is very obvious why - to accommodate his idol Slippy G maybe?

As many have stated – The signing of Coutinho on loan was a good and pleasant move for someone trying to reignite his career – However, the signing of Coutinho on a permanent basis on his eye watering high wages and length of contract was just pure stupidity.

Lucas Digne also not living up to his price tag so far yet either. I bet his wages are pretty high too.

Purslow has overseen the club spend an absolute fortune on rubbish. He should be held accountable and if I were the owners I’d be asking him what the hell he was thinking!
 

Sponsorships & Kits

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships at Liverpool and Chelsea (At Chelsea this guy negotiated multiple commercial partnerships, two of which - Yokohama and Nike - which were worth close to £1bn IIRC) yet we get used car companies and gambling firms.
 

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships he got in at Liverpool & Chelsea, we’re yet to see him repeat the feat here at Villa. [I know we have not been in the same position as these other two clubs to attract such names & numbers], but so far, we’ve had a gambling company, An online used car dealer and our latest is going to be another gambling sponsorship with a horrendous reputation and history surrounding them, was there nothing better out there in the world? We were apparently moving away from gambling sponsorships according to this very man only 8 months ago, but now we sign up another one. So, another U-turn on that front.

But hey, who cares... get the most money available regardless of the impact it has or the upset it causes right?

       - FWIW None of the sponsorships he has signed us up to so far at Villa are hardly ground-breaking deals really and are more reminiscent of something from the Doug Ellis years imo

Deals when they are struck with sponsors & kit suppliers are always misaligned too, Kits always revealed late, even later till you get your hands on one. He’s had five years to sort this and yet the same crap still happens season after season. “We can’t release x shirt by “Castore” because the deal with say “Kappa” still has 3 months to run.  We can’t release the new shirt by “Castore” because our sponsorship deal with “xx Gambling Company” doesn’t expire till another 2 months. It’s a continuous shitshow year after year. He’s had years to sort this out and the same shit is still happening.

Fanatics deal also continues to upset fans most seasons and delayed releasing of kits and their other documented logistical issues. He's been overseeing this for the last 5 years but yet fans are still having the same complaints year on year for the same varied reasons.

 

Rising Season ticket prices

All done whilst a cost-of-living crisis is happening and people feeling the pinch, but again, while we have 30,000 waiting for one, why should he give a damn what impact it has on others, but that is him all over. Do what you have to do, and if you have to slit someone’s throat or sell your gran to do it, he’s your man!

All great moves by the “Fernando Torres of finance” huh!?

 

The 5-Year plan

To those that are onboard on about this “5-year plan” and Purslow is delivering it successfully...
Well, He isn't and it's not without controversy.

We nearly got relegated under Smith...
We would have been relegated under Gerrard and the 5-year plan would have been nothing but a pipedream.

The fact is, We would have been a year or two behind had Nassif not acted in sacking Gerrard when he did - something Purslow was reluctant to do.
It couldn’t be helped but notice that he also went very quiet and disappeared off the scene for a while after Gerrard was sacked.

Thanks to the great work of Unai, has this so-called ‘plan’ remained possible.
Had it not been for Unai... We wouldn't be anywhere near how good we have been and it is on the foundations Dean Smith laid at this football club and carried on and complimented by Unai to get the best out of them is why we are where we are now... not because of some “5-year plan” soundbite that is preached and been delivered by Purslow.

 

My final thoughts on our CEO

This guy seems to have mainly a commercial background, not much actual CEO experience though.

He goes behind managers/coaches backs to hire the players he likes rather than the good of the club.
He was pushed out at Liverpool for interfering in signing players whilst pissing off other clubs in the process of negotiations.
Whenever Purslow gets involved in football decisions it's a disaster.
He might be clever at obtaining a gambling sponsor and making a few phone calls for someone to put adverts up around Villa Park etc. but otherwise, He's not as much of a hero as people portray him to be.

I just find it hard to fully buy into anything he says. Purslow has a slightly laboured, calculated way of speaking where he really wants you to trust what he's saying but doesn't fully look like he believes it himself.

People acting like he is the only CEO on the planet capable of running a football club... guess what... there are better ones out there! - We may even see them here in the not-too-distant future.

