Randy Lerner and What Happens Next

[markavfc40]

I'd suggest with no manager in place that deal should have been stopped. In fact I can't think of a better reason not to proceed with a transfer.

What if it was far enough down the line to make stopping it very difficult?

Very difficult? maybe. It would have been a big call for the chairman to make but one which, with no manager in place, should have been made. Even more so given we were also taking a player valued at 10 mill as a make weight in the deal.

[snowychap]

Milner wanted to leave and there was a signed contract, signed before MON resigned, to say we'd sell him for £x in exchange for Stephen Ireland. In the absence of a clause allowing for nullifcation of that contract, there was no way of stopping the deal short of breaking Milner's leg.

:?

When did Milner speak to Citeh?

When did Ireland speak to us?

It would surely be quite bizarre for two clubs to contractually commit to something when they had to wait for the players themselves to agree terms and accept the transfers of their registrations, wouldn't it?

[Reality]

Fine article Gazton.

Is it really that bad being a Villa fan currently, i mean what is so wrong?

So people are getting themselves in such a pickle, ask yourself what is really so bad?

Probably down to the fact we haven't strengthened key areas. We have no LB cover, we haven't got proper CM cover, and well we don't have a proper goal scorer in.

Sidwell is on the books, and will continue to look lost on the field and pass to the opposition, like he has done since he signed here. Heskey will continue to fall over and forget how to score. And John Carew will only decide to start playing well in late January when there is talk of him being released or sold off, as he has also done in the past, and throughout his career.

[GaztonVilla]

Milner wanted to leave and there was a signed contract, signed before MON resigned, to say we'd sell him for £x in exchange for Stephen Ireland. In the absence of a clause allowing for nullifcation of that contract, there was no way of stopping the deal short of breaking Milner's leg.

:?

When did Milner speak to Citeh?

When did Ireland speak to us?

It would surely be quite bizarre for two clubs to contractually commit to something when they had to wait for the players themselves to agree terms and accept the transfers of their registrations, wouldn't it?

We're going wildly off-topic here but you'll have to take my word that the deal was in place before MON resigned. The deal was very complicated, as most swap deals are, and Man City wanted to get their man and avoid being gazumped at the last minute. The ONLY thing that stopped the deal happening before it did was Man City's (successful) attempts at cutting reducing their payments to Stephen Ireland.

[OutByEaster?]

I'd suggest with no manager in place that deal should have been stopped. In fact I can't think of a better reason not to proceed with a transfer.

What if it was far enough down the line to make stopping it very difficult?

Very difficult? maybe. It would have been a big call for the chairman to make but one which, with no manager in place, should have been made. Even more so given we were also taking a player valued at 10 mill as a make weight in the deal.

Contractually or financially difficult - would you have had Randy pay a good sum of money to pull out of the deal?

[beasley14]

Good article Gaz.

[jackbauer24]

Brilliant article IF we sign any other manager than KM.

Now that's not a slur at KM but if it is him then all of the things you have said are simply not the case at all. He's lost, has never hired in the Premiership before and gone for one of his mates who already works at the club in a footballing capacity.

And when, and I'm sure it is a when, KM is announced as the permanent manager your whole article, as well written as it is, holds no water at all.

[Moorski]

The Summer of discontent,can it get any worse?

It is down to Randy now to prevent total annihilation of our club.

He has a chance to appoint a Manager to re-light the club's embers otherwise they will just slowly die out.

Over to you Randy,don't let us down.

[brummybloke]

What I should say is that if, at the end of the process, Kevin MacDonald gets the job I will have my reservations about him as a Premier League manager.

I will not, however, have reservations about the way in which the appointment was handled. I am very confident that accusations of "stringing out" the appointment simply to avoid spending money before today are very wide of the mark. The services headhunter wouldn't even have been engaged if that was the case. By the way, I'm pretty sure that's why Keith Harris was at the match on Sunday. I don't think he's the headhunter, he made the introduction.

WTF ? oooh that cheeky monkey

[deaceydeaceyaggro]

"Total annihilation of our club"??

