Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Tokyo Sexwhale on May 19, 2016, 02:32:56 PM
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/19/tony-xia-revamp-aston-villa-top-three-world-owner
The new owner of Aston Villa has vowed to transform the recently relegated club into one of the world’s top sides, pumping up to £50m into their coffers before next season and shunning talented but lazy players.
Xia Jiantong, a 39-year-old millionaire from east China who uses the English name Tony Xia, was unveiled as Villa’s new owner on Wednesday, one month after the club dropped into the Championship following one of the most disastrous seasons in their 142-year history.
Aston Villa agree sale of club to Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia
Read more
Speaking on Thursday afternoon at his 19th-floor office in Beijing’s financial district, Xia said he was preparing to embark on an extensive revamp of the club in an effort to secure immediate promotion back to the Premier League. Once that was achieved he would fight to turn Aston Villa into a global footballing force.
“My ambition is to bring Villa to the top six in less than five years and I hope it can be [one of] the top three in the world – even the best well known in the world – in less than 10 years,” Xia told the Guardian in one of his first face-to-face interviews since the deal was announced.
“At least [until] now what I have planned [in my career] everything has been achieved. Nobody believe in the beginning but I made it happen no matter how many years it took.”
Asked for his message to Villa fans, Xia said: “Forget the past and think we are going to enter into a new age.”
However, Aston Villa’s new chairman admitted his immediate challenge would be fighting a way back to the top flight. “The first priority is to get promoted. I feel a lot of pressure. I think a lot of Villa fans are eager to get back up to the Premiership, so the next one year will be very tough for me. I hope we can do it.”
Xia said his main concern was finding the best manager and confirmed he had held discussions with a number of candidates, including the former Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion manager Roberto Di Matteo and the former Southampton and Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson.
“We have several very good candidates … I have talked to all of them,” Xia said, adding that the decision would be made in the next two weeks. “The most critical thing now is to get the right manager … [We] need a really good coach who knows how to play in the Championship. It’s even harder than the Premiership. We need to figure out how to reorganise the team.”
The incoming manager would be given transfer funds of between £20m and £50m, depending on how many players he believed were needed, Xia said.
“For now, I am confident. I think we will add six to seven players in maybe six or seven positions [before the start of the season] and we are going to bring some young talented people from the academy to play in the first squad … I think a lot of them can play very well in the Championship.”
The businessman, who returned to China from England this week, said he hoped the devastated Villa fans would look to the future and throw their support behind his plans.
He defended the highly unpopular Randy Lerner and said some of the abuse directed at him by fans was “unfair”.
Randy Lerner is a nice guy and does have a passion for this club. He really wanted to make the club much better
“Actually, he is a nice guy and he does have a passion for this club. He really wanted to make the club much better. He invested a lot of money.”
However, in an admission of the toxic relationship that developed between Lerner and fans, the new Villa chairman recognised he would need to build a much better dialogue with fans than his distant predecessor. “Communication will be a very important part,” he said.
Having watched Villa’s last home game, against Newcastle United on 7 May, Xia said he planned to become a well-known face at Villa Park and would move to Birmingham with his wife and 18-month-old daughter in an attempt to win over fans and help with the push for promotion.
“I am going to spend a lot of time there, especially in the first season,” he said, adding: “I think I will buy a house maybe in the next month.”
Xia was born in Quzhou, a mid-sized city about 400km south west of Shanghai, to an agricultural technician father and a housewife mother.
“I grew up in a very normal family,” he said – but according to reports in China’s domestic media he was far from a normal child. They describe Xia, who was one of three children, as a child prodigy who left home to study at university in Beijing at the age of 14.
Five years later, aged 19, Xia packed his bags and crossed the Pacific to spend six years studying at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He also spent five months as an exchange student at Oxford University in 2002, during which time he said he had become a fan of Aston Villa after watching a game at Villa Park. “I’ve been a fan of the English football league for many years,” he said.
Asked about his first match at Villa Park, the entrepreneur said: “You know the feeling there. It’s not like excitement, it is like a shock when you are in that environment.”
Xia said he made his fortune working on infrastructure projects across a rapidly urbanising China and had taken over Recon Group, the Beijing and Hangzhou-based holding company behind the purchase of Aston Villa, in 2004.
Perhaps appropriately for the new owner of a crisis-hit football club, he said the company’s name was an abbreviation of the word “reconstruction”.
According to the Financial Times Recon Group has controlling stakes in companies that include a soap maker and a Shanghai-based company that produced 150,000 tonnes of the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) last year. That firm reportedly made a net loss of $77.7m last year.
In an interview with Sky News, the former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor described Xia’s takeover as “great news” but admitted he was “a bit reserved about the qualifications of the new owner”.
Tony Xia
Tony Xia says Aston Villa ‘will add six to seven players in maybe six or seven positions’ before the start of next season. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters
Speaking on Thursday, Xia insisted he was the perfect man for the job. He described himself as a hard-working, self-made millionaire who would have little patience with overpaid players who were not pulling their weight.
“For a lot of Chinese now, they think the only way you become rich or become successful is because you have grown up in a rich family or you have a whatever daddy – a rich daddy, a powerful daddy or whatever,” he said. “At least from my experience, if you keep working hard you still have a chance … I think attitude is more important than talent. So that is one of the basic principles for me to give advice to the [new] coach to choose players to revamp the team.”
Aston Villa’s Randy Lerner says blame for relegation rests solely with him
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Xia promised to pump significant funds into the club but said he would not attempt to copy what he called the “money-burned” model of teams such as Manchester City. “I don’t think that’s a healthy model and it can’t last long,” he said.
Xia said he would return to Birmingham in the next fortnight in order to start the rebuilding process and engage with the fans.
“They need to know that I am one of them,” he said. “I will do whatever I can to promote the club. I hope we can bring everything back on to the right track as soon as possible.”
The current situation at Aston Villa “could not be worse,” Xia admitted. “So I hope all the Villa fans can really stand up together. I hope after one year we will be happy.”
