Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: David_Nab on February 04, 2016, 12:06:05 PM
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http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~5321567,00.html
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Just needs Nigel Kennedy to be appointed Head of Fiddling and Prince William to be Head of Pointless Foreign Jaunts for the full set.
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'Interest' levels in the club remain at an all time low following this appointment...
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Lord King of Lothbury……..FFS
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Has Cameron joined the West Ham board?
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Ahhh the Lord King of Lothbury, is he any good up front?
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At least he's a Villa fan.
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Really really good appointment.
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I thought he was a darter?
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Just needs Nigel Kennedy to be appointed Head of Fiddling and Prince William to be Head of Pointless Foreign Jaunts for the full set.
Pointless foreign jaunts, I assume you mean our head of scouting?
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Fuck off Hollis you ******. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
Thumbs up 8)
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"I shall do my best to help the rebuilding of Aston Villa Football Club..."
I guess that means that the board are saying the white flags are flying for this season, mind you the transfer window non event pretty well said we surrender
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
Precisely.
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"I shall do my best to help the rebuilding of Aston Villa Football Club as together we return it to its position as one of the top clubs in the world."
I hope he knows something we don't then.
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As a football club, you can NEVER have enough money men and accountants on the board.
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"I shall do my best to help the rebuilding of Aston Villa Football Club as together we return it to its position as one of the top clubs in the world."
I hope he knows something we don't then.
What was the saying RL had when he joined about our past and our future?
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Well I suppose at least that means we have at least one person who actually cares at board level.
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"I shall do my best to help the rebuilding of Aston Villa Football Club as together we return it to its position as one of the top clubs in the world."
I hope he knows something we don't then.
What was the saying RL had when he joined about our past and our future?
At least he acknowledges our rightful status. Talk is cheap but I've not heard many board members do that.
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Ah. That'll be what the money from the sacked tea ladies goes on then...
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King has been employed to ensure that the interest level at Villa remains at an all time low
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Can he play up front?
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"I shall do my best to help the rebuilding of Aston Villa Football Club as together we return it to its position as one of the top clubs in the world."
I hope he knows something we don't then.
What was the saying RL had when he joined about our past and our future?
At least he acknowledges our rightful status. Talk is cheap but I've not heard many board members do that.
Bearing in mind it's well over 30 years since we lifted both the European & Super Cups, he's certainly got his work cut out! Perhaps he hasn't had the pleasure of meeting the Board & our glorious owner yet?
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The new signings just keep on coming.
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Can he play up front?
Quicker than Kozak and Justhead I bet.
Slimmer than Gabby.
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"I shall do my best to help the rebuilding of Aston Villa Football Club as together we return it to its position as one of the top clubs in the world."
I hope he knows something we don't then.
Perhaps with his contacts our new owner will be the Bank of England - they shouldn't be short of a bob or two!! All new bank notes will have the Villa Badge on it and they might just show more interest than our players. Oh forgot - the words bank and interest don't go together. Well at least we will be the only Club in the country with a King on the board.
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In 2016 we've signed more blokes in suits than blokes in football shirts.
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Typo alert: should be "bored".
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As i understand,He's been approached before,or the feelers have definitely had their fingers out.
So,in that context,what's changed?
Is he here in just a 2 board meetings a year,sign the templates etc,collect the cheque.
Or,as Percy points out,no one else,at any levels at Villa Park in the past 5 years,has mentioned our context in the footballing world and where we currently sit.
I fail to see how a man,who could realistically walk into any boardroom or worldwide organisation,would be here just to oversee Randy's impending failure on all levels of AVFC...He wouldn't have took the gig without certain caveats I feel.
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In normal circumstances I'd think this was a very good addition to the board. As it is I really couldn't care less. Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
This 👍
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Mervyn King is a good appointment at least he is a Villa man, and can talk to Fox and Hollis
With more monatery knowledge than they have put together. I hope he can put the argument forward for speculating on the right players to buy in in order that the club can accumulate &
return to our former glories and enjoyable football to watch. GOOD LUCK MERVYN at getting
your Way with the others
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I know it's another accountant, and I know they've been silent all week and deserve all the pelters they get, but I really don't see how this can be anything but a positive appointment. A guy who has massive experience in calling others to account and a big fan to boot. i wonder if he had been in place during the window whether he'd have let them wave the white flag so readily.
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Bloody hell - that's a cracking appointment, well done Steve Hollis.
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I haven't got too much of a problem with it. We've got someone there who loves the club and with financial expertise thrown in.
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It should put the asset stripping story to bed at least I suppose.
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The only way an enhanced board can be of any benefit is they have any real power.
If Lerner is still pulling the strings, then we are fucked whoever is on the board.
And, judging by the last transfer window, it makes you wonder just who is making the strategic decisions.
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Bloody hell - that's a cracking appointment, well done Steve Hollis.
Absolutely, really looking forward to him banging in a few goals starting on Saturday against Norwich.
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I know it's another accountant, and I know they've been silent all week and deserve all the pelters they get, but I really don't see how this can be anything but a positive appointment. A guy who has massive experience in calling others to account and a big fan to boot. i wonder if he had been in place during the window whether he'd have let them wave the white flag so readily.
Agree.
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Easy to cast anything the board does in a bad light given recent form, but I think this is a good appointment - Villa fan, a lot of wealthy connections, and unlikely to sit and blithely watch Villa sink further.
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This is a good thing.Lord Digby Jones next would be good.Let's get HS2 rerouted to B6.
Why not Lee Child on board to write the next Jack Reacher book:Inside Randy's Mind
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To be fair, this is definitely someone who knows a thing or two about when to pump money into the system to stave off Armageddon.
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He's a big fan of austerity too.
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Does he still have his spare key to the mint?
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At least he has talked about getting us to being one of the top clubs in the world not the absolute dirge about fcukin shake ups that Fox Hollis came out with.
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Garde and King are two very good appointments.
It appears someone, somewhere is doing something right.
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As always with Villa lately, the timing is poor. No one really wants to hear about another bean counting, old man being unveiled as the next member of the lack of brains trust a couple of days after displaying tumble weed in the transfer window. If they had unveiled the Lord of Finsbury or whatever he's called at the start of January people would have been more positive, at the start anyway.
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Everyone wanted a football man on the Board. Surely it is better to have one with some brains and business expertise as opposed to one that used to play up front for us once.
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He's a big fan of austerity too.
I didn't think he was, I have a vague recollection of him being subtly critical of Osbourne and his cost cutting.
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By the way I have heard that Michael Neville is about to be appointed Marketing Manager to develop this new thing called Broadband.
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Seems like a good appointment to me, however how hands-on is he likely to be? Is he likely to pop in for 2 days each month and that's it? (Assuming he has other business commitments and/or is semi retired?).
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Hollis is part time and I'd assume the King is part time as well. So I expect day to day running is still down to the master planner Fox ?
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Everyone wanted a football man on the Board. Surely it is better to have one with some brains and business expertise as opposed to one that used to play up front for us once.
I want some balance.
The topics of conversation at board level, and consequently the direction of the club, are unlikely to be about pioneering advances in conditioning/tactics etc etc if all of the individuals come from an accounting background. I'd like the board to have some individuals involved who will champion the importance of the sporting aspects of the club. Brailsford/Woodwood are people that spring to mind.
I also think the board needs people to champion the community/fan aspect of the club.
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They might bring someone in yet, you never know. Brian would be an ace appointment obviously.
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He's a life long Villa fan and he has a global profile so this has to be positive. In many respects we now have our "real Villa fan" on the Board. I hope he keeps a keen eye on Lerner, Fox and Hollis.
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Expect to see him on the bench on Saturday!
:-)
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Apparently there is someone going round putting SAVE IT stickers next to all the light switches.
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I agree about balance. King is a good appointment and you never know might know some people who could invest in the club long term but we need someone who can help develop a football strategy too.
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Not a bad appointment for financial advice - but where is the balance at Board level with someone with Football knowledge? Graham Taylor would be perfect for the role - he knows the club and turned around a similar disastrous season after 1986/87. His advice would surely be invaluable.
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Any photos of him yet, stretching the life out of a new Under Armour jersey?
Comes to something when the only signings we've made recently have been suits. The day I celebrate us hiring another accountant is the day I give up. Forgive me for not soiling myself with excitement.
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Not a bad appointment for financial advice - but where is the balance at Board level with someone with Football knowledge? Graham Taylor would be perfect for the role - he knows the club and turned around a similar disastrous season after 1986/87. His advice would surely be invaluable.
Well I suppose with Hollis and King coming in relatively short time, as well as Black to work with Garde, it seems we're actually trying to address the running of the club. The next logical step now is to get a little more football knowledge on the board somewhere. SGT would indeed be perfect, but I suspect perhaps they may go for someone a little younger in a non-senior position. Maybe someone like Ian Taylor could be good. He's been a top level footballer and he can also be a bridge between the fans and the board.
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Where's the photo...ITSOTP...in the suit, on the payroll.
We've heard lots of words from Villa's CEO's and the new Chairman, with the transfer window the perfect example of no action to back it up. MK doesn't seem like a bad appointment on the face of it, but I'll believe it more when the board are directly responsible for moving the club forwards in a tangible manner. Clearly, we still need a Sir Graham or Sir Brian on the board to balance the penny-pinchers.
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Where's the photo...ITSOTP...in the suit, on the payroll.
We've heard lots of words from Villa's CEO's and the new Chairman, with the transfer window the perfect example of no action to back it up. MK doesn't seem like a bad appointment on the face of it, but I'll believe it more when the board are directly responsible for moving the club forwards in a tangible manner.
In fairness we need to give Hollis and King a few months to settle into the club before we begin seeing some difference. How we react in the summer will tell us a lot.
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You are right supertom, but they just passed up a great opportunity to show their support for the manager, the team and the 'customers'.
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On any other day this news should be well received. However coming days after the disaster that was the transfer window and our defeat at West Ham it all has a very hollow feel to it.
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You are right supertom, but they just passed up a great opportunity to show their support for the manager, the team and the 'customers'.
Again, as is typical of the club, timing is piss poor. This all should have been done last summer, or at the end of the season. Appointing Hollis during the Jan window, and King a few days after, in what was only ever going to be a disappointing window, was foolish. At some point the ineptitude needs to stop, or we're fucked.
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On any other day this news should be well received. However coming days after the disaster that was the transfer window and our defeat at West Ham it all has a very hollow feel to it.
And there is no serious reason to have held it back this long I'm sure. Something that should be a positive will be goaded and mocked because of the timing. We need a serious rethink of how we market the image of the club. Every announcement matters. From the timing of it to the wording. We live in an era where everything is nitpicked over and analysed. This little things add up in the bigger scheme. Spelling Remi's name wrong, announcing a new suit after a transfer window failure. Come on, get it together.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
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On any other day this news should be well received. However coming days after the disaster that was the transfer window and our defeat at West Ham it all has a very hollow feel to it.
