The Randy Lerner thread

[rodders0223]

 Well we have pretty much reduced the wage bill again and spent, effectively, **** all. Do you not see he is still trying to recoup his money at the expense of the club?

 

 

[DCJonah]

People talk about "lowering the price" as if it's knocking 50p off a loaf of bread to get it off the shelf.

You're talking hundreds of millions of pounds.

You're living in dreamland if you think lerner is going to half the selling price of the club just to get rid of it a bit sooner.

agreed. But then that's another reason why I'm surprised people think we should be grateful to him. As an owner he's quite happy to see this club get worse and worse and potentially relegated in order to try and recoup the maximum amount he can from it. As a club our entire existence at the moment is to be held as an asset to a wealthy man, until he gets hundreds of millions of pounds for us. 

 

[TrentVilla]

If you don't think we owe him any gratitude for spending around a hundred million pounds of his dad's money trying to make us successful then fine, but at least allow that holding up banners would be mean-spirited and pointless.

We owe him nothing but money, which he has been recouping these last 5 years. When he finally goes it's unlikely he will have lost money.

I agree banners are pointless but I totally understand why people might wish to protest against his tenure.

My understanding is that he's still been making losses for the last five years - we're obviously a year behind in terms of published accounts, but at the last one's the money was still coming from Lerner to the club, not the other way around. 

loses which include loan repayments to Lerner, oh and fees.

[Stevo985]

People talk about "lowering the price" as if it's knocking 50p off a loaf of bread to get it off the shelf.

You're talking hundreds of millions of pounds.

You're living in dreamland if you think lerner is going to half the selling price of the club just to get rid of it a bit sooner.

agreed. But then that's another reason why I'm surprised people think we should be grateful to him. As an owner he's quite happy to see this club get worse and worse and potentially relegated in order to try and recoup the maximum amount he can from it. As a club our entire existence at the moment is to be held as an asset to a wealthy man, until he gets hundreds of millions of pounds for us. 

 

I don't think we should be grateful.

But I think we should understand that talking about somebody just throwing hundreds of millions of pounds down the drain isn't going to happen.

The club is a business. If any of us owned it we wouldn't just half the price to get rid of it.

[DCJonah]

We wouldn't, but then while waiting for it to be sold we'd probably try and get the club performing to its maximum level because, unlike the current owner, we actually care about the football club and not just the money its worth to us.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

If you don't think we owe him any gratitude for spending around a hundred million pounds of his dad's money trying to make us successful then fine, but at least allow that holding up banners would be mean-spirited and pointless.

We owe him nothing but money, which he has been recouping these last 5 years. When he finally goes it's unlikely he will have lost money.

I agree banners are pointless but I totally understand why people might wish to protest against his tenure.

My understanding is that he's still been making losses for the last five years - we're obviously a year behind in terms of published accounts, but at the last one's the money was still coming from Lerner to the club, not the other way around. 

loses which include loan repayments to Lerner, oh and fees.

Care to show us all how much he's taken out in fees and loan repayments for the last five years on a year by year basis?

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2015 by Morley_crosses_to_Withe

[TrentVilla]

If you don't think we owe him any gratitude for spending around a hundred million pounds of his dad's money trying to make us successful then fine, but at least allow that holding up banners would be mean-spirited and pointless.

We owe him nothing but money, which he has been recouping these last 5 years. When he finally goes it's unlikely he will have lost money.

I agree banners are pointless but I totally understand why people might wish to protest against his tenure.

My understanding is that he's still been making losses for the last five years - we're obviously a year behind in terms of published accounts, but at the last one's the money was still coming from Lerner to the club, not the other way around. 

loses which include loan repayments to Lerner, oh and fees.

Care to show us all how much he's taken out in fees and loan repayments for the last five years on a year by year basis?

 

 

 

The accounts are public so take a look yourself.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

But you must know the numbers since you're making such big claims!? Surely. 

I know for 13/14 there was no fees and no loan repayments. I've seen those accounts recently. There was a £90m converstion of loan notes to equity and a deferral of the remaining 17m to be repayed no earlier than 2020. 

Edited October 19, 2015 by Morley_crosses_to_Withe

[AvfcTheObsession]

If you don't think we owe him any gratitude for spending around a hundred million pounds of his dad's money trying to make us successful then fine, but at least allow that holding up banners would be mean-spirited and pointless.

Spending a hundred million alone is not enough for gratitude. Someone could come in and buy the business that I work for, for a million pounds. If within 5 years they run it in to the ground, and as a result I lose my job because the company is showing big losses each year, in no small part down to mismanagement from the owner, I wouldn't be grateful for the fact they'd spent a hundred million, I'd be royally pissed off.

[Villarocker]

We will soon see what Lerner is up to when the new TV money becomes available. I bet it doesn't go to the playing side of AVFC!

[AvfcTheObsession]

We will soon see what Lerner is up to when the new TV money becomes available. I bet it doesn't go to the playing side of AVFC!

Players wages and agent fees will increase, won't mean we get better players though it will just drive them up across the board.

