Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner should slash asking price to save club, insists former boss Graham TaylorThe ex-England manager says the club is a 'rudderless ship' and it may be too late to save them from relegation after a dismal seasonFormer Aston Villa boss Graham Taylor says billionaire owner Randy Lerner has to put up or sell up if the club is to be saved from relegation.Lerner has appointed Tim Sherwood, his fifth manager in nine years, but Taylor thinks it might be too late.The former England boss rebuilt Villa the last time they were relegated 28 years ago, getting the club promoted in his first season and then turning them into title contenders.But after five years of constant struggle they are again in the Premier League’s bottom three and without a league win for 10 games.Sherwood watched Villa’s FA Cup win over Leicester and takes his first game as boss at home to Stoke tomorrow.But although Lerner flew in for his first face-to-face meeting with his new manager on Tuesday he hasn’t stayed around to support him in his first game.“Aston Villa is a rudderless ship,” said Taylor, who also had a second spell as manager and served on the board. “It is all over the shop.“When Randy Lerner took over I was impressed. I thought he was going to show me that these billionaires could come in and successfully run the show.“I thought Villa had done well and there was a plan. He has put a lot of his own money into Villa, but I began to be disturbed when people like Steve Stride, the best football club secretary I have ever worked with, left.“At that point I thought something had gone wrong. Changes have been made that have not been for the good of the club.”Lerner, 52, bought Villa for £64million and has added over £100m to the bill since but runs things via internet and phone from his home in New York and rarely goes to games.The Villa owner put the club up for sale in May saying: ”I owe it to Villa to move on, and look for fresh, invigorated leadership, if in my heart I feel I can no longer do the job.”He was looking to break even, but would now take £150m – with Taylor encouraging him to slash even that price for the good of the club.“They are nice people at Villa, but they are not football people,” said Taylor whose family home is only a few miles from Villa Park.“You have non-football people making the appointments. Do they understand what they are doing?’Lerner’s right hand man is chief executive Tom Fox whose background is in business after five years as Arsenal’s chief commercial officer.Doug Ellis, who is 91, sold the club to Lerner and Taylor said: “I worked for Doug Ellis and whatever one says about him, he cannot be described as a non-football person. You cannot run a football club by phone from the other side of the Atlantic and that is what Lerner is trying to do.“I don’t know who is on Aston Villa’s board, how it’s run, no one does.“All I can ask is that things are sorted out quickly. You’ve brought somebody in, but it might be too late Mr Lerner.”
MirrorQuoteAston Villa owner Randy Lerner should slash asking price to save club, insists former boss Graham TaylorThe ex-England manager says the club is a 'rudderless ship' and it may be too late to save them from relegation after a dismal seasonFormer Aston Villa boss Graham Taylor says billionaire owner Randy Lerner has to put up or sell up if the club is to be saved from relegation.Lerner has appointed Tim Sherwood, his fifth manager in nine years, but Taylor thinks it might be too late.The former England boss rebuilt Villa the last time they were relegated 28 years ago, getting the club promoted in his first season and then turning them into title contenders.But after five years of constant struggle they are again in the Premier League’s bottom three and without a league win for 10 games.Sherwood watched Villa’s FA Cup win over Leicester and takes his first game as boss at home to Stoke tomorrow.But although Lerner flew in for his first face-to-face meeting with his new manager on Tuesday he hasn’t stayed around to support him in his first game.“Aston Villa is a rudderless ship,” said Taylor, who also had a second spell as manager and served on the board. “It is all over the shop.“When Randy Lerner took over I was impressed. I thought he was going to show me that these billionaires could come in and successfully run the show.“I thought Villa had done well and there was a plan. He has put a lot of his own money into Villa, but I began to be disturbed when people like Steve Stride, the best football club secretary I have ever worked with, left.“At that point I thought something had gone wrong. Changes have been made that have not been for the good of the club.”Lerner, 52, bought Villa for £64million and has added over £100m to the bill since but runs things via internet and phone from his home in New York and rarely goes to games.The Villa owner put the club up for sale in May saying: ”I owe it to Villa to move on, and look for fresh, invigorated leadership, if in my heart I feel I can no longer do the job.”He was looking to break even, but would now take £150m – with Taylor encouraging him to slash even that price for the good of the club.“They are nice people at Villa, but they are not football people,” said Taylor whose family home is only a few miles from Villa Park.“You have non-football people making the appointments. Do they understand what they are doing?’Lerner’s right hand man is chief executive Tom Fox whose background is in business after five years as Arsenal’s chief commercial officer.Doug Ellis, who is 91, sold the club to Lerner and Taylor said: “I worked for Doug Ellis and whatever one says about him, he cannot be described as a non-football person. You cannot run a football club by phone from the other side of the Atlantic and that is what Lerner is trying to do.“I don’t know who is on Aston Villa’s board, how it’s run, no one does.“All I can ask is that things are sorted out quickly. You’ve brought somebody in, but it might be too late Mr Lerner.”
Lerner.
I love the man but I wish he could have held his fire a while. There is a bit of a feel good factor around the club this week and Lerner reducing price would do nothing between now and the end of the season anyway. Lerner has acted on management, I think its better for everyone to rally around the flag the next few months.
You could argue should we stay up, the price should be going up in light of the new PL deal. A mid table finish will net well north of £120m per annum
Quote from: ciggiesnbeer on February 21, 2015, 12:57:01 AMI love the man but I wish he could have held his fire a while. There is a bit of a feel good factor around the club this week and Lerner reducing price would do nothing between now and the end of the season anyway. Lerner has acted on management, I think its better for everyone to rally around the flag the next few months.I agree. A rare lapse in judgement and timing from the great man.
Quote from: PeterWithe on February 21, 2015, 09:29:39 AMQuote from: ciggiesnbeer on February 21, 2015, 12:57:01 AMI love the man but I wish he could have held his fire a while. There is a bit of a feel good factor around the club this week and Lerner reducing price would do nothing between now and the end of the season anyway. Lerner has acted on management, I think its better for everyone to rally around the flag the next few months.I agree. A rare lapse in judgement and timing from the great man.Agreed, he should have held fire to see how Sherwood does in the next few games. Perhaps someone at B6 has upset GT
The most telling point GT makes is that the people running the club are non-football people. Madness to get rid of Steve Stride.
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Topic: Graham Taylor: Randy Lerner should slash asking price to save club (Read 21020 times)