And there is no serious reason to have held it back this long I'm sure. Something that should be a positive will be goaded and mocked because of the timing. We need a serious rethink of how we market the image of the club. Every announcement matters. From the timing of it to the wording. We live in an era where everything is nitpicked over and analysed. This little things add up in the bigger scheme. Spelling Remi's name wrong, announcing a new suit after a transfer window failure. Come on, get it together.
I agree entirely. It is a real weakness at the club not just in being proactive about PR but reactive as required. We don't need to react to everything but there have times the club has been criticized unfairly. We don't have a strategy to defend ourselves when required.
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Hollis is part time and I'd assume the King is part time as well. So I expect day to day running is still down to the master planner Fox ?
I see it as another nail in the CEO's Villa tenure coffin.
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Comes to something when the only signings we've made recently have been suits. The day I celebrate us hiring another accountant is the day I give up. Forgive me for not soiling myself with excitement.
My thoughts exactly, I don't hold with all this 'modern football is rubbish' nonsense, clearly a lot of it isn't but even knowing the names of people on the board is one of the things I do hate about football.
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And there is no serious reason to have held it back this long I'm sure. Something that should be a positive will be goaded and mocked because of the timing. We need a serious rethink of how we market the image of the club. Every announcement matters. From the timing of it to the wording. We live in an era where everything is nitpicked over and analysed. This little things add up in the bigger scheme. Spelling Remi's name wrong, announcing a new suit after a transfer window failure. Come on, get it together.
There's no doubt in my mind that the timing of these announcements would have been meticulously planned for what the numptys running our club think is maximal positive exposure. Their problem is that they repeatedly underestimate (many of) the fans who see right through the charade and know full well the game that is being played.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
There isn't presently one.It was advertised approximately 3 months ago,on a National level,then the club,or rather Mr Fox changed his mind about the role/responsiblities and reporting chain.
I hear the general atmosphere and morale amongst staff,especially with regards to Fox,is lower than imaginable,but if you've worked at a failing,mis-managed organisation or business it's what occurs.The general viewpoint is it's going to get even more brutal and recriminatory over the next few months
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I see it as another nail in the CEO's Villa tenure coffin.
Oh yes - he's toast.
Both him and Garde will be gone before May is out.
They'll both be the scapegoats (one justifiably; one outrageously).
I also presume that O'Reilly, Almstadt are looking elsewhere for future employment too.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
There isn't presently one.It was advertised approximately 3 months ago,on a National level,then the club,or rather Mr Fox changed his mind about the role/responsiblities and reporting chain.
I hear the general atmosphere and morale amongst staff,especially with regards to Fox,is lower than imaginable,but if you've worked at a failing,mis-managed organisation or business it's what occurs.The general viewpoint is it's going to get even more brutal and recriminatory over the next few months
So we currently have no professional vetting media releases or conversing on our behalf with them? Is there anyone that holds Fox in any esteem?
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Hollis is part time and I'd assume the King is part time as well. So I expect day to day running is still down to the master planner Fox ?
I see it as another nail in the CEO's Villa tenure coffin.
Hopefully so. How he can survive this I don't know.
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He's a big fan of austerity too.
Wasn't he more of a Keynesian proponent? when in financial trouble, spend your way out? or something like that.
I used to work with a young fella who was a Wolves fan and former pupil at Wolverhampton Grammar, where King was an ex pupil. When he was Guv'nor at the BOE, King paid a visit to his old school to speak to the kids. He turned up in a helicopter, landing on the cricket pitch.
Has anyone told Randy?
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On any other day this news should be well received. However coming days after the disaster that was the transfer window and our defeat at West Ham it all has a very hollow feel to it.
And there is no serious reason to have held it back this long I'm sure. Something that should be a positive will be goaded and mocked because of the timing. We need a serious rethink of how we market the image of the club. Every announcement matters. From the timing of it to the wording. We live in an era where everything is nitpicked over and analysed. This little things add up in the bigger scheme. Spelling Remi's name wrong, announcing a new suit after a transfer window failure. Come on, get it together.
Perhaps they held it back because he hadn't agreed to take it until now?
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
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Well it would be nice to think that at least he might ask some awkward questions at board meetings. Perhaps he may even raise questions about the playing side of Aston Villa....An alien concept to Hollis and Fox granted.
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Hope he keeps his supporter cap very much on and makes the point that Villa fans want to see a vibrant, winning team on the pitch and not hear about a Championship club on a sound financial footing.
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He went to my school, so he's most definitely a good guy.
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He's a big fan of austerity too.
Wasn't he more of a Keynesian proponent? when in financial trouble, spend your way out? or something like that.
I used to work with a young fella who was a Wolves fan and former pupil at Wolverhampton Grammar, where King was an ex pupil. When he was Guv'nor at the BOE, King paid a visit to his old school to speak to the kids. He turned up in a helicopter, landing on the cricket pitch.
Has anyone told Randy?
I can confirm that was indeed the case!
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I can only see this as a positive move considering the news that has been comming out of Villa Park recently.
I do not think King would get involved if he believed that the Club is destined for more failure and he will not stand back and let that happen.
He is a smart man and a Villa fan.
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totally agree
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I can only see this as a positive move considering the news that has been comming out of Villa Park recently.
I do not think King would get involved if he believed that the Club is destined for more failure and he will not stand back and let that happen.
He is a smart man and a Villa fan.
ffs, King was an abject failure during his tenure in the Bank of England. He completely failed in his duties to maintain the stability of the financial system in the UK with the net result resulting in a taxpayer funded buyout of toxic corporate institutions to the detriment of living standards throughout the state.
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I can only see this as a positive move considering the news that has been comming out of Villa Park recently.
I do not think King would get involved if he believed that the Club is destined for more failure and he will not stand back and let that happen.
He is a smart man and a Villa fan.
ffs, King was an abject failure during his tenure in the Bank of England. He completely failed in his duties to maintain the stability of the financial system in the UK with the net result resulting in a taxpayer funded buyout of toxic corporate institutions to the detriment of living standards throughout the state.
Yeah, but he's OUR abject failure....
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I more than welcome him to the board. Better late than never. It's just a shame he wasn't there to:
See MON's abuse of funds and realisation that even if we had managed to get in the Top 4 we'd have been knocked out in the qualifying round.
Scoff at the idea of appointing McLeish (despite Randy personally rating him).
Support the recommendation of Faulkner to sack Lambert in May 2014 (despite Randy enjoying his 3 chats a week with Lambert).
Block Paddy Reilly's recommendation of Sherwood as he's a chancer.
Explain that we will forever be paying out compensation to managers unless we find a manager with the right skills and support him.
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I can only see this as a positive move considering the news that has been comming out of Villa Park recently.
I do not think King would get involved if he believed that the Club is destined for more failure and he will not stand back and let that happen.
He is a smart man and a Villa fan.
ffs, King was an abject failure during his tenure in the Bank of England. He completely failed in his duties to maintain the stability of the financial system in the UK with the net result resulting in a taxpayer funded buyout of toxic corporate institutions to the detriment of living standards throughout the state.
I guess that is one way of looking at it, the fact that Gordon Brown (as Chancellor)had transferred the Monitoring of the Banks to the FSA and the Treasury and failed to Listen to King and others at the BofE is another.
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On any other day this news should be well received. However coming days after the disaster that was the transfer window and our defeat at West Ham it all has a very hollow feel to it.
And there is no serious reason to have held it back this long I'm sure. Something that should be a positive will be goaded and mocked because of the timing.
Pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter.
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Good to see the Wit of a Banker is back. Older readers will remember his last appearance on the board, unveiled at the Leisure Centre during one of those glorious 1990s AGMs. He was only Deputy Guv'nor then and Eddie George banned him from taking up the post.
I notice his actual role isn't mentioned so I guess he's doubling our pool of non-execs. It'd be nice to think he'd be Chief Financial Officer but that appears to still be the man from MBNA. Anyway, Merv has always been risk averse. Whether that's good (we won't be Leeds) or bad (we will be the Stripeyfilth) is anyone's guess. He did share quite a few philosophies with Greenspan during his time at the BoE and we know how the Greenspan spin keeps coming undone. But equally he was reluctant to bail out the banks, instead believing they should face the consequences of their actions. He reckons his policy of low inflation rates and ditching false inflation caps helped avert a depression. Maybe, but his inability to effect bank excess, New Labour's fantasy accountancy and the inadequacy of light-touch regulation suggests he might be a voice of sense and caution but pragmatic enough to go with what the big boys say regardless. He reminds me a lot of Vince Cable - talks a good game, can appear sane, intelligent and for the people, but ultimately very quick to ditch the rhetoric and go along with everyone else.
He's basically a Liberal from non-priveledged stock, so the nerdy kid at school but at least he knows of life before helicopters on the rugger field. He's worked his way into the establishment rather than inherited that status and remains at heart an economics geek. That would make him a brilliant visiting professor but God knows how much use it is to a football club. That said, I'd like him on our side during any sale.
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For a moment i thought we had signed Marlon King when i saw the headline .Thankfully it is Mervyn
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I Like the way he always plays the pantomime villain at the PDC darts. Really winds the crowd up
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I've just had a really horrible thought - Gary Neville is not exactly setting the world alight in Spain, particularly just having been spanked 7-0 by Barca.
Looking at his record and our board's way of thinking, I'd put him nailed on to be our next Manager. Hope I can wake from this continuous nightmare!!
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
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The only hope I have on this news is that with his contacts in the financial world he might be able to sound out someone who wishes to buy Lerner out. Oh and explain to them what this club means to the supporters in order that we avoid another f%$*"wit.
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I can only see this as a positive move considering the news that has been comming out of Villa Park recently.
I do not think King would get involved if he believed that the Club is destined for more failure and
he will not stand back and let that happen.
He is a smart man and a Villa fan.
ffs, King was an abject failure during his tenure in the Bank of England. He completely failed in his duties to maintain the stability of the financial system in the UK with the net result resulting in a taxpayer funded buyout of toxic corporate institutions to the detriment of living standards throughout the state.
I guess that is one way of looking at it, the fact that Gordon Brown (as Chancellor)had transferred the Monitoring of the Banks to the FSA and the Treasury and failed to Listen to King and others at the BofE is another.
Quite right. It was the Financial Services Authority who were supposed to regulate the Banks, after that task was removed from the B of E. The clue is in the name.
So King had no responsibility for that.
Arguably if the regulatory powers had remained with the BofE then the UK banking crisis in 2008, either may not have happened or it would have been much less serious.
It is the FSA and their top people who are the abject failures here.
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I've just had a really horrible thought - Gary Neville is not exactly setting the world alight in Spain, particularly just having been spanked 7-0 by Barca.
Looking at his record and our board's way of thinking, I'd put him nailed on to be our next Manager. Hope I can wake from this continuous nightmare!!
I had that premonition earlier today, too!
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Why do i get the feeling this is like the power companies cutting prices after the winter.
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You will never EVER read an article where the name Mervyn King is written without being followed by 'former Governor of the Bank of England', or formerly of course 'Governor of the Bank of England.'
If an article just mentions Mervyn King, nobody knows who he is.
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According to the BBC sports news he was appointed President of Worcestershire CC last year.
