Doug Says "Liverpool Should Have Taken a Lesson From Villa"

[Jimbo]

A stark contrast to Gillett and Hicks dragging Liverpool through the High Court, stalling and dragging things out in an attempt to get a few million more.

Neither Gillett or Hicks is on his death bed. As Doug quite freely admits in the above article, that's the only reason he decided to go. There was no magnanimity in his decision whatsoever. He wanted to leave a positive legacy for the good of the club, sure, but only as long as it would reflect well on him. It has, and he's never tired of reminding us of the fact.

If he'd really been operating in the best interests of the club, he would have walked away after getting it relegated five years after it won the European Cup. But this is tired old ground. Nothing alters the fact that he has an ego bigger than both Gillett and Hicks put together, and that the best thing he ever did for the club was sell to a far better man.

[Jimbo]

Jealous of what, exactly?

Jealous of a self-made man who has been far more successful in his life than they have, who ran a successful football club and left it in a healthy financial state.
If the cap fits, wear it.

The only cap I can picture you wearing at this moment has a big D written on it. You appear to be labouring under the delusion that I am in the slightest bit interested in Doug Ellis' wealth. He might have made a hundred billion pounds out of the sale of Aston Villa, for all I care, as long as he got out of the club. And as for the club being successful, please try to remember the state of affairs when he left. This may be hard for a revisionist like yourself, but try. 

[not3bad]

If the cap fits, wear it.

Lucky it doesn't, really.

[TimTheVillain]

It's well known that Doug doesn't get on with his son, so he just had to do that deal himself rather than 'risk' dying and leaving his son to sort the deal out.

Any other businessman would surely have got the best price and if that meant leaving his son ( in Doug's case) to oversee the transaction, then so be it.

I see this as an act of an egocentric old man.

[dave.woodhall]

You can either remain bitter and frothing at the mouth with every mention of his name or you can smile at the sight of Doug heading towards his tenth decade as egotistical and publicity-hungry as ever.   

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Jealous of what, exactly?

Jealous of a self-made man who has been far more successful in his life than they have, who ran a successful football club and left it in a healthy financial state.
If the cap fits, wear it.

The only cap I can picture you wearing at this moment has a big D written on it. You appear to be labouring under the delusion that I am in the slightest bit interested in Doug Ellis' wealth. He might have made a hundred billion pounds out of the sale of Aston Villa, for all I care, as long as he got out of the club. And as for the club being successful, please try to remember the state of affairs when he left. This may be hard for a revisionist like yourself, but try. 

...as for the club being successful, please try to remember the state of affairs when he arrived.

[Desi]

You can either remain bitter and frothing at the mouth with every mention of his name or you can smile at the sight of Doug heading towards his tenth decade as egotistical and publicity-hungry as ever.


Beautifully put, Dave.

[Jimbo]

You can either remain bitter and frothing at the mouth with every mention of his name or you can smile at the sight of Doug heading towards his tenth decade as egotistical and publicity-hungry as ever.   

I'm not sure whether that rather hyperbolic and melodramatic statement was aimed at me, Dave, but let me just set the record straight.

I'd be more than happy for Doug to enjoy his vast fortune until the age of 165. I just find it a little tiresome that his self-indulgent ramblings about how he did this or that for Aston Villa keep cropping up with such regularity. I can think of other people, far more deserving of the publicity, who might rattle on about how they did things for the benefit of Aston Villa and its fans, but most of them have the humility, modesty and good grace to keep a low profile. Randy Lerner is one of them.

No bitterness, no frothing, but when somebody accuses me of being jealous when I quite clearly am not, I'm going to put them back in their place.

[alanclare]

This may be hard for a revisionist like yourself, but try. 

Gosh - it's very easy to wind you up, ain't it?

[Chico Hamilton III]

The thing with Doug is that people tend to view him in black or white terms.

Regardless of the fact that he was an ego-centric, relatively parsimonious, ultra-cautious and unambitious chairman, you have to consider the state the club were in in 1968 when he took over.

Shit, did I just defend Doug?

[LeeB]

Doug says "Liverpool should take a lesson from Villa/Me"

What, you mean take the European Champions into a relegation dogfight inside 5 years?

Bless him.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Advice to any newcomers to the site.
If you want to get noticed on here by starting threads but are worried they will just drift away without any responses, insert two words in your text.....Doug and Ellis.

[Jimbo]

This may be hard for a revisionist like yourself, but try. 

Gosh - it's very easy to wind you up, ain't it?

Oh, sorry, I didn't realise it was all a big wind-up. Ha, ha - good one.

[Clampy]

A stark contrast to Gillett and Hicks dragging Liverpool through the High Court, stalling and dragging things out in an attempt to get a few million more.

Nothing alters the fact that he has an ego bigger than both Gillett and Hicks put together

Talking of ego maniacs, look no futher than Gold and Sullivan, and be thankful we had Doug.

[E I Adio]

From today's Times:

Doug Ellis was chairman of Aston Villa 1968-2006

Note to the Times:

"Ellis was a controversial chairman and major shareholder of Aston Villa for two separate spells; the first being from 1968 to 1975. Ellis was replaced as chairman and finally ousted from the board in 1979. During his absence Aston Villa enjoyed its greatest period of success in modern times, winning the Football League title in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982."