The Randy Lerner thread

[rodigan]

good work nicely done, RL...

as far as how much will be spent this summer, what would be perhaps the most useful of all would be for the club to give us an actual snapshot of where we are financially:

- what the wage position actually looks like now

- what the revenue to wages ratio is

- how much debt are we likely to be in at the end of this year.

for all randy's faults, i think he has always been prepared to put his hand in his pocket - even to the tune of 20m last summer, while we were in a consolidation phase trying to get wage numbers under control.

If RL were to come out and say something along the lines of:

- today we are paying our squad [x].

- based on our current revenues, we will lose [x] at the end of this year.

- i am prepared to pay out of my pocket [x] on an annual basis, which will have to cover that loss, as well as signing fees and wages of any new players.

- to date, i have put in [x] to this club.

something along those lines will at least allow the fans to make a realistic assessment of what is possible for the villa on an ongoing basis....

[dudevillaisnice]

Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner flies into Birmingham today to start his search for a fourth manager in less than two years.

^ from ITV News.

Can thetrees confirm it?

[Demitri_C]

i guess that is true villadudeisnice

lerner will want to get the new manager in asap to plan for summer

[Ginko]

I really hope Randy is flying in to deal with more than just the vacant manager role. I really would like to think he's coming to VP to make changes higher up, getting some new blood in, people who know their football. I also hope Randy is seriously considering trying to find new investors because it sounds like we're not in great shape financially and we seriously need some money to make changes because I believe our problems run deeper than McLeish. We have some time now to get this sorted (albeit the faster it's done the better) and it's only then that we should be getting a new manager in.

[VillaRoy]

Paul Faulkner was just really damning of Alex McLeish on 5Live calling his time in charge of us a "disaster" and that we don't want to accept mediocrity at the club. Him and Randy want to bring in a manager as soon as possible and get someone in to totally re-engergize the football club.

[TrentVilla]

Paul Faulkner was just really damning of Alex McLeish on 5Live calling his time in charge of us a "disaster" and that we don't want to accept mediocrity at the club. Him and Randy want to bring in a manager as soon as possible and get someone in to totally re-engergize the football club.

No comment from him though on the fact that he or Randy were ultimately responsible for it I bet?

[Daweii]

Paul Faulkner was just really damning of Alex McLeish on 5Live calling his time in charge of us a "disaster" and that we don't want to accept mediocrity at the club. Him and Randy want to bring in a manager as soon as possible and get someone in to totally re-engergize the football club.

No comment from him though on the fact that he or Randy were ultimately responsible for it I bet?

I think it speaks for itself that they were responsible and him saying so would just be stating the obvious. They know they messed up which is why they are being so pro-active now, they have a lot of work to do to make sure this doesn't happen again. At least if they put in the leg work now and Lambert or whoever doesn't work out they at least cover themselves from blame something they didn't do with McLeish and Houllier.

[VillaRoy]

Paul Faulkner was just really damning of Alex McLeish on 5Live calling his time in charge of us a "disaster" and that we don't want to accept mediocrity at the club. Him and Randy want to bring in a manager as soon as possible and get someone in to totally re-engergize the football club.

No comment from him though on the fact that he or Randy were ultimately responsible for it I bet?

Yeah he said they thought at the time it was right, but that obviously in hindsight it was a bad decision. Don't know how much Faulkner had in selecting the manager tbh. He came across very well on the radio.

[wedge]

Has anyone got a link to the Faulkner interview please?

[Justified]

Well what can you do ?

RL owns my football club. I have criticized him over past decisions but I have to put my faith in him getting it right this time. He has all but admitted AM was a mistake which alone has restored some of my faith in the man. I can only hope that he can take us forward once again after the setbacks of the last couple of seasons.

I don't think many Villa fans expect him to deliver CL football, most of us just want to be competative (wether a good cup run or challenging for places at the right end of the table) and to be able to enjoy the football on offer.

No good dwelling on past events, better to look forward at this point in time and give him our support.

[MikeMcKenna]

After the entirely negative year under AM, my sincere hope is that RL will realise that we need a progressive manager who can give us some hope for the future. I am no spring chicken but I would be prepared to give the right manager 3-5 years to build the club back to the point where we have a chance of competing. Newcastle, Arsenal have shown it can be done. We need an Aston Villa that can eventually compete and play attractive football.

What I would not be happy with is appointing a manager who been there done it and won f**k all - i.e. Bruce, Allardyce, Curbishley....