Christ, talk about an over reaction. We have lost managers before you know, and we've been in a lot worst positions as well.

[runetune]

Thanks for an article I totally agree with. Personally, as frustrating as it is - I'd rather know the players being brought in are wanted by the manager, and we don't land up with more warming the bench. On the bright side, it'll help with the next year set of accounts

[KAZZAM]

Aint Keith Harris the guy with orvile?

[Moorski]

Deacyaggro, I know, I have seen it all before & don't want to see it again, remember the last slide after winning the European Cup? The wrong appointment and we will slide again.

[lmarsha_926]

What ever happens, we are Villa fans and thats why we support the club, other clubs including Villa have been in far worst positions than we are now.

If Lerner wanted to he could of sold Ashley Young but he did not becasue he still wants to take Villa forward, there are also blips and problems but that is life, it is how you overcome those probelms that is important.

We are 4th in the league with no manager with 2 wins and 2 clean sheets out of 3 games, cant be that bad surely.

[QuintonK6]

Fantasic post - Great read and I 100% agree.

[bickster]

You can't have it both ways suggesting Randy is right not to get involved in buying players whilst saying oh but its OK he had no choice but to sell our best player 10 days after the manager left.

Milner wanted to leave and there was a signed contract, signed before MON resigned, to say we'd sell him for £x in exchange for Stephen Ireland. In the absence of a clause allowing for nullifcation of that contract, there was no way of stopping the deal short of breaking Milner's leg.

Sorry but even if such a contract existed it can't have been legally binding. For starters it would be easy to null and void it by offering Ireland peanuts by way of wages, if Ireland wouldn't play ball it effectively null and voided any deal that included Ireland in the price, unless of course Citeh were prepared to pay full cash (which they seemingly weren't) secondly, if such a contract existed, how come Citeh were only given permission to talk to Milner a couple of days before the transfer (i,e, way after MON left)

All this talk of a binding contract makes no sense to me, no contract can be legally binding when it is essentially a purchase of a players registration document. If either player cannot agree terms in such a situation the deal is effectively off and there is no legal recourse as the individuals involved must have free will to agree to the transfer of their documents. You simply cannot legally trade registration documents without the agreement of the person whose registration documents they are.

[C4rvillan]

The headhunters are Trezona apparently.

[snowychap]

...you'll have to take my word that the deal was in place before MON resigned.

I'm not really sure that's a satisfactory answer, Gazton.

[OutByEaster?]

You can't have it both ways suggesting Randy is right not to get involved in buying players whilst saying oh but its OK he had no choice but to sell our best player 10 days after the manager left.

Milner wanted to leave and there was a signed contract, signed before MON resigned, to say we'd sell him for £x in exchange for Stephen Ireland. In the absence of a clause allowing for nullifcation of that contract, there was no way of stopping the deal short of breaking Milner's leg.

Sorry but even if such a contract existed it can't have been legally binding. For starters it would be easy to null and void it by offering Ireland peanuts by way of wages, if Ireland wouldn't play ball it effectively null and voided any deal that included Ireland in the price, unless of course Citeh were prepared to pay full cash (which they seemingly weren't) secondly, if such a contract existed, how come Citeh were only given permission to talk to Milner a couple of days before the transfer (i,e, way after MON left)

All this talk of a binding contract makes no sense to me, no contract can be legally binding when it is essentially a purchase of a players registration document. If either player cannot agree terms in such a situation the deal is effectively off and there is no legal recourse as the individuals involved must have free will to agree to the transfer of their documents. You simply cannot legally trade registration documents without the agreement of the person whose registration documents they are.

By the sound of things Bicks, the players registrations were sorted some time before the deal was complete - the pay off was what held things up. Given the complexity of contracts of this size, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that this deal was complete for both players three days before the rest of it was sorted out and it actually happened it is?

I'd doubt very much that Milner had much to do barring a medical by the time we "gave him permission" to speak to them. If you told me the contract had been sorted in January I'd be less surprised than if you told me they started negotiations then.

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

...you'll have to take my word that the deal was in place before MON resigned.

I'm not really sure that's a satisfactory answer, Gazton.

He was ITK.