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I will be in Boston next month.
Should I wander round Harvard and MIT in Cambridge holding a sign saying "Does anyone here remember Tony Xia?"
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Nothing like stating what you intend and not beating about the bush- Very Specifc in what he would like to achieve and put plenty of measurables down which makes a change, Welcome Tony to the VIlla family and good luck ;)
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Top 6 in five years sounds sensible.
Then he blew it.
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He says "forget the past" why may I ask should we?
We have had from time to time a glorious past!
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Top 6 in five years sounds sensible.
Then he blew it.
The past 6 years certainly. And the 200 Cup final while we're at it.
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These comments are worryingly reminiscent of the early utterings of the previous owner.
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These comments are worryingly reminiscent of the early utterings of the previous owner.
They might be and for a while Randy was delivering on the promise. Just because it went shit shaped doesn't mean that Randy wasn't precisely what we needed back in 2006. Naturally the management of the club needs to be better handled this time around for the investment to deliver the desired results and for those results to be sustainable long term.
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Why do I see Elton John when I look at him?
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Why do I see Elton John when I look at him?
Were you the third person in the injunction?
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He says "forget the past" why may I ask should we?
We have had from time to time a glorious past!
I think we would do well as a club to stop wallowing in the past. But by the past, I think Dr X means the last few disastrous years.
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Premiership, Premiership, Premiership.
There's the evidence that he's a wrong 'un, right there.
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Why do I see Elton John when I look at him?
I see Buggles and Video Killed the Radio Star, which is not something I want to be reminded of every time I go down the Villa.
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Why do I see Elton John when I look at him?
I see Buggles and Video Killed the Radio Star, which is not something I want to be reminded of every time I go down the Villa.
I heard you on the wireless back in '82.
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"At least from my experience, if you keep working hard you still have a chance … I think attitude is more important than talent. So that is one of the basic principles for me to give advice to the [new] coach to choose players to revamp the team.”
I like this. Attitude and hard work is the key.
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I like the cut of his gib. I hope he does move to Birmingham and communicates well with the fans.
Hopefully he does not have a "General Zang" in tow, or someone like that.
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"At least from my experience, if you keep working hard you still have a chance … I think attitude is more important than talent. So that is one of the basic principles for me to give advice to the [new] coach to choose players to revamp the team.”
I like this. Attitude and hard work is the key.
I like it. You look at the likes of Atletico Madrid, who are by no means cloggers, but through extreme hard work and organisation, compete with two or the biggest clubs on the planet. Leicester won the league because they were willing ti work harder than any body else.
Effort costs nothing.
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Top 6 in five years sounds sensible.
Then he blew it.
The past 6 years certainly. And the 200 Cup final while we're at it.
Fucking hell, our past is longer than I thought! How did we get on?
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Top 6 in five years sounds sensible.
Then he blew it.
The past 6 years certainly. And the 200 Cup final while we're at it.
Fucking hell, our past is longer than I thought! How did we get on?
It was a bit of a massacre. Of course they set lions on you in those days.
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"At least from my experience, if you keep working hard you still have a chance … I think attitude is more important than talent. So that is one of the basic principles for me to give advice to the [new] coach to choose players to revamp the team.”
I like this. Attitude and hard work is the key.
He's bang on. We had no chance of competing properly in the Premier League once Randy stopped working hard and effectively gave up. He clearly hasn't come in to own a Championship side, he wants us up straight away, so we'll outspend everyone in the league and should be difficult to compete with for everyone except maybe Newcastle.
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Top 6 in five years sounds sensible.
Then he blew it.
The past 6 years certainly. And the 200 Cup final while we're at it.
Fucking hell, our past is longer than I thought! How did we get on?
It was a bit of a massacre. Of course they set lions on you in those days.
Animal skins for goal posts.
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I like the sound of Dr Tony. Of course words are easy and we'll have to wait and see but he is obviously no mug.
I like him and anyway he's ours now so welcome Doc.
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I like that interview it's quite encouraging. He sounds pretty sensible.
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“My ambition is to bring Villa to the top six in less than five years
Not another 5 year plan... ;)
Asked about his first match at Villa Park, the entrepreneur said: “You know the feeling there. It’s not like excitement, it is like a shock when you are in that environment.”
Sounds like he's had a season ticket for the last 5 years - no excitement, just shock!
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So how will FFP (or whatever guise it is in now) affect us in the next year?
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I am prepared to say that I like him.
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The words may seem a little obvious and predictable but he's doing this for the first (and only?) time, so I am pretty sure he means everything he says.
Already having specific goals, an apparent basic understanding that the Championship is a tough league, that the fans are key and that he believes it is important to live close to the club - particularly in the first year - are all very sound, positive, practical ideas.
I'm happy with that.
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So how will FFP (or whatever guise it is in now) affect us in the next year?
Thought it had been pretty much ditched.
The "big" clubs don't like it, largely ignore it, so the powers that be don't bother enforcing it much anymore.
(I have no real evidence for this except a general feeling gleaned from the press and my home-made cynicismometer!)
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Said the right things, ambitious, transfer kitty, fans...sounds promising.
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He's only a millionaire though.
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As long as he doesn't mutate into Dr No, I'm cool with Tone.
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The link in that article to the FT article wasn't working, I found it at the link below. I think they know as much as us.
FT (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86e008f2-1da2-11e6-a7bc-ee846770ec15.html)
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He's only a millionaire though.
Dr Tony out!
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Dr Tony out, Dr Tony out, we want we want Dr tony...
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See I can understand people being cautious, as I said yesterday this summer will tell us a lot, if he does as he's said and gives us whatever money we need (which is my interpretation of £20m, £30m, £40m ... £50m?) to back up a well consider and sensible choice as manager then he'll have started things as well as anyone could ever hope. If we go into the new season with most of the current squad and Steve Bruce then we can start to worry.
