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The Randy Lerner thread


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Problem is when they flogged MBNA to BoA much of it was for shares in BoA which were trading at about $55 / share

Now trading at about $5 / share so if there was a tie in over time (which is the norm) then he's lost loads

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The article previously posted makes a very fustrating read. It's pretty much spot on with our recent history since 2006, but the references to Taylor and Stride are just infuriating to read because it's so bleeding obvious that we've needed club football experts/directors under Lerner. We need Taylor on the board of directors, not some fecking US General.

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Not sure exactly how spot on the article is. It presents the facts in a particular way, seemingly designed to prove the case that Graham Taylor should be on the board. What would his role be? Apparently to run the rule over any players the manager wants to buy and advise if they won't fit in/have the right personality. That's a recipe for disaster - Director of Football roles so often end up in conflict with the manager. Taylor doesn't have that much experience of running a football club and sound financial management, which is what we really need.

The other thing that I frowned at was the claim that O'Neill spent £20m more than was authorised by Lerner. Oh yes? Exactly how did he manage that? Did Lerner give him the club's cheque book?

It's a common theme of accounts of our recent sorry history that MON somehow entranced Lerner into spending all that money unwisely. If it REALLY is true that Lerner allowed expenditure of £20m more than he had intended, you have to worry about whether running a business is really his bag. Certainly, if the Chairman of a publicly quoted company behaved like that, you would be looking either at prosecution of the overspending manager or resignation of the Chairman (or both).

The reality is more likely that Lerner knew exactly how much money was being spent but had not yet grasped that he couldn't afford it, and the stuff in that article is just spin.

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lerner has been a tad unlucky

MON bought a lot of players on huge money and only a hand full of them had any real value, al;though he did get out club a lot higher up the league, at that time financially it wasnt worth it.

if MON was here now doing it, it WOULD be worth it from next season as the increase is so huge in payments for positions in the table.

now he has a manager who it would seem, prefers to buy at the bottom end of the market hoping to pick up rough diamonds.

all it takes is a middle ground, some rough diamonds and some expensive players then the rise up the league while not guarenteed would appear more likely, just as the increase in revenue would start to chip away at our debts

i dont think anyone is suggesting he spunks £40 million on players each window , but he does need to spend a further £20 million or so to bring in 3 players now who WILL improve the team.

the summer time is the time to re assess everything player wise once we are safe ( or go down)

70 million for finishing last or what ever it will be SHOULD mean as long as we keep a mix of lower league / cheap signings and a couple established good players and stay up we will be running in the black for once.

i cant see personally that there is any other option than to spend the money, get in the 3 players we are so desperate for and escape from the bottom this season.

lambert speaks like he is expecting relegation with his not wanting to sign a player now who we could be stuck with and may not be wanted next year... who on earth would be stupid enough to do that in the first place?

man up, get the cash out and get the 3 players or face losing out on premier league football

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The other thing that I frowned at was the claim that O'Neill spent £20m more than was authorised by Lerner. Oh yes? Exactly how did he manage that? Did Lerner give him the club's cheque book?

you're completely misinterpreting that. it's not that mon sneakily went and spent extra money, it was that they had agreed on a figure, and lerner then agreed to let him spend an additional £20m on top of that. when mon wanted more again, he was refused. the point was that mon was already given an extra £20m in flexibility

Edited by P3te
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Right. I said I thought it was less than $2.5 billion(should've said less than 2) and he's sold the Browns for "...in excess of $1 billion".

The money from the browns does not go straight into Lerners back pocket. He had outstanding loans to pay from his tenure at the browns. There is a new forbes list in a couple of monthsand I still belive he is worth less than $1bn even after the browns sale, I also think his mother and sister get money from the browns sale too. He did not pocket $1bn himself from selling the browns thats for certain.

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The money from the browns does not go straight into Lerners back pocket. He had outstanding loans to pay from his tenure at the browns. There is a new forbes list in a couple of monthsand I still belive he is worth less than $1bn even after the browns sale, I also think his mother and sister get money from the browns sale too. He did not pocket $1bn himself from selling the browns thats for certain.

Think you will find most of the money went into the Lerner Trust of which correctly mentioned his mother and sister form with him the trustees
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you're completely misinterpreting that. it's not that mon sneakily went and spent extra money, it was that they had agreed on a figure, and lerner then agreed to let him spend an additional £20m on top of that. when mon wanted more again, he was refused. the point was that mon was already given an extra £20m in flexibility

The article says

By the time he quit over the sale of Milner to Manchester City, O'Neill was understood to be more than £20million over the budget he had agreed with Lerner.
It may well be that the article has got that wrong (that's what I thought in my post) but I don't see how I can be accused of "completely misinterpreting it."

Really, I'm just repeating what it says on the can.

However, we both seem to agree what the journo says is wrong.

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I think Lerner is like Al Feyed,he bought Fulham then realised that he can't afford the upkeep and sold them.The trouble with Lerner is that he has not realised that he can't afford to keep an Premier League club yet.

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It's all academic really. Whether he is worth a $billion or $700 million or $100 million it is obvious that his appetite for big risks has gone. He he has shot his bolt and he is never going to compete financially with the major clubs again. It's now all about survival and the hope that we can claw our way back to being a mediocre mid table team. He will then spend the next five years trying to recoup his loans & hoping that a richer billionaire will take AVFC off his hands.

I am now past caring whether it's really his or any of his managers fault, in reality analysing the past will only make him very cautious.

I am sure that he is also dreading relegation as his chances of getting his investment back will recede even further.

But you have to wonder about his financial acumen. This is the guy that invested $40 million in a hedge fund to only find out after 3 years that he had been "had" and was the ONLY investor in the fund!!

Edited by MikeMcKenna
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But you have to wonder about his financial acumen. This is the guy that invested $40 million in a hedge fund to only find out after 3 years that he had been "had" and was the ONLY investor in the fund!!

Like I keep saying some people must think he's the unluckiest man in the world.

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West Brom keeper Ben Foster thinks it is "unthinkable" that Aston Villa could be relegated, ahead of the Midlands derby at the Hawthorns on Saturday.

"Just driving down the motorway, you see the big stadium alongside and to think they could be playing Championship football is just unthinkable," says Foster.

"If you'd said that three or four years ago, you wouldn't have believed it. But times change."

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"Just driving down the motorway, you see the big stadium alongside and to think they (Aston Villa) could be playing Championship football is just unthinkable.

"If you'd said that three or four years ago, you wouldn't have believed it. But times change."

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