sm Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Perhaps that is why someone bought one share - to get a certificate for the end of the Ellis era. ... and it wasn't me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 it just isnt praticle for padfield and his muppet brigade to bid now, his run out of time, and even if he did bid surely doug can tell his to shove it. and it wouldnt surprise me if padfield is intrested in the supposed newcastle takeover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 On another thread but thought a mention - article in News of World from Cleveland Plain Dealer has loads of quotes from RL. No doubt it my mind that its a done deal He's shaken hands with this deal with Ellis & Petchey and he knows darn well they won't go back whatever others offer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotswoldsman Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Very interesting article in the times today not sure if this link will work!! Any chance of shortening this link? Or could you not be bothered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 the article from the times (link above) US fan wants to rebuild Villa Ex-MBNA chairman Randy Lerner has big plans for the soccer club, writes Matthew Goodman IN 1982 a fresh-faced college boy from Cleveland, Ohio, arrived at the magnificent 17th-century Old Court of Clare College, Cambridge, to study at the feet of the great Tudor historian Geoffrey Elton. When he returned to America a year later, Randy Lerner had acquired not only a greater knowledge of medieval history, but also a fascination for English football, in particular, Aston Villa. Six weeks ago he came back to England to buy the club. After Cambridge, Lerner graduated from Columbia University and inherited a fortune when his father Al, founder of the MBNA credit-card company, died in 2002. He also inherited ownership of the Cleveland Browns American football team. His passion for sport prompted him to bid for Villa when he learnt that club chairman Doug Ellis might be prepared to relinquish control. Lerner, 44, had been warned about the redoubtable “Deadly†Doug and his abrasive reputation. But when the two met six weeks ago at Villa Park to discuss a takeover, Ellis, 82, was charm personified. “He could not have been more gracious towards me,†Lerner recalled. “I enjoyed listening to his stories.†However, their second encounter, about three weeks later, was not quite as harmonious. After Lerner laid out his terms for a takeover, Ellis’s response was apparently to tell the American that once he had bought the club, Lerner would report to him. Those close to Ellis insist he was joking, but Lerner did not find it amusing. He jetted back to Ohio to attend the start of the Browns pre-season training. But he cannot have been too dismayed by Ellis’s sense of humour. Last week Lerner, who until December was chairman of MBNA, made a formal £62.6m bid for Villa, which was recommended by the club’s board of directors. Unless one of the rival consortiums that have been stalking the club for several months trumps the American with a higher offer, Lerner should win control of the team this week, only a few days into the new season. If he succeeds with his 547p-a-share bid, he will be the latest in a string of overseas tycoons to buy into English football’s top flight, following the likes of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Malcolm Glazer at Manchester United. What the fans want to know is whether Lerner, estimated to be worth about $1.3 billion (£691m), will be a free-spending benefactor or mortgage the club and raise ticket prices in the way the Glazer family has done. The answer seems to lie somewhere in the middle. The Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust likes what it has seen so far. A spokesman said: “He seems to be saying all the right things. He’s talking about putting money in and restoring the club to its former glories. He’s appealing to pretty much every Villa fan.†Lerner has played down comparisons with Glazer, a fellow boss at the NFL (National Football League, the body that runs American football). “For me, the comparison is less about Glazer and me, and more about Aston Villa and Manchester United. These clubs are at different points right now. They have different ambitions. These are very different transactions and we have different goals.†For one thing, Lerner has spent far more time in England than Glazer. His year at Cambridge coincided with the pinnacle of Aston Villa’s achievements, lifting the European Cup. Years later he came back to England to chair MBNA’s European arm. Lerner may be a newcomer to the boardrooms of English football but, despite the positive noises, he is wary of promising too much. Asked whether the injection of new funds might lead to Villa’s return to European competition, he said: “I’m going to leave the predicting to Martin O’Neill (the recently appointed team manager).†That said, he recognises that Aston Villa needs investment and he is happy to provide it. “It seems to me the club has a variety of needs,†Lerner said. “They are to make sure Martin has the resources to do his job, to make sure the club has a good training ground and that the stadium is where it should be in terms of the quality of its operations and seats the number of people it should. “Those things are all going to require investment. Exactly how much and in what proportions and what numbers, that’s about getting in there and digging into it.