From MBNA to the Premiership

[TimTheVillain]

ALL of Villa's top brass are ex MBNA executives.

Now, there is nothing wrong with working for MBNA or indeed, having a Father who actually owned the company, but I see no football knowledge on the board at all- not one jot.

This. my fellow Villa fans. concerns me.

It concerns me that we are run by suits who can crunch numbers, but woudn't recognise a footballer if one jumped out in front of them and volleyed a ball into the AVFC crest at the rear of the North Stand ( it has been done lol).

OK, they employ football people, but Kevin Mac is a football person, as is Sid Cowans and the co., but these aren't ( with total respect) the guys that are going to take the club forward.

From MBNA to the Premiership concerns me greatly.

[steffo]

I don't recall Doug having travel agents as directors in his day...

[sfx412]

I don't recall Doug having travel agents as directors in his day...

or knowing anything about football either

[MaxVillain]

I don't recall Doug having travel agents as directors in his day...

Because Doug Ellis was a fantastic chairman

[paul_e]

What a silly post.

Of course the owner is going to look at people who have done a good job for him in the past, no owner would do anything different in their first few years.  This bullshit idea of a chairman having to be a football man is getting very tired.  The job of the board (in any business) is to ensure the business makes the most of it's assets by employing the correct management to do that.  That doesn't require specific knowledge of the industry, it requires being able to make the right decisions based on the advice of people who do know the industry.

Just because there's a delay in appointing this manager is absolutely no excuse for some of the comments on this (and other) site in the last few days.  In 4 years randy has done everything any fan would've asked for for this club and yet people are willing to paint him as the villain because 1 summer hasn't gone to plan and a manager and his entire management team have walked 5 days before the season started.

Yes losing 2 games in a row with very little positives is depressing but the accusation that it's randy's fault because of his choice of directors, lack of investment, loss of interest is short sighted and judgemental in the extreme.  Let's see what happens in the next week at the very least before starting the conspiracy theories.  Even if no players come in and the maanger isn't sorted before the window shuts the board should have enough goodwill to at least be allowed to explain things.

[TopDeck113]

MBNA are the shirt sponsors of the resurrected Chester FC

[jembob]

TimTheVillain. Before you make such preposterous and meaningless observations, why don't you do a bit of homework and look at the Boards of the other Premiership Clubs and point out a successful Club that is run by 'proper' football people. I look forward to you proving your absurd theory.

[TimTheVillain]

What a silly post.

 Let's see what happens in the next week at the very least before starting the conspiracy theories.  Even if no players come in and the maanger isn't sorted before the window shuts the board should have enough goodwill to at least be allowed to explain things.

Let's see, you talk utter rubbish.

[TimTheVillain]

TimTheVillain. Before you make such preposterous and meaningless observations, why don't you do a bit of homework and look at the Boards of the other Premiership Clubs and point out a successful Club that is run by 'proper' football people. I look forward to you proving your absurd theory.

Thanks. I just wanted to say that it may not be possible to transplant a board from a financial services business into a football club with immediate results.

Surely, there's a learning process.

Like umpteen thousand Villa fans, this sir is seen as the first  major opportunity  Randy has  had to become a truly great Chairman and his board a quality board.

I'm not talking about money.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

What a silly post.

Of course the owner is going to look at people who have done a good job for him in the past, no owner would do anything different in their first few years.  This bullshit idea of a chairman having to be a football man is getting very tired.  The job of the board (in any business) is to ensure the business makes the most of it's assets by employing the correct management to do that.  That doesn't require specific knowledge of the industry, it requires being able to make the right decisions based on the advice of people who do know the industry.

Just because there's a delay in appointing this manager is absolutely no excuse for some of the comments on this (and other) site in the last few days.  In 4 years randy has done everything any fan would've asked for for this club and yet people are willing to paint him as the villain because 1 summer hasn't gone to plan and a manager and his entire management team have walked 5 days before the season started.

