VillaAndLoyal Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Yes / Unsure. 3 good years, followed by what will be 2 bad years. He's gone from an 8/10 owner to a 4/10 at present. But he HAS done good things for the club and it would be folly to ignore that. Is he capable of reverting direction, yes, I think he is, but he needs to correct his decisions sooner rather than later. If his plan is to get rid of the big earners next summer then re-invest so be it, but that didn't require such a pointlessly aggravating appointment. But Rodders, Randolph Lerner is almost a mirror image to this country's financial troubles at present. We (Lerner) spent uncontrollably for three or so years and this is the end result. He is clearly not a credible businessman, nor a Premier League chairman, nor a communicator in a position of authority. In fact, what the hell is he good at? Apart from deliberately misleading the fans with a PR team which have been caught out by the national media on numerous occasions over the last 12 months. He inherited all of his wealth and to be quite frank, it bloody shows. He hasn't got a clue how to run this club or spend his money. I could have "three good seasons" if I had his wealth, and spent it as carelessly. It was unsustainable and that, in itself, shows beyond doubt that Randy Lerner is so clearly and utterly wrong for this football club, or any football club for that matter. He poured money into this club at the start and the vast majority, probably me included, were blinded by the short-term excitement. But, in reality, Randolph Lerner has been a failure from the start. It is only now however, over the past 12/18 months, that the cracks have well and truly come to the fore. It's ironic that he bleated about 'Proud History, Bright Future' when all along, Mr Lerner has been irresponsibly wasting vast sums of money and not giving a second thought to the long-term stability of the club. If he had, we wouldn't be falling like a stone now. He also wouldn't have had to 'change his plan' so drastically in terms of spending. It is no coincidence that everything happening now at Aston Villa, has already played out across the Atlantic at his other little 'hobby'. Get him out. He is poison. No overreaction here, just a clearly formed judgement following the catalogue of comical errors he has made since taking over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoINotLikeThat Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Grass is not always greener. There are worse owners and potential worse ones out there. It is a shame all the same way things have panned out . Lerner has done some great things for the club in fairness and should not be forgotten. But there has been bad decisions after another bad decision of last year and bit or much longer. The McLeish appointment was just so needless . I do not understand it. Didn't understand it at the time and still don't. It didn't make any sense of any level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I'm unsure but close to NO. If we get relegated, we'll be truly ****, and if we stay up, we're stuck with McGash....dim future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Should bring in somebody like Venkys as owners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macandally Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I voted Yes to Lerner staying. I do think he has his foibles but I do think he has genuine feelings for the club. I do though think that his advisors really are selling him up the garden path. I cannot find acceptable the continued advice and recommendations of Paul Faulkner. Lerners interview with the Mail was littered with allusions to PF's guidance and it is becoming increasingly obvious that this guy does not know his arse from his elbow when it comes to football. The necessity for someone like David Dein or even Steve Stride within the club is becoming paramount. I like Randy and the vision he had, what we need to know now is what is plan B and where does the clubs future lie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1974Centenary Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Its a no for me,time to shop the club out to the chinese,arabs or even the malaysians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HongKongVillan Posted December 4, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted December 4, 2011 Unsure - there is still time for him to admit to mistakes and getting it right. For me his biggest mistakes are all his appointments and perhaps the lack of experience in hiring the right person, otherwise he has done more good than bad so far IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCAM Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Most of what Lerner has done/is doing is for the benefit of the club. He is trimming the wage bill, because we can't afford it (see 'huge losses') and if Lerner were to 'sell up' as people seem to want him too, he could leave us right in the shit, with our new owner not being able to fund us as he'd promised (see numerous Portsmouth owners) and we tumble down the leagues after brushes with administration. When he picked McLeish, he did it because he thought he had the right man for the job, granted, he was wrong, but he did it with the Villa in mind. He certainly didn't do it on the bloody cheap! Selling the best players WAS business sense, the amounts offered were ludicrous, unfortunately this wasn't followed by footballing sense when replacements were needed...although he did sanction our bid for Bent, £24m, for the goalscorer we desperately needed! Sadly, selling our wingers left us with no service to said goal machine...which was poor decision making for AML and RL... Granted, he's not throwing money at us, but we needed to find a balance, losing £45m+ a year was unsustainable (unless your first name is Sheikh)...look at Arsenal, they are run well as a business and are (almost) a good side too (although quite reliant on RVP)...we will find it a little harder because we are not a London club... Also remember, the quality of the football is terrible right now, but Lerner has kept the ticket prices down (when compared to the rest of the league) and when we did get an increase, few can argue that this season's package was improved! Everyone has an opinion, but I am happy with Randy as our 'sensible' owner, not so much in a footballing sense, but I'm hoping that will sort itself out. He has money when necessary, and is wealthy enough to keep us going. I don't want one of these middle eastern chaps (NOT a racial thing) to come in saying he has billions in the bank, only to find out he hardly has a pot to piss in! If you look at recent times, there's been far more 'wannabe' rich guys than actual rich guys taking ownership of clubs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I don't think we can blame Lerner A step in the right direction would be to let Faulkner go and bring in a proper CEO with some footballing acumen I would love Sir Graham Taylor in this role Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 So the cutbacks are a positive from Lerner, even though it was him who caused the losses!? - Losses are his fault* - Losing MON was his fault - appointing Faulkner was his fault - appointing Houllier was his fault - appointing McLeish was his fault - Sale of club assets (players) was his fault* *go hand in hand. We are EXACTLY like Newcastle in their relegation season. Bet Southgate comes in to 'steady the ship' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 The fact is that Lerner doesn't have enough money for us to compete. The only alternative would be a chairman with much more money. Yet, would someone like this want to buy is? It's easy saying to be shot of Lerner, but we need to think about who could replace him. I'm really not sure if we could get anyone better. By better, I mean with more money, thus allowing us to compete again. When it comes to the rest of his ownership of the club, I thought he was doing a very good job to start off with. He was keeping the fans happy and was celebrating our history. Plus there was a lot of talk about our 'bright future' and such. However, now it is clear that he lacks the football knowledge and the money to take us forward. The managers he has appointed have done nothing for his reputation, as they have been poor to say the least. He gave MON far too much power and that appears to be what started this downward spiral. I'm not attacking him and think that some of what he has done for the club has been great. Yet in my opinion he is now starting to ruin our club and all of the hard work that he initially put into moving us forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanky Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Faulkner is a definite no. Lerner's mistake is letting him deal with certain aspects at the club. They are running us into the ground at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderholt Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 i'd like to know why this topic hasn't been locked, i posted a similar topic a week or so ago on whether Learner was still the right man for the job & it was locked after 1 reply??? so what gives? i don't get this site on times for what it's worth, i think randy is a decent enough bloke who loves the villa but is bored of his "plaything" now. he knows nothing about running a football club or football related matters & doesn't have enough football people around him. it wouldn't surprise me if once the "books are balanced" he will walk away from villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I don't think we can blame Lerner A step in the right direction would be to let Faulkner go and bring in a proper CEO with some footballing acumen I would love Sir Graham Taylor in this role I agree i would love GT in some sort of hybrid CEO role. Say what you like about his last spell in charge - but the blokes organisational skills are second to none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderholt Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 i wonder if he ran MBNA as badly as this???? typical rich kid with money to burn, spunked a wedge of his daddy's money into villa & got his fingers burnt. now he wants it back!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Id rather see him stay and keep a bloke like Mcleish than sell our club and inevitably our soul to the arab, chinese, whoever. They'll bring millions, but they will sell us out. The fans will be priced out, the stadium will be renamed and we'll sign the likes of adebayor and tevez. A change of owner might well be the end for me and villa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted December 4, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted December 4, 2011 I think he has earned himself more time! His only real mistake was hiring the current manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 can someone tell me what faulkner has done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Id rather see him stay and keep a bloke like Mcleish than sell our club and inevitably our soul to the arab, chinese, whoever. They'll bring millions, but they will sell us out. The fans will be priced out, the stadium will be renamed and we'll sign the likes of adebayor and tevez. A change of owner might well be the end for me and villa. I wouldn't be against this happening. I don't see the logic behind those people that say they wouldn't want a rich foreign owner. Why not buy success? Everyone else is doing it. If we don't then we'll just get left behind, as we currently are anyway. What's the point in playing for nothing? Currently we are doing exactly this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 My colours firmly to the mast He is the one behind the reason why we are falling like a stone, he is the one who thought Mcleish was a decent manager and appointed him after the abysmal Houllier Mcleish out for sure but the bloke who's ineptitude has led us here should also be looking to go Lerner OUT ^^ He's messed up the Cleveland Browns, and now he's doing the same to Villa. If there was a social services department for sports teams, we'd be taken into care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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