ALOTBSOL - Silver Linings - Once in a lifetime opportunity

[IFWaters]

I'd be up for this.  At the moment we have no communication or inkling of the strategies behind the running of the club.  Some kind of ownership model that gives supporters a vote on how the club is run and opens up more direct channels of communication would be good.  A hybrid of the German/Barcelona models would be interesting.  Potential Chairmen could be voted in or out and we would have open target-setting and statements of ambition and direction.  Count me in IF Waters.

Me too.  For Christ's sake, are we just going to sit here and watch our Villa getting pulled apart, or actually do something to save what we love about our club?  Of course, it's not as simple as nodding your head and smiling and there are things we'd need to seriously think over, but why not?

I'll give you two examples of why it's totally impractical.

1) At the second VFC meeting Howard Hodgson stood up and announced plans to buy out Doug. He was greeted with rapturous applause. Then he said he wanted £500 from each supporter to do it. I' ve never seen "deafening silence" so well demonstrated.

2) Doug's 34% of the shares was too much for any one man to own. We wanted a Barcelona model. Along came Randy, and the same people calling for a membership democracy suddenly said equally loudly that the only way forward was for the owner to hold 100%.

Fair enough points especially when it comes to asking people to put their hands in their pockets. It just struck me that rather than just sitting on here moaning about how shite   everything is it might make a pleasant change to discuss how we can make things better. It can't be done. No one's up for it.

The Apollo missions.
Heart transplants.
The internet.
A woman in her 20s setting the record for sailing single handed round the world.
Going from biplanes to jetplanes in less than 10 years because we were up against the Nazis.

Nah.
Scratches nuts.
Raises buttock, farts.
What's on telly tonight luv ?
Mrs Brown's Boys ?
Bostin !

[ChicagoLion]

IFW
If you really are commited to do something, go ahead.
Its a bit like asking someone directions in Ireland when they say, "well I would not have started from here"
And that advice looks pretty good right now.

[LeeB]

I'd be up for this.  At the moment we have no communication or inkling of the strategies behind the running of the club.  Some kind of ownership model that gives supporters a vote on how the club is run and opens up more direct channels of communication would be good.  A hybrid of the German/Barcelona models would be interesting.  Potential Chairmen could be voted in or out and we would have open target-setting and statements of ambition and direction.  Count me in IF Waters.

Me too.  For Christ's sake, are we just going to sit here and watch our Villa getting pulled apart, or actually do something to save what we love about our club?  Of course, it's not as simple as nodding your head and smiling and there are things we'd need to seriously think over, but why not?

I'll give you two examples of why it's totally impractical.

1) At the second VFC meeting Howard Hodgson stood up and announced plans to buy out Doug. He was greeted with rapturous applause. Then he said he wanted £500 from each supporter to do it. I' ve never seen "deafening silence" so well demonstrated.

2) Doug's 34% of the shares was too much for any one man to own. We wanted a Barcelona model. Along came Randy, and the same people calling for a membership democracy suddenly said equally loudly that the only way forward was for the owner to hold 100%.

Fair enough points especially when it comes to asking people to put their hands in their pockets. It just struck me that rather than just sitting on here moaning about how shite   everything is it might make a pleasant change to discuss how we can make things better. It can't be done. No one's up for it.

The Apollo missions.
Heart transplants.
The internet.
A woman in her 20s setting the record for sailing single handed round the world.
Going from biplanes to jetplanes in less than 10 years because we were up against the Nazis.

Nah.
Scratches nuts.
Raises buttock, farts.
What's on telly tonight luv ?
Mrs Brown's Boys ?
Bostin !

I with you mate, I was close to opening a thread on this very subject yesterday morning but as usual struggled to put my thoughts together coherently enough is the small timeframe I had.

As Dave has pointed out, it's impractical to the point of impossible, but I still don't think that should mean we should rule out discussing it.

We have some fine minds collected here, not me like I'm a clown, how about we discuss hypothetically what sort of set up would be required for us to get some kind of serious representation at board level?

What would be the democratic structure if it were to happen?

How does it work at those clubs where it's supposed to be in place?

As I say in my earlier disclaimer, I'm basically an ill read buffoon, but I think it's healthy to at least explore these issues a bit tapping into the resource of knowledge gathered here, bloody he'll it's about the one thing that binds us all.

If we don't, I'd half expect Randy to wake up one day, declare he's going to give the club to the fans, and put Jon Fear in charge.

[FarEastVilla]

I to have been thinking about this - however why don't we consider inviting a custodian to buy Villa - ie someone we see fit.

Someone who we as fans can invite to buy us and hopefully someone who would value being directly  invited by the fans who may not already understand what a great club this is and perhaps assist them in recommending an acting chairman that we trust.

In fact without going into too much detail at the moment I was involved in such a thing for us a few months ago.

I would be happy to discuss this at length with a few like minded people , perhaps by PM as discussing here may not be appropriate or respectful to current owners.

We are not just a great British club - we are a British institution.

We need to do something before we float into obscurity - 

The British Leyland analogy by fellow Villa brother could not be more spot on.

 
Why have we been so passive in every respect over recent times ?

[four fornicholl]

this is a very depressing thread
what the fuck has happened to us

[Stu]

this is a very depressing thread
what the fuck has happened to us

NYE innit? Everyone has been at the ale.

Happy new year everyone!

[Chris Harte]

I've had a read through most of the thread.

I share the OP's frustration with our club but the proposal is fantasy.

The local businesses element is possibly the most doable of the three parts proposed. The players involvement the least, with the fans involvement only slighly less unlikely.

Lets take a few figures. A Randy loan requiring a repayment of £50 p/m - all fine and dandy in theory, but thats a debt. On top of other debts that the average fan has (mortgage, car finance, credit card, etc). As much as a fan may want to do this, firstly they may not gave the financial resources to do it. Secondly, if they do, they may have a wife/hubby saying, with some justification, "we could use that to pay for x, y or z, besides you already pay £500+ fkr a season card."

Even if you structured things differently and, for instance, said anyone with £20000 available up front could buy a share in the club, the scenario above with unhappy partners saying the money can be better spent elsewhere would still apply. Not to mention that at £20000 a share you'd need 5000 fans to make up the £100M suggested in the OP. We'd have to have the richest fans in football to find that many with that amount of free cash, I'd imagine.

As frustrated as I am with where Villa are, I recognise this as fantasy. The scenario already mentioned where we are bought cheap after the parachute payments have gone is more likely.

But lets not stop dreaming....

[Percy McCarthy]

What do all those letters in the title stand for?

[Chris Harte]

What do all those letters in the title stand for?

Covered earlier in the thread - Always look on the bright side of life.

[Percy McCarthy]

What do all those letters in the title stand for?

Covered earlier in the thread - Always look on the bright side of life.

Thanks Chris. The thread looked like a bit of a marathon that I haven't got the energy for.

[DaveD]

In my working life, whenever people who don't understand the full picture look at our situation - they always seem to feel that it's helpful to chip in with "well, why don't you just..."

My response to them, and it seems appropriate here, is "if it was that f***ing simple, don't you think we'd have done it already ?"