Who is the best owner?

[Richard E]

Ellis knocked the Trinity down. Lerner had a holiday romance with us, changed the badge and then fucked off back to his bat cave to leave us lot in the dark.

I woudn't piss on either of them if they were on fire.

I'd consider it if I had drunk a litre of petrol half an hour before.

[Irish villain]

My only near relegation experiences of Doug were 1994-95, 2002-03 and his last season in 2005-06.

On each of those occasions he took action. On two of those occasions we followed our relegation scrap by competing strongly in the top six. On the final occasion he finally sold the club. From all that I have read, what he did in the 1980s is unforgivable. That said,t he complaint in the 1990s/2000s tended to be that he was holding villa back, that we should be pushing on from top eight/mid-table to challenge the very top.

I think any objective observer would have to concede that the past four years have been as bad as anything since the club was promoted in 1988.

[not3bad]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

[rob_bridge]

We punched below are weight for many of the Ellis years and whenever we were on the brink of something (1990, 93
, 94, 96, 2000 etc.. we slipped back - not all of which was his fault.

That said the bearest minimum we should expect nowadays is to not in anyway to be involved in relegation scraps - let alone 4. On the trot.

[dave.woodhall]

My only near relegation experiences of Doug were 1994-95, 2002-03 and his last season in 2005-06.

On each of those occasions he took action. On two of those occasions we followed our relegation scrap by competing strongly in the top six. On the final occasion he finally sold the club. From all that I have read, what he did in the 1980s is unforgivable. That said,t he complaint in the 1990s/2000s tended to be that he was holding villa back, that we should be pushing on from top eight/mid-table to challenge the very top.

I think any objective observer would have to concede that the past four years have been as bad as anything since the club was promoted in 1988.

The world has changed since then. I don't know if it's in this thread or another where I said that no club throughout the nineties had as many opportunities as we did, and most of them were handed to us on a plate.

[Irish villain]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

It's an unforgiving league. In 1995 we signed really good players that were established. I know the finances are different these days but the basic principle remains. There are a certain amount of good players and if you want to compete you have to try sign any quality available to you.

We have taken a lot of punts and added these to a side built from similar.

[Meanwood Villa]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

It's an unforgiving league. In 1995 we signed really good players that were established. I know the finances are different these days but the basic principle remains. There are a certain amount of good players and if you want to compete you have to try sign any quality available to you.

We have taken a lot of punts and added these to a side built from similar.

Let's not rewrite history here. They were very good players but Southgate and Draper had just been relegated and Savo had never played outside his own country.

[rob_bridge]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

Nobody in their right mind would criticise him for firing McLeish.
Nobody in their right mind would defer from criticising him for hiring McLeish him in the first place though.

Many wanted a young and hungry after what had become clear of 3 dinosaurs.
Many wanted Lambert - me included.

I still hope to be proved wrong. I'm increasingly concerned I may not be.

Sunday could be pivotal.

[eastie]

Doug made mistakes with managers  but admitted them and took action - we have drifted for 4 years and  it should not continue any longer.

[dave.woodhall]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

It's an unforgiving league. In 1995 we signed really good players that were established. I know the finances are different these days but the basic principle remains. There are a certain amount of good players and if you want to compete you have to try sign any quality available to you.

We have taken a lot of punts and added these to a side built from similar.

Let's not rewrite history here. They were very good players but Southgate and Draper had just been relegated and Savo had never played outside his own country.

Tommy Johnson was virtually untried, Alan Wright unknown and Gary Charles a bit of a journeyman. Brian Little was a better judge of a player than he was given credit for.

[eastie]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

Nobody in their right mind would criticise him for firing McLeish.
Nobody in their right mind would defer from criticising him for hiring McLeish him in the first place though.

Many wanted a young and hungry after what had become clear of 3 dinosaurs.
Many wanted Lambert - me included.

I still hope to be proved wrong. I'm increasingly concerned I may not be.

Sunday could be pivotal.

I agree many wanted lambert , me included but I accept I was wrong , he has been a huge disappointment.

[rob_bridge]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

It's an unforgiving league. In 1995 we signed really good players that were established. I know the finances are different these days but the basic principle remains. There are a certain amount of good players and if you want to compete you have to try sign any quality available to you.

We have taken a lot of punts and added these to a side built from similar.

Let's not rewrite history here. They were very good players but Southgate and Draper had just been relegated and Savo had never played outside his own country.

To be fair he also signed Alan Wright in 1995 and Gary Charles, Tommy Johnson and Ian Taylor shortly after he arrived at end of 04 / start of 95.

All had Premiership experience and were comparatively young.

[Ron Manager]

To be fair Lerner did take action in 2012.  He fired Mcleish and we went in this "young and hungry" direction.  And at the end of last season there did appear to be promise that this strategy may bear fruit.

Nobody in their right mind would criticise him for firing McLeish.
Nobody in their right mind would defer from criticising him for hiring McLeish him in the first place though.

Many wanted a young and hungry after what had become clear of 3 dinosaurs.
Many wanted Lambert - me included.

I still hope to be proved wrong. I'm increasingly concerned I may not be.

Sunday could be pivotal.

I agree many wanted lambert , me included but I accept I was wrong , he has been a huge disappointment.

And I too was totally wrong. I thought Lambert was going to be a manager of immense quality. Practically everything he has done has proved me wrong. Lerner must be horrified!

[dave.woodhall]

Ellis held the purse strings but he surrounded himself with people cleverer than himself and people who knew the game, take away Ansell & Stride and we'd be in big trouble, just like we are today.

In what parallel universe was Mark Ansell a 'football man'?