I would have preferred him to be a Bear, and not a Pear.
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I recall sometime during 2011 leaving the Trinity at the end of a match via one of the central exits, suddenly discovering I was shoulder to shoulder with Merv. So I took the opportunity to tell him to: "Give the bankers hell, Mervyn!" He turned to me, without breaking his stride, and said "But there has to be the political will..." (The Tory/Lapdog coalition were, of course, the political masters then.)
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yeah but can he play left back?
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Quite right. It was the Financial Services Authority who were supposed to regulate the Banks, after that task was removed from the B of E. The clue is in the name.
So King had no responsibility for that.
Arguably if the regulatory powers had remained with the BofE then the UK banking crisis in 2008, either may not have happened or it would have been much less serious.
It is the FSA and their top people who are the abject failures here.
True in terms of the structure, but no-one can claim their hands are clean. Brown set up the triumvirate of regulation by the FSA, an independent BoE with inflation and monetary responsibility, and No.11 having control of economic policy. But they all were meant to work together and lines of demarkation weren't carved in stone. In reality, Brown has ultimate power and responsibility but none of the three piped up ahead of the crash. All were prepared, publicly, to go with near-zero regulation and promote the City. King was by no means the worst culprit but he was neither clever enough politically to punch his weight as the country's top banker, nor strong enough to hold sufficient sway with any one of three Chancellors. It'd be as wrong to claim King was the main factor in the crash as it would be to suggest his time at the Bank was anything more than mediocre. When you have three prongs of economic control and the economy crashes so spectacularly, I don't think anyone comes out of it as anything but a failure. There are degrees of incompetence, and I'd argue Brown takes even more of a share than the FSA, but let's not pretend Merv and the BoE were effective during that free-for-all and subsequent freefall.
I'm not sure he would ever have been able to take on the might of the cocaine-addled twats in the City and the short-termism of governments, but do feel he was willing to give in a bit too easily and didn't really have what it took to put himself in a position of power, a la Greenspan. Safe, middle of the road, pragmatic, decent...
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A very intelligent man. Hopefully he can smack some sense into he rest of the board.
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I would be quite happy if he just smacked the board !
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This might be clutching at straws but I think this could be a good sign. He is undoubtedly a Villa fan and actually attends Villa Park. He will apply his understanding of finance with the club's best interests at heart. He could be a very useful member of the board.
Every cloud an all that.
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Very good appointment. Welcome Merv.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
Post of the Month.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
I believe Mervyn's brother Don is coming in for that role.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
I believe Mervyn's brother Don is coming in for that role.
And his adopted son Wan will be heading up media relations in Asia.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
I believe Mervyn's brother Don is coming in for that role.
And his adopted son Wan will be heading up media relations in Asia.
And his cousin Fu King-Up has just been appointed head of transfer liason
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
I believe Mervyn's brother Don is coming in for that role.
Very good indeed, Mr G. :D
Funnily enuff, I was wondering earlier why the Septics hadn't bestowed a 'Hype Man' on the Villa faithful to date. Job done if we get he of the electrocuted barnet down VP - assuming he's still alive.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
Tommy Jordan. At least he sounds like a striker.
Jordan was working at the Scottish Herald and was recommended by Lambert. In true Villa style, Jordan's first day at Villa Park was for the announcement of new manager, Tim Sherwood.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
I believe Mervyn's brother Don is coming in for that role.
And his adopted son Wan will be heading up media relations in Asia.
ya beat me to it lol.
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
But it was because here he is.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
Tommy Jordan. At least he sounds like a striker.
Jordan was working at the Scottish Herald and was recommended by Lambert. In true Villa style, Jordan's first day at Villa Park was for the announcement of new manager, Tim Sherwood.
Well he certainly got our point across when Sherwood was fired didn't he?
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
But it was because here he is.
And two months ago he wasn't.
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His daughter Bon is the new PA to keep our run going !
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
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he will blend in as we get a span king most games and his wife is spun king ok
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Talk about top heavy. We will have more people on the board than players the way this is going.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
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Welcome, Mervyn. A Villa fan, at last.
I wish you'd joined in January!
Good luck to you, the Club and to all of us. UTV!
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
Do you not think the timing is a little bizarre?
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
The board will be happy to see that however bad things get, and however inept a level that they operate at, that there will always be a level of fan that backs them in their idiocy. Well done paul_e, you're the sort of fan that the board will be eternally grateful for. Here, I have some magic beans, would you like to purchase them?
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
The board will be happy to see that however bad things get, and however inept a level that they operate at, that there will always be a level of fan that backs them in their idiocy. Well done paul_e, you're the sort of fan that the board will be eternally grateful for. Here, I have some magic beans, would you like to purchase them?
Nobody's backing them; a few are saying that they're in a no-win situation. Granted it's one of their own making but to me it seems churlish to criticise them for finally doing something that should have been done three years ago.
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Quite right. It was the Financial Services Authority who were supposed to regulate the Banks, after that task was removed from the B of E. The clue is in the name.
So King had no responsibility for that.
Arguably if the regulatory powers had remained with the BofE then the UK banking crisis in 2008, either may not have happened or it would have been much less serious.
It is the FSA and their top people who are the abject failures here.
True in terms of the structure, but no-one can claim their hands are clean. Brown set up the triumvirate of regulation by the FSA, an independent BoE with inflation and monetary responsibility, and No.11 having control of economic policy. But they all were meant to work together and lines of demarkation weren't carved in stone. In reality, Brown has ultimate power and responsibility but none of the three piped up ahead of the crash. All were prepared, publicly, to go with near-zero regulation and promote the City. King was by no means the worst culprit but he was neither clever enough politically to punch his weight as the country's top banker, nor strong enough to hold sufficient sway with any one of three Chancellors. It'd be as wrong to claim King was the main factor in the crash as it would be to suggest his time at the Bank was anything more than mediocre. When you have three prongs of economic control and the economy crashes so spectacularly, I don't think anyone comes out of it as anything but a failure. There are degrees of incompetence, and I'd argue Brown takes even more of a share than the FSA, but let's not pretend Merv and the BoE were effective during that free-for-all and subsequent freefall.
I'm not sure he would ever have been able to take on the might of the cocaine-addled twats in the City and the short-termism of governments, but do feel he was willing to give in a bit too easily and didn't really have what it took to put himself in a position of power, a la Greenspan. Safe, middle of the road, pragmatic, decent...
Brown, King, Adair et al must have been really terrible at their jobs to have fucked the US and Eurozone economies as well.
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I'm sure it's lovely for him to be associated with us during his retirement. He's just window dressing though.
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Apparently Jack Reacher is going to be doing stadium tours whenever he's not fighting bad guys from now on.
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Are we paying him a salary ? Try telling that to the staff who are being made redundant on £ 20,000 a year or less while he sits in the boardroom with that twat Hollis who remember is Lerner's appointment with all that implies.
How anyone can't see through Hollis and his hatchet man role amazes me.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
I'm not saying I actually agree with Risso but as far a rant goes that's pretty good.
We have all agree over the years that the club is not run very well so hopefully King can help Hollis and in turn help Fox.
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A warm welcome to Villa's new
administrators board members.
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He's probably had better qualified people than Hollis making him cups of tea. Then again, that's probably what Hollis will be doing at the next board meeting.
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Who is our head of media relations btw?
Lord Haw Haw starts on Monday
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I can only see this as a positive move considering the news that has been comming out of Villa Park recently.
I do not think King would get involved if he believed that the Club is destined for more failure and he will not stand back and let that happen.
He is a smart man and a Villa fan.
ffs, King was an abject failure during his tenure in the Bank of England. He completely failed in his duties to maintain the stability of the financial system in the UK with the net result resulting in a taxpayer funded buyout of toxic corporate institutions to the detriment of living standards throughout the state.
He was probably better as an economist than a Central Banker, but there again, that's not his current portfolio is it?
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It should put the asset stripping story to bed at least I suppose.
I wouldn't bank on it (pardon the pun).
I heard some bloke on WM earlier moaning that Mervyn King is too old and another asset stripper like Hollis.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
The board will be happy to see that however bad things get, and however inept a level that they operate at, that there will always be a level of fan that backs them in their idiocy. Well done paul_e, you're the sort of fan that the board will be eternally grateful for. Here, I have some magic beans, would you like to purchase them?
I just think you're so full of your own opinion that they could've said anything and you would've posted the same rant, it's got fuck all to do with me backing them or not and it's a point I've been fairly consistent about for a long time. I think the regular demands for a 'statement from the board' about everything and the fall out of 'don't tell me show me' whenever they oblige serve as perfect proof that once fans are pissed off there's fuck all the board can say to do anything about it so what's the point?
Can you honestly dispute that you wouldn't have bitched about the board in any of the scenarios I give? I like the fact that you'd rather be patronising than try to dispute what I said though, that says more than enough for me not to need a 'statement'.
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Brown, King, Adair et al must have been really terrible at their jobs to have fucked the US and Eurozone economies as well.
I suspect you know the answer to that, but if you genuinely believe the implication behind your post then the role Governor of the Bank of England is as pointless and impotent as director of Aston Villa. In which case why bother with either let alone honour and reward them?
Astonishing how the global good times were down to great stewardship and the global collapse due to matters entirely out of our control Guv. Makes ruling so easy eh? We could have mitigated, we could have chosen boring, steady, safe and sustainable over fast, baseless greed. We didn't, or rather the very people you list, among many others, didn't. They lapped it up in the good times but feign victimhood in the bad. Poor powerful, influential, agenda-setting, policy-making, genius, controlling little mites. Who'd have known they were just a mere affectation?
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Brown, King, Adair et al must have been really terrible at their jobs to have fucked the US and Eurozone economies as well.
I suspect you know the answer to that, but if you genuinely believe the implication behind your post then the role Governor of the Bank of England is as pointless and impotent as director of Aston Villa. In which case why bother with either let alone honour and reward them?
Astonishing how the global good times were down to great stewardship and the global collapse due to matters entirely out of our control Guv. Makes ruling so easy eh? We could have mitigated, we could have chosen boring, steady, safe and sustainable over fast, baseless greed. We didn't, or rather the very people you list, among many others, didn't. They lapped it up in the good times but feign victimhood in the bad. Poor powerful, influential, agenda-setting, policy-making, genius, controlling little mites. Who'd have known they were just a mere affectation?
I'm on your side. I have no affection for any of the three I mentioned (apart from Brown, maybe. I don't think he did things correctly, and I know he was one of the architects of New Labour and all that they fucked up, I just have an irrational fondness for the tragic*)
But no matter how cautious they'd been, by signing up to this model of financialised capitalism they/we were in line to face the deluge full on. As the more socialised Euro economies proved.
*Insert Villa joke here.
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Brown, King, Adair et al must have been really terrible at their jobs to have fucked the US and Eurozone economies as well.
I suspect you know the answer to that, but if you genuinely believe the implication behind your post then the role Governor of the Bank of England is as pointless and impotent as director of Aston Villa. In which case why bother with either let alone honour and reward them?