Yes losing 2 games in a row with very little positives is depressing but the accusation that it's randy's fault because of his choice of directors, lack of investment, loss of interest is short sighted and judgemental in the extreme.  Let's see what happens in the next week at the very least before starting the conspiracy theories.  Even if no players come in and the maanger isn't sorted before the window shuts the board should have enough goodwill to at least be allowed to explain things.

What a silly post.

Of course the owner is going to look at people who have done a good job for him in the past, no owner would do anything different in their first few years.  This bullshit idea of a chairman having to be a football man is getting very tired.  The job of the board (in any business) is to ensure the business makes the most of it's assets by employing the correct management to do that.  That doesn't require specific knowledge of the industry, it requires being able to make the right decisions based on the advice of people who do know the industry.

Just because there's a delay in appointing this manager is absolutely no excuse for some of the comments on this (and other) site in the last few days.  In 4 years randy has done everything any fan would've asked for for this club and yet people are willing to paint him as the villain because 1 summer hasn't gone to plan and a manager and his entire management team have walked 5 days before the season started.

Yes losing 2 games in a row with very little positives is depressing but the accusation that it's randy's fault because of his choice of directors, lack of investment, loss of interest is short sighted and judgemental in the extreme.  Let's see what happens in the next week at the very least before starting the conspiracy theories.  Even if no players come in and the maanger isn't sorted before the window shuts the board should have enough goodwill to at least be allowed to explain things.

Agreed, especially the first bit.

[paul_e]

What a silly post.

 Let's see what happens in the next week at the very least before starting the conspiracy theories.  Even if no players come in and the maanger isn't sorted before the window shuts the board should have enough goodwill to at least be allowed to explain things.

Let's see, you talk utter rubbish.

erm... Not sure what you're trying to get at there.

As I say, it would be really bad business practice (not business not football) to not employ people you trust when starting out in a new venture.  Until now nothing has happened to suggest this isn't the right thing to have done as the manager has been backed as well as anyone other than a crook or a sheikh could afford without questioning things and a large number of projects which the fans loved until 3months ago have been completed.

To even discuss the possibility of Lerner failing the club in some way by the choices he's made is grossly unfair until we see how things pan out from here.

This is his first ever managerial appointment and is the one that his first 5+ years at the club needs to be judged on, if he chooses badly and the club goes backwards in the medium term (short term losing the majority of the senior coaching team was always going to cause massive issues as we've currently got a coaching team doing twice the job they were until 3 weeks ago) then his choicve of board members can be questioned, at the moment any judgement is based on speculation rather than fact, hence it being a silly thing to post.

Don't take this as me saying Randy can do no wrong or that he is going to get things right, simply that judging him currently is insane and is something that only happens in sport, where so many people think with their heart not their head, in any normal business Randy's tenure so far would be judged as a massive success.

[TimTheVillain]

But they are wet behind the ears when it comes to a crisis ( yes, crisis) like we're in at the moment.

All I wanted to communicate is that it is chalk and cheese running a football club and a crefit card company.

Different skills can be gained over time of course, but this does concern me.

Put it like this - if MBNA were losing clients to Capital One, they'd know how to react.

If MBNA were being challenged dramatically by Amercan Express in the B- C1/2 demographics, they'd know how to react.

This is Aston Villa FC., a new 'industry' we will see soon whether they know how to react when such busines threatening challenges come their way in this industry.

Hope they cope, afer all, I am  Villa fan !

[paul_e]

but as I say, the trick to being a good director is being able to use advice from the industry experts, not having that expertise personally.  It's fairly common knowledge that most senior managers in most companies don't know exactly how their staff do their day to day job, the trick is to put people between you and those staff that do and also are able to make those staff do their job better.

Once you strip it back to basics football is no different in that regard, it only seems to be because it's so public a business so everyone (who's a fan) thinks they know how to do all the jobs, I'll freely admit to thinking I could make a decent fist of being Villa manager but I'd think the board were insane if they believed me (I'm sure the rest of you think the same).