Is silence golden?

[Legion]

I know our owner is reluctant (to say the least) to give interviews and I'm sorry if I'm going over old ground but I really think Mr. Lerner needs to finally break his silence in order to converse with the media about his hopes, wishes and aspirations for the future of his tenure with our club.

[taylorsworkrate]

I think this is one of the major reasons for the current discontent.

I can't remember who, but someone said on a previous thread that fans can handle most things as long as the board are honest with them.

Even if Randy came out just to reiterate his commitment to the club, then I'm sure the mood would slightly improve.

[NeilH]

If he does not turn up at matches and does not utter a word it fosters disquiet and discomfort among the fans that he simply does not care or has got bored. For all his faults, Ellis was always vocal and told it how it was, even if for many of us it was not what we wanted to hear.
Having said all that, when things were going well we were quiet happy that our chairman was quieter than a church mouse, so why should it really matter now?

[Dave Clark Five]

It must be very embarrassing when Randy Lerner turns up at an away match, none of the home directors know him and they all rush up to shake Doug's hand.

[Lambert and Payne]

I always try to stick up for RL and it really winds me up when people ask him to leave because he's been excellent for us. However I am concerned he hasn't travelled to VP this season. I would like something to be said, actions speak louder than words, but when theres no words it doesn't make much difference imo. Theres no communication with the board, it feels like he's an alien right now.

[caster troy]

It's hardly surprising is it, I mean would you travel thousands of miles to watch McLeish's Villa fail miserably to beat the likes of Wolves and Albion at home? Oh wait....

Seriously though, he's not exactly shown much support for AM by staying away. Considering he must be practically the only Villa fan to actually want him for the job that is pretty shocking.* Not exactly leading by example either.
 
I'd cringe if he came out on the pitch and did some sort of Delia Smith impression, however we need inspiration and leadership from somewhere because we sure can't get it from our captain or manager.

* Disclaimer - if he is missing games for personal reasons then fair enough his absence is understandable.

[garyfouroaks]

Reality check time.

Randy is a decent, credible solvent owner (Unlike Small heath, Blackburn, Newcastle, Everton).

Outside of the top four the only two teams to spend serious money over the past twelve months were Sunderland and Liverpool, but even FSG have spent less net, than Randy has.

Everton and Newcastle have done exactly what we have done, lower the wage bill and take capital receipts.

Like everyone, I wish that Randy was a bit more visible, but he doesn’t comment on team formations, and doesn’t make a fool of himself in public, he just keeps things ticking over.  But where is the upgrade? Newcastle and Everton are up for sale with no takers. Liverpool have been up for sale twice in five years, sold first to the only remaining bidders, a pair of cowboys, sold second to the only serious bidders a 20 strong foreign consortium  taking a  (relatively) low exposure punt on some foreign stocks.

The frustration we all feel is the lack of hope – as many PL fans feel now. But there are a lot worse fates than being owned by Randy Lerner.

[RonBurgundy]

I find the fact he hasn't been to a game this season pretty disturbing. When you add it to all the drastic cost cutting measures its hard to come to a conclusion beyond he's lost interest and is looking to sell or just do the minimum to keep us in the division. When you think back to that footage of I forget who we were playing but we scored and he dived over Faulkner in celebration, he looked like it really meant something to him. I hope he still has that passion and I want to hear from that guy.

[Fuse]

I agree with Legion and others that it is time he came out and showed he still has the pasion for the club. Not only has he not been to a ame this season but he only came to 10 games last year - if he hasn't lost the passion then he is hiding it well. How can he expect the fans to come if he can;t be bothered.

Add to this the disappareance of his PR machine and the selling off of any tangible asset and it isn;t difficult to conclude he wwants out. Problem for him and us is that there isnlt anyone out there.


We will just have to accept we are an also ran and forever will be - how depressing :-((

[Dante Lavelli]

I can understand Randy's perspective in both not courting the media and also pulling in the purse strings however it strikes me that in Randy's absence Faulkner is probably getting spread a bit too thin compared to other clubs.

Where the owner wants to be hands off - like randy - then there is usually a football man and also a business man on the board reporting up to him.  Off the top of my head:

Tottenham have Pleat (I think he has recently re-joined) and Levy
Man City had Marwood and that w**ker who just resigned
Liverpool have Comoli doing the football bit and Ian Ayre doing the business side

I would really like to see a football man at the club who can act as a bit of a cheerleader with the fans and media and also help ensure that a MON situation does not occur again.  A Southgate, G. Taylor or Little type figure would be ideal.

[Lucky Eddie]

What we need is a good old fashioned 'tickets for Hospital Beds' deal! Perhaps that'll inspire Randy to come back.

[garyfouroaks]

I can understand Randy's perspective in both not courting the media and also pulling in the purse strings however it strikes me that in Randy's absence Faulkner is probably getting spread a bit too thin compared to other clubs.

Where the owner wants to be hands off - like randy - then there is usually a football man and also a business man on the board reporting up to him.  Off the top of my head:

Tottenham have Pleat (I think he has recently re-joined) and Levy
Man City had Marwood and that w**ker who just resigned
Liverpool have Comoli doing the football bit and Ian Ayre doing the business side

I would really like to see a football man at the club who can act as a bit of a cheerleader with the fans and media and also help ensure that a MON situation does not occur again.  A Southgate, G. Taylor or Little type figure would be ideal.

A good post.

But Faulkner  is to Randy, what Ayres is to FSG, a placeman, beholden to their bosses, who reside several thousand miles away.

My worry is where Randy gets his football intelligence from. Where are the club wise heads, to argue with and debate? Whichever way you cut it the MON situation was ****** up, with no winners, only losers. Randy was not close enough to it.

The attractions of McLeish are now obvious, happy to work on a budget, able to hit the ground running, and VERY grateful to be in the PL at all.

[eamonn]

We won't hear from him until whichever of the following happens first: Bent is sold, McLeish is sacked, we get relegated or most likely of all next July in his address to season ticket holders.

[TheTimVilla]

Actions do indeed speak louder than words. Anything he said would be analysed & torn apart anyway.

[Holtenderinthesky]

Silence is golden only if you succeed at the job in hand, Randy Lerner, on the other hand, should come out and explain why he has made such a balls up of our club.