Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: N'ZMAV on February 03, 2014, 10:51:12 AM
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Randy Lerner will NOT sell Aston Villa - but may sell naming rights to Villa Park to earn club cash (http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/randy-lerner-not-sell-aston-3106566)
Interesting....
Not sure I'd be for changing the stadium name.
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It will always be Villa Park to me and I think most of you to
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I wouldn't read too much into those comments by nursey - speculative article with nothing to back it up.
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I agree - I was interested in seeing if people would be happy to change the name for the sake of more investment in the club.
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No problem selling naming rights as far as I'm concerned.
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No problem selling naming rights as far as I'm concerned.
Same here , I have no problem with it either , will still see it as villa park.
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Any company would be mad to buy naming rights for an existing stadium.... no value in it. The only time this works if for new stadiums.
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No problem selling naming rights as far as I'm concerned.
Same here , I have no problem with it either , will still see it as villa park.
This is weird, but as probably the youngest member of this forum I have a huge fucking problem with selling the naming rights. I'm surprised you two don't.
I can't wait to sing the lads on from the Genting Casino Lucky Roulette 29 end this Saturday.
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We need investment, so Randy would be right to weigh up the options. But the other problem we have is a lack of any football knowledge at board level. Historically, Randy appears to have left this to his managers, but when the manager moves on, we're stumped. It inevitably leads to poor appointments. It would also be nice if we had someone who knows the game to show a little leadership and direction off the pitch.
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No problem selling naming rights as far as I'm concerned.
Same here , I have no problem with it either , will still see it as villa park.
This is weird, but as probably the youngest member of this forum I have a huge fucking problem with selling the naming rights. I'm surprised you two don't.
I can't wait to sing the lads on from the Genting Casino Lucky Roulette 29 end this Saturday.
My main interest is what happens with the team on the pitch , they can call it what they like but to me it will always be villa park and we need money spent on the team .
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We're stuck between a rock and a hard place. There's no multi billionaires out there waiting to buy us (as far as we know), so how do we make ourselves more competitive? It comes down to where you draw the line. To me this does not cross it, as to me the ground will always be Villa Park.
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in answer to that last question I'd accept it as a necessity. The key thing is we can't have everything, the last full set of accounts had our turnover as £80m (9th in the league), Tottenham were 6th in that list with £144m. If we want to challenge them that gap needs to close and really there are 2 sensible routes to that, increase commercial income or increase matchday revenue, the latter meaning increased ticket prices, etc (the 3rd revenue stream is tied to performance and will obviously help but that needs to come on the back of commercial growth or you risk the wheels falling off with 1-2 poor seasons).
Out of interest 7th is Newcastle with £93m, we should definitely be looking to move ahead of them asap.
For me the real question is, would you prefer the ground to be renamed or to pay an extra £5 per ticket? The latter potentially nets the club £2.5-3m extra a year, I'd hope for a lot more than that for the former, additionally I'd be surprised if the fans accepted a rise like that as a requirement to challenge, in reality it would push a lot of fans away. I guess someone will mention the TV money but the way that's weighed will actually widen the gap rather than close it.
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This isn't in the same category as changing the club colours or the team name for me. If it resulted in funds which improved our competitiveness and made it more enjoyable to go down there again they can call it St Andrews for all I care. Between ourselves it will always be Villa Park anyway.
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Any company would be mad to buy naming rights for an existing stadium.... no value in it. The only time this works if for new stadiums.
Agreed, the long standing association means there's no real value to sponsors.
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rubbish. He's selling up.
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Any company would be mad to buy naming rights for an existing stadium.... no value in it. The only time this works if for new stadiums.
Agreed, the long standing association means there's no real value to sponsors.
It really depends on what they do, shove some lettering on the side that you can see from the expressway and you've got a massive billboard being seen by a few million people a week, that alone is worth a fair few pennies. Add to that all the sky/etc reports stating they're from the xyz stadium and any live games having footage from above showing a massive corporate logo on top of the stand and it starts to make sense for someone to spend a bit on it. Particularly someone who's trying to expand outside the UK into countries where the premier league is the main domestic football (Middle East and Far East being the obvious examples) they're interested in.