He talks the talk that is for sure, but he is nothing more than a silver-tongued snake and a charlatan. The way he carries himself he thinks he is Mr Aston Villa.   Far from it.

 

Firstly, I cannot believe I just read all that.

Secondly, this is total and utter bulls**t. 
 

in my opinion of course. 

Mate. 

[ender4]

3 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

So… Christian Purslow

The smooth talking, charismatic CEO of our great football club.

 

His background before Villa

Whilst he is regarded as having played a ‘crucial role’ in managing the takeover from unpopular owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Liverpool, his time there was not without controversy.

Purslow is credited with averting the financial collapse of the club, against a backdrop of strained supporter relations.

During his stewardship, Liverpool did secure their then largest ever commercial deal, an £80 million tie up with Standard Chartered.  This deal was so large it actually had to be defended by the bank at a conference held in London.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing though.  Rafa Benitez was happy to go on the record in 2010, attributing Purslow directly for his departure from Anfield and questioning the financial position of the club.  This period coincided with Liverpool finishing outside the top 6, failing to qualify for the Champions League and in a surprise move he appointed Roy Hodgson as manager as Rafa’s replacement.

It’s important to put this in the context that the outgoing regime at the time saddled Liverpool with significant debt that the club found challenging to service just the interest on (£45million in 2010).  This had the knock-on effect where Purslow then restricted both the funds and authorisation for any transfer dealings, Liverpool were at real risk of being placed into administration by RBS. The fact that this was averted can in part be attributed to Purslow’s efforts at the time.

Purslow struggled to maintain positive relations with Liverpool supporters with a number of public actions or statements that appeared to put him at odds with fans.  This included attempts to revive plans for a shared stadium with Everton, which Liverpool officials privately ‘scoffed at’ as an attempt to ‘claim the limelight he craves’.  Separately, he infamously referred to the clubs ‘Spirit of Shankly group as ‘Sons of Strikers’, regarding them as ‘militant’ or ‘troublemakers’.

Liverpool fans were furious when he meddled in the football side of things and made more cock ups than none. (Signing of Joe Cole is one example)

He was over on the commercial side at Chelsea. Nothing to do with managerial appointments
- At Liverpool he appointed Dalglish, Comolli and Hodgson. Not a great track record.

Tyrrell operated behind the scenes at Liverpool but Purslow craved attention. The players nicknamed him ‘Forrest Gump’ because of his tendency to insert himself at the centre of every situation. The managing director had a more grandiose view when he looked in the mirror: he referred to himself as ‘the Fernando Torres of finance.’ He liked to be around the star players, making a beeline for the striker and Steven Gerrard whenever he entered the dressing room. It became a running joke within the squad at the time.

Despite this fractious relationship, he still remains a Liverpool fan (recently denied this on Sky news interview as 'supported' – bit of a sudden U-turn).

 

Managerial/Head Coach & Other Appointments

Both questionable so far at Villa.

It may seem strange that Suso Jesus García Pitarch left Villa after helping getting the team promoted earlier than planned, taking it to a cup final and guaranteeing its presence in the Premier League (that's to say, undeniable sporting success), but not all that glitters is gold either.

Purslow did not always welcome the owners' relationship with the Sporting Director Suso. Back then it was a case that if Dean Smith had to be replaced, he was asked for advice (Suso suggested Javi Gracia, Chris Hughton, Bruno Lage - Purslow wanted Steven Gerrard or John Terry)

Without the presence of the owners (they had not come to see the team in seven months at that time IIRC), Purslow covers a lot of ground. Thus, the signing of Drinkwater was his (Suso was in London signing Nzonzi apparently)

The owners asked Suso for an improvement in quality in the squad and on the bench for the following season. Contacts were made with high-level coaches eager to get on board. But the CEO fell on the side-lines and the relationship with Suso deteriorated.

Smith and Suso have received media criticism because self-serving information that protects Purslow is passed on. Difficult to work in these conditions. Suso preferred not to continue despite having one more year of his contract, and so he told the owners of his intention to leave and he was gone.

Suddenly eyebrows are raised why our new incoming sporting director Matheu Alemany has done a sudden change of mind and has decided to stay at Barcelona!??