What I can't see is people who are making claims like calling him a shyster or a fraud or calling for us to back out of the deal less than a day after it was announced, that's just weird. I also got a bit frustrated last night with the idea that there was no internet presence when it was clearly there but took a bit more effort to find because it's all chinese. That's where some people are going to far and falling into being overly pessimistic rather than just sensibly cautious. If they were doing it because the of all the people who were talking about getting "AVFC Champions league winners 2019" tattoos then I'd be ok with it, the balanced perspective would help but I haven't seen a single person be anything like that level of wide-eyed loon, the majority seem to be of the opinion that it all sounds good so far but let's wait and see so an overly pessimistic attitude is just strange.
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Welcome Doctor X, like what you said, now all you have to do is get this grand old club back to where it belongs.
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"At least from my experience, if you keep working hard you still have a chance … I think attitude is more important than talent. So that is one of the basic principles for me to give advice to the [new] coach to choose players to revamp the team.”
I like this. Attitude and hard work is the key.
I like it. You look at the likes of Atletico Madrid, who are by no means cloggers, but through extreme hard work and organisation, compete with two or the biggest clubs on the planet. Leicester won the league because they were willing ti work harder than any body else.
Effort costs nothing.
Alex McLeishes best line. "You cant always be the most talented on the pitch, you may not always be the biggest or strongest, but you can always be the player wth the best effort. In football nobody can stop you running."
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"At least from my experience, if you keep working hard you still have a chance … I think attitude is more important than talent. So that is one of the basic principles for me to give advice to the [new] coach to choose players to revamp the team.”
I like this. Attitude and hard work is the key.
I like it. You look at the likes of Atletico Madrid, who are by no means cloggers, but through extreme hard work and organisation, compete with two or the biggest clubs on the planet. Leicester won the league because they were willing ti work harder than any body else.
Effort costs nothing.
Alex McLeishes best line. "You cant always be the most talented on the pitch, you may not always be the biggest or strongest, but you can always be the player wth the best effort. In football nobody can stop you running."
He went on to say:
"Apart from me. Because if any of you wankers try to run past the halfway line you won't play again this season".
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"At least from my experience, if you keep working hard you still have a chance … I think attitude is more important than talent. So that is one of the basic principles for me to give advice to the [new] coach to choose players to revamp the team.”
I like this. Attitude and hard work is the key.
Gabby will be consulting his solicitors first thing tomorrow morning!
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`Effort costs nothing'. I really hope my employers don't get hold of that idea.
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He is saying the right things, that's for sure.
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Feel caught in two minds about our Dr X.
On the one hand, we're rid of Lerner, replaced by someone who actually talks in a manner I can understand, seems open about his ambitions and beliefs, and is young enough to be fired by ambition.
On the other, I can't quite shake doubts about his apparent meteoric rise (from a son of a farming technician, to studying at Oxford Uni in 2002, to then buying out a company by 2004 - I was still filing and photocopying two years after uni!), nor does he state about investing his own funds into the club or for transfers.
Will keep an open mind for now, and wish him all the best of luck
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The 'effort costs nothing' line should put some crosshairs on a few of our players.
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If Steve Hollis is agog at what a high achiever and all round smart cookie he is, that'll do for me.
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I'm delighted we've got a new owner. Time will tell if he's any good. My Mrs is Chinese and loves winding me up. As soon as I mentioned to her that a Chinese owner was about to buy us, she said "Oh God...don't waste our money" then she laughed her head off at me for five minutes. However I'm sure Tony will do well. He seems to be passionate about football and has a good business pedigree. He's also clear and concise in what he wants to achieve. Whether he can deliver remains to be seen but I'm hopeful. I also think as far as business goes, it'll be great to tap into the Chinese market as football becomes ever more popular over there.
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Alex McLeishes best line. "You cant always be the most talented on the pitch, you may not always be the biggest or strongest, but you can always be the player wth the best effort. In football nobody can stop you running."
[/quote]
As we saw at Villa Park in 1983, Claudio Gentile could stop anybody from running.
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See I can understand people being cautious, as I said yesterday this summer will tell us a lot, if he does as he's said and gives us whatever money we need (which is my interpretation of £20m, £30m, £40m ... £50m?) to back up a well consider and sensible choice as manager then he'll have started things as well as anyone could ever hope. If we go into the new season with most of the current squad and Steve Bruce then we can start to worry.
What I can't see is people who are making claims like calling him a shyster or a fraud or calling for us to back out of the deal less than a day after it was announced, that's just weird. I also got a bit frustrated last night with the idea that there was no internet presence when it was clearly there but took a bit more effort to find because it's all chinese. That's where some people are going to far and falling into being overly pessimistic rather than just sensibly cautious. If they were doing it because the of all the people who were talking about getting "AVFC Champions league winners 2019" tattoos then I'd be ok with it, the balanced perspective would help but I haven't seen a single person be anything like that level of wide-eyed loon, the majority seem to be of the opinion that it all sounds good so far but let's wait and see so an overly pessimistic attitude is just strange.
Whilst I agree that a balanced perspective is desirable, there's a lot here to be very wary of. It might be a small issue but lying about his qualifications is not a good start. Then we see that his main business makes a loss. While not wanting to piss on anyone's parade I'd be very happy to see this one bounced by the FA.
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Well he has a plan, which is more than the last idiot had, unless you count getting us relegated was part of the plan.
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See I can understand people being cautious, as I said yesterday this summer will tell us a lot, if he does as he's said and gives us whatever money we need (which is my interpretation of £20m, £30m, £40m ... £50m?) to back up a well consider and sensible choice as manager then he'll have started things as well as anyone could ever hope. If we go into the new season with most of the current squad and Steve Bruce then we can start to worry.