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The money bought in for naming rights is a drop in the ocean and i cannot see Lerner doing it. He said when he bought the club that he would give it his best shot but if it didn't work out he would move aside for someone else
to have a go.That's what he is working up to.
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I am still call the Witton Lane end, the Witton Lane end, and would still call Villa Park, Villa Park whatever it got changed to. That said I still wouldn't like it changed.
There is a difference between 'legal rights' and 'natural rights', Randy may well have the legal right to sell the name of the stadium, but he does not have the natural right to. That belongs to the many people that the name has value to (the fans mostly).
It's all part of the modern obsession with valuing everything only in monetary terms, which devalues all other less quantifiable but equally important values. The worst case of this is when it allows people to trade the right to pollute by, depoluting elsewhere (carbon credits), but it is creeping in everywhere.
Anyways, I'd rather it didn't happen. The last time we had an owner that sold the family silver for a one off cash injection was when Herbert floated the club on the stock market. I suspect most of the cash from naming rights would be trousered by Randy to pay the clubs debt off, and little or none would end up going on players. Plus even if Lambert did get it, he may well blow it on the wrong players.
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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.
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rubbish. He's selling up.
What are you basing that on though? Everything that's happening, whilst being good ideas if we're trying to sell up, are also good ideas to build a long-term, sustainable business model that sees the club grow naturally. This article, whilst possibly complete bullshit, firmly suggests that the latter is the goal, I'm not sure how you can call that rubbish, it does fit with what has been happening.
As for him not attending games, which appears to be used as an example that he's lost interest, could it be that he really is the shy person he's stated to be and he realises that the current situation at the club would see him getting lots of attention.
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rubbish. He's selling up.
What are you basing that on though? Everything that's happening, whilst being good ideas if we're trying to sell up, are also good ideas to build a long-term, sustainable business model that sees the club grow naturally. This article, whilst possibly complete bullshit, firmly suggests that the latter is the goal, I'm not sure how you can call that rubbish, it does fit with what has been happening.
As for him not attending games, which appears to be used as an example that he's lost interest, could it be that he really is the shy person he's stated to be and he realises that the current situation at the club would see him getting lots of attention.
I don't think he's staying away because he is shy or doesn't want to attract attention- he could attend games without being bothered by the press or the like , the current situation is we are in mid -table and I doubt he would get that more attention than he has done in the past .
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As long as we invest in the squad I don't mind selling naming rights. Whether Lambert is the man to give the money to? I am all for investment but instead of building more stadia, build the team.
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As said, if you don't want to sell the naming rights would you accept an increase in matchday costs? If not will you be happy to float in mid-table with the odd cup run? If no to the last one then just where do you think we should find the funds for a shot at achieving more? Loans secured on future income? Randy to bankroll us like Man City and Chelsea are with their owners, is that fair to ask of him?
As I said we can't have everything, if we want to challenge the top 6 and eventually the top 4 we need to make more money, if nothing else so we can afford to keep the stars that our current transfer policy finds, but longer term to give us the finances to buy from the £10-15m category every summer.
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rubbish. He's selling up.
What are you basing that on though? Everything that's happening, whilst being good ideas if we're trying to sell up, are also good ideas to build a long-term, sustainable business model that sees the club grow naturally. This article, whilst possibly complete bullshit, firmly suggests that the latter is the goal, I'm not sure how you can call that rubbish, it does fit with what has been happening.
As for him not attending games, which appears to be used as an example that he's lost interest, could it be that he really is the shy person he's stated to be and he realises that the current situation at the club would see him getting lots of attention.
I don't think he's staying away because he is shy or doesn't want to attract attention- he could attend games without being bothered by the press or the like , the current situation is we are in mid -table and I doubt he would get that more attention than he has done in the past .
Do you really believe that their wouldn't be fans giving him shit for the cut backs? He'd get dogs abuse at games right now and if he is as shy as he's stated to be I can imagine him not wanting to expose himself to that, makes perfect sense to me.
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We must have the only shy owner in the history of football. I'm trying to think why a shy person would buy a football club - 2 football clubs if you include the rugby club he had in America.
I wonder how shy he'd be if we were winning every week and challenging at the top?
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rubbish. He's selling up.