†Asked whether it would take a further £62m — to match the money he is offering to buy the club — he did not disagree. But until he moves into Ellis’s office, Lerner is determined not to rock the boat. He stayed away from yesterday’s season opener at Arsenal, and still faces the possibility he could be outbid. Three other consortiums are known to be interested. One involves Athole Still, the agent whose clients include former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. Deputy High Court judge Nicholas Padfield QC is leading a rival bid team known as AV06; and long-time Villa fan and local businessman Michael Neville also continues to work on a takeover. Whether any will be able to top Lerner’s bid remains to be seen. Stan Lock, of stockbroker Brewin Dolphin, thinks the others have taken too long. “I could be proved wrong,†he said, “but if they were going to bid, they should have done it by now.†Some analysts think the price Lerner is offering is high, especially considering the need for investment in new players and facilities. “O’Neill is going to be an expensive mouth to feed,†one said. Last year Ellis rejected an indicative offer, thought to be worth about 400p a share, from football financier Ray Ranson, describing the proposal as “inadequateâ€. It is not clear what would have been acceptable to Ellis, who owns 34% of the club. Lerner’s bid comes at a time when Villa has gone from having cash in the bank to having net debt of £12m, after splashing out on several new players last year. And the landbank has been reduced after the sale of a £7m chunk of property. For Lerner, the deal — being funded entirely in cash from his family investment vehicle — is an educated gamble, particularly as the club’s value is underpinned by a freehold property estate. He hopes that by building up the playing squad, and tapping into the local supporter base, he can put the 132-year-old club back on track towards its footballing high point, that European Cup final victory over Bayern Munich 24 years ago. In what sounds like a sop to the supporters, Lerner said his principal motive was not so much making money as ensuring glory on the field. The principle is one he brings with him from the Browns. “We are in business to win and that’s nothing more than having more points than your opponents.†More cynical observers have already noted that since the Lerner family took over the Browns in 1998, the team has had just one winning season. Lerner shrugs off the criticism, suggesting that a new structure is taking time to work through, the team is a strong one, and that things will come good. For Villa, along with most clubs in the Premiership, time is of the essence, because next year a lucrative new television deal takes effect. The Midlands club finished 16th out of 20 teams last season, narrowly avoiding relegation. The goal for most teams in the top flight this year is to ensure they stay in the Premiership to enjoy the benefits of a new television deal. Clubs’ income from pay-TV will rise 67% for the three years starting with the 2007-8 season. Several clubs are investing large sums this summer in an effort to ensure they remain part of the elite. It is a risky strategy, as clubs such as previously high-flying Leeds United can testify. Despite the assertion that he is interested only in winning, Lerner clearly thinks he has spotted a commercial opportunity. He said his interest in soccer as a business emerged when he was running MBNA’s European operations from Chester and met Adam Crozier, former chief executive of the Football Association, and Keith Harris, former chairman of the Football League and head of broker Seymour Pierce, which is advising Lerner on his Villa bid. “It was about three years ago, and I began to wonder whether English football might be at a point in time reminiscent of when the NFL was going through a business growth phase — with things such as the way it is presented on television,†said Lerner. “I thought there might be a way to migrate some of the practices from over there into football in England. At that point, I was wondering about the extent to which sponsorship revenues might play a greater role in funding options and I was interested in whether television revenues had some growth to them.†What all this may mean in practical terms is not clear, although income from media rights will be very important. Lerner emphasises the significance of one of his proposed directors for Villa, Bob Kain, the co-head of IMG, the sports-management firm. He is also planning to hire a new chief executive to handle the day-to-day running of the club. Lerner is honest enough to admit that with his time divided between Britain and America, a commute he makes on his private jet, he is not going to be holding the Villa reins full time. He said: “I doubt I’ll be able to attend every game given that I have four children and a lot to do in the US.