Mr. Lerner: Aston Villa and/or the Cleveland Browns?

[Legion]

From a Blog post by IanRobo here. Should Randy choose one or the other? Discuss.

After watching the mess that is the Browns yesterday and reading their message boards, it is clear that the problems over in the States for Lerner are far bigger than at Villa.

Quite a few of us bloggers are skirting around the issue at Villa but there is a simple truth to this. No one man, no matter how rich can support two ailing clubs. At the Browns he employed in Holmgren a top class NFL coach and it has been a disaster this season. The reaction to the defeat yesterday to a team who had only one one game previously was telling, there are strong calls for Randy to sell the Browns.

Well at Villa we know the situation, an unpopular manager, cash taps turned off and some people asking if we should get corrupt but oil cash rich Arabs as owners. At the moment though Randy has to make the crucial decision of his sports management because keeping the two clubs is not a sustainable option any more. As we know his fortune came from his Dad selling of MBNA to the Bank of America. I have mentioned before just how badly the shares have done in the last 4 years, this has really hurt the Lerner family fortune.

Many things Lerner has done for us and the Browns has been very good. Over there despite the Browns being perennial losers the marketing and commercial income has been very good but now you are seeing empty seats, something unheard of. Over here he has done very well in many areas, fans relations, training ground, ground infrastructure, money for players BUT this has all stopped. For our sakes as a club he has to decide which one he should concentrate 100% of his efforts and attention towards, half measures will not be acceptable.

When we have these unwelcome breaks attention does move to other areas, blogs have given people different things to think about but the most crucial is what Randy is thinking and wants to do.

[dave.woodhall]

Yippee. Another excuse to moan about Randy.

[adrenachrome]

Robo writes of "a simple truth" early in this piece, and it is no doubt true that he is simple.

[bertlambshank]

The only thing he has got right is that the Browns are deep in the shit.

[cdbearsfan]

I can't see him selling the Browns... it would seem like an insult to his dad who was instrumental in bringing the NFL back to Cleveland after they sold out to become the Baltimore Ravens.

I don't want him to sell the Villa unless someone better is lurking on the horizon. Don't really want Ray Ranson or that QC bloke much. I'm struggling to think of any billionaire Villa fans (who actually care) and if we are looking to attract someone who has no previous affinity with the club in the hope of persuading him to spend billions... so are most of the teams in World football.

[Norm Crandles]

Who decided that we had 'an unpopular manager'?

Norm.

[olaftab]

Who is Ian Robo other than a Villa fan?

[Damo70]

I can't see him selling the Browns... it would seem like an insult to his dad who was instrumental in bringing the NFL back to Cleveland after they sold out to become the Baltimore Ravens.

I don't want him to sell the Villa unless someone better is lurking on the horizon. Don't really want Ray Ranson or that QC bloke much. I'm struggling to think of any billionaire Villa fans (who actually care) and if we are looking to attract someone who has no previous affinity with the club in the hope of persuading him to spend billions... so are most of the teams in World football.

Surely the fact that Ray Ranson's name has cropped up would be enough to get everybody behind RL again.

[fbriai]

Who decided that we had 'an unpopular manager'?

Norm.

Norm, on a side note, and in case you've not already been asked, whenever you walk into a bar, does everyone shout 'Norm!'?

Norm!

[PeterWithe]

Who decided that we had 'an unpopular manager'?

Is there much doubt about this? The majority will want him to do well but he's hardly popular.

[Risso]

Yippee. Another excuse to moan about Randy.

I think the article shows that really, when you come down to it, when it comes to running sports clubs, Lerner just isn't very good at it, and should get a different and less expensive hobby to fill his time.

[Risso]

I can't see him selling the Browns... it would seem like an insult to his dad who was instrumental in bringing the NFL back to Cleveland after they sold out to become the Baltimore Ravens.

I don't want him to sell the Villa unless someone better is lurking on the horizon. Don't really want Ray Ranson or that QC bloke much. I'm struggling to think of any billionaire Villa fans (who actually care) and if we are looking to attract someone who has no previous affinity with the club in the hope of persuading him to spend billions... so are most of the teams in World football.

Aren't there some oil types sniffing round Blackburn at the moment?

[Mazrim]

Are there? Why Blackburn and why are the Chicken wranglers looking to get rid already?

[Damo70]

I think oil squillionaires will set their sights higher than Blackburn. As a general rule of thumb I think it goes;

Oil magnates = Big club
Chicken farmers = Blackburn
Hairdresser = Blues

[Chris Smith]

What it books down to in all of these discussions is people finding new ways to say "spend more of your money on us, Randy".