The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[Scott Nielsen]

I am actually starting to feel a bit sorry for this bloke - it is like a police interrogation every time anyone interviews him.  Words obviously I wholly accept I may live to regret in the coming days and years.

Not exactly a hard-hitting interview I thought. I wish Xia would get some media training and demonstrate more confidence when answering (or avoiding) the questions. It's not like there were any curve-balls thrown at him; all obvious queries and easy to prep for.

[Hookeysmith]

I have to ask this as it nagging away.
Considering his claimed academic prowess (read somewhere he was considered a child genius) and qualifications from Ivy league institutions like Harvard and MIT - should his command of the language not be better than it is?  Appreciate he maybe nervous in front of the camera, the previous English speaking one was almost silent, but his communication skills are pretty remedial for his announced background.

You could see in that CNN interview it was hardly Paxman like yet he really struggled to comprehend what she was saying and gave at times a completely irrelevant answer

hardly dispelled any fears folk may have. If he is nervous and language levels low then surely he has an official mouthpiece from the huge organisations he runs to put out a clear message and offer some support to the claims.

Really hope I am wrong but almost a week on and the whiff is becoming a stink

[TheMalandro]

CNN interviewer: "Tony, when you say 'we' and 'us', who do you mean?"

Dr X: "I mean me and our company. It's more like just myself."

That was very awkward but I did laugh!

[Monty]

I have to ask this as it nagging away.
Considering his claimed academic prowess (read somewhere he was considered a child genius) and qualifications from Ivy league institutions like Harvard and MIT - should his command of the language not be better than it is?  Appreciate he maybe nervous in front of the camera, the previous English speaking one was almost silent, but his communication skills are pretty remedial for his announced background.

You could see in that CNN interview it was hardly Paxman like yet he really struggled to comprehend what she was saying and gave at times a completely irrelevant answer

hardly dispelled any fears folk may have. If he is nervous and language levels low then surely he has an official mouthpiece from the huge organisations he runs to put out a clear message and offer some support to the claims.

Really hope I am wrong but almost a week on and the whiff is becoming a stink

Most of the English interaction he'd have had at university would have been reading and writing - listening comprehension, under pressure, is a whole different thing. Don't forget also that Chinese students very often stick together when they come to Western universities, and this lack of interaction with native English speakers means they limit their chances of increasing their listening and speaking skills.

[Jimbo]

I have to ask this as it nagging away.
Considering his claimed academic prowess (read somewhere he was considered a child genius) and qualifications from Ivy league institutions like Harvard and MIT - should his command of the language not be better than it is?  Appreciate he maybe nervous in front of the camera, the previous English speaking one was almost silent, but his communication skills are pretty remedial for his announced background.

You could see in that CNN interview it was hardly Paxman like yet he really struggled to comprehend what she was saying and gave at times a completely irrelevant answer

hardly dispelled any fears folk may have. If he is nervous and language levels low then surely he has an official mouthpiece from the huge organisations he runs to put out a clear message and offer some support to the claims.

Really hope I am wrong but almost a week on and the whiff is becoming a stink

Most of the English interaction he'd have had at university would have been reading and writing - listening comprehension, under pressure, is a whole different thing. Don't forget also that Chinese students very often stick together when they come to Western universities, and this lack of interaction with native English speakers means they limit their chances of increasing their listening and speaking skills.

I can vouch for this. The Chinese students I've come across in Birmingham have similar language barriers, but you would struggle to find brighter, more switched on young people.

[kippaxvilla2]

I have to ask this as it nagging away.
Considering his claimed academic prowess (read somewhere he was considered a child genius) and qualifications from Ivy league institutions like Harvard and MIT - should his command of the language not be better than it is?  Appreciate he maybe nervous in front of the camera, the previous English speaking one was almost silent, but his communication skills are pretty remedial for his announced background.

You could see in that CNN interview it was hardly Paxman like yet he really struggled to comprehend what she was saying and gave at times a completely irrelevant answer

hardly dispelled any fears folk may have. If he is nervous and language levels low then surely he has an official mouthpiece from the huge organisations he runs to put out a clear message and offer some support to the claims.