†He has a house in South Kensington, London, and has “not figured out†what to do about a base closer to the Midlands, an area with an industrial heritage that strikes a chord with Lerner, who sees a similarity to Cleveland. If he can revive the same enthusiasm among the locals for Aston Villa as there is in Ohio for the Browns, it will be mission accomplished for Lerner. A nice article... (and from the bit in bold) Lerner knows that Doug invented the bicycle kick etc etc etc!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmanvillafan Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 This man seems too good to be true. He is not promising the earth but he seems as though he is going to try. Peter Withe made a big impression on me in '82 and it seems as though the club did the same with Randy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 ellis so closely **** this whole up. if he did i dunno what i would have done to him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaztonVilla Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Despite the assertion that he is interested only in winning, Lerner clearly thinks he has spotted a commercial opportunity. He said his interest in soccer as a business emerged when he was running MBNA’s European operations from Chester and met Adam Crozier, former chief executive of the Football Association, and Keith Harris, former chairman of the Football League and head of broker Seymour Pierce, which is advising Lerner on his Villa bid. I wonder will either of those 2 be in line to become CEO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond_Joe_Quimby Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 The more i hear from this guy the more impressed i am with him, he's may just be doing lip service and the actual may not reflect what happens in the end but at this stage you gotta say WOW and Welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runetune Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Another interesting article. Was also good to read an anaylist commenting that he thinks others are too late to bid now - something we've commented on here a number of times. As for Lerner - yet another great interview. I am more than happy to take some steady growth for the club and can't wait for the ground to be improved to get the right amount of seating in God exciting times. Is this really what being a Villa fan is being about? *tries hard to remember 1982 which seems so very far away now* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 nice chants and flags at the game yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Sorry if this is being discussed elsewhere but what would peoples thoughts be to Lerner changing the name of Villa Park? Would it worry us that much? I'm sure everyone would call it Villa Park anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattansell Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 He can change it but only if it is a partner that fits - ie not a pisstake name, like the 'Walkers Stadium'. MBNA Villa Park wouldn't be awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 20, 2006 VT Supporter Share Posted August 20, 2006 He can change it but only if it is a partner that fits - ie not a pisstake name, like the 'Walkers Stadium'. MBNA Villa Park wouldn't be awful. He won't do it. I'm pretty sure that this is one of things that the Browns have already been through, and he refused to even consider it, said it would be an insult to the fans, tradition, etc. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent_Bob Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 To me big difference between Villa Park and, let's say Emirates, is the fact that Villa Park allready has a name. If Arsenal changed the name of Highbury to Emirates, people would still call it Highbury. If we change the name into MBNA Villa Park it won't really change a thing. We would still call it Villa Park. I wouldn't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisVillan Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Tis being covered in its own thread now folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Are the people in the know certain that AV06 won't be bidding for the club this week? I am not sure that I can wait three more days. It is like waiting for exam results, knowing that you should have passed but you never know for certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Will this thread reach 10 000 posts, maybe? To be on topic I'd really hate if someone else came in with a bid now. I think that would only delay Lerners overtaking. Can a bidder be adviced by Rotschilds not to make a bid if they think it won't be taken? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I'd be surprised if Padfield didn't bid in the next couple of days. I don't see what he had to gain last week by saying he was going to bid if he wasn't really. It'll surely be rejected if he does bid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClarrieBlue Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I think tomorrow morning is the critical time. If you can get Sky Sports News,turn it on at about 7.15 on Monday morning, if there isn't a yellow ticker tape at the bottom of the screen saying Villa have received another bid, then I don't think there will be one at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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