avid_1977 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 General - What direction are the club heading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Dear General, Not for the want of whinging about selling our better players (I fully understand this is, sadly, the reality of modern football), but (in the wake of all the speculation surrounding Stewart Downing) I would suggest that the club is probably best advised against actually openly advertising our players: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moneill Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Again can you please tell us who the football people who advised the board on the manager appointment and would it be advisable to change these for next seasons appointment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 General, To you, Randy, Paul and the rest of the Aston Villa FC Board the club is a business and the product is the football played by the players. In view of this, please convince me why I should spend a considerable amount of my money on your product in the forthcoming season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest villantoby Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 General, Our 3 best players have left over the last 3 years and none of them have been replaced! Downing looks like he is on his way out, could you please explain to me how you imagine a club can be successful if this keeps happening! We were on the verge of being relegated this season following Milners exit, now ash, maybe downing if we don't replace them and significantly then we will be in more trouble than ever! We can not settle for mediocrity now otherwise bent will follow with the rest cueing up behind him! The club needs to show some ambition in this transfer window otherwise what is the point! There are very few positives to look at going into 2011-2012 season, it is such a shame and very upsetting! Bring back Milner, that would sooth some of the pain but would only be a quarter if the jigsaw! Lots of work for you all otherwise the relationship will between fans and board will be broken forever!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZodiakIronfist Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 "We are not a selling club. A selling club is when you let it be known that you want to sell a player, through an agent or whatever. That didn't happen with Gareth Barry and it didn't happen with James Milner either. As for Ashley Young, he was never going." Randy Lerner's only interview with the Telegraph last year http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/7946559/Manchester-City-violated-rules-in-pursuit-of-James-Milner-says-Randy-Lerner.html General judging by todays snippets in the press where we may not get all of Ashley Youngs fee, McLeish better be backed quite heavily this summer or the already angry fans amongst the Villa fanbase will demand the club be sold, not like the NFL over here, I can tell you that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeps Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 NO TRANSFER QUESTIONS AS PER THREAD RULES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackRowVilla Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Hi General, Can you explain why I haven't been able to bring myself to look at next seasons fixtures yet? I'm starting to think there might be something wrong with me. Cheers! xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villafc82 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Hi General. Every Aston Villa fan knows that yourself, Paul Faulkner & Randy Lerner have the best interests of Aston Villa at heart. But in the last 3 summers now we have gone backwards and sold our best players. Our player of the year is also being heavily linked with Liverpool. That recent Villa summer routine tells us that either Downing will leave for about £20M this summer or £12M the following summer when he enters the last year of his contract. We also saw Darren Bent arrive (which was a fantastic signing!) on a 4 and a half year deal. Why is it that 6 months into that contract us fans are needing to seek assurances from Bent himself that he isn't leaving the club? It's hard to watch this all unfold knowing that you've tried your best and your spending so much money but we can't keep hold of any star players. The main worry I have isn't Downing, it's our future. Can you guarantee that in 3 years time all of the loyal academy products coming through like Albrighton, Bannan, Clark, Lichaj, Delph, Delfouneso, Weimann, Gardner etc will still be here? Or will we be forced into selling these to the "big clubs" like we have with Gareth Barry, James Milner, Ashley Young and (the next one on the list) Stewart Downing? It is horrible for the fans to know that whoever is our player of the year in the 2011/2012 season will most likely be leaving in the summer of 2012 and then if he doesn't, he'll just leave for a smaller transfer fee the following year. Are plans in place to prevent this from happening in the future? Okay you can't stop people having ambitions and wanting to move on to better things, but if in 3 years time we are still in the top 6 and can't progress, will you have our current youth academy products on 3 and 4 year deals? I just don't want to be coming to the end of the 2014/2015 season and Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark and Fabian Delph are all in the last year or 2 of their contracts and move on to "bigger clubs" for low transfer fees. Surely the contract lengths of our star players is now priority number one at the club? For example, at the end of this coming season (despite only penning new deals last January) I'm sure yourselves and all of the fans would love to see Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark, Fabian Delph, Barry Bannan, Gary Gardner and Eric Lichaj to be penning new 4/5/6 year contracts. It just seems silly that we let so many talented players work away and then try to open contract talks when they have just 2 years left on their contracts and always refuse & move on (because they get tapped up by another club through their agent). Are plans in place for our academy graduates and future graduates to sign longer contracts than the club have previously offered to players? We have a couple of very talented loyal Villa fans in our ranks and I'm sure the likes of Marc Albrighton and Gary Gardner would sign a new 6 year contract tomorrow. Obviously by including clauses saying that their wages will increase bit by bit if they meet certain individual targets in the deal? It would just be foolish to have such a great crop of young players coming through (like we now have) and let them run down their contracts to 2 years remaining because their agents will screw us over and we'll be kicking ourselves again for shelving contract talks for so long and it then being too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest villantoby Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, NO TRANSFER QUESTIONS ... I also hope that big eck is going to be given all the money made from ash and dj and then some on top as this is the only way we will stay in the top half and have a small chance of keeping the likes of db! He must be thinking how full of crap villa are! Sell him the thoughts of downing and young feeding him and then 6 months later they both disappear! Good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, Where has the money gone ? We all know O'Neil squandered loads, but we have spend no 'new' money for 2 years. Bent was paid for from the Milner transfer, and Makoun was 'relatively' cheap. We haven't bought anyone else (Ireland doesn't count). So, where has the money gone ? Not just Lerners money,where is all money from previous high league finishes ? Where is all the money from long cup runs ? Thats not counting TV money, normal commercial activities, sponsorship and ticket sales. I do't think we are anywhere near as skint as it is being portrayed, but I think money is being redirected from the playing side. And, I thnk this woud be the case regardless of the who the manager is ? I base this on nothing but my own thoughts and opinion. I know you will tell me I am completely wrong, but the question needs answering. Where has the money gone ? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moorski Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, I know that you say that action speaks louder than words but would you just confirm to everyone that we will see some positive action soon, as reading this forum is making me depressed...I know stop reading it then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villafan101 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, I am not criticising, but it seems we are now about to lose a player with 2 years left on his contract. Would it not make sense to start tying players to 5/6 year contracts so we can at least get 4 years out of them before selling to the bigger clubs? I only mean the best players obviously or we end up with the likes of Beye who do nothing but pick up their fat pay cheques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikePreece Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, its really crap being a Villa fan at the moment, hope the board have got something up there sleaves to give us a lift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkvillan Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 well, it seems that its all about making a profit now. cheers for the lies lads. no PR bullshit will change my mind. no insults, please, as per thread rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cracker1234 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Hi General, You've said a number of times now that Randy will back the manager, but Mat Kendrick the Birmingham Mail reporter who's meant to be the closest journalist to our club just tweeted this. MatKendrick Mat Kendrick It's my understanding Eck will get cash for a new keeper, but might have to generate funds himself for other #avfc signings Most Villa fans who follow Mat Kendrick know he's close to Villa and the stuff he reports is often correct, yes he's still a journalist and may get things wrong from time to time, but people will believe what he has to say. So Randy always backs his manager, but we can only buy a keeper. People are going to love hearing that when deciding if to buy a season ticket on top of Randy hiring Mcleish, Ashley leaving the club and now Downing looks likely to also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest villantoby Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, The rumblings we are hearing which we are led to believe because we never hear from you or Randy state that funds for new players will be limited. This includes the often accurate Matt Kendrick who adds 'It's my understanding Eck will get cash for a new keeper, but might have to generate funds himself for other #avfc signings'. So not only have you appointed Mcleish, sold young and imminently Downing you are now closing shop. Please find new owners which share or ambition Many regards, Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maradona10 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, when will we see this action from the board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, I have just pre-ordered my Away shirt, which I will wear with pride. Can I ask that you and your board make that a little easier in the next month before I receive my shirt because at the moment I'm proud to be a Villa fan but I'm not proud of my club as everything coming out at the moment is negative. As you say action speak louder than words, I think we need to start seeing some actions because all we have is words at the moment and those are mainly negative words either through potential players wanting to leave, respected press conveying limited transfers likely, fans unhappy with the manager and views about the board are well documented throughout the media channels.......so please make me proud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphy Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 General, You absence is alarming, still no word from the board, even though the negativity continues to spread. All whispers concerning Villa seem to suggest cut backs and fans are rightfully concerned. Yet, nothing from the board. Paul Faulkner couldnt even be arsed to sit beside McLeish at his press conference. The club i love are a shambles at the moment because of momumental errors made by your board. I have read about Randy's leadership of the Browns from articles in the US and before his appointment of Mangini he was slaughtered by the media there too for a lack of communication with supporters. When MON left we were told the reason was 'they no longer share a common view of how to bring the club forward'. What is this view? Dont we deserve to know Randy's future plans for the club? 4 managers later and we still havent been told what this view is. In the past 4 transfer windows we have sold Milner 24mil, Young 17m, Gardner 3m, Davies 3.5m, Shorey 1m = approx 48.5mil. We have also lost Carew, Reo Coker, Friedel, Sidwell as their contracts ended. We have bought Bent 18m (rising to 24m), Makoun 3.5m, Ireland 8m = 29.5m(rising to 35.5). The managers we have had HAVENT been backed like you say. Thats 9 first team members gone, replaced by 3. It was clear last season a number of the younger players promoted were simply not ready for the premierleague. We cannot rely on youth. It is becoming obvious Randy's view for the club has changed recently, it seems he is happy to settle for mid table mediocrity judging by his bemusing managerial appointment. It seems McLeish was the last option for the job. Its worrying that so many others are believed to have turned us down and we were left with a proven failure in the premierleague (so much for premierleague experience). We are now led to believe McLeish will not receive all of the money from the Young sale. Isnt it obvious he needs atleast 20mil on top of the Young money to help us compete again? We are now missing 4 players from our 1st team last season, 5 if Downing leaves. That is a team which flirted with relegation. These 5 players were our stars last season, along with Bent. McLeish will not be a success at this club without good feeing going into the new season. The moment we lose 2 games in a row he will be hounded. He needs big name signings to change fans opinions, to show he as a manager can challenge and compete with the best. It would give us fans some major and nuch needed encouragement. Big investment is needed but my faith is waning at a rapid pace. And it's no wonder Stewart Downing now wants out. Who could blame him. He joined a club he believed were challenging for Top 4 (which we were) but in that time he has had to watch all these incomings and outgoings. We are going backwards very quickly and Randy is the only person who can stop this. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO LET US KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHAT OUR AIMS ARE FOR THE FUTURE UNDER RANDYS OWNERSHIP. Ralphy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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