naming rights to Villa Park....

[richardhubbard]

Slow news day for the mirror , what a shock.

If we sell the naming rights

Villa Park sponsored by vodaphone or who ever, its still Villa Park

[Simba]

Maybe you are right- he won't get 'dogs abuse' for us being in the middle of the table. Maybe he is just too busy to be flying across the Atlantic.  However, the argument is about us being able to compete and whether he will sell our soul to Red Bull et al for that to happen.

Match day revenues arn't going to give us the cash. Only increased TV revenues, particularly overseas , the reward for league position, and a Champions League position/ run will.

So catch 22- we massively invest to be successful, achieve regular top four, become richer and thus more competitive via the virtuous cycle or we fight for mid table every year.

Randy doesn't have the comparative cash - I think he tried for top four with MoN but the plan failed and was too expensive on a business level without that CL injection- so if Aston Villa is ever going to be a Club that competes for the top again we need a mega rich buyer.

If Randy does not sell we will forever be competing for a top six in a good season, fighting bottom three in a poor one and our only goal is that bloody Euro thing.

I think he will sell. Unfortunately I hope he does. Carefully and with respect to the club. But I would rather keep fighting than change our name.

Blame the " rich get richer' Premier League business plan with it's four leagues in one mentality and reward system.

[Ads]

I wonder how shy he'd be if we were winning every week and challenging at the top?

After we had gone 3rd at Ewood Park in mid-February, with 5000 away fans singing "who the fuck are Man United" without any irony, nobody seemed to care how many games he attended then.

[Chris Harte]

I'd still call it Villa Park, but if it was a necessity to try to make us competitive again then I'd be in favour as long as the figure wasn't anything less than £40M a season.

Is the re-naming of Villa Park going to be worth that to any business? I'm not so sure it would.

[Chico Hamilton III]

I wonder how shy he'd be if we were winning every week and challenging at the top?

After we had gone 3rd at Ewood Park in mid-February, with 5000 away fans singing "who the fuck are Man United" without any irony, nobody seemed to care how many games he attended then.

I'm not sure what your point is here. Is it that Lerner doesn't seem to get any stick when the team seems to be doing well?

[freethinker]

The millions we already get from TV deals hasn't made the football anymore enjoyable, and selling out in re-naming our home would guarantee nothing more than more money in the pockets of agents and average players. The best players will still go to City, Arsenal, Chelsea, United and Liverpool.

Players, managers and owners will come and go but the names Aston Villa and Villa Park, along with the club colours, are untouchable so far as i'm concerned. At any price.

This pretty much sums up my thinking too.

[rob_bridge]

Not sure if there is any truth.

I still call it the Witton Lane stand - even though it was replaced moons ago.

As others have pointed out, it wouldn't make any sense as Villa Park is a well established name. Different if new stadium - Arsenal etc...

[fbriai]

It doesn't have quite the same ring about it, somehow...

"Those long uneven lines
Standing as patiently
As if they were stretched outside
The Kia Oval or Villa Park sponsored by Vodafone..."

[paul_e]

Add some context, £5m a year (which is minimum we'd be looking at and probably more) could have been the difference between Tonev and Kiyotake.  Would that be enough to make a difference to us?  Would it really hurt us in any way?

As I've said, looking back at tradition is good and it's something we can and should be as much as possible because it's the cornerstone of the club, but if we want to achieve things in the present sometimes we'll have to make sacrifices, and the names of stands or the ground are the most acceptable for me.  Put it this way, I'd be happier with the red bull stand/arena now than I was with the Doug Ellis stand when that occurred, one makes business sense, the other was massaging the ego of one of the most ego-centric people ever involved in the sport.

[Pete3206]

File under  Bollocks, Load of

[Ads]

I wonder how shy he'd be if we were winning every week and challenging at the top?

After we had gone 3rd at Ewood Park in mid-February, with 5000 away fans singing "who the fuck are Man United" without any irony, nobody seemed to care how many games he attended then.

I'm not sure what your point is here. Is it that Lerner doesn't seem to get any stick when the team seems to be doing well?

When we were doing well, nobody cared where Lerner was; the US, the directors box and so on. Now it is a big issue for some.

You asked if he would be basking in the limelight if things were going well. You heard just as much from him when things were going well, as you do now.

[UK Redsox]

"The Berkshire Hathaway Stadium at Villa Park" has a nice ring to it

[London Villan]

Did fans have major problems when we had sponsors on the shirt for the first time? I can imagine many did, but it's just part of the game.

[Chico Hamilton III]

You asked if he would be basking in the limelight if things were going well. You heard just as much from him when things were going well, as you do now

We saw a hell of a lot more of him in the "good times". And he used his mouthpiece, Krulak, to do his talking for him. Although he disapeared like a thief in the night when people started asking serious questions.

It's his club, but I reckon Lerner's radio silence is shameful and it's no surprise that rumour and gossip fill the communication void. I know Albion fans who've seen Villa play more in the last year than Lerner

 

[PeterWithesShin]

If someone stumped up a massive wodge of cash i'd be okay with it. Only plastics would stop calling it Villa Park anyway. Same as everyone who matters still call Witton Lane by its proper name.