Astonishing how the global good times were down to great stewardship and the global collapse due to matters entirely out of our control Guv. Makes ruling so easy eh? We could have mitigated, we could have chosen boring, steady, safe and sustainable over fast, baseless greed. We didn't, or rather the very people you list, among many others, didn't. They lapped it up in the good times but feign victimhood in the bad. Poor powerful, influential, agenda-setting, policy-making, genius, controlling little mites. Who'd have known they were just a mere affectation?
I'd say that the entire system was setup to fail and the current government have gone straight back to the exact same model, driving growth through property growth well above the level of inflation is always going to be boom and bust because it forces people to take on debts that are increasingly higher than wages and eventually gets to a point where the market stagnates so some scheme gets thought up to help people get started but that's just a band aid for a few years before the inevitable collapse. I think it's harsh to blame individuals who were in the system for not doing more to stop it, the problem with property is that once the prices have risen anything you do to suppress further rises (or bring them down) is going to piss the public off so however right you'd be to do it it's political suicide.
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
But it was because here he is.
And two months ago he wasn't.
Two months ago Fox said we were about to announce a new Chairman and a new board member. If it took them two months to convince someone just to join the board then no wonder we couldn't convince any players to join us. The timing, as per usual, is poor and lacks judgement.
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
But it was because here he is.
And two months ago he wasn't.
Two months ago Fox said we were about to announce a new Chairman and a new board member. If it took them two months to convince someone just to join the board then no wonder we couldn't convince any players to join us. The timing, as per usual, is poor and lacks judgement.
Maybe, just maybe, something happened to delay the appointment but whatever the reason I still fail to see how appointing a non-executive director to the board of any company can be good, bad or indifferent timing.
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
The board will be happy to see that however bad things get, and however inept a level that they operate at, that there will always be a level of fan that backs them in their idiocy. Well done paul_e, you're the sort of fan that the board will be eternally grateful for. Here, I have some magic beans, would you like to purchase them?
I just think you're so full of your own opinion that they could've said anything and you would've posted the same rant, it's got fuck all to do with me backing them or not and it's a point I've been fairly consistent about for a long time. I think the regular demands for a 'statement from the board' about everything and the fall out of 'don't tell me show me' whenever they oblige serve as perfect proof that once fans are pissed off there's fuck all the board can say to do anything about it so what's the point?
Can you honestly dispute that you wouldn't have bitched about the board in any of the scenarios I give? I like the fact that you'd rather be patronising than try to dispute what I said though, that says more than enough for me not to need a 'statement'.
Given the situation we are currently in, I do think Hollis should have released a statement explaining why no one was brought in. Even it was just to say the intentions were there but suitable deals could not be made. All we got were Garde's comments which made a bad situation worse.
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On the subject of the management of the economy, I look out of my front window and see rivers of £20k+ 0% interest cars driving on roads that are disintegrating and it becomes clear to my simple non economist mind that the printing of money has sown the seeds of an even bigger financial crisis than the last one. When consumer spending should be being restrained, zero interest rates are stoking it and when infrastructure public investment should be being prioritised it is being neglected.
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Hopefully will have a new owner soon who will probably bring their own board. So a pointless appointment. Nothing surprises me with this shower. Or maybe he can score goals. Garbage.
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Maybe, just maybe, something happened to delay the appointment but whatever the reason I still fail to see how appointing a non-executive director to the board of any company can be good, bad or indifferent timing.
Oh, I dunno. I reckon the timing is perfection.
The club's nailed to the bottom of the league, we've not signed anyone in the mid-season transfer window, but hey, the board can at least placate the customers supporters by taking on a new, high-profile member who is known for being a Villa fan (not like that Cameron bloke, or Prince Bill).
And if they thought that'd placate people then they're as out of touch as they can be.
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Maybe, just maybe, something happened to delay the appointment but whatever the reason I still fail to see how appointing a non-executive director to the board of any company can be good, bad or indifferent timing.
Oh, I dunno. I reckon the timing is perfection.
The club's nailed to the bottom of the league, we've not signed anyone in the mid-season transfer window, but hey, the board can at least placate the customers supporters by taking on a new, high-profile member who is known for being a Villa fan (not like that Cameron bloke, or Prince Bill).
And if they thought that'd placate people then they're as out of touch as they can be.
Did anyone say it was placating anyone? They do something that should have happened three years ago - nothing more.
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Maybe, just maybe, something happened to delay the appointment but whatever the reason I still fail to see how appointing a non-executive director to the board of any company can be good, bad or indifferent timing.
Oh, I dunno. I reckon the timing is perfection.
The club's nailed to the bottom of the league, we've not signed anyone in the mid-season transfer window, but hey, the board can at least placate the customers supporters by taking on a new, high-profile member who is known for being a Villa fan (not like that Cameron bloke, or Prince Bill).
And if they thought that'd placate people then they're as out of touch as they can be.
Did anyone say it was placating anyone? They do something that should have happened three years ago - nothing more.
Yeah, just me as far as I can see although I've not had time to look around.
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
But it was because here he is.
And two months ago he wasn't.
Two months ago Fox said we were about to announce a new Chairman and a new board member. If it took them two months to convince someone just to join the board then no wonder we couldn't convince any players to join us. The timing, as per usual, is poor and lacks judgement.
Maybe, just maybe, something happened to delay the appointment but whatever the reason I still fail to see how appointing a non-executive director to the board of any company can be good, bad or indifferent timing.
Maybe. There's always an unknown excuse to explain away our errors.
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
But it was because here he is.
And two months ago he wasn't.
Two months ago Fox said we were about to announce a new Chairman and a new board member. If it took them two months to convince someone just to join the board then no wonder we couldn't convince any players to join us. The timing, as per usual, is poor and lacks judgement.
Maybe, just maybe, something happened to delay the appointment but whatever the reason I still fail to see how appointing a non-executive director to the board of any company can be good, bad or indifferent timing.
Maybe. There's always an unknown excuse to explain away our errors.
And there's always some elaborate conspiracy theory to turn any story into an error.
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The statement came out when it did because the board are still a treating the fans with contempt.
All it needed was someone to tell whoever it was to hang on a week or two and we would have had none of this.
Hopefully getting a fan on the board will stop this,and I bet HH is now crying on his barge wishing it was him.
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The statement came out when it did because the board are still a treating the fans with contempt.
All it needed was someone to tell whoever it was to hang on a week or two and we would have had none of this.
Hopefully getting a fan on the board will stop this,and I bet HH is now crying on his barge wishing it was him.
That's it mate, it just requires a bit of tact. We are getting relegated and haven't signed anyone in the transfer window. The fans are angry with this. Shall we release a statement saying that Lord King of Lothsbury has joined the board? Or shall we give everyone a week or so to settle down first?
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It was mentioned 2 months ago that a new Chairman and board member were on the brink of being announced, so I doubt it.
A lot of things are mentioned. It doesn't mean they're true.
But it was because here he is.
And two months ago he wasn't.
Two months ago Fox said we were about to announce a new Chairman and a new board member. If it took them two months to convince someone just to join the board then no wonder we couldn't convince any players to join us. The timing, as per usual, is poor and lacks judgement.
Maybe, just maybe, something happened to delay the appointment but whatever the reason I still fail to see how appointing a non-executive director to the board of any company can be good, bad or indifferent timing.
Maybe. There's always an unknown excuse to explain away our errors.
And there's always some elaborate conspiracy theory to turn any story into an error.
What's the conspiracy? It was intimated he was joining 2 months ago. Like Hollis. Hollis was given time to settle in before announcing his role. It wouldn't be outrageous to think that King agreed at a similar time. It sounds much more unlikely that something came up for the retired 70 year old man that meant he couldn't accept our offer until just after a botched transfer window. They just never consulted their brains before announcing it.
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You're right - there is no conspiracy. Just an inconsequential story that like every other inconsequential story will automatically be howled down by a few people on the internet and greeted with mild interest by everyone else.
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I can't take any credit for this, nicked from the comments thread under the Guardian article:
Remi Garde's Claret & Blue Fiscally Responsible Keynesian-Economic Army
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I'd already answered that anyway. 2 months ago there was mention of this by Fox at an event in response to "where's the chairman Randy promised?"
Just because he said something along the lines of 'you'll hear something soon' doesn't mean it was agreed at that point. What we can take from it is that Fox knew Hollis was being talked to, that's it, we don't know when those talks started or when he actually took the job, we do know that it was some point before the anonuncement because he wanted to get a feel for the club before it was announced. Given all of those things is it really impossible to think that King might have gone through a similar exercise and the announcement was made because everything was agreed and ready to be made public?
If anyone on the board knows anything about football supporters or the current 'feeling' of Villa fans they'll know that regardless of when they made this announcement they'd get a range of responses. Given that why would you delay it or rush it to try to time it around anything else, there's no point doing that so it's better to just go public as soon as everything is in place to do so.
I just think you're creating a motive that doesn't exist and then getting at the club for having it (even though they haven't). There's plenty of things to be angry about with the club right now, stop hunting for new things where they don't exist.
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I can't take any credit for this, nicked from the comments thread under the Guardian article:
Remi Garde's Claret & Blue Fiscally Responsible Keynesian-Economic Army
We're not Keynesians now :-[
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Fuck off Hollis you c***. Happy enough to talk about a boardroom appointment, but completely silent after failing to back the manager. Twat.
I also have to agree with this even though I frown upon profanities used in haste.
Excellent rant!
Not really because if Hollis had come out on Tuesday morning and apologised to the fans he'd have been given shit. If he'd given a list of players that we spoke to and explained exactly why each of them hadn't worked out he'd have been accused of making it up and it being because we didn't offer them enough money. If he says nothing he's hiding from the fans. People are pissed at the board and that means there is literally nothing they can do before the summer that will matter one jot to public opinion. On that basis I'd rather they just got on with the job of making sure that we are in a much better situation this time next year, nothing else is worth their effort and that includes making nice public statements to show that they're thinking of the fans.
The board will be happy to see that however bad things get, and however inept a level that they operate at, that there will always be a level of fan that backs them in their idiocy. Well done paul_e, you're the sort of fan that the board will be eternally grateful for. Here, I have some magic beans, would you like to purchase them?
I just think you're so full of your own opinion that they could've said anything and you would've posted the same rant, it's got fuck all to do with me backing them or not and it's a point I've been fairly consistent about for a long time. I think the regular demands for a 'statement from the board' about everything and the fall out of 'don't tell me show me' whenever they oblige serve as perfect proof that once fans are pissed off there's fuck all the board can say to do anything about it so what's the point?
Can you honestly dispute that you wouldn't have bitched about the board in any of the scenarios I give? I like the fact that you'd rather be patronising than try to dispute what I said though, that says more than enough for me not to need a 'statement'.
I'd rather bitch about the board than fellow fans, but each to their own.