Purslow hired Dean Smith, ...and also sacked Dean Smith.
Fans were calling for Smith to be sacked right before the Covid virus disrupted matters. He handed Deano a new contract when fans knew it was time for him to go – He eventually later on then sacks him and replaces him with...  His long-time friend and idol (and his dream manager that had been 12 years in the making at the time) Stevie G. - a disastrous appointment.

He delayed in sacking Slippy G when fans had been calling for his head for weeks! His reluctance saw Sawiris step in and pull the trigger instead. (Interestingly, Many fans on also stated at the time that if the Stevie G appointment leads to disaster, then Purslow also has to go - That's gone a bit quiet!)

Sawiris then went ahead and made the next appointment in Unai Emery. Despite Purslow trying to take credit for the appointment, It has been well documented that this is Sawiris man and bugger all to do with Purslow. (If you want links and stories to this then google is there to use).
The other concern is the fact Purslow thought a completely unproven John Terry as a management option was sensible!!

 

The sale of Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish – As already mentioned, Purslow thought he was clever by tieing Grealish down to a new contract and also inserting a clause in this contract that if any club in the champions league triggered it at £100m, Villa wouldn’t stand in his way – Purslow openly admits he didn’t think anyone would. So, when Man City came calling and triggered this and Jack packed his bags, Purslow got his knickers in a twist and became sanctimonious over the whole thing – over something that was his own doing to begin with in the first place!

As @blandy correctly states, his unprofessional soundbite surrounding the whole sale of Jack Greedlish (yes, he does say Greedlish and I’m glad I’m not the only person who heard it) I've since watched the interview again and it's since been 'buffered' on the point he says Greedlish.
– [conspiracy theory claimers - come on down!] It is not what a sour bitter CEO should be doing, regardless. Any excuse for a soundbite though!

and so, the Grealish money was used for….

Danny Ings – A signing for many reasons was an eyebrow lifter at the time – Maybe the high wages was one of those things? Sold 18 months later for a fee of approx. £15m – (£10m less of the £25m we paid for him). Not much some might think, but a £10m loss in 18 months in any business isn’t good on any level.

Leon Bailey – An exciting capture at the time, however, it is becoming increasingly concerning that he has what it takes to make it at this level on a consistent basis. A £30m capture – Will we get that back for him, highly unlikely?

Emiliano Buendia – The club record signing at £39m! sadly, he hasn’t looked like a record £39m player in his whole time at Villa and it’s safe to say when he is moved on, we will see nowhere near that figure from any potential buying club.

Money well spent? Is/has a profit going to be made on any of these players when sold? No & No!

Another example why he – Purslow, shouldn’t be meddling in transfer dealings or any football related decisions!

Other examples of meddling in football related interference come with the loan signings of Danny Drinkwater & Ross Barkley - both of which were Purslow projects that also failed drastically.

 

Transfer Policies

It was noted that after we gained promotion back to the Premier League, there would be no more loaning players from other clubs or to improve those teams’ players.

He made a big song a dance at the end of that season about how loaning players was a terrible business model and how we weren't going to that in the future, because teams say, ‘Well, you improved them so now pay more”.

So, as already mentioned, it came as a bit of a surprise of his interference and using his Chelsea contacts that he signed Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley and both arrived on loan. (Two of the worst players I have ever seen pull on a Villa shirt).

It should also be noted that we have also loaned Coutinho, Bednarek & Augustinsson.
The huge U turn and moving of the goalposts of our transfer policy of only signing young and promising players that we can develop and then sell for a profit was soon scrapped. I cannot think why this would happen? Well, actually I can and it is very obvious why - to accommodate his idol Slippy G maybe?

As many have stated – The signing of Coutinho on loan was a good and pleasant move for someone trying to reignite his career – However, the signing of Coutinho on a permanent basis on his eye watering high wages and length of contract was just pure stupidity.

Lucas Digne also not living up to his price tag so far yet either. I bet his wages are pretty high too.

Purslow has overseen the club spend an absolute fortune on rubbish. He should be held accountable and if I were the owners I’d be asking him what the hell he was thinking!
 

Sponsorships & Kits

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships at Liverpool and Chelsea (At Chelsea this guy negotiated multiple commercial partnerships, two of which - Yokohama and Nike - which were worth close to £1bn IIRC) yet we get used car companies and gambling firms.
 

