Brumstopdogs Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 General Are the Board going to share with the stakeholders of the club (including the fans) what the plans are for the future of the club? The communication at the club is worse than awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchard Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Despite claimingwe didn't tap up our new manager, we've paid a substantial sum for him. Does this fee effect the 'transfer budget'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 General, Why have we paid out comoensation for a god awful manager who has masterminded 2 relegations in 3 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 General, How do you feel about the 3m we just paid to Birmingham City for they're manager? Do you think he is worth that? Do you also agree with me that Football is one of the only businesses in the world where you can do terribly (two relegations in three years) and then get a promotion out of it? Its like you taking all your men into war, allowing them all to be killed and captured and then the President saying 'screw it, we will make you general'. Whilst all the PR you feed us on this site is well written and intuitive, you have made us a laughing stock. Thanks. Your a good bloke coming on here doing what you do. This isnt a dig at you, its criticism of some of the idiots who run our club. E.g Paul Faulkner...How did he get the job by the way? Was it his excellent reputation and experience in football? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelboyVilla Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 General In the past 12 months from the media reports and club statements we as a club have paid somewhere in the region of 10 million in compensation to leaving managers or rival clubs. Does this money come out of the transfer budget or is Randy putting up this money out of his own pocket? To reiterate everyone else's view from above it is another dark day in the Lerner tennacy when we have to pay compensation to our greatest rivals for taking on their piss poor manager. General the management of this great club is making us a laughing stock in the world of football! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Sir, The following text is taken from the statement the club released on 14th June 2011; "The Club understands that Alex McLeish is a free agent. We therefore intend to interview him imminently in order to make a decision regarding his candidacy to become Villa manager". Setting aside personal opinions on the divisive nature of appointing the ex-manager of our fiercest rivals, these words would appear to make resoundingly clear the nature of Mr. McLeish's availability so the question of why it was necessary for any compensation package to be agreed with Birmingham City should not be disregarded. There are only two possible conclusions that we supporters can draw from the subsequent turn of events; that Mr. McLeish was contacted prior to breaking his contract with Birmingham or the Villa board misunderstood his status and only afterwards found out that they would be required to pay a bill for aquiring his services. Neither reflects especially well on the Club; the former would lead one to infer that we have not acted as honourably - or, indeed, within the laws of the game - as we have come to expect from Mr. Lerner's tenure, whilst the latter would indicate more than a certain degree of incompetence on the part of Mr. Faulkner and the board in establishing the status of the man who turned out to be their prime candidate. I can certainly understand why compensation would need to be agreed for any peripheral staff that subsequently followed Mr. McLeish to Villa Park to form his backroom team, but if the Club have acted as honestly and having performed the requisite due dilligence all along as has been repeatedly proclaimed then the announcement of the 'undisclosed' compensation figure that has been agreed is concerning. And I'll be quite clear; it would be highly hypocritical for me or any other supporter that has ever speculated on the pursuit of managers or, indeed, players that we would like to see arrive at Villa Park to admonish the board for targetting a manager under contract at another club if they truly believed him to be the best possible candidate, available or otherwise. This is an ultra-competitive industry and the Club needs to be willing to pay for the best quality if we are to progress - and certainly the identification of a new manager is always going to be the most important appointment an owner/board can make at any given time. But when supporters are informed that the management of Club expenditure has to be carefully monitored at present after a period of investing in sizeable transfer fees and high wages that pursuing a man with Mr. McLeish's credentials who would require, in essence, his own transfer fee was deemed the right course of action at a time when several very strong candidates were legitimately available for work. We have seen Ashley Young depart the Club for a fee we believe to be in the region of £15-17m and though I expect to see new faces arrive we are still waiting for the first signs of action in the transfer market. There is, it has to be said, widespread uncertainty throughout the Villa fanbase at present as to whether Mr. Young's transfer fee will be fully re-invested, or indeed, what additional funds will be available to the new manager. Naturally, I don't expect numbers to be confirmed on an open forum that would only put the club at a disadvantage when negotiating with other clubs for players, but we do know for a fact that a number of players have been moved on in the last twelve months to alleviate a bloated wage bill so clearly the financial health of the Club is playing a key factor in important decisions, hence it is only reasonable for one to question the wisdom in agreeing to a further outlay that could've been avoided by making any one of a number of other appointments - and almost certainly one that would've proved more popular among supporters. Don't get me wrong - after the inital anger and disappointment felt at the annoucement of Mr. McLeish as our manager I have since tried to consider what he may be able to do for the Club and I actually believe he will do a decent, if likely unspectacular, job once the season kicks off. I don't fear for our Premier League status and feel that, at the very least, we can challenge for a place within the top 8. (Obviously, this is tempering