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Am I bitching about you though? I'm simply countering the idea that what you typed was an 'excellent rant' because I don't think it was, so what I'm doing is disagreeing with you, and for that you've accused me of backing the board (which I didn't do), offered to sell me magic beans (so implying a mix of stupidity and naivety) and now you're accusing me of bitching about the fans, which again, I didn't do. I simply pointed out that if you react like that to this announcement then there's is pretty much nothing the club could have said where you wouldn't have reacted in that way. You've dodged answering that point twice now so I'm confident that you know full well that it's true.
Fundamentally I don't see how, after 3 weeks, you can think it's remotely appropriate to call anyone: a c**t, a twat and tell them to fuck off. I'd suggest that if that's a genuine response that you have some serious anger issues that you need to deal with.
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Regardless of the finer details I'm more than a little staggered that anyone wants to put the time and effort into coming onto a message board defending the board (as a whole), given the way things have gone at the club over the past few years. We're talking very minor points of indifference in a big sea of shit.
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If the appointment is a good one, you make it as soon as you can so that the person can do what they have been appointed to do, so that you take the benefit. You do not play politics and delay.
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If the appointment is a good one, you make it as soon as you can so that the person can do what they have been appointed to do, so that you take the benefit. You do not play politics and delay.
Why would it be politics to delay the announcement if he first wanted to get a handle on what has been going on behind the scenes?
It's all just conjecture anyway. The only facts are 2 suits were the only January transfers and people will question if the club knows what they are doing in that case. The club got away with not being questioned enough during the past 10 years and it's left us in a state just believing they know what they are doing.
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The only facts are 2 suits were the only January transfers and people will question if the club knows what they are doing in that case.
They would have at least played it slightly smarter if they acknowledged that "these aren't the kind of transfers fans may have been hoping for..." but they didn't.
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The only facts are 2 suits were the only January transfers and people will question if the club knows what they are doing in that case.
They would have at least played it slightly smarter if they acknowledged that "these aren't the kind of transfers fans may have been hoping for..." but they didn't.
The two shouldn't be related, though. One relates to the running of the club which is fundamental to the future and, as everyone recognises, has been very poor. The other relates to the playing side.
The transfer window was extremely poor in relation to the end of this season. The reason why we did not buy anybody was a combination of reasons, some clear and others open to speculation.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
yes they are and fixing the problems with the running of the club is therefore just as important as fixing the problems on the pitch. Hollis and King are 2 attempts to fix the club in the boardroom, but a few on here have already decided that Hollis is a c**t because he hasn't fixed things after 3 fucking weeks. That's what's wrong with this is for me, I'm not defending the board, I'm defending 2 guys who've barely walked in the door and are already being given shit. As I said earlier, lets see how things look in 12 months, if everything is still shit by then it will be clear that Hollis will have failed and he will deserve a good share of the blame, posts calling him names and telling him to fuck off then will be totally understandable.
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The most important priority this season (above all seasons) was remaining in the Premiership. As ever our cluless owner decided that the priority was boardroom reorganisation.
Will someone please tell Randy that when in a hole it is wise go stop digging.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
yes they are and fixing the problems with the running of the club is therefore just as important as fixing the problems on the pitch. Hollis and King are 2 attempts to fix the club in the boardroom, but a few on here have already decided that Hollis is a c**t because he hasn't fixed things after 3 fucking weeks. That's what's wrong with this is for me, I'm not defending the board, I'm defending 2 guys who've barely walked in the door and are already being given shit. As I said earlier, lets see how things look in 12 months, if everything is still shit by then it will be clear that Hollis will have failed and he will deserve a good share of the blame, posts calling him names and telling him to fuck off then will be totally understandable.
Calls me a customer.... He's a ******.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
yes they are and fixing the problems with the running of the club is therefore just as important as fixing the problems on the pitch. Hollis and King are 2 attempts to fix the club in the boardroom, but a few on here have already decided that Hollis is a c**t because he hasn't fixed things after 3 fucking weeks. That's what's wrong with this is for me, I'm not defending the board, I'm defending 2 guys who've barely walked in the door and are already being given shit. As I said earlier, lets see how things look in 12 months, if everything is still shit by then it will be clear that Hollis will have failed and he will deserve a good share of the blame, posts calling him names and telling him to fuck off then will be totally understandable.
Calls me a customer.... He's a c***.
except he didn't do that at all. Someone has already posted the answer he gave was about his experience elsewhere and his reference to customers was perfectly normal in the context.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
yes they are and fixing the problems with the running of the club is therefore just as important as fixing the problems on the pitch. Hollis and King are 2 attempts to fix the club in the boardroom, but a few on here have already decided that Hollis is a c**t because he hasn't fixed things after 3 fucking weeks. That's what's wrong with this is for me, I'm not defending the board, I'm defending 2 guys who've barely walked in the door and are already being given shit. As I said earlier, lets see how things look in 12 months, if everything is still shit by then it will be clear that Hollis will have failed and he will deserve a good share of the blame, posts calling him names and telling him to fuck off then will be totally understandable.
Calls me a customer.... He's a c***.
except he didn't do that at all. Someone has already posted the answer he gave was about his experience elsewhere and his reference to customers was perfectly normal in the context.
you're right is been blown out of all proportion. And even if he did, it's not that big a deal. We are customers, but in our world we call ourselves fans. They provide a a product and service, we pay for that product and service. And some people when they don't like the product and service decide not to buy it. We're obviously more emotionally tied to the product so it's not like buying a consumer housewares for example. We feel the results when the team doesn't win. At the end of day what he said is far less impactful than whatever role he played in the transfer window. He's not a ****** for either, but it's significantly more damaging not to have acted as a football club chairman when asked to do so.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
yes they are and fixing the problems with the running of the club is therefore just as important as fixing the problems on the pitch. Hollis and King are 2 attempts to fix the club in the boardroom, but a few on here have already decided that Hollis is a c**t because he hasn't fixed things after 3 fucking weeks. That's what's wrong with this is for me, I'm not defending the board, I'm defending 2 guys who've barely walked in the door and are already being given shit. As I said earlier, lets see how things look in 12 months, if everything is still shit by then it will be clear that Hollis will have failed and he will deserve a good share of the blame, posts calling him names and telling him to fuck off then will be totally understandable.
Calls me a customer.... He's a c***.
except he didn't do that at all. Someone has already posted the answer he gave was about his experience elsewhere and his reference to customers was perfectly normal in the context.
you're right is been blown out of all proportion. And even if he did, it's not that big a deal. We are customers, but in our world we call ourselves fans. They provide a a product and service, we pay for that product and service. And some people when they don't like the product and service decide not to buy it. We're obviously more emotionally tied to the product so it's not like buying a consumer housewares for example. We feel the results when the team doesn't win. At the end of day what he said is far less impactful than whatever role he played in the transfer window. He's not a c*** for either, but it's significantly more damaging not to have acted as a football club chairman when asked to do so.
The transfer window was poor, we needed to strengthen and failed to do so, I agree completely on that but I'd place the blame more broadly on the entire club, I don't think the board or the manager or the players (5 points from watford, sunderland and norwich and we're still in with a decent shout of survival and a far easier sell) have the right to consider themselves immune to criticism for it. I like Garde but I think assuming he was spotless in the window and the board fucked him over is naive.
My ranting on this thread however is limited to comments about their words rather than their actions, from the microscopic inspection of everything looking for something to be upset about to the broader dismissal of everything that's said too many people are just to angry about the window to be remotely rational and I just wish a few people would take a few breaths before they fire off frustrated dismissals of everything the club say.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
yes they are and fixing the problems with the running of the club is therefore just as important as fixing the problems on the pitch. Hollis and King are 2 attempts to fix the club in the boardroom, but a few on here have already decided that Hollis is a c**t because he hasn't fixed things after 3 fucking weeks. That's what's wrong with this is for me, I'm not defending the board, I'm defending 2 guys who've barely walked in the door and are already being given shit. As I said earlier, lets see how things look in 12 months, if everything is still shit by then it will be clear that Hollis will have failed and he will deserve a good share of the blame, posts calling him names and telling him to fuck off then will be totally understandable.
My main gripe is that the two fellas brought onto the board are both accountant-financial specialsits. I'd like to have seen a Chairman come in with more of a focus on strategy-making, operational expertise and possibly some football experience. The signal I take from the appointments is that Mr Lerner wants even more financial control and rigour (perhaps at the expense of long-term focus).
And I realise that my comments may come across as a little binary: I do accept that Hollis may be an accountant with extraordinary strategy-making capabilities.
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The running of the club and the playing side are linked.
yes they are and fixing the problems with the running of the club is therefore just as important as fixing the problems on the pitch. Hollis and King are 2 attempts to fix the club in the boardroom, but a few on here have already decided that Hollis is a c**t because he hasn't fixed things after 3 fucking weeks. That's what's wrong with this is for me, I'm not defending the board, I'm defending 2 guys who've barely walked in the door and are already being given shit. As I said earlier, lets see how things look in 12 months, if everything is still shit by then it will be clear that Hollis will have failed and he will deserve a good share of the blame, posts calling him names and telling him to fuck off then will be totally understandable.
Calls me a customer.... He's a c***.
except he didn't do that at all. Someone has already posted the answer he gave was about his experience elsewhere and his reference to customers was perfectly normal in the context.
you're right is been blown out of all proportion. And even if he did, it's not that big a deal. We are customers, but in our world we call ourselves fans. They provide a a product and service, we pay for that product and service. And some people when they don't like the product and service decide not to buy it. We're obviously more emotionally tied to the product so it's not like buying a consumer housewares for example. We feel the results when the team doesn't win. At the end of day what he said is far less impactful than whatever role he played in the transfer window. He's not a c*** for either, but it's significantly more damaging not to have acted as a football club chairman when asked to do so.
The transfer window was poor, we needed to strengthen and failed to do so, I agree completely on that but I'd place the blame more broadly on the entire club, I don't think the board or the manager or the players (5 points from watford, sunderland and norwich and we're still in with a decent shout of survival and a far easier sell) have the right to consider themselves immune to criticism for it. I like Garde but I think assuming he was spotless in the window and the board fucked him over is naive.
My ranting on this thread however is limited to comments about their words rather than their actions, from the microscopic inspection of everything looking for something to be upset about to the broader dismissal of everything that's said too many people are just to angry about the window to be remotely rational and I just wish a few people would take a few breaths before they fire off frustrated dismissals of everything the club say.
No Garde has certainly made mistakes. But given where he started and the cards he was dealt, it would have been impossible not to make some. And his judgement would have been primarily based on what he saw and experienced, especially in training. I find him making less mistakes now, he just cannot compensate for the lack of quality.
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Am still hopeing that this is some sort of bad April Fools joke :o
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Am still hopeing that this is some sort of bad April Fools joke :o
That someone with wide business experience and a lifetime of contacts joining the board is a joke? Whyever would you hope that?
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Am still hopeing that this is some sort of bad April Fools joke :o
That someone with wide business experience and a lifetime of contacts joining the board is a joke? Whyever would you hope that?
Well first of all look at the state of the country right now. But more importantly I don't agree with Football club's being run as business's or as capitalist play things.
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Am still hopeing that this is some sort of bad April Fools joke :o
That someone with wide business experience and a lifetime of contacts joining the board is a joke? Whyever would you hope that?
Well first of all look at the state of the country right now. But more importantly I don't agree with Football club's being run as business's or as capitalist play things.
You support a Premier League club. I think it's a bit late to cry "Freedom for Tooting."
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Am still hopeing that this is some sort of bad April Fools joke :o
That someone with wide business experience and a lifetime of contacts joining the board is a joke? Whyever would you hope that?
Well first of all look at the state of the country right now. But more importantly I don't agree with Football club's being run as business's or as capitalist play things.
You support a Premier League club. I think it's a bit late to cry "Freedom for Tooting."
Not for much longer! Well Capitalism is unavoidable anyway, you just have to make the best of a bad lot.
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Which is my view on Sir Merv. I'd rather have a new striker but he'll be an asset in some areas.
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It's the sort of appointment that, had it been made when Randy first bought the club, would have had us giddy with excitement.
It's still potentially very good news, we're just not in the right frame of mind to hear it.
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It's the sort of appointment that, had it been made when Randy first bought the club, would have had us giddy with excitement.
It's still potentially very good news, we're just not in the right frame of mind to hear it.
Agreed, and you can say that about a lot of things.
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well I hope Merv has brought us a bit of luck and he enjoyed his first game as a director of the club. 100% win record.
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Which is my view on Sir Merv. I'd rather have a new striker but he'll be an asset in some areas.
youre after free tickets aren't you dave
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Which is my view on Sir Merv. I'd rather have a new striker but he'll be an asset in some areas.
youre after free tickets aren't you dave
And a job.
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Which is my view on Sir Merv. I'd rather have a new striker but he'll be an asset in some areas.
youre after free tickets aren't you dave
And a job.
he don't work at the bank no more
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Which is my view on Sir Merv. I'd rather have a new striker but he'll be an asset in some areas.
youre after free tickets aren't you dave
And a job.
he don't work at the bank no more
At the Villa.
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Which is my view on Sir Merv. I'd rather have a new striker but he'll be an asset in some areas.
youre after free tickets aren't you dave
And a job.
he don't work at the bank no more
At the Villa.
if only. I dreamt of it too, what doing dave? :o
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Lets hope he knows someone with big money who wants to buy the club. Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
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Lets hope he knows someone with big money who wants to buy the club. Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
hes at a loose end?
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
I'm not sure he'll be getting paid at all, or if he is it's very likely not that much.
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
Does he really need the money for one? Does he need his reputation being tarnished?
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
I'm not sure he'll be getting paid at all, or if he is it's very likely not that much.
youre at it again dave
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
I'm not sure he'll be getting paid at all, or if he is it's very likely not that much.
I'd be surprised if he wasn't. And "not that much" is a fairly relative term when talking about finances in football. If annually he is being paid half of N'Zogbia's weekly wage to attend a monthly board meeting, that's still a fairly substantial amount of money.
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
Does he really need the money for one? Does he need his reputation being tarnished?
Why would his reputation be tarnished? He currently has a reputation (unjustly held) of being in charge of the UK's finances during the collapse of the global economy.
I don't think that advising some semi-competent, over-promoted executives on how to run his favourite football team is going to be his epithet.
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
I'm not sure he'll be getting paid at all, or if he is it's very likely not that much.
I'd be surprised if he wasn't. And "not that much" is a fairly relative term when talking about finances in football. If annually he is being paid half of N'Zogbia's weekly wage to attend a monthly board meeting, that's still a fairly substantial amount of money.
The last time we had had proper non-execs, back in Doug's day, they received £0-5,000 a year. The general didn't get paid.
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Got to say why would he come on the board at this time without the thought of things getting better
Because he's being paid to attend a few meetings and talk about how he would make things better for something that he's passionate about? Why on earth wouldn't he?
If the club thought that paying you lots of money to give your advice would be beneficial, would you say no?
I'm not sure he'll be getting paid at all, or if he is it's very likely not that much.
I'd be surprised if he wasn't. And "not that much" is a fairly relative term when talking about finances in football. If annually he is being paid half of N'Zogbia's weekly wage to attend a monthly board meeting, that's still a fairly substantial amount of money.
The last time we had had proper non-execs, back in Doug's day, they received £0-5,000 a year. The general didn't get paid.
How do executive salaries compare overall between those two times? Take Steve Stride's salary compared to Fox or Almstadt*? Or even Ron Atkinson/Brian Little compared to Lambert or Garde?
I might be wrong, but I don't think a five-fold increase for a non-exec would be far removed from the comparisons above.
*Obviously I get that it's hard to do a like-for-like comparison based on an Ellis-run club. As Ellis was Lerner, Hollis, Fox, Bacuna etc.
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How do executive salaries compare overall to between those two times?
Take Steve Stride's salary compared to Fox or Almstadt*? Or even Ron Atkinson/Brian Little compared to Lambert or Garde?
I might be wrong, but I don't think a five-fold increase for a non-exec would be far removed from the comparisons above.
*Obviously I get that it's hard to do a like-for-like comparison based on an Ellis-run club.
It was always hinted that the figure was closer to £0 than £5,000. Stride was getting about £150k and the nearest comparison now would be CEO, with Faulkner getting something like £250k when he left and Fox TBA when the accounts are published. To put that into context Jex Moxey at Wolves was getting something like £750k and the top clubs were paying a couple of million.
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How do executive salaries compare overall to between those two times?
Take Steve Stride's salary compared to Fox or Almstadt*? Or even Ron Atkinson/Brian Little compared to Lambert or Garde?
I might be wrong, but I don't think a five-fold increase for a non-exec would be far removed from the comparisons above.
*Obviously I get that it's hard to do a like-for-like comparison based on an Ellis-run club.
It was always hinted that the figure was closer to £0 than £5,000. Stride was getting about £150k and the nearest comparison now would be CEO, with Faulkner getting something like £250k when he left and Fox TBA when the accounts are published. To put that into context Jex Moxey at Wolves was getting something like £750k and the top clubs were paying a couple of million.
Which would make me think that to get this super-duper guy from Arsenal we'd have to be paying him a bit more than a guy who used to be an MBNA account manager.
As you say though, give it a couple of years and the accounts will tell us.
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Fox will doubtless be getting serious money but I don't think King will be getting more than a token payment, if anything at all.
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Fox will doubtless be getting serious money but I don't think King will be getting more than a token payment, if anything at all.
Maybe. I don't think it'll be more than a token payment, but only in the sense of the typical football club board member salary. I still think that said token payment will be at least the average annual UK salary (or one two-hundredth of Gabby's salary).
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I'm hoping Merv can expedite some quantitive easing of Randy's wallet.
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I think Merv will be great if Kozac gets involved in anything unsavory. He's aufait with Libor scandals.
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Fox will doubtless be getting serious money but I don't think King will be getting more than a token payment, if anything at all.
Maybe. I don't think it'll be more than a token payment, but only in the sense of the typical football club board member salary. I still think that said token payment will be at least the average annual UK salary (or one two-hundredth of Gabby's salary).
I doubt very much he'll be doing it for nowt, as I'd imagine he's a fairly busy bloke, with HoL stuff and other non-exec positions.
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Many have been calling for a Villa fan on the Board. It appears now that he is the wrong sort of Villa fan (to some).
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Many have been calling for a Villa fan on the Board. It appears now that he is the wrong sort of Villa fan (to some).
I was hoping for that bloke out of UB40.
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Brian travers
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09-02-2016
Newly-appointed director on a Villa love affair spanning six decades.
Sir Mervyn King's interest rate always rises when talk turns to his beloved Aston Villa.
The former Bank of England chief's claret-and-blue love affair began more than 55 years ago in nearby Wolverhampton, where he lived in the same street as legendary goalkeeper Nigel Sims and maverick inside forward Bobby Thomson.
He became captivated by the great Mercer's Minors side of the late 1950s and early 1960s and his passion has burned bright ever since.
Throughout a glittering career in economics, Villa has remained an intrinsic part of Sir Mervyn's make-up.
He has discussed inflation targets with former midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, reminisced about our greatest triumph on national radio and even contributed to the Villa News & Record with an appreciation of his first hero, the sharp-shooting left-winger Harry Burrows.
Now his involvement is stepping up a gear following his appointment to the club's board of directors.
"What I can bring is the voice of someone who has been a supporter for many years and has had experience of the wider world," said the 67-year-old.
"It is over 55 years ago now that I went to my first game.
"When we moved to Wolverhampton in 1958, it turned out that Nigel Sims was living opposite and Bobby Thomson lived next to us.
"They had both played for Wolves and kept their houses when they transferred to Villa.
"I remember them getting me an autographed picture of the team that won promotion in 1959/60, when Gerry Hitchens was the great star at centre forward.
"Then in the 1960/61 season, I went to my first match at home against Newcastle.
"We won 2-0, Ron Wylie and Vic Crowe scored, and it went from there.
"This club is a big part of my life. I would like my grandchildren to inherit a love of Aston Villa."
However, Sir Mervyn's love of Villa hasn't always been restricted to a watching brief.
In 2013 he shared a pitch with a number of our all-time greats - including European Cup winners Ken McNaught, Tony Morley and Gary Shaw - when a Villa legends team took part in a Bank of England sports day.
The heroes of yesteryear are integral to his vision for the club's future.
"We had a sports day every year for Bank of England employees and their families, and I would try and bring in sportsmen to take part in the competitions," he said.
"Charlie Aitken came and managed the group. We had a number of great players who turned up and were very generous with their time.
"The former players have been wonderful for Villa and one of the things I would like to bring to the club is the sense that once you have played for Villa you are always part of it."
Football and economics are interests Sir Mervyn shares with German midfielder Hitzlsperger, who studied investment strategies during his time in England.
They struck up a friendship when the man known as Der Hammer visited the Bank of England to discuss finance.
The pair would later work together on a special edition of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, with Hitzlsperger conducting a report into why intelligence is a valued quality in football.
"I was asked by Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP for Edgbaston and the first German-born MP we have had here, whether Thomas Hitzlsperger could come into the bank and talk to me," he explained.
"He wanted to come in and ask me about the inflation target.
"He's a very remarkable young man and he is carving out a successful career in the media in the US and in Germany, as well as appearing on British radio quite a bit.
"Having come out as gay, he is someone people can look up to and someone they can take inspiration from if they do want to come out."
While that particular media segment made for insightful listening, Sir Mervyn admitted one of his choices on another popular BBC Radio 4 show was greeted with less enthusiasm.
His Villa devotion was once again broadcast to the nation when he offered Doug O'Brien's long-lost track Rotterdam 82 as one of his eight song choices on Desert Island Discs.
"I think the presenter, Kirsty Young, was not so enthusiastic about having this," he said.
"But I insisted on having it as they are meant to be songs that mean something to your life.
"Rotterdam 82 captured a key moment in my life and it is still a great song."
Sir Mervyn has witnessed all of Villa's highs and lows in nearly six decades as a supporter, from the depths of the Third Division through to more illustrious periods at the top table of English and European football.
Whatever the next few months hold, he is determined to help put his boyhood club back on a sound footing.
"I will do whatever I can to ensure the board takes the right decisions in moving the club forward," he added.
"What we really need is continuity now. We've had a lot of chopping and changing."
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I doubt very much he'll be doing it for nowt, as I'd imagine he's a fairly busy bloke, with HoL stuff and other non-exec positions.
I would guess he's getting an annual retainer plus expenses.
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Like all of them he is on "fill your boots" appointments as said with several organisations. I guess you would expect that after doing the job he did. I would say he will cost us circa £50K per annum. Worth it IMO.
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To me he is a bit of a Johnny-come-lately but if he only chucks a bucket of much needed cold water on potential crackpot decisions like those that have littered our recent past he will justify his role.
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"What we really need is continuity now. We've had a lot of chopping and changing."
Can't disagree there, Merv. All this talk of what he is being paid is pretty irrelevant as I doubt it even amounts to a week of N'Zogbia's money for nothing deal.
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I won't do Fox or Hollis any harm to have a real heavyweight in their close proximity now and again. Might reduce their aren't-I-clever moments.
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For those who missed it, Merv's appearance on Desert Island Disks in 2013.
His choices included Bob Dylan, Mozart, Lou Bega and Doug O'Brien's unpublished Rotterdam 82 (I'd have gone for Ricky Disoni's Hey Aston Villa myself....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02116z9
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"What we really need is continuity now. We've had a lot of chopping and changing."
Can't disagree there.
I agree, Chris.
I also particularly liked this:
"The former players have been wonderful for Villa and one of the things I would like to bring to the club is the sense that once you have played for Villa you are always part of it."
In a world in which football is now constantly referred to as an 'industry' and a 'business', and in which it's all about 'revenues' and 'market streams' and all that bollocks, it's nice to hear someone taking on a board- or management-level role and talking about it in the terms he uses. His appointment seems a good idea to me.
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All this talk of what he is being paid is pretty irrelevant as I doubt it even amounts to a week of N'Zogbia's money for nothing deal.
Nobody is suggesting that he is being paid too much or that we can't afford it.
But if what we're talking about is "how do directors salaries differ from past regimes", then it's a pretty relevant part of that discussion.
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All this talk of what he is being paid is pretty irrelevant as I doubt it even amounts to a week of N'Zogbia's money for nothing deal.
Nobody is suggesting that he is being paid too much or that we can't afford it.
But if what we're talking about is "how do directors salaries differ from past regimes", then it's a pretty relevant part of that discussion.
The latest is that he's not paid.
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Interesting. Good on him them.
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If it is true, then I can see the reasoning. He's well-off enough not to need the money and he could see it in the same way as being Trustee of a charity.
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If he can convince Hollis and Fox to keep Remi happy then he is worth his weight in gold.
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To me he is a bit of a Johnny-come-lately but if he only chucks a bucket of much needed cold water on potential crackpot decisions like those that have littered our recent past he will justify his role.
Johnny-come-lately in what way Brian? As a fan or literally to the board? He seems a pretty genuine fan from boyhood from that article. You are one of the posters whose opinion I always seek out and 99% of the time agree with so I'm just genuinely interested in what brought you to this conclusion?
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I don't think he's a Johny come lately at all Brian. He's been a fan for longer than many of us have been alive. He was approached to join the board, it appears he might not be getting paid, and he seems to genuinely want to do it. That he has joined now isn't his fault. And it's not like he's creating some new allegiance to club when things are going well. We should have done this years ago. I'm just glad he's there to offer some supporter perspective. If he feels compelled to step down that's when the alarm bells should ring things are worse than ever. But if he is able to provide experience, insight and bias then we should benefit.
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"What we really need is continuity now. We've had a lot of chopping and changing."
Can't disagree there, Merv. All this talk of what he is being paid is pretty irrelevant as I doubt it even amounts to a week of N'Zogbia's money for nothing deal.
Spot on, Chris. It's comforting to know he believes Garde is the man to stick with and will hopefully make sure we do everything to keep him at the club no matter what happens this season. I'd imagine that Hollis now has executive powers that will allow the club to invest or take out loans to secure our success next season. Randy may decide to 'loan' the money himself but that will be a detail rather than a decider.
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Sorry lads, my comment was intended as a joke because I have been doing the pain since 1947. Johnny come lately is what my oldest brother calls me because he saw pre WW2 Villa games.
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Sorry lads, my comment was intended as a joke because I have been doing the pain since 1947. Johnny come lately is what my oldest brother calls me because he saw pre WW2 Villa games.
I dunno Brian. Villa 2 Newcastle 0 in 60/61? Pffft. Where was he when we were shit?
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If the structure being put in place has the power it should have all well and good, regardless of what it is costing, but and it is a big but, if Randy is going to have the ultimate final say and act on his own believes, as it can not be judgement or knowledge as we have seen he has none. Mr. King will just be a guiding light in that process.
Holis will I am sure have Randy's full backing if his decisions have anything to do with cost cutting, what concerns me will be Randy having the final say if it comes to investing, regardless of what sound advice he may be given and I can understand to a certain point (very small point) why this is the case.
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Let hope he will be our voice on the board and he use his business experience to see between the lines and prevent Hollis and co from doing the wrong option.
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Got the Andrew Marr show on in the background. Just heard Mervyn King say "it's a painkiller, and if all you do with painkillers is keep taking them but don't deal with the underlying symptoms you don't get better" turns out he wasn't talking about us but the economy.
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He's just been on Radio 5 Live, and Villa was touched on.
He said they're doing a review of everything, that it wasn't a matter of sacking Remi, but whether he wants to stay with us; and that we have some good players, but they are just lacking confidence.
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He's just been on Radio 5 Live, and Villa was touched on.
... we have some good players, but they are just lacking confidence.
We have some players with arrogance and a lot with no confidence
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We have 'some' good players..wonder how many some actually means. Notice he didn't say a lot of good players.
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I read the article on the evening mail website. Is it only me that thinks we're all but in administration?
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I have not seen the story, but what leads you to that view?
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Link Here - http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-director-mervyn-king-11009418
Mervyn King has revealed how a deep review is currently underway at Aston Villa and has warned that even more difficult times could be on the horizon.
The former Bank of England chairman was appointed on the Villa board last month and is already heavily scrutinising all departments at the club as relegation to the Championship looms.
Asked by BBC Radio 5 Live whether boss Remi Garde will be in charge next season, King replied: “I think the question is does Remi Garde want to stay?”
He continued by explaining how a detailed assessment began recently as the club decides on what action to take after the most disastrous of Premier League seasons.
“We are carrying out a review both on the administration and the team at Villa Park and also on the playing side and the scouting and coaching side at Bodymoor Heath,” he added.
“We are reviewing every aspect of the club and in due course, not after too long I hope, we will have some announcements to make.”
King admits it will take an almighty effort to get Villa firing again but is determined to make to it happen.
“It will take a big effort to turn around the problems at Aston Villa and it will take time.
“There will be more difficult periods ahead but we will do it.
“I think we attracted some very good players but the players have lost confidence and the team as a whole feels low.
“Everyone knows that when we concede a goal the heads go down.
“The fact that people have lost confidence doesn’t make them bad players.
“It means they find it difficult to perform to their true ability but we have some very good players.”
Asked whether this is the worst period ever for the claret and blues, King replied:
“It depends how you define the worst. We’ve certainly been through bad times before.
“I remember being relegated from the second division into the third division.
“Then things improved and we had some wonderfully exciting players.”
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I have not seen the story, but what leads you to that view?
Don't think we are going in to administration but I do wonder why the accounts haven't been released yet, it's the latest I can remember them being released under Lerner.
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Does anyone know who these very good players are that King mentions btw?
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“It will take a big effort to turn around the problems at Aston Villa and it will take time."
“There will be more difficult periods ahead but we will do it."
What are these problems? A couple of years back I remember reading that we were very close to running at a profit again. This time last year Fox was telling us all about club restructuring and positive progress being made behind the scenes...It just seems to be a never-ending cycle of horse manure, year in year out. The other thing that seems apparent is that whenever we have these yearly reviews, the people doing them seem to have no football industry experience. It's shambolic and the buck stops with Lerner - this will not be fixed until he has gone.
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Merv speaks well.
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Is this the same script from his Bank of England tenure?
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Am I the only one who thinks there might be a message to Garde in his comments?
"The question is does Remi Garde want to stay"? Seems to translate to "Commit or go".
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Am I the only one who thinks there might be a message to Garde in his comments?
"The question is does Remi Garde want to stay"? Seems to translate to "Commit or go".
He's not gonna be sacked then.
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I shall look forward to more dark times... Not!
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Is this the same script from his Bank of England tenure?
Spookily similar.
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Am I the only one who thinks there might be a message to Garde in his comments?
"The question is does Remi Garde want to stay"? Seems to translate to "Commit or go".
I read that as: "Remi, we'd like you to stay and deliver The Project that we all recognise needs delivering."
Actually, quite an encouraging message, if Remi is prepared to stay.
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Well this is what I want, if King speaks for the board then that suggests they want Garde to stay. Now it's up to Garde to commit. The decision needs to be made now either way, there is no time to waste. I am a bit perplexed by the very good player bit though, because there aren't many at all.
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Anyone with any experience of efficiently running a football club got a role in this review?
Nah, mad idea!
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I don't think Hollis is here for the long run. Based on the kind of stuff he's known for in his career, and the fact that he had to be really convinced to do this he's there to stop the rot, get us back on an even keel and get out. I do wonder if Merv is being lined up for a bigger role post Hollis. Maybe as Chairman and he is part of this review process to prepare him accordingly.
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Well this is what I want, if King speaks for the board then that suggests they want Garde to stay. Now it's up to Garde to commit. The decision needs to be made now either way, there is no time to waste. I am a bit perplexed by the very good player bit though, because there aren't many at all.
I don't think it would have helped our cause if he had come out and said "I'm not surprised by our position, most of our players are shite". However true it is.
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Some intelligent comments - far better than the foot in mouth approach of Fox and his false narratives.
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We DO have some good players. Some of them are currently injured, one or two of them are surrounded by shit. However, they also need motivating, organising and to take some responsibility for themselves. Does Garde want to stay? I'm sure it'll all come out in the wash. I quite like the way Mr King comes across.
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I'm intrigued by the 'announcements soon' bit. What can they meaningfully announce other than future aims and previous mistakes? The only exception is sackings or appointments but I cannot see that happening 'soon', which to me means before the end of the season.
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If we are a financial basket case, just how the fuck has that happened?
We haven't spent big (net) in the transfer market for years.
We have received excellent fees for players who have left.
There aren't 'that many' big earners at the club.
We are actually in the premier league, with the riches that brings.
We are relatively well supported.
We had a decent kit deal, by all accounts.
So, how the hell is the financial situation bordering on chronic, as is being suggested?
Is the club run so fucking badly on the commercial and management side that it mirrors the playing side so closely?
If we are in dire straits financially, Lerner needs fucking shooting.