What I can't see is people who are making claims like calling him a shyster or a fraud or calling for us to back out of the deal less than a day after it was announced, that's just weird. I also got a bit frustrated last night with the idea that there was no internet presence when it was clearly there but took a bit more effort to find because it's all chinese. That's where some people are going to far and falling into being overly pessimistic rather than just sensibly cautious. If they were doing it because the of all the people who were talking about getting "AVFC Champions league winners 2019" tattoos then I'd be ok with it, the balanced perspective would help but I haven't seen a single person be anything like that level of wide-eyed loon, the majority seem to be of the opinion that it all sounds good so far but let's wait and see so an overly pessimistic attitude is just strange.
Whilst I agree that a balanced perspective is desirable, there's a lot here to be very wary of. It might be a small issue but lying about his qualifications is not a good start. Then we see that his main business makes a loss. While not wanting to piss on anyone's parade I'd be very happy to see this one bounced by the FA.
Is there any real evidence that he's lied about qualifications? Main business making a loss is a bit misleading. The main business is recon which appears to have numerous saubsidiaries where all their money is used as they see fit. One comapny amongst a portfolio making a loss means very little, it could quite easily be entirely intentional.
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What qualifications has he lied about? I know that got brought up yesterday, but I've seen nothing conclusive either way.
And as for the loss-making business people refer to, from what I can glean he was installed as chairman only last year, when they underwent a restructuring. Before or after he landed there, I don't know, but I assume he either instigated it or was installed to see it through.
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He's neither a medical doctor or got a PhD.
He's played a part (paid exec?) in a business that organises construction/urbanisation work - what was his role?
He now runs loss making businesses.
That makes me weary - that's all.
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He's neither a medical doctor or got a PhD.
He's played a part (paid exec?) in a business that organises construction/urbanisation work - what was his role?
He now runs loss making businesses.
That makes me weary - that's all.
It's when you're tired and weary that you should really worry.
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I think Dr Xia has done more interviews in one day than Lerner did in 10 years!! Welcome Tony, and best of luck.
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Have a good night's kip Oldhill. You will be positive again by morning.
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Can't believe you hope this falls through on the basis of the info we have?
Then what? There isn't time to line up another deal. No manager in his right mind would join the current cluster fuck. So you're looking at another season of struggle, possibly another relegation.
Unless of course Howard Hodgson rides in on his white horse and comedy 'report' with a few well meaning businessmen cobbling together with a few quid and a bag of beans?
I'll take the successful Chinese businessman carefully selected by Hollis who is impressed by his ambitious plans thanks. Until someone comes up with something more shady than a limited internet presence and possibly a questionable PhD.
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He's neither a medical doctor or got a PhD.
He's played a part (paid exec?) in a business that organises construction/urbanisation work - what was his role?
He now runs loss making businesses.
That makes me weary - that's all.
http://www.xwhodesign.com/en/aboutx.asp?li=1&action=%D6%C7%C4%D2%BA%CB%D0%C4
Dr Xia Jian Tong was promoted to be the president of XWHO in 2001. He earned his Doctor of Design degree from Harvard University. He also has been appointed by China Mayor Center and the Ministry of Construction as Distinguished Professor since 2002. He has served as urban development specialist for several cities in China. As a world famous expert in urban planning and landscape architecture, Dr. Xia has participated and chaired in hundreds of projects and cities all over the world.
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He sounds very likeable.
I'm still highly suspicious of his bona fides, though.
Still, if he's anything but genuine, we're going to find out very, very quickly, as there's shit loads of work to do, and most of it needs to be done well before August.
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He's neither a medical doctor or got a PhD.
He's played a part (paid exec?) in a business that organises construction/urbanisation work - what was his role?
He now runs loss making businesses.
That makes me weary - that's all.
It's when you're tired and weary that you should really worry.
True dat.
And if you still journey on till come to your happy abode the jig will be up and your hash will be settled.
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He's neither a medical doctor or got a PhD.
He's played a part (paid exec?) in a business that organises construction/urbanisation work - what was his role?
He now runs loss making businesses.
That makes me weary - that's all.
http://www.xwhodesign.com/en/aboutx.asp?li=1&action=%D6%C7%C4%D2%BA%CB%D0%C4
Dr Xia Jian Tong was promoted to be the president of XWHO in 2001. He earned his Doctor of Design degree from Harvard University. He also has been appointed by China Mayor Center and the Ministry of Construction as Distinguished Professor since 2002. He has served as urban development specialist for several cities in China. As a world famous expert in urban planning and landscape architecture, Dr. Xia has participated and chaired in hundreds of projects and cities all over the world.
Xwho was also renamed to recon so he's the president of the company that did all that work not a 'paid exec' (it's actually now listed as a subsidiary of recon - http://www.xwhodesign.com/en/) but was the boss.
He is listed as the chairman of one of the companies in his own portfolio and that company happened to make a loss.
I'm weary of all the posts looking for things to dislike about him/them and believing any negative rumour they hear.
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The XWHO architecture/planning/design business part of the Recon group has offices in Seattle, Boston, Sydney, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Batonrouge as well as 5 offices in China, with an impressive list of over a hundred projects with a detailed write up on each.
The board of directors are a mix of people from all these regions.
Also interesting reading of various news articles going back at least 8 years, with photographs of Dr Tony being invited to speak at events organised by Forbes about planning and strategies for cities.
It's all there with help from Google translate.
http://www.xwhodesign.com/
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See I can understand people being cautious, as I said yesterday this summer will tell us a lot, if he does as he's said and gives us whatever money we need (which is my interpretation of £20m, £30m, £40m ... £50m?) to back up a well consider and sensible choice as manager then he'll have started things as well as anyone could ever hope. If we go into the new season with most of the current squad and Steve Bruce then we can start to worry.
What I can't see is people who are making claims like calling him a shyster or a fraud or calling for us to back out of the deal less than a day after it was announced, that's just weird. I also got a bit frustrated last night with the idea that there was no internet presence when it was clearly there but took a bit more effort to find because it's all chinese. That's where some people are going to far and falling into being overly pessimistic rather than just sensibly cautious. If they were doing it because the of all the people who were talking about getting "AVFC Champions league winners 2019" tattoos then I'd be ok with it, the balanced perspective would help but I haven't seen a single person be anything like that level of wide-eyed loon, the majority seem to be of the opinion that it all sounds good so far but let's wait and see so an overly pessimistic attitude is just strange.