overall expectations considerably when weighed against the optimism of Mr. Lerner's first years in charge of the Club but seem realistic after the unrest of the last twelve months.) But news of compensation being agreed with Birmingham once again raises serious questions as to the Club's selection process in identifying managerial candidates, who was managing the process and what credentials or experience they had that made them suitable for this task, what standards of due dilligence were being executed in determing the availability of prospective candidates, and what ultimately marked Mr. McLeish out as the best option - especially in light of the fact that it has now emerged that he was also possibly the most expensive at a time when the Club appears to be implementing austerity measures in other areas? Like many others, I am currently weighing up my own re-investment in the club in the form of a season ticket at a time when personal finances are likewise stretched, so your candour in answering these questions would be sincerely appreciated. Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildwood Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 General, do you look at the other forum threads or just this one? If so... who's your favourite poster? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cracker1234 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hi General, You said we would see some action from the board within the next couple of weeks, you said that 2 weeks ago if I remember correctly.....So where is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didiersix Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General Obviously with an eye to the current countdown on the official website, who would you say are your top five Villa players of all time and why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard91 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General Because I'm a uninervsity now it's rare i get to go a home game so am limited to away games around my university. Last year i had to just risk going to the grounds and trying to get a ticket on the gate, because whenever i tried to buy online i needed an away ticket history which buying on the gate doesn't help....so i could never get one because they never let me buy online! I was hoping to start one up at the beginning of the season so it wouldn't be a problem but assuming the Fulham game is a presidence for the rest of the year they ask for an away game history at a bare minimum...again no way for me to start one! Is the only option to buy a token ticket to the Walsall away game? or is there another solution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General, selling two of our best players.. is this the action you meant a few weeks back? our squad is very average and it looks like we are happy with survival now in the premier league? We will struggle to get midtable position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cracker1234 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General please don't ever come on here again and try and say we're not a selling club...We're a selling club FACT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchard Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General, As a board of directors you are letting down the fans (not that you care about that) and the club of Aston Villa FC. A shite manager, selling Downing and Young. No body thought it could be worse than last summer but it is. A relegation battle awaits. Good job the manager we have has a proven record in those. Oh. No wonder youve disappeared again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General, How would the club respond if Darren Bent submitted a transfer request during the summer? I would imagine he would be given assurances when signing a deal with us and those terms have certainly been breached by selling both Ashley Young and now Stewart Downing. Our squad and ambitions look very bleak right now. And yet we hear nothing from the board, pathetic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalhead_villain Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General, I'm not usually one to come on here and moan, but you must admit this is looking rather worrying at the moment. Two of the most influential providers for our strikers have gone. We have no replacements as of yet. I know we need to trust in the board and the manager but sometimes it's a struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-savman Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General, the last year in the life of a Villa fan has been truly miserable. And so it continues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyOne Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Do us all a favour and pack your bags now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moorski Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General we knew this was coming, lets see some positive quick action now though please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendi Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General tonight villa agree 19 million fee with Liverpool why sell him and damaged the team there no need to take the cash i think i will never watch villa until things proves and tell liverpool to do one but you cant as villa are more keen on the cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfcmatt123 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 General, brace yourself for another fans revolt let me tell you. I'm sorry when Randy Lerner joined 5 years ago we all were looking to a bright future. There is no bright future now. You have given up competing. Do we still want the champions league? Let me tell you we will not get champions league while Lerner is the owner of our club. I have backed Randy Lerner every single step of the way. Our squad is so bare at the moment, we have sold our best player and just accepted a bid for our next best. I dont think any of the board have a clue how football works, I don't dispute the fact you'll know how to run a business but this is a football club. Actions speak louder than words as you reinforce on here, actions are very loud at the moment I think we're in for some negative times ahead. You may come on here now and say that Randy will continue to back the manager. Yes with Funds available from Young+Downing? Thats no new money in, I hope McLeish has 40m + to spend. What can you say to us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts