pacbuddies Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 That would be one way to integrate the locals into Villa Park A mass rally against the US and flag burning afternoon This will be a familiar sight to some people I have no doubt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villarich1982 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 So Randy, where do we go from here hey? Coz from where I'm standing the only way is down. What's the **** plan dude? You can see from reading this thread that the natives are getting very restless and the silence coming from the club is doing nothing to quash that. Grow some balls man and come out and talk to the fans, we deserve much, much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Looking at the England team, Downing, Cahill, Young, Milner. Ownership and Management FAIL of epic proportions. So what was better, digging our heels in and stumping up the cash to give them better deals consolidating or bettering our position hence being more attractive to investors, sponsors, more league, TV money etc? Or our current plight. (Could even throw in BLUE Gardner as he is more than ample back up.) Team of: Given L.Young/Lichaj Dunne/Cuellar Cahill/Clarke LB? Downing/Young Petrov Milner Downing/A.Young Bent Gabby Team we could have had Mr. Lerner. . BOOOOOOOOO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsmithusa Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Perhaps I'm a bit annoyed at the anti-Americanism on here. I think the US is a great market for Villa, a US owner will help, but we need to sign and play an American player. But putting my irrational defensiveness aside, maybe any one of you who has spent more on villa than the multimillion RL has spent should have complete right to moan that he should have spent more. (Insert irrational anti-English rant here.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Perhaps I'm a bit annoyed at the anti-Americanism on here. I think the US is a great market for Villa, a US owner will help, but we need to sign and play an American player. But putting my irrational defensiveness aside, maybe any one of you who has spent more on villa than the multimillion RL has spent should have complete right to moan that he should have spent more. (Insert irrational anti-English rant here.) as a percentage on net worth or net income I think i can safely say that a lot of us have spent more than Randy. I still want him here just disappointed in some of his decisions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 ...but we need to sign and play an American player. Which player ought we to sign? Brad Guzan? Michael Bradley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Freddy Adu.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 ...but we need to sign and play an American player. Which player ought we to sign? Brad Guzan? Michael Bradley? Eric Lichaj? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Freddy Adu.... Much Adu about nothing (©Mark Lawrenson). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Lerwill Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Neil Moxley (Daily Mail) has written the following article which, I have to say, makes total sense to me ... Headline: "I could cry at Villa's waste... we must revive the Lion Rampant, Mr Lerner" They say a picture paints a thousand words. In the case of Aston Villa this week, I reckon a set of figures has done the same job. Call me a cynical old hack but in years previous to this one, I can't remember the club publicising its annual accounts. The media has had to go searching for them. So, whether the club actually wanted to draw attention to the depth of Randy Lerner's feelings for Villa in the wake of yet more anti-Alex McLeish protests at Wigan, it is difficult to say. It has been reported in Sportsmail that the losses amount to just shy of £110m during the past three years (that's £28m, £37m and £54m). What is more, this year's have been sustained on the back of record revenue levels. Yes, if Villa's commercial activities weren't as good, they'd have waved goodbye to even more cash. It would be unfair to go through players' wages on an individual basis. But let's just assume that Villa bought a senior player from a rival club in the Premier League for £3m. They agreed wages at £3m-a-year (plus) over four seasons. That's a £15m outlay. Now toss into the mix that they lost significant sums on Curtis Davies, Nicky Shorey, Nigel Reo-Coker, Habib Beye, John Carew, Steve Sidwell, Zat Knight, Luke Young, Moustapha Salifou... I'm sure there are more. And it's pretty easy to see why they have hemorrhaged money. Not even the cash raised by the sales of Gareth Barry, James Milner, Stewart Downing and Ashley Young could stem the tide. There was a story for instance, that Luke Young turned down a move to Liverpool the season before last because he didn't want to take a drop in wages to £38,000-a-week. Believable? More so now. A scout telephoned yours truly after making an enquiry for Habib Beye but his club baulked at taking over the defender's £42,000-a-week salary. The player must have cost Villa around £8m in total. For what? There have been times at Villa last season when I reckon it was costing the club £250,000-a-week to pay the players who sat on the substitutes' bench on a Saturday afternoon. Seriously, I could cry at the waste. However, now the truth is out, I want to say a few things. Not all of them positive, but some are. First, I agree with Vital Villa website editor Jonathan Fear that those who doubt Lerner's commitment to the club should take a long, hard look at the accounts. Never mind the tattoo, his devotion to the claret and blue cause has cost him the thick end of £200m. Secondly, in the light of the past overspend Lerner can be forgiven for reigning in the spending. Thirdly, strict financial controls must be put in place to ensure this leakage stops. Now. Which I'm sure there has been, in fairness. And lastly, Lerner needs to stop being so pig-headed about his acquisition of his favourite team. I respect what the money he has spent/wasted (delete as applicable). And I respect the reasons why he has done it. To realise the dream of every Villa fan out there - to see Aston Villa dining once more at the top table of English football. But the sheer arrogance and folly of taking over a football club in the English Premier League and thinking he knew what he was doing has resulted in these gargantuan losses. There was no check on Martin O'Neill's spending. And the least said about the Frenchman who followed, the better. So, let's cut to the chase, Randy. My favourite American football team is the Green Bay Packers. Why? I liked the colour of the strip when the sport was first shown over here on Channel Four way back when. But if I had bought the franchise, the last thing I would do is go over there and try to do it my way. I'd watch, listen, learn. Steal best practices from other clubs. Look at successful models, such as Arsenal. They have just posted a £49m profit. Imitation is the most successful form of flattery, after all. I wrote at the time that it was madness to allow Steve Stride to leave the football club. He was an understated power behind the throne of HD Ellis. Moreover, he's a Villa fan, for goodness sake. He could have been paid