RAL Takeover 5 Years In

[kippaxvilla2]

Lerner said: "It is my belief and the basis for my bid that Aston Villa can compete at the highest level within the Premiership and in Europe.

"The club has a rich history and a long tradition of passionate fan support."

In the statement, RAL added: "We will be looking to allocate financial resources across multiple fronts such as an upgraded training ground and facilities, which are intended to include the academy, stadium upgrades and player acquisitions.

Good points - The Academy, traning complex, the pub redevelopment, player acquisitions especially in the early years. 

Bad points - Major faux pas over handling of manager appointments/departures, player contracts, alienating fans especially this summer, poor board appointment, PR gaffes, a club that is now way, way short of the resources required to match the original ambition as stated above.

[PaulWinch again]

Academy and training facilities great, and some highlights. Although if we completely regress now it means nothing. So he needs to make statement or it was all for nothing.

[Jimbo]

To his credit Randy gave it his best shot, but his investment was placed in the hands of the wrong manager and the plan failed. Now we have to adjust to being happy with Premier League survival, and the occasional cup run if we're lucky, lest we 'do a Leeds'. We may still yet 'do a Leeds' if we do not sturdy ourselves and pull in the same direction for the grind ahead. Appointing a manager with a poor Premier League record from our most hated rivals will do little to unite fans in backing the 'new Villa'* especially in such a precarious transitional season.       

*Some might say this amounts to the same as the old Villa.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I think we're entering endgame now, since O'Neill left the club have lurched from one fuck up to another. I think Mr Lerner Sir now realises that he can't compete, so has more or less given up.
I can see the club being sold.

Disappointing all round after the massive inroads we made in the first 3 years or so.

[Risso]

They haven't realised their ambitions, the Premier League has moved on and Lerner doesn't have the money or the nous to keep up with the pace.

[hilts_coolerking]

A series of missed opportunities.

[ez]

Can't see the north stand being redeveloped now 

[Lambert and Payne]

I still blame mon, I think I always will for the way he spunked away so much money on so much shite.
I still think/hope RL has an ace up his sleeve like bent...

[Clark W Griswold]

Big, big disappointment, but as stated, i think the good intentions and effort have been there to an extent. In all fairness though, i was dissapointed after that first full summer '07, after rubbing my hands together thinking we were going to do a mini Chelsea, and then the best signing being Reo Coker. I've occasionally been impressed since, the training facilities sound good, the signings of Milner, Downing and Bent although 2 of those came after selling our best player.
Had a few good moments on the pitch, most noteably getting to a cup final and the win at OT and the 5-1 against the blues. Got to say, i was expecting so much more.
Having said that, i wouldn't be in a rush to see us sold unless to a multi billionaire as at Chelsea and Man City.

[dave.woodhall]

Lerner's shit. He's done nothing for us. I always said so, I just kept quiet about it for 4 1/2 years. He should sell up now to a consortium of Arab billionaires. There's bound to be one waiting.

There you go - that'll save a few pages.

[Neil Hawkes]

Well done Dave, perfect response.

[martin]

Randy's blown it.

How?

We don't know who he his, what he does and what he believes in because he doesn't speak to us.

I don't mind mistakes so long as they are committed by people willing to engage in dialogue about how those mistakes came about.

In previous instances of fuck ups Doug just patronised us.

Randy refuses to even talk to us when he fucks up

Which is worse? 

[kippaxvilla2]

Lerner's shit. He's done nothing for us. I always said so, I just kept quiet about it for 4 1/2 years. He should sell up now to a consortium of Arab billionaires. There's bound to be one waiting.

There you go - that'll save a few pages.

That's possibly one of your more petulant responses.

The reign is 5 years old, given the events of especially this summer, I think it is worth analysing its record.

Obviously you dont believe what you write is correct, but I am fairly certain you do not think RAL have been perfect either in their stewardship so why not give us the good and bad points, assuming you want to contribute any further to this debate, if not fair enough.

[Shrek]

IF we had given longer contracts to all our star players, we would be in such a different position, but lets face it the only way to truely compete is a consistant injection of money.

Randy was never going to continue spending millions and millions, the only way he could do that is by, us filling the ground and him charging us £1200 a season ticket, which no one would accept, so we all need to accept where we are right now.

We missed the boat when MON messed it up, but even if we would have made the CL, look at spurs, its still very difficult to attract top players and sustain the success.

[dave.woodhall]

Lerner's shit. He's done nothing for us. I always said so, I just kept quiet about it for 4 1/2 years. He should sell up now to a consortium of Arab billionaires. There's bound to be one waiting.

There you go - that'll save a few pages.

That's possibly one of your more petulant responses.

The reign is 5 years old, given the events of especially this summer, I think it is worth analysing its record.

Obviously you dont believe what you write is correct, but I am fairly certain you do not think RAL have been perfect either in their stewardship so why not give us the good and bad points, assuming you want to contribute any further to this debate, if not fair enough.

Really? Well it's one of your more tedious threads so that makes us even.

We're having this debate just about everywhere now, and it's getting a bit boring. Randy does what we want him to do for four years - Randy's great. Randy does something unpopular - he's crap and he always has been, everything the club does now is wrong.