Whilst I agree that a balanced perspective is desirable, there's a lot here to be very wary of. It might be a small issue but lying about his qualifications is not a good start. Then we see that his main business makes a loss. While not wanting to piss on anyone's parade I'd be very happy to see this one bounced by the FA.
If people like Sinawatra and Venkys can own premier league clubs (and indeed Cellino at championship level) I don't think the good Doctor has much to worry about being disqualified.
Like many it's a case of wait and see. I wish him well and hope he has a proper plan of recruitment bar spending shed loads of money which was Lerner's main idea for 4 years. Probably why the reaction has been lukewarm so far.
You don't actually need to spend the amounts he's talking about to be at the top in the championship. We obviously need a clear out and would imagine that will be easier to achieve now but 20m this summer and I'd be very disappointed if we're not top 2.
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I did see something about xwho but it was alongside a message that it was renamed to recon so I never actually searched for it, which was a mistake.
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I'm weary of all the posts looking for things to dislike about him/them and believing any negative rumour they hear.
I'm not looking for things to dislike or believing all the negative things I hear, for me it's just about being suspicious of the motives of pretty much everyone who buys into football, especially those of whom we know next to nothing.
I don't see how anyone can be surprised at people being suspicious given some of the chancers who come into the game, the clusterfuck of our last six years, and our chairman's inability to judge people.
That's not looking for things not to like at all, it is being concerned.
Like i said a few posts back, we're going to get our answer pretty quickly in any case.
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I wish him well and hope he has a proper plan of recruitment bar spending shed loads of money which was Lerner's main idea for 4 years.
This x1000
Lerner is the best example that loads of money alone is not going to be a guarantee of success.
More than anything I want someone who will be nice and grown up and appoint a credible management structure, invest reasonable money, and trust that management structure to ensure it is spent well.
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I'm weary of all the posts looking for things to dislike about him/them and believing any negative rumour they hear.
I'm not looking for things to dislike or believing all the negative things I hear, for me it's just about being suspicious of the motives of pretty much everyone who buys into football, especially those of whom we know next to nothing.
I don't see how anyone can be surprised at people being suspicious given some of the chancers who come into the game, the clusterfuck of our last six years, and our chairman's inability to judge people.
That's not looking for things not to like at all, it is being concerned.
Like i said a few posts back, we're going to get our answer pretty quickly in any case.
The initial questions aren't but ignoring the answers or looking for something else to worry about when one fear gets addressed is where it gets a bit much.
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I'm weary of all the posts looking for things to dislike about him/them and believing any negative rumour they hear.
I'm not looking for things to dislike or believing all the negative things I hear, for me it's just about being suspicious of the motives of pretty much everyone who buys into football, especially those of whom we know next to nothing.
I don't see how anyone can be surprised at people being suspicious given some of the chancers who come into the game, the clusterfuck of our last six years, and our chairman's inability to judge people.
That's not looking for things not to like at all, it is being concerned.
Like i said a few posts back, we're going to get our answer pretty quickly in any case.
The initial questions aren't but ignoring the answers or looking for something else to worry about when one fear gets addressed is where it gets a bit much.
Where are the answers, though? That's the problem - we haven't actually seen any.
I've not been on here since last night, but last thing I saw, someone said "I ran a credit check and he's worth 42bn" which doesn't really strike me as the most trustworthy indicator.
You said yourself you've found five companies, of which we know next to nothing. That's not answering anything.
People making enormous sweeping generalisations about the Chinese are way off the mark. People suggesting he's some sort of crook are also way off mark, there's nothing to suggest that. But there's very little information about him full stop and that is what makes people nervous.
I don't see why you're so exasperated at people showing concern about that.
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(http://www.xwhodesign.com/uploadfiles/20101020155137791.jpg)
XWHO 47th anniversary Fun Games in 2010
(http://www.xwhodesign.com/uploadFiles/20101020152817850.jpg)
New Years Party 2009
(http://www.xwhodesign.com/UploadFiles/20111025113513689.jpg)
2011 Forbes China City Investment and Development Forum
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I think the idea about the redevelopment of Aston is quite exciting. West Ham will reap the benefit of the Stratford development in my view with the public transport and tourist potential having a knock on with attendances.
Whether the Doc would put the ownership under our auspices and use landlord income to supplement us I don't know, but it would be an interesting development.
I am keen to see what he does with ticket prices. In my opinion taking out the elastic nature of supply for home tickets by making them very cheap would be the best way to dramatically increase demand. I suspect the North Stand may get redeveloped and although I've argued it's worth it for the extra revenue we'd take on the two or three games it's full, it would surely be better to build it and fill it more regularly. Abolishing the feature of home tickets being available in large quantities on a game by game basis ought to be a key aim.
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The XWHO architecture/planning/design business part of the Recon group has offices in Seattle, Boston, Sydney, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Batonrouge as well as 5 offices in China, with an impressive list of over a hundred projects with a detailed write up on each.
The board of directors are a mix of people from all these regions.
Also interesting reading of various news articles going back at least 8 years, with photographs of Dr Tony being invited to speak at events organised by Forbes about planning and strategies for cities.
It's all there with help from Google translate.
http://www.xwhodesign.com/
You mean he's not a 30 yr old Chinese hairdresser?
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I love some of the comments in that Guardian article. Complaints about us "buying success" and we are going to ruin football by becoming a new Man City or Chelsea.
Let me go on record. I would be absolutely fine with that label if we are playing in the Champions league. More than fine in fact ;D
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He's only a millionaire though.
Dr Tony out!
His personal wealth is not as important as what Recon is worth from what I understand.
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I'm weary of all the posts looking for things to dislike about him/them and believing any negative rumour they hear.