Not only has he wrecked the playing side of the club, but he has also allowed the financial side to drag us down as well.
The whole situation would be laughable, if it wasn't so fucking, utterly depressing.
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I like Merv. It gives me some confidence that a man of his intelligence and commitment to the club has a seat at the boardroom level.
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I not falling for the 'players lack confidence' Mr King.
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Confidence is a massive part of it for some of them.
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If he would of said some lack confidence but some just aren't good enough then it would hold more weight with me.
It sounds like he has been spun that line and ran with it.
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Confidence is a huge part of it. They don't believe they can do anything right at the moment and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. They also know they need quality to help them. Especially up front. As much as they are teammates they are realistic to understand they don't have a decent forward in the squad, let alone a good one for PL level. So when they go a goal down they all know they are fucked and there's literally no way back. When Benteke was up front it at least game them hope of getting back into games. Confidence isn't everything but we will hopefully see next year it will make some of the players who look utterly useless much better just because they will be winning more and enjoying their football again.
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http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/03/08/aston-villa-director-outlines-sweeping-changes-to-be-made-upon-r/
so there is a thorough review of the club from top to bottom taking place, from the administration and playing aspects along with the scouting and coaching
it begs the obvious questions
- who is carrying out the review
- have they got the required knowledge to carry out the review covering all of those areas
- would we trust them to come up with the correct findings
- probably most important, would we trust them to be able to put things right after the review
can't say I have got too much faith but a lot will depend on who is performing the review obviously
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
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http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/03/08/aston-villa-director-outlines-sweeping-changes-to-be-made-upon-r/
so there is a thorough review of the club from top to bottom taking place, from the administration and playing aspects along with the scouting and coaching
it begs the obvious questions
- who is carrying out the review
- have they got the required knowledge to carry out the review covering all of those areas
- would we trust them to come up with the correct findings
- probably most important, would we trust them to be able to put things right after the review
can't say I have got too much faith but a lot will depend on who is performing the review obviously
The club needs a root and branch review on and off the pitch and I'm glad to hear it's underway, and if it needs to get worse before it gets better and in the right shape then so be it. One of the things I'd like to hear pretty soon is that they're going to get a football man on the board in whatever capacity - Sir Brian fits the bill for me and I think he'd be up for it.
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I like Merv. It gives me some confidence that a man of his intelligence and commitment to the club has a seat at the boardroom level.
And he's a supporter of long standing. I like a previous suggestion he could be the Chairman
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
Not as hilarious as the one they chose.
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
The global financial crisis is naff all compared to the importance of getting us straight again. Fuck the fuckers.
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
Your mate (Blue nose or not) has a point.
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
Only in a minor way. You could argue that the Bank of England was too slow to raise interest rates during the boom, and then raised them too quickly when the crunch was starting. On the other hand, if Gordon Brown hadn't taken away their macro regulation responsibilities and given them to the box ticking idiots at the FSA, the banks might not have been allowed to become too big to fail in the first place. But neither would have prevented it entirely.
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You need to watch the big short or margin call to sort of give you an idea where the financial crisis started.
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http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/03/08/aston-villa-director-outlines-sweeping-changes-to-be-made-upon-r/
so there is a thorough review of the club from top to bottom taking place, from the administration and playing aspects along with the scouting and coaching
it begs the obvious questions
- who is carrying out the review
- have they got the required knowledge to carry out the review covering all of those areas
- would we trust them to come up with the correct findings
- probably most important, would we trust them to be able to put things right after the review
can't say I have got too much faith but a lot will depend on who is performing the review obviously
It's Jack Woodward with a clipboard and some questions.
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http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/03/08/aston-villa-director-outlines-sweeping-changes-to-be-made-upon-r/
so there is a thorough review of the club from top to bottom taking place, from the administration and playing aspects along with the scouting and coaching
it begs the obvious questions
- who is carrying out the review
- have they got the required knowledge to carry out the review covering all of those areas
- would we trust them to come up with the correct findings
- probably most important, would we trust them to be able to put things right after the review
can't say I have got too much faith but a lot will depend on who is performing the review obviously
there should be an inquiry into this review
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
There's a clue in the title - GLOBAL - the problems were not specific to the UK. Every major economy & their banking systems were and probably still are lacking control. Most of the Uk's problems went back to Thatcher's de-regulation of the banks in the late 80's. Our Merv may have some guilt by association but helped caused it?
All noses see B6 as the root of all evil, they can't see anything outside of that.
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He's managed one of the highest profile organisations in the world including a time of extreme crisis so hes got some nerve. He also has a respected meeja profile so a) his words will get more coverage than someone who no one has ever heard of and b) he has a reputation to live up to. Whether that helps us or not who knows but I like the cut of his jib - I am guessing that he will do a thorough job and pull no punches but assume we will learn little of the review other than people leaving the club "by mutual consent".
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He's managed one of the highest profile organisations in the world including a time of extreme crisis so hes got some nerve. He also has a respected meeja profile so a) his words will get more coverage than someone who no one has ever heard of and b) he has a reputation to live up to. Whether that helps us or not who knows but I like the cut of his jib - I am guessing that he will do a thorough job and pull no punches but assume we will learn little of the review other than people leaving the club "by mutual consent".
He seems to be more hands-on than our previous non-execs such as Tony Hales and David Owen have been. I also suspect that he can recognise a naked king when he sees one.
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He's managed one of the highest profile organisations in the world including a time of extreme crisis so hes got some nerve. He also has a respected meeja profile so a) his words will get more coverage than someone who no one has ever heard of and b) he has a reputation to live up to. Whether that helps us or not who knows but I like the cut of his jib - I am guessing that he will do a thorough job and pull no punches but assume we will learn little of the review other than people leaving the club "by mutual consent".
He seems to be more hands-on than our previous non-execs such as Tony Hales and David Owen have been. I also suspect that he can recognise a naked king when he sees one.
Well he sees one in the mirror every day so you'd hope so.
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
There's a clue in the title - GLOBAL - the problems were not specific to the UK. Every major economy & their banking systems were and probably still are lacking control. Most of the Uk's problems went back to Thatcher's de-regulation of the banks in the late 80's. Our Merv may have some guilt by association but helped caused it?
All noses see B6 as the root of all evil, they can't see anything outside of that.
Many people in Asia will tell you the Global Financial Crisis was a western crisis. China was batshit booming when I landed in 2009.
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
There's a clue in the title - GLOBAL - the problems were not specific to the UK. Every major economy & their banking systems were and probably still are lacking control. Most of the Uk's problems went back to Thatcher's de-regulation of the banks in the late 80's. Our Merv may have some guilt by association but helped caused it?
All noses see B6 as the root of all evil, they can't see anything outside of that.
My thoughts too. I know the Nose is a major wind up merchant as they nearly all are.
I'd have thought the bad credit timebomb in the U.S. played a bigger part than any one individual.
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I don't know much but any bloke that can look after the country's banking system must be able to sort out this rabble of a club.
Well according to one of my Blue nose mates King helped cause the global financial crisis so it is hilarious that Villa have chosen him.
There's a clue in the title - GLOBAL - the problems were not specific to the UK. Every major economy & their banking systems were and probably still are lacking control. Most of the Uk's problems went back to Thatcher's de-regulation of the banks in the late 80's. Our Merv may have some guilt by association but helped caused it?
All noses see B6 as the root of all evil, they can't see anything outside of that.
My thoughts too. I know the Nose is a major wind up merchant as they nearly all are.
I'd have thought the bad credit timebomb in the U.S. played a bigger part than any one individual.
I would say that's a definite wind-up from the bluenose. The mass securitisation (bundling up, giving a top-quality rating to and selling on loans, many of them mortgage loans) of highly questionable/in some cases fraudulent loans in the US, which were being bought by banks across the world (who clearly should have known better) was the chief cause, in my view. The scale of the problem was so huge that it brought down bank after bank across the West at least. To some extent you could say that King, the Bank of England and the other main central banks were too lax and didn't do enough to oppose "light-touch regulation", which was all the rage pre-crisis. But the Bank of England isn't solely responsible for regulation, as we've had other bodies like the Financial Services Authority and now the Financial Conduct Authority.
Mervyn King can also be criticised for the BoE's response to the crisis - did the BoE do enough to help ordinary people and businesses? Probably not. Or did they just make life easier for the banks? Quite possibly. But to say he helped cause the crisis is pretty wide of the mark.
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I don't know why people say it was light touch regulation. The amount of regulation went up massively under the FSA, they were just regulating the wrong things. Under the old Bank of England regime, one of the senior directors would have had a quiet word with Sir Fred and told him his balance sheet was becoming 'a bit of a concern'.
RBS had big exposure to the Mortgage Backed Securities through their US arm, but they probably would have been okay if they hadn't spent their entire capital reserve on ABN Amro, which was full to the gills with it, along with half a dozen truly staggering Credit Derivatives deals. Which is ironic for me because I was hired to build a system to risk Credit Derivs three months before they went bust.
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I don't know why people say it was light touch regulation. The amount of regulation went up massively under the FSA, they were just regulating the wrong things. Under the old Bank of England regime, one of the senior directors would have had a quiet word with Sir Fred and told him his balance sheet was becoming 'a bit of a concern'.
RBS had big exposure to the Mortgage Backed Securities through their US arm, but they probably would have been okay if they hadn't spent their entire capital reserve on ABN Amro, which was full to the gills with it, along with half a dozen truly staggering Credit Derivatives deals. Which is ironic for me because I was hired to build a system to risk Credit Derivs three months before they went bust.
Just talking about that ABN Amro deal tonight. Fred the Shred Goodwin's quote on that particular piece of dealmaking at the time (pre-crash) was that they did "due diligence light" at RBS on ABN Amro before making that purchase. He should have been jailed for recklessness and negligence.
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I don't know why people say it was light touch regulation. The amount of regulation went up massively under the FSA, they were just regulating the wrong things. Under the old Bank of England regime, one of the senior directors would have had a quiet word with Sir Fred and told him his balance sheet was becoming 'a bit of a concern'.
RBS had big exposure to the Mortgage Backed Securities through their US arm, but they probably would have been okay if they hadn't spent their entire capital reserve on ABN Amro, which was full to the gills with it, along with half a dozen truly staggering Credit Derivatives deals. Which is ironic for me because I was hired to build a system to risk Credit Derivs three months before they went bust.
Just talking about that ABN Amro deal tonight. Fred the Shred Goodwin's quote on that particular piece of dealmaking at the time (pre-crash) was that they did "due diligence light" at RBS on ABN Amro before making that purchase. He should have been jailed for recklessness and negligence.
There are tens of thousands of RBS employees past and present who would like to do a lot worse to him. Shareholders also.
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Just talking about that ABN Amro deal tonight. Fred the Shred Goodwin's quote on that particular piece of dealmaking at the time (pre-crash) was that they did "due diligence light" at RBS on ABN Amro before making that purchase. He should have been jailed for recklessness and negligence.
There are tens of thousands of RBS employees past and present who would like to do a lot worse to him. Shareholders also.
I can well imagine. And quite right too.