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The Randy Lerner thread


CI

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Mr Lerner, do us Villa fans a favour will you. When you eventually sell the club, go and buy one of Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Spurs, Liverpool - in fact, all of them if possible - and then, maybe then, you will have given Villa hope of becoming a top four club again. Of course, there's a small matter of getting back into the Premier League first, because your final act was to relegate us.

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1 minute ago, villarocker said:

Mr Lerner, do us Villa fans a favour will you. When you eventually sell the club, go and buy one of Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Spurs, Liverpool - in fact, all of them if possible - and then, maybe then, you will have given Villa hope of becoming a top four club again. Of course, there's a small matter of getting back into the Premier League first, because your final act was to relegate us.

Randy can't afford any of those clubs.

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I have been highly critical of Lerner and have been that way for a very long time (6 years I think it is now).  I have wanted him out of the club believing he is wrong for us and will do us harm as a club with his approach and philosophy .  When he wanted out and wanted 150M plus I thought it was utter tripe and would contribute even more to our demise.  I posted on here that if he had our interests at heart and noting he said that he was merely a custodian and if he could not succeed he would pass to someone else that in that case he should sell us for what he paid for us.

It is looking likely that he is now doing that and ,  finer points of the deal aside,  if the purchase price is around the price he paid then he will have lost around 300M on the deal.  For bringing us to where we are as a club he gets my contempt.  For selling us for the money he paid those years ago he gets my thanks.

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If he has indeed sold the club for what he paid for it then that says it all about how poorly he has ran the club.

I have never had any issue with the amount of money Randy has put into the club as the estimated 300 mill he has invested should have been more than enough to see us achieve relative success. My issue has always been with the continued lack of expertise in positions above the manager. The fact he never made up for his own clear lack of ability in terms of running a football club by employing people that had proven nous in this regard is baffling. Had he have done so then on the pitch we would now almost certainly be a Premier League club competing in the top half of that league and off it we would have much higher non tv commercial income than was ever achieved during his ten years here. He would also likely be selling the club for 3 times what he appears to be.

When he finally walks out I can only unfortunately say good riddance and the phrase that will always spring to mind when I think of him is that a fool and his money are easily parted. We as supporters have unfortunately paid a very heavy price for Lerner, in terms of running our football club, being a complete fool.

Edited by markavfc40
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Maybe without the pressure of owning the club, the finances draining his bank balance, his energy and his love for the game...he can come back to Villa Park one day again. As a fan. To just enjoy the club as he always wanted to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and on that day I will be there to call him a word removed.

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http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~5580392,00.html

Quote

Goodbye to all that…
Announcement of agreement to sell Aston Villa to Tony Xia

In spite of my personal affection for reading history I have come to trust the future more than the past. And when I refer to the 'past,' I do so lightly and lightheartedly. I refer to recent accounts - mostly in the press regarding the sale of the Club, that are so many miles from accuracy or truth that I can only assume that they too were written by people whose tongues were firmly embedded in their respective cheeks. It is football after all.

As I've said, it was my hope that ownership and custodianship of the Club would have been transferred some years ago when I knew that personal and professional matters made it impossible for me to contribute the time I did in my first five years with the Club. Time and immersion that is crucial to any formula for success. Still, fates are fickle in football so that we could claw back to safety last season, end up at Wembley at a Cup Final sitting amongst old friends!, and then spend the 2015/16 campaign at Bannockburn!

As I expect this to be my last message to supporters through the Villa website I thought it worth reiterating that my approach from the beginning, consistent with my longstanding affection for The Trinity, was in three parts: Villa Park infrastructure, Bodymoor Heath infrastructure and the Villa squad. I have a sneaking suspicion that my best chance of any tolerable memories in this regard will lie with the father and son of this trinity…! In the end, however, so many wonderful young players came through Villa during my time and it is to them and supporters alike whom I am indebted. Also, of course, I wish - without mentioning names, to say thank you to countless people with whom I worked at Villa Park and BMH who have touched me personally and from whom I have learned so much.

Finally, being conscious of the popular and dark pastime of wondering aloud how much was spent, or lost, I should like to think that I 'left behind' value which will hopefully endure and benefit this beloved old Club. In being sadly more than tone deaf, I'll not weakly risk trying to sound any positive notes. But what I will say is that if spending to restore and preserve the wonderful Jacobean Holte Hotel at the southern tip of the Ground, or researching and adding the Holte End mosaic as a nostalgic nod to that wonderful Leitch Stand of our past, add to the tally of personal losses then I can offer no counter argument other than to say I would do the same all over!

It is here that the agreement I wish to announce with Tony Xia ties into my short narrative: Tony has built his career around infrastructure. He is certainly a hugely successful businessman but importantly for me he is passionate about architecture, site design and planning. His commitment to invest in the squad, and leadership at Bodymoor Heath was expressed early on but as we visited together, and had some unrushed time to discuss his plans, Tony's excitement to develop Villa Park shone through. I remain convinced that this is a crucial part of the Club's future as it provides a critical, long-term second source of revenue and therefore sustainability for the Club from which squad-funding can potentially come.

It is with that that I want to say thank you, and to wish Tony every success going forward.

Interesting bolded bit

Edited by Phumfeinz
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