[jamdog]

The sign of a good owner is not never making mistakes, but rectifying and learning from them.

Randy has rectified his mistake with McLeish. Who he appoints next will tell if he has learned from that mistake.

Very much my thinking too. Ellis was a bollocks with limited grasp of the game but he appointed Ron Saunders. If you're well-intentioned and willing to learn, as I believe Lerner is, appointing managers isn't the impossible task we've made it look these last two years.

[BOF]

Paul Faulkner was just really damning of Alex McLeish on 5Live calling his time in charge of us a "disaster" and that we don't want to accept mediocrity at the club. Him and Randy want to bring in a manager as soon as possible and get someone in to totally re-engergize the football club.

No comment from him though on the fact that he or Randy were ultimately responsible for it I bet?

I think the statement said that. "We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years". They don't need to do it on every interview nor would I expect them to. Anyway, their failure is implied in McLeish's.

[Mendi]

Get it right this time Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner .

[Keyblade]

Has anyone got a link to the Faulkner interview please?

Here ya go

Alex McLeish: Paid the price for Aston Villa's troublesin2011/12

Aston Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner admits 'the worst year in a generation' saw the club veer dangerously close to disaster.

Villa ended the 2011/12 campaign just two points clear of the relegation zone and with their lowest points return in 42 years.

Unsurprisingly, manager Alex McLeish paid the price for such failings on Monday as he was ushered to the exit.

Faulkner admits decisive action had to be taken on the back of what was a hugely disappointing showing from the Midlands-based outfit.

"I suppose disaster would have been getting relegated, but this was too close for comfort," he said.

McLeish was axed after just one season in the Villa Park hot-seat.

His strong ties to local rivals Birmingham worked against him throughout his tenure, but Faulkner believes it was results on the field that ultimately cost him his job.

Feelings

"It is all connected to results, it all goes hand-in-hand," he said.

"I think the fans' feelings were because of our results, which were not good enough.

"Like all fans of any club, they were going to make their feelings known.

"This is the worst year that Villa has had in a generation. There are a whole group of fans who have never known it this bad for Villa, so I am not surprised (by the reaction) at all."

Former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed McLeish.

Norwich manager Paul Lambert and Wigan's Roberto Martinez, who was linked with the post last summer, have also been mentioned as possible replacements.

That bit in bold terrifies me.

[blandy]

Radio 5 tonight about 7:05 pm

[Humanoid]

David Brent style answers by Faulkner. Especially when asked about healing divisions between management and the fans in regard to having a manager who can communicate with fans.

[maqroll]

Has anyone got a link to the Faulkner interview please?

Here ya go

Alex McLeish: Paid the price for Aston Villa's troublesin2011/12

Aston Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner admits 'the worst year in a generation' saw the club veer dangerously close to disaster.

Villa ended the 2011/12 campaign just two points clear of the relegation zone and with their lowest points return in 42 years.

Unsurprisingly, manager Alex McLeish paid the price for such failings on Monday as he was ushered to the exit.

Faulkner admits decisive action had to be taken on the back of what was a hugely disappointing showing from the Midlands-based outfit.

"I suppose disaster would have been getting relegated, but this was too close for comfort," he said.

McLeish was axed after just one season in the Villa Park hot-seat.

His strong ties to local rivals Birmingham worked against him throughout his tenure, but Faulkner believes it was results on the field that ultimately cost him his job.

Feelings

"It is all connected to results, it all goes hand-in-hand," he said.

"I think the fans' feelings were because of our results, which were not good enough.

"Like all fans of any club, they were going to make their feelings known.

"This is the worst year that Villa has had in a generation. There are a whole group of fans who have never known it this bad for Villa, so I am not surprised (by the reaction) at all."

Former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed McLeish.

Norwich manager Paul Lambert and Wigan's Roberto Martinez, who was linked with the post last summer, have also been mentioned as possible replacements.

That bit in bold terrifies me.

Yeah, I was enjoying the article until I read that bit :shock:

[Valhalla]

The faulkner interview was good.

[b6bloke]

RL has to do a lot more in my opinion and don't trust him! He played the fans a treat by ignoring protests and I think it worked as there was little to know anti manager chants throughout! Now look at some of people's posts! "nobody expects champions league football just to be able to compete" even some of the managers ideas are so below what we should expect but one year of AM and our expectations are rock bottom and RL will save millions!