off, but kept on as a consultant. To be there at the end of the phone whenever you were unsure about something. A man who knew people at Soho Square, the Premier League and at UEFA. He would have smoothed your transition into English football. He's not a difficult man to work with, either - he had just finished a 30-year stint with Mr Ellis. He might have raised a few questions about O'Neill's transfer policy at the time, too. Furthermore, I would pick up the phone and get another Villa man in to oversee the club's development. So, step forward Graham Taylor. Taylor would have the drive, the energy and the desire to set-up a proper scouting system, to act as that buffer between manager and owner regarding transfer policy. It's been tried before, I know, but Doug (bless him) was Villa's unofficial director of football. You couldn't have two men doing the same job and Taylor is one of few men who I believe actually has some integrity in this selfish game. Paul Faulkner is a good guy. He's been thrown in at the deep end and he's now learnt to swim with the sharks. So, point them all in the right direction Mr Lerner. Tell them what you want. Let them plot how best to get there. Faulkner, Stride, Taylor - let's breathe some life back into the Lion Rampant. It's not going to cost you £110m. You know, when John Gregory took over as manager he was telephoned by Arthur Cox. 'This isn't a corner shop you've taken charge of,' the new boss was told. 'You've just been handed the keys to a bloody megastore!' Unfortunately, McLeish's stock is overpriced and a lot of it is past its sell-by date. The stuff out the back isn't up to the job, either. But this is an opportunity. Let's get Aston Villa lean, mean and fighting fit again. Because at the moment Mr Lerner, you've lost around £110m in three years, you've made the most unpopular managerial appointment in the club's history, your trophy count in the past six years stands at a whopping nil - and the club is currently sitting in 15th place out of 20 in the Premier League. Champions League? Championship, more like. Face facts. It's just not right at the moment... is it Mr Lerner? Link here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.Daley Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Cracking article and pretty much on the money. The media seem to be picking up on the negativity at Villa, which is not a bad thing, because as far as I can remember Lerner has never had to deal with bad press. At least it might force him to come out from behind his rock and make clear his indications of our club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Good article from Moxley and he's echoing what I've been saying about Sir Graham for a year or so now Perfect as DoF role Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis_B Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 He also echoes what I have said about the mistake getting rid of Steve Stride - the mans a genius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Yep, agree Stride should have been retained It's probably not too late to get him back (think he's a UEFA ambassador now) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchard Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I remember when Steve Stride was being ridiculed for being Ellis's Smithers - a lapdog who said Yes to Ellis and nothing more. I suppose we should bring back Mark Ansell too? Whilst the sentiment of the article is bang on - the idea of bring Stride back is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is bringing Taylor back. His first spell here was magnificent. The second saw him coming out of retirement after a year of the DOF at VP in which nothing was achieved and saw football and results similar to what we have now. He signed Oyvind Leonhardsen because he saw his name on the back of a program and wondered if he'd be any good still. A nice bloke, but in footballing terms a yesterday's man. We need someone with the necessary contracts at home and abroad. With an idea about modern day money money money football. Taylor has never been that man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Even more ridiculous is bringing Taylor back. His first spell here was magnificent. The second saw him coming out of retirement after a year of the DOF at VP in which nothing was achieved and saw football and results similar to what we have now. He signed Oyvind Leonhardsen because he saw his name on the back of a program and wondered if he'd be any good still. A nice bloke, but in footballing terms a yesterday's man. We need someone with the necessary contracts at home and abroad. With an idea about modern day money money money football. Taylor has never been that man. Absolutely 100%. Steve Stride would also not come back to be Faulkner's assistant and Lerner would not rid himself of Faulkner to employ Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 an idea about modern day money money money football. Mate, you need to keep up, I don't think we're a player in this arena anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Lerwill Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Even more ridiculous is bringing Taylor back. His first spell here was magnificent. The second saw him coming out of retirement after a year of the DOF at VP in which nothing was achieved and saw football and results similar to what we have now. He signed Oyvind Leonhardsen because he saw his name on the back of a program and wondered if he'd be any good still. A nice bloke, but in footballing terms a yesterday's man. We need someone with the necessary contracts at home and abroad. With an idea about modern day money money money football. Taylor has never been that man. Absolutely 100%. Steve Stride would also not come back to be Faulkner's assistant and Lerner would not rid himself of Faulkner to employ Steve. Well, the mention of GT was more about his structural skills, not his abilities a team manager. And the article was suggesting PF as well as Stride, not instead of - i.e. PF purely for his business skills - with Stride presumably alongside. It is true that PF being CEO would create a difficulty. However, maybe you guys push me to re-think the point that if it had been set up that way in 2006 it might have worked. Maybe bringing in those fellers now is not appropriate - though the overall idea surely stands good, just different names needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted March 1, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 1, 2012 What we need on our board is an agent. An unethical, nasty bastard with the morals of an alley cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis_B Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Pilchard wrote I remember when Steve Stride was being ridiculed for being Ellis's Smithers - a lapdog who said Yes to Ellis and nothing more. I suppose we should bring back Mark Ansell too? Agreed to a point. What SS had as was said is contacts within the football industry. He worked under considerable constraints with Ellis but he was well respected in football. Unfortunately that has gone, he spends almost as much time in USA as does Lerner. As for Mark Ansell I will ignore the PFE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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