I'm not looking for things to dislike or believing all the negative things I hear, for me it's just about being suspicious of the motives of pretty much everyone who buys into football, especially those of whom we know next to nothing.
I don't see how anyone can be surprised at people being suspicious given some of the chancers who come into the game, the clusterfuck of our last six years, and our chairman's inability to judge people.
That's not looking for things not to like at all, it is being concerned.
Like i said a few posts back, we're going to get our answer pretty quickly in any case.
Being concerned is fine, but a few people have taken it a bit further than that.
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Why did I waste ten minutes of my life reading the comments on the article?
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Why did I waste ten minutes of my life reading the comments on the article?
It's usually some masochistic desire to see who can contribute the most asinine/racist/pointless/obsessive/jealous (delete as appropriate) comments.
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Xia Jiantong, a 39-year-old millionaire from eastern China who uses the English name Tony Xia
I've known him since he was 30. Seems like it was only yesterday.
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Xia Jiantong, a 39-year-old millionaire from eastern China who uses the English name Tony Xia
I've known him since he was 30. Seems like it was only yesterday.
I remember when all this was fields
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Why did I waste ten minutes of my life reading the comments on the article?
It's usually some masochistic desire to see who can contribute the most asinine/racist/pointless/obsessive/jealous (delete as appropriate) comments.
If you want to see some truly moronic comments from the public get yourself over to the BBC Sport website; their Have Your Say feature is a spectacularly cretinous display of idiocy from the very thickest people on this isle. The Beeb don't offer this wonderful feedback opportunity for all their stories, but it is attached to news of our takeover today if you'd like to know what a panoply of unbelievably stupid gits think about us...
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I love some of the comments in that Guardian article. Complaints about us "buying success" and we are going to ruin football by becoming a new Man City or Chelsea.
Let me go on record. I would be absolutely fine with that label if we are playing in the Champions league. More than fine in fact ;D
If money was no object they have bought us earlier.
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A few short days ago, the dream scenario was that we saw the back of Lerner, and got bought out by a rich individual who has drive, ambition and a view of a (bright) future for the club.
The icing on the cake would be that a new owner would be Wanda, who would have access to serious money and more importantly would have high level contacts that 'might' lead to untold riches and future glory days.
Well, other than it not being Wanda, but by all accounts is just as successful, it's seems eveything other part of the dream could come true.
The Hollis interview on the BBC website is incredibly interesting and suggests that this really could be 'game changing'.
I am not wet behind the ears or naive, and certainly don't take eveything I read or hear at face value, but I really want to believe that the people involved in this deal, on both sides, are the experienced, knowledgeable and honest enough for this to be the real deal......literally.
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I love some of the comments in that Guardian article. Complaints about us "buying success" and we are going to ruin football by becoming a new Man City or Chelsea.
Let me go on record. I would be absolutely fine with that label if we are playing in the Champions league. More than fine in fact ;D
What a beautiful world, yeah that sits well with me also.
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I love some of the comments in that Guardian article. Complaints about us "buying success" and we are going to ruin football by becoming a new Man City or Chelsea.
Let me go on record. I would be absolutely fine with that label if we are playing in the Champions league. More than fine in fact ;D
If money was no object they have bought us earlier.
Just because they have money it doesn't mean they're not shrewd.
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I love some of the comments in that Guardian article. Complaints about us "buying success" and we are going to ruin football by becoming a new Man City or Chelsea.
Let me go on record. I would be absolutely fine with that label if we are playing in the Champions league. More than fine in fact ;D
Bottomless pockets are no guarantee of success in modern football, as Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd have proven this season.
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I wonder if this is part of a wider Chinese government purchase, to commence world football domination, and as requested/suggested by our Dave Cameron and that Doctor Tony is the frontman, given he's one of their protege's. Just a wild theory!!
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I love some of the comments in that Guardian article. Complaints about us "buying success" and we are going to ruin football by becoming a new Man City or Chelsea.
Let me go on record. I would be absolutely fine with that label if we are playing in the Champions league. More than fine in fact ;D
Bottomless pockets are no guarantee of success in modern football, as Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd have proven this season.
Nope diligent ownership is the way. The way Tony is speaking sounds at least like he realises that.
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I'm another one in the wait-and-see camp. I don't like spin of the he's a long-term Villa fan variety, I'm uneasy with much I have read about his so-called business empire (although, admittedly, I know zilch about the world of Chinese commerce) and, after the Lerner years, a dose of healthy scepticism about the motives of anyone owning the Villa is perhaps a more realistic starting point than the unrestrained euphoria that greeted Randy's coming on the basis of nothing other than he wasn't Doug. I, of course, hope it's the start of an era where, if nothing else, we once again become a respected top division club who punch our weight; but I won't be unduly surprised if by the time the parachute payments have run out we're still in the Football League and the current promises and plans have turned to dust.
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I see some on here have taken to calling Tony, Tone. What next ring him up and spout drivel down the phone then ask him for a Bronx hat.
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Why did I waste ten minutes of my life reading the comments on the article?
It's usually some masochistic desire to see who can contribute the most asinine/racist/pointless/obsessive/jealous (delete as appropriate) comments.
If you want to see some truly moronic comments from the public get yourself over to the BBC Sport website; their Have Your Say feature is a spectacularly cretinous display of idiocy from the very thickest people on this isle. The Beeb don't offer this wonderful feedback opportunity for all their stories, but it is attached to news of our takeover today if you'd like to know what a panoply of unbelievably stupid gits think about us...
There still seems to be a widely held opinion that anything Chinese is automatically dodgy and to be avoided. I confess that I don't know a lot about China, but the Chinese people I have come across over the years have been very hard working and diligent people.
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I see some on here have taken to calling Tony, Tone. What next ring him up and spout drivel down the phone then ask him for a Bronx hat.
Still got mine somewhere after calling him from Sheffield Wednesday raving about a young kid who played called Lee Hendrie!