What are you basing that on though? Everything that's happening, whilst being good ideas if we're trying to sell up, are also good ideas to build a long-term, sustainable business model that sees the club grow naturally. This article, whilst possibly complete bullshit, firmly suggests that the latter is the goal, I'm not sure how you can call that rubbish, it does fit with what has been happening.
As for him not attending games, which appears to be used as an example that he's lost interest, could it be that he really is the shy person he's stated to be and he realises that the current situation at the club would see him getting lots of attention.
I don't think he's staying away because he is shy or doesn't want to attract attention- he could attend games without being bothered by the press or the like , the current situation is we are in mid -table and I doubt he would get that more attention than he has done in the past .
Do you really believe that their wouldn't be fans giving him shit for the cut backs? He'd get dogs abuse at games right now and if he is as shy as he's stated to be I can imagine him not wanting to expose himself to that, makes perfect sense to me.
He attended browns games regularly and their fans had far more to complain about - I don't think being shy would keep him from villa park or the possibility of criticism from fans.
Lambert is hardly getting dogs abuse from fans and I doubt Lerner would get that much either - if anything I expect he thinks things are progressing well with the team in the top half and the high earners mostly off the books.
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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.
That's it for me too. Selling 'naming rights' would feel all wrong. As for the fact we'd all still call it Villa park, yes that's true, but we'd also have to hear others call it the Red Bull Dome or something equally as vomit inducing. And for what? The chance to attain 7th or 6th? Maybe? It just wouldn't be worth it.
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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.
That's it for me too. Selling 'naming rights' would feel all wrong. As for the fact we'd all still call it Villa park, yes that's true, but we'd also have to hear others call it the Red Bull Dome or something equally as vomit inducing. And for what? The chance to attain 7th or 6th? Maybe? It just wouldn't be worth it.
That is a good point , how much money would we get for the naming rights and would that money be invested in the team ?
I don't see the necessity to build in the north stand and extend capacity until the team are regularly attracting full houses.
Improve the team and the gates will improve and so will the prize money for placings.
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This idea that he is shy and doesn't want any stick doesn't wash with me. Under TSM I never heard his name chanted positively or negatively, nor in the last two seasons. People grumble but no mass outcry.
Apparently he comes to the UK but doesn't come and watch us, I find that really strange. If I owned the Villa I would go every time we played at home - Oh I do go every time we play at home ;-)
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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.
That's it for me too. Selling 'naming rights' would feel all wrong. As for the fact we'd all still call it Villa park, yes that's true, but we'd also have to hear others call it the Red Bull Dome or something equally as vomit inducing. And for what? The chance to attain 7th or 6th? Maybe? It just wouldn't be worth it.
Quite right. It would not pull in enough money to make any difference and if it did there are no guarantees, Arsenal fans will attest to this.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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...
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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..."
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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.
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File under Bollocks, Load of
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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.
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"The Berkshire Hathaway Stadium at Villa Park" has a nice ring to it
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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.
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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
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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.
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Should we rename our ground "The Vodafone-Red Bull- Come and take 3 points Arena?"
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BBC News -
Quoted in the Express and Star, chief executive Paul Falkner says: "I can categorically confirm Aston Villa Football Club has absolutely not been put up for sale and that Randy Lerner is not actively looking to sell the club."
but he'd probably accept the right offer :-\
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BBC News -
Quoted in the Express and Star, chief executive Paul Falkner says: "I can categorically confirm Aston Villa Football Club has absolutely not been put up for sale and that Randy Lerner is not actively looking to sell the club."
but he'd probably accept the right offer :-\
'Actively' seems to be the key word in that statement , I would hope the right offer would tempt him but as everton have found out there aren't that many multi billionaires looking to buy clubs.
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Randy hasn't said anything, he doesn't give interviews, So where has he get it from?
like most have said really, what's the benefit really?
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rubbish. He's selling up.
I think he might be too. Having looked at his various ventures, he seems to lose interest in most of them and either shuts or sells up. You can Google his business activity on Long Island and the overall impression that I get is that he's a bit of a spoilt rich kid. That said, if some of the rumours which I have heard are true, he may well be flush soon and start increasing his investment in the Club. Hope so.
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rubbish. He's selling up.