[bobzy]

 

 

 

 

The accounts are public so take a look yourself.

Surely, by having worked out Lerner stands to makes no losses during his time at Aston Villa, you know what the information is?

[Raver50032]

I've done my thank you post (a couple of times now ) to Randy Lerner.

I just look at my Proud History - Bright Future scarf and I just think 'meh, what a load of twink that was...' I am so depressed with Villa right now. That's how it makes me feel...

Edited October 19, 2015 by Raver50032
Bufoonery

[Neil]

If you don't think we owe him any gratitude for spending around a hundred million pounds of his dad's money trying to make us successful then fine, but at least allow that holding up banners would be mean-spirited and pointless.

We owe him nothing but money, which he has been recouping these last 5 years. When he finally goes it's unlikely he will have lost money.

I agree banners are pointless but I totally understand why people might wish to protest against his tenure.

My understanding is that he's still been making losses for the last five years - we're obviously a year behind in terms of published accounts, but at the last one's the money was still coming from Lerner to the club, not the other way around. 

loses which include loan repayments to Lerner, oh and fees.

Lost count the amount of times I've been shot down for absurd suggestions like him loaning us money is business practice to recoup at a later date.

What I find aabsurd is people beleiving Lerner to have thrown money at villa with no underlying business case to make sure he's not out of pocket.

Just a shame he's so incompetent to realise hes reducing his margins playing it like he is.

[powell91]

This season has already shaped up to look like our hardest relegation fight yet with every year that goes by more and more teams get stronger and stronger. I feel that if we have  any chance of staying up no matter who the manager is this january transfer window is vital.

[OutByEaster?]

What is the smart play for Lerner at the moment?

Sell up at a reduced rate, take the big hit in the pocket and run for your life?

Hold on and see if the wind changes, whether the new TV deal and some sort of enforced player regulation might come in and allow a football club to be a reasonable business again?

Sit tight and die the death of a thousand cuts, having to keep investing a limited amount but still losing that money and risking the catastrophic if you do't spend enough?

It's hard to find a good way out for him, and by association, us.

 

[ozvillafan]

Lost count the amount of times I've been shot down for absurd suggestions like him loaning us money is business practice to recoup at a later date.

What I find aabsurd is people beleiving Lerner to have thrown money at villa with no underlying business case to make sure he's not out of pocket.

Just a shame he's so incompetent to realise hes reducing his margins playing it like he is.

Wait. So he's smart enough to make sure "he's not out of pocket" but too dumb to "realise he's reducing his margins"?

How's that work, exactly?

[Neil]

Lost count the amount of times I've been shot down for absurd suggestions like him loaning us money is business practice to recoup at a later date.

What I find aabsurd is people beleiving Lerner to have thrown money at villa with no underlying business case to make sure he's not out of pocket.

Just a shame he's so incompetent to realise hes reducing his margins playing it like he is.

 

Wait. So he's smart enough to make sure "he's not out of pocket" but too dumb to "realise he's reducing his margins"?

How's that work, exactly?

Lost count the amount of times I've been shot down for absurd suggestions like him loaning us money is business practice to recoup at a later date.

What I find aabsurd is people beleiving Lerner to have thrown money at villa with no underlying business case to make sure he's not out of pocket.

Just a shame he's so incompetent to realise hes reducing his margins playing it like he is.

 

Wait. So he's smart enough to make sure "he's not out of pocket" but too dumb to "realise he's reducing his margins"?

How's that work, exactly?

You're adding pretext that isn't there, whilst I believe he has the sinster plot to make sure he's not out of pocket he's just not very clever with it.

Reducing the club to the point it can pay back some of his loans, then an asking price on sale that is higher than what it was brought for are all some indicators.

Short sighted though, relegation will crushscrush any such plans.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

So Neil, how much in loans have we paid back to Lerner in the last five years?

What are your thoughts on the £90m of loans converted to equity and the other £17m deferred until 2020? 

[BG_Villa_Fan]

What is the smart play for Lerner at the moment?

Sell up at a reduced rate, take the big hit in the pocket and run for your life?

Hold on and see if the wind changes, whether the new TV deal and some sort of enforced player regulation might come in and allow a football club to be a reasonable business again?

Sit tight and die the death of a thousand cuts, having to keep investing a limited amount but still losing that money and risking the catastrophic if you do't spend enough?

It's hard to find a good way out for him, and by association, us.

 

Don't think there's a smart play until there's a potential buyer and there doesn't seem to be one currently. 

No one would want to risk buying the club now and getting relegated thus missing out on the gravy train of the new TV deal and having to clean up Lerner's mess, however, if the club is stabilized and survives relegation then next summer it'd be very likely that there will be interested parties due to the mega TV deal. How it would reflect on the price we don't know but with revenues jumping by 20 or so million without lifting a finger should be appealing, so someone might very well pay Lerner what he wants. 

The worst thing that could happen would be if Lerner drops the price significanty as this might attract some charlatans who'd run the club into the ground. And yes, it IS possible to get someone worse than Lerner.