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I see some on here have taken to calling Tony, Tone. What next ring him up and spout drivel down the phone then ask him for a Bronx hat.
I tried. He said 'on yer bike'
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Okay, He's under 50 we know that for certain. Even by looking at him we can deduce he's less than 50. We can also deduce he's more than 30. So, can anyone say with some backed up authority he is one of either 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 or even 49?
I know age is just a number and doesn't really matter one iota. I'd just like to know
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I love some of the comments in that Guardian article. Complaints about us "buying success" and we are going to ruin football by becoming a new Man City or Chelsea.
Let me go on record. I would be absolutely fine with that label if we are playing in the Champions league. More than fine in fact ;D
Bottomless pockets are no guarantee of success in modern football, as Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd have proven this season.
Nope diligent ownership is the way. The way Tony is speaking sounds at least like he realises that.
Logically yes you are right, thats sensible and the smart way to build a long term success.
But emotionally, sod that. I want us to be that twat club that buys success, throw money at the mst expensive players on the planet and our "disappointment" be when we dont get to the final 16 of the champions league. All the time while being despised by poorer clubs.
I want us to be that club, just for a change. I think it would be great.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OnJtmIOFb3w/UBroj-ycpYI/AAAAAAAAB_I/F9oSLxwAAxk/s1600/mayweather-money.gif)
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Xia Jiantong, a 39-year-old millionaire from eastern China who uses the English name Tony Xia
I've known him since he was 30. Seems like it was only yesterday.
I remember when all this was fields
I remember when it was all buildings.
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He's neither a medical doctor or got a PhD.
He's played a part (paid exec?) in a business that organises construction/urbanisation work - what was his role?
He now runs loss making businesses.
That makes me weary - that's all.
http://www.xwhodesign.com/en/aboutx.asp?li=1&action=%D6%C7%C4%D2%BA%CB%D0%C4
Dr Xia Jian Tong was promoted to be the president of XWHO in 2001. He earned his Doctor of Design degree from Harvard University. He also has been appointed by China Mayor Center and the Ministry of Construction as Distinguished Professor since 2002. He has served as urban development specialist for several cities in China. As a world famous expert in urban planning and landscape architecture, Dr. Xia has participated and chaired in hundreds of projects and cities all over the world.
To me the website you cite looks like a typical architect & town planners site. These companes earn their money through charging consultancy fees and aren't making the big bucks from construction.
The biographies are penned by the company and not subject to scrutiny, although I'm not saying they're ncessarily untrue. Xia was born around 1977, so his achievements in 2002 would have been at the age of 27 which seems unlikely if he spent the time claimed doing an undegraduate degree and then spending 6 years at Harvard plus some time at Oxford.
I also see that Hollis credits him with being connected with the birds nest stadium. Given that the bids and planning for Bejing olympics would have been prepared around the same time or earlier, I just don't see that he would have played a major part.
As I've said before, it makes me wary (and weary).
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you know what? I'm on Tone's magic karpet.
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I'm just going to give him a chance I think. We'll find out soon enough what sort of owner he is.
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Fuck it, I'm signed up on the Dr X trip and that's it. If it all goes crashing down like a lot of the doom merchants are saying then so be it, you were right and I was wrong. But at the moment, I'm trusting the judgement of Hollis and a lot of people who know a lot more about financial affairs than I ever will.
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Count me in too.
Bedsheet on standby.
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I'm buying it. I'm crushed by disappointment anyway so a bit more wont hurt if it all goes AOT.
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I'm reserving judgement until I see what colour shorts we are wearing at home. If they're claret he can do one.
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Fuck it, I'm signed up on the Dr X trip and that's it. If it all goes crashing down like a lot of the doom merchants are saying then so be it, you were right and I was wrong. But at the moment, I'm trusting the judgement of Hollis and a lot of people who know a lot more about financial affairs than I ever will.
Very similar to me. Things are dreadful anyway, and if they get worse I won't enjoy things any less. An imporovement will be very welcome. I would think that RDM plus £50m would get us back up easily.
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I welcome our Tone and wish him well.
However, I'm going to keep resolutely believing the worst is going to happen, in a pathetic attempt to protect my mental health against further crushing disappointment.
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I'm in. Anything, no matter how brief it may turn out to be, which I don't think it will be, has to be better than what we've been through over the last few years.
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Fuck it, I'm signed up on the Dr X trip and that's it. If it all goes crashing down like a lot of the doom merchants are saying then so be it, you were right and I was wrong. But at the moment, I'm trusting the judgement of Hollis and a lot of people who know a lot more about financial affairs than I ever will.
I'm going to weld myself to my seat at the next home game!
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Seen his interview and though English is clearly not his first language he speaks it better than Lerner can write it.
He has set out his intentions. So now as a certain Mr Atkinson would say:-
"Don't tell me, show me"
Until that is done my cautious optimism is matched by a very healthy scepticism.
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Fuck it, I'm signed up on the Dr X trip and that's it. If it all goes crashing down like a lot of the doom merchants are saying then so be it, you were right and I was wrong. But at the moment, I'm trusting the judgement of Hollis and a lot of people who know a lot more about financial affairs than I ever will.
Very similar to me. Things are dreadful anyway, and if they get worse I won't enjoy things any less. An imporovement will be very welcome. I would think that RDM plus £50m would get us back up easily.
Also just the change in attitude this takeover could bring. Lerner's apathy infected the whole club - it was like a bunch of people drifting along just waiting for the apocalypse. Now, perhaps we'll see a bit of ambition and drive and that can change the whole feel of the club.
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He's neither a medical doctor or got a PhD.
He's played a part (paid exec?) in a business that organises construction/urbanisation work - what was his role?
He now runs loss making businesses.