......... That said, if some of the rumours which I have heard are true, he may well be flush soon and start increasing his investment in the Club. Hope so.
Oh do tell.....
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The money he picked up from selling the Browns has been invested in a giant laser beam based on the moon. Randy intends to hold the world to ransom.
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I'm sure I heard PF come out saying the name of Villa Park will always remain so. The North Stand, especially with the proposed redevelopment of it could be up for grabs though. For me, the names Villa Park, The Holte End and The Trinity Rd Stand are sacrosanct.
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I have always supported a team called aston villa
They play in claret and blue
They play at villa park
I watch them from the Holte end
And nothing no matter what will ever change for me
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"The Berkshire Hathaway Stadium at Villa Park" has a nice ring to it
I doubt Warren Buffet would want anything to do with the crazy economics of Premiership football let alone give any of his money to the commercial geniuses that are Faulker and Lerner.
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rubbish. He's selling up.
I think he might be too. Having looked at his various ventures, he seems to lose interest in most of them and either shuts or sells up. You can Google his business activity on Long Island and the overall impression that I get is that he's a bit of a spoilt rich kid. That said, if some of the rumours which I have heard are true, he may well be flush soon and start increasing his investment in the Club. Hope so.
I am led to believe that he constantly changes his mind - so today he is not selling but tomorrow he may wish to do so - his father had the business acumen and brain - whether son inherited that as well as the cash is open to question. All the original suggestions of a 5 year plan may have been "pie in the sky" or were changed as he wavered constantly. We need to move on from the O`Neill era otherwise the wounds will never heal. Does anyone know who appointed O`Neill ? Was it Ellis, or did Ellis propose him? certainly Ellis would never have allowed the type of spending we embarked on at the time.
This whole debate sums up the world of modern football - its all about the money - frankly I find it all totally obscene and I am voting with both my feet and wallet.
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No problem selling naming rights as far as I'm concerned.
Same here , I have no problem with it either , will still see it as villa park.
This is weird, but as probably the youngest member of this forum I have a huge fucking problem with selling the naming rights. I'm surprised you two don't.
I can't wait to sing the lads on from the Genting Casino Lucky Roulette 29 end this Saturday.
Mate who gives a fuck? I don't. I'm a traditionalist but who cares? The only issue I have is how much he'd get for it and whether it'd be spent on players/expansion of the North Stand.
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Do you think PF is privy to what Lerner is thinking and doing i think not, when i sold my company the last people i wanted to know was my staff simply because i needed stability until the sale ws done and dusted. None of us really have any idea what Lerners intentions are, i just make assumptions based on what appears to be a clear stratedgy.
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Our only realistic hope of being able to compete with the bigger clubs is if a billionaire comes along...unfortunately there aren't many of them about and of the one's that are about 50% seem to be ' crackpots' when it comes owning a football club..I'd rather us finish halfway than be taken over by some of the idiots that are out there.
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Two things - I seem to be in the minority here but I would be gutted if we changed the name of the ground and can't believe why some take it so lightly?
Secondly, if RL does sell, the first person to pick up his P45 should be the Ginger Prince. And I don't mean Harry Windsor.
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Anyone investing £50M a year for the next five years can name it anything they like.
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Anyone investing £50M a year for the next five years can name it anything they like.
St.Andrews?
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The new North might get renamed and I don't think anybody would be bothered by that.
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I'm with Des Little on this one. I'd be gutted if true. Another nail in the coffin for me with football I'm afraid.
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rubbish. He's selling up.
What are you basing that on though? Everything that's happening, whilst being good ideas if we're trying to sell up, are also good ideas to build a long-term, sustainable business model that sees the club grow naturally. This article, whilst possibly complete bullshit, firmly suggests that the latter is the goal, I'm not sure how you can call that rubbish, it does fit with what has been happening.
As for him not attending games, which appears to be used as an example that he's lost interest, could it be that he really is the shy person he's stated to be and he realises that the current situation at the club would see him getting lots of attention.