Compared to his ground-breaking sponsorships he got in at Liverpool & Chelsea, we’re yet to see him repeat the feat here at Villa. [I know we have not been in the same position as these other two clubs to attract such names & numbers], but so far, we’ve had a gambling company, An online used car dealer and our latest is going to be another gambling sponsorship with a horrendous reputation and history surrounding them, was there nothing better out there in the world? We were apparently moving away from gambling sponsorships according to this very man only 8 months ago, but now we sign up another one. So, another U-turn on that front.

But hey, who cares... get the most money available regardless of the impact it has or the upset it causes right?

       - FWIW None of the sponsorships he has signed us up to so far at Villa are hardly ground-breaking deals really and are more reminiscent of something from the Doug Ellis years imo

Deals when they are struck with sponsors & kit suppliers are always misaligned too, Kits always revealed late, even later till you get your hands on one. He’s had five years to sort this and yet the same crap still happens season after season. “We can’t release x shirt by “Castore” because the deal with say “Kappa” still has 3 months to run.  We can’t release the new shirt by “Castore” because our sponsorship deal with “xx Gambling Company” doesn’t expire till another 2 months. It’s a continuous shitshow year after year. He’s had years to sort this out and the same shit is still happening.

Fanatics deal also continues to upset fans most seasons and delayed releasing of kits and their other documented logistical issues. He's been overseeing this for the last 5 years but yet fans are still having the same complaints year on year for the same varied reasons.

 

Rising Season ticket prices

All done whilst a cost-of-living crisis is happening and people feeling the pinch, but again, while we have 30,000 waiting for one, why should he give a damn what impact it has on others, but that is him all over. Do what you have to do, and if you have to slit someone’s throat or sell your gran to do it, he’s your man!

All great moves by the “Fernando Torres of finance” huh!?

 

The 5-Year plan

To those that are onboard on about this “5-year plan” and Purslow is delivering it successfully...
Well, He isn't and it's not without controversy.

We nearly got relegated under Smith...
We would have been relegated under Gerrard and the 5-year plan would have been nothing but a pipedream.

The fact is, We would have been a year or two behind had Nassif not acted in sacking Gerrard when he did - something Purslow was reluctant to do.
It couldn’t be helped but notice that he also went very quiet and disappeared off the scene for a while after Gerrard was sacked.

Thanks to the great work of Unai, has this so-called ‘plan’ remained possible.
Had it not been for Unai... We wouldn't be anywhere near how good we have been and it is on the foundations Dean Smith laid at this football club and carried on and complimented by Unai to get the best out of them is why we are where we are now... not because of some “5-year plan” soundbite that is preached and been delivered by Purslow.

 

My final thoughts on our CEO

This guy seems to have mainly a commercial background, not much actual CEO experience though.

He goes behind managers/coaches backs to hire the players he likes rather than the good of the club.
He was pushed out at Liverpool for interfering in signing players whilst pissing off other clubs in the process of negotiations.
Whenever Purslow gets involved in football decisions it's a disaster.
He might be clever at obtaining a gambling sponsor and making a few phone calls for someone to put adverts up around Villa Park etc. but otherwise, He's not as much of a hero as people portray him to be.

I just find it hard to fully buy into anything he says. Purslow has a slightly laboured, calculated way of speaking where he really wants you to trust what he's saying but doesn't fully look like he believes it himself.

People acting like he is the only CEO on the planet capable of running a football club... guess what... there are better ones out there! - We may even see them here in the not-too-distant future.

He talks the talk that is for sure, but he is nothing more than a silver-tongued snake and a charlatan. The way he carries himself he thinks he is Mr Aston Villa.   Far from it.

 

DID NOT READ. 
 

someone TL:DR please.

[El-Reacho]

1 hour ago, MaVilla said:

 

Purslow stated that it was Grealish (or his agent) that demanded the release clause in the new contract, Purslow then agreed to this in the belief that a 100m clause probably wouldnt be triggered.

At least, thats what Purslow himself said, so have no reason to doubt the validity of it.

Pretty obvious that it came from Grealish’s side just like Delph did with his contract before he left. Villa aren’t going to offer those clauses for nothing. If it’s a £100m release clause or no new deal and he leaves for a fraction of that then you agree to the release clause. Fairly basic negotiation stuff. Even two years on getting £100m for a player from a bottom half PL club is good going.