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

[Rigadon]

OK, then not "giving him stick" but making light of the fact that he spent a huge amount of money to buy us exactly the player we needed when we needed goals.

I don't really care if it was part of an ongoing plan, if it was reactive or proactive or whatever, I just know that we had a problem scoring goals, and he went and bought the most expensive player we've ever bought - by a long way - and one of the most proven goalscorers in the league.

You're right, we shouldn't have been in that position in the first place, but the fact is, we were, and he got us out of it. He could have thrown 5m at Houllier and told him to try to buy Kevin Doyle instead.

As I said, I've got quite a few things in the negative column for Randy, but where the Bent purchase is concerned, there's only positives.

This.

x2.  Criticising him for buying just about the best proven striker we could hope to attract for massive money and wages seems a tad harsh!?

[Risso]

OK, then not "giving him stick" but making light of the fact that he spent a huge amount of money to buy us exactly the player we needed when we needed goals.

I don't really care if it was part of an ongoing plan, if it was reactive or proactive or whatever, I just know that we had a problem scoring goals, and he went and bought the most expensive player we've ever bought - by a long way - and one of the most proven goalscorers in the league.

You're right, we shouldn't have been in that position in the first place, but the fact is, we were, and he got us out of it. He could have thrown 5m at Houllier and told him to try to buy Kevin Doyle instead.

As I said, I've got quite a few things in the negative column for Randy, but where the Bent purchase is concerned, there's only positives.

This.

x2.  Criticising him for buying just about the best proven striker we could hope to attract for massive money and wages seems a tad harsh!?

Yet again for the hard of thinking:  I'm not criticising him for buying Bent!  I think his overall stewardship of the club is poor.  Bent was a good buy, but then when the summer after we sell the two players who supplied most of his goals, it all seems utterly futile.  One step forward, two steps back.

[pauliewalnuts]

You seem to want to question his motives for buying Bent, though - ie they weren't the right ones.

End of the day, he bought him. I don't even see the point of raising his motives for doing so.

[Risso]

You seem to want to question his motives for buying Bent, though - ie they weren't the right ones.

End of the day, he bought him. I don't even see the point of raising his motives for doing so.

Not at all.  I was responding to the point that Chris raised, ie that everybody thought Randy was great when we bought Bent.  My point is that while it was a good signing, in the context of the whole of the last two years, it doesn't mean he's a good owner.  If people want to take things in isolation as Chris suggests, that's up to them, but I'd rather look at the bigger picture.