I don't think he's staying away because he is shy or doesn't want to attract attention- he could attend games without being bothered by the press or the like , the current situation is we are in mid -table and I doubt he would get that more attention than he has done in the past .
i watched a doco on YouTube last night called aston villa, the first premiership. It was quite entertaining. Doug as you would imagine, featured quite heavily in it. The differences between him and Randy could not be starker. Granted it was 20 years ago, but Ellis seemed genuinely worried about a shortfall in revenue of around 3m quid for 92/93 season.
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Anyone investing £50M a year for the next five years can name it anything they like.
St.Andrews?
Wash you mouth out.
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I'm against a name change. That said, weak-willed as I am I'd probably get over it. I do question whether it would be worth anybody's while to do that considering the strength of the Villa Park name. It's probably not going to be enough to make the difference between midtable mediocrity and competing.
I spent a bit of time down in the Midlands around the Boggies game and went past The Bescott on the train. I think it still has some sponsor's name on it (Is it still the Bank's Stadium?) and the outside was just a mess. A massive Kia badge on the side of one of the stands and a massive bilboard advertising Floors to Go or some such at the top. I'd hate to see Villa Park (which for me just oozes class even when you see it from a distance coming into the City on the train) become something like that, regardless of the rewards we would get.
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No I don't want to walk up to The Aston Pampers Arena to watch the Red Bull Lions take on the Hull Tigers for a Stella Artios Champions League place decider, having won the Capital Cup and the Tampax FA Cup in a glorious treble season 2017/18. Just look at Newcastle and it's 'Wonga' Stadium, a farce.
What sets us apart is our class and proud heritage, anyone giving up that heritage so easily doesn't see the point of football, it is history, it is our bond with the hundreds of thousands that have gone before, it is the black and white photographs, without the history the future means nothing. Youngsters may not understand but anyone over forty who has stood on the terraces should get my point.
Don't trade your heritage for money, money is temporary our heritage is forever unless we sell it out for a Champions League quarter final defeat in 2019 and inevitable subsequent financial collapse.
Stick with Lambert, grow a team, win games, climb the table, get successful, get bigger gates, make our own money, nurture players, keep the players, and stuff the Premier League's three tier system where the rich get richer and the rest supply them with their best players to keep the status quo.
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it's just the way the game is going with foreign owners that have very little connections to the clubs they own. Cardiff owner changing the colors after 100 years, Hull owner changing the name, cov playing in nuneaton. I know a lot of posters have been saying "Its just the name, It'll always be Villa Park to me etc" , but for me It's everything. When you start to lose your Heritage that's it. Little by little they'll take away small pieces until one day you'll be taking your grandkids to some monstrosity of a ground to watch a team you don't recognize in strange colours . Sounds dramatic but it's already happening. UTV
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it's just the way the game is going with foreign owners that have very little connections to the clubs they own. Cardiff owner changing the colors after 100 years, Hull owner changing the name, cov playing in nuneaton. I know a lot of posters have been saying "Its just the name, It'll always be Villa Park to me etc" , but for me It's everything. When you start to lose your Heritage that's it. Little by little they'll take away small pieces until one day you'll be taking your grandkids to some monstrosity of a ground to watch a team you don't recognize in strange colours . Sounds dramatic but it's already happening. UTV
I agree with this. The change would be insidious, but change it would be. We'll be having cheerleaders on the pitch next and Donald Duck leading the teams out!
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No I don't want to walk up to The Aston Pampers Arena to watch the Red Bull Lions take on the Hull Tigers for a Stella Artios Champions League place decider, having won the Capital Cup and the Tampax FA Cup in a glorious treble season 2017/18. Just look at Newcastle and it's 'Wonga' Stadium, a farce.
What sets us apart is our class and proud heritage, anyone giving up that heritage so easily doesn't see the point of football, it is history, it is our bond with the hundreds of thousands that have gone before, it is the black and white photographs, without the history the future means nothing. Youngsters may not understand but anyone over forty who has stood on the terraces should get my point.
Don't trade your heritage for money, money is temporary our heritage is forever unless we sell it out for a Champions League quarter final defeat in 2019 and inevitable subsequent financial collapse.
Stick with Lambert, grow a team, win games, climb the table, get successful, get bigger gates, make our own money, nurture players, keep the players, and stuff the Premier League's three tier system where the rich get richer and the rest supply them with their best players to keep the status quo.
Amen to that, brother.