Really hope I am wrong but almost a week on and the whiff is becoming a stink

Considering the last owner whose first language is English used the words romantically nourished in a sentence, this guy is positively coherent.

[Hookeysmith]

I have to ask this as it nagging away.
Considering his claimed academic prowess (read somewhere he was considered a child genius) and qualifications from Ivy league institutions like Harvard and MIT - should his command of the language not be better than it is?  Appreciate he maybe nervous in front of the camera, the previous English speaking one was almost silent, but his communication skills are pretty remedial for his announced background.

You could see in that CNN interview it was hardly Paxman like yet he really struggled to comprehend what she was saying and gave at times a completely irrelevant answer

hardly dispelled any fears folk may have. If he is nervous and language levels low then surely he has an official mouthpiece from the huge organisations he runs to put out a clear message and offer some support to the claims.

Really hope I am wrong but almost a week on and the whiff is becoming a stink

Most of the English interaction he'd have had at university would have been reading and writing - listening comprehension, under pressure, is a whole different thing. Don't forget also that Chinese students very often stick together when they come to Western universities, and this lack of interaction with native English speakers means they limit their chances of increasing their listening and speaking skills.

Appreciated
But

I spent 4 years backwards and forwards all over China with work and only ever needed an interpreter in rural cities / towns. At large corporations there was many that spoke English perfectly well.
Considering he allegedly spent many years in the USA  as a young bright man surely he would have got a better handle on it

He really needs to put an end to this speculation - where is Hollis in advising him of the feeling over here?   

[aj2k77]

How would he put an end to the speculation?

[Monty]

I have to ask this as it nagging away.
Considering his claimed academic prowess (read somewhere he was considered a child genius) and qualifications from Ivy league institutions like Harvard and MIT - should his command of the language not be better than it is?  Appreciate he maybe nervous in front of the camera, the previous English speaking one was almost silent, but his communication skills are pretty remedial for his announced background.

You could see in that CNN interview it was hardly Paxman like yet he really struggled to comprehend what she was saying and gave at times a completely irrelevant answer

hardly dispelled any fears folk may have. If he is nervous and language levels low then surely he has an official mouthpiece from the huge organisations he runs to put out a clear message and offer some support to the claims.

Really hope I am wrong but almost a week on and the whiff is becoming a stink

Most of the English interaction he'd have had at university would have been reading and writing - listening comprehension, under pressure, is a whole different thing. Don't forget also that Chinese students very often stick together when they come to Western universities, and this lack of interaction with native English speakers means they limit their chances of increasing their listening and speaking skills.

I can vouch for this. The Chinese students I've come across in Birmingham have similar language barriers, but you would struggle to find brighter, more switched on young people.

And their English is good enough to study their academic subject (which is not to mention how much of their vocabulary will be highly specialised for the purposes of study). They're not, by and large, coming to England to study the literature produced in our mellifluous native language - they're coming to England and the US to benefit from our enormously advanced STEM programmes.

Hookey - believe me, his English is spectacular by the standards of regular Chinese students of UK and American colleges. Remember, they come for an education which will benefit them in their careers back home, so the incentive to go beyond a functional grasp of the language is minimal.

[kippaxvilla2]

Does he need to put an end to the speculation that he is Chinese?

[andyh]

Christ !!

So the next thing to beat the bloke up about is because he 'don't talk English like wot we do'.

For fucks sake, lets give the bloke a break.

[andrew08]

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-qa-tony-xia-11383863

[Jimbo]

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-qa-tony-xia-11383863

Cut and paste? I'd really rather not click on that rag.

[Villa in Denmark]

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-qa-tony-xia-11383863

Cut and paste? I'd really rather not click on that rag.

I'm tempted to suggest it as an addition to the site rules.

Anything that denies them their clickbait cat be bad.

[Billy Walker]

Christ !!

So the next thing to beat the bloke up about is because he 'don't talk English like wot we do'.

For fucks sake, lets give the bloke a break.

For me, it is more a concern of what the football press in England will do to his words when he does his first Villa Park press conferences.  It's no reflection on him as a person nor his academic capability/history - I feel he is a sharp, switched on guy.  I just feel Tony needs to be wary and prepared for the English press.