That makes me weary - that's all.
http://www.xwhodesign.com/en/aboutx.asp?li=1&action=%D6%C7%C4%D2%BA%CB%D0%C4
Dr Xia Jian Tong was promoted to be the president of XWHO in 2001. He earned his Doctor of Design degree from Harvard University. He also has been appointed by China Mayor Center and the Ministry of Construction as Distinguished Professor since 2002. He has served as urban development specialist for several cities in China. As a world famous expert in urban planning and landscape architecture, Dr. Xia has participated and chaired in hundreds of projects and cities all over the world.
To me the website you cite looks like a typical architect & town planners site. These companes earn their money through charging consultancy fees and aren't making the big bucks from construction.
The biographies are penned by the company and not subject to scrutiny, although I'm not saying they're ncessarily untrue. Xia was born around 1977, so his achievements in 2002 would have been at the age of 27 which seems unlikely if he spent the time claimed doing an undegraduate degree and then spending 6 years at Harvard plus some time at Oxford.
I also see that Hollis credits him with being connected with the birds nest stadium. Given that the bids and planning for Bejing olympics would have been prepared around the same time or earlier, I just don't see that he would have played a major part.
As I've said before, it makes me wary (and weary).
If it makes you feel better he started his degree at 14.
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14 + 3 years for undergraduate = 17yrs + 6 years Harvard = 23 years + ?1 year oxford = 24 years
So that leaves 3 years ... doesn't stack up.
Maybe its not a big deal but then again it whiffs of bullshit.
Mention was made of the Chinese being interested in devloping football clubs in some sort of recipricol deal for their players but this seems to have taken a backseat in the recent news. The idea now being touted is that this guy is a town planner/architect who's either spotted (or earned?) his big chance, which seems to be based around some sort of regeneration plan for Aston.
If he pulls it off then great, but I just can't see what his Chinese backers would get in return, so that leaves Birmingham Council, the governement or whoever wanting to pump money into the scheme. If it goes tits up we'll see the debt and transfer fees loaded either onto the balance sheet of AVFC or a project based (UK ) subsidiary of Recon.
That's why I'm very sceptical.
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The time in Oxford was part of his time at Harvard and his involvement with xwho started at Harvard because his professor was part of the company and added him to the management team and then he was made president a couple of years later. All fits ok.
Football is a big deal in China, they have added it to the curriculum as I understand it.
He IS a city planner/architect, that's what he studied at Harvard and it's what xwho do, look at their website.
Chinese investment into Birmingham isn't a new thing that we're just talking about now, take a read of the 'Birmingham News' thread in off topic, over the last few years Chinese investment into infrastructure projects has been steadily increasing. To give you one of the things posted in there -
What they get in return is a diversified portfolio that is better protected from national financial issues. As I've said, it's almost exactly the same thing that Mansour has done in Manchester.
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He didn't spend a year at Oxford, he spent 5 months as part of his time at Harvard and MIT. Similar to the way you can spend your second year abroad over here, it doesn't elongate your study time.
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ok - so we agree that his background is in city planning and that, through xwho he gained experience and was succesful.
He's now associated with Recon who's only business is making MSG at a loss. That seems strange to me.
Next, his business plan would appear to hinge on the regneration of Aston using funds from wealthy chinese backers who want to move their money off shore and diversify their assets.
Why does he need to buy Villa to do this? That again seems strange to me.
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Maybe it's a simple as he likes football, has access to the necessary funds and wants to get heavily involved in the British game?
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ok - so we agree that his background is in city planning and that, through xwho he gained experience and was succesful.
He's now associated with Recon who's only business is making MSG at a loss. That seems strange to me.
Next, his business plan would appear to hinge on the regneration of Aston using funds from wealthy chinese backers who want to move their money off shore and diversify their assets.
Why does he need to buy Villa to do this? That again seems strange to me.
Fits in with the Chinese Government's wishes, which I don't think we should underestimate.
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*state funds*
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Seen his interview and though English is clearly not his first language he speaks it better than Lerner can write it.
He has set out his intentions. So now as a certain Mr Atkinson would say:-
"Don't tell me, show me"
Agreed.
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Why does he need to buy Villa to do this? That again seems strange to me.
When trying to convince a Chinese business to invest huge sums of cash in Birmingham it will be a good tool to persuade them. "Come over, we'll catch a match and have a game of golf at the Belfry." Ultimately the club will give him a decent amount of credibility and status.
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He didn't spend a year at Oxford, he spent 5 months as part of his time at Harvard and MIT. Similar to the way you can spend your second year abroad over here, it doesn't elongate your study time.
Yeah but he would have spent 7 months punting.
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There are Chinese state funds involved ?
I'd hope not or we'd better start rewriting the West Ham stadium thread sharpish...
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I would have thought that somebody who has spent 6 years studying at Harvard might just speak English a bit better than the good Doctor?
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ok - so we agree that his background is in city planning and that, through xwho he gained experience and was succesful.
He's now associated with Recon who's only business is making MSG at a loss. That seems strange to me.
Next, his business plan would appear to hinge on the regneration of Aston using funds from wealthy chinese backers who want to move their money off shore and diversify their assets.
Why does he need to buy Villa to do this? That again seems strange to me.
The bold bit is completely wrong, Lotus is 1 small part of the group, I've posted lots and lots of links on the other thread but basically xwho are still operating as a subsidiary of recon, teamax is another subsidiary of recon.
He personally will be the chairman but the 'owner' is the group and the group will be the wealthy chinese backer who want to invest in the city.
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The bold bit is completely wrong, Lotus is 1 small part of the group, I've posted lots and lots of links on the other thread but basically xwho are still operating as a subsidiary of recon, teamax is another subsidiary of recon.
I assume Oldhill means The Financial Times article disputes that.
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ok - so we agree that his background is in city planning and that, through xwho he gained experience and was succesful.
He's now associated with Recon who's only business is making MSG at a loss. That seems strange to me.
Next, his business plan would appear to hinge on the regneration of Aston using funds from wealthy chinese backers who want to move their money off shore and diversify their assets.
Why does he need to buy Villa to do this? That again seems strange to me.
The bold bit is completely wrong, Lotus is 1 small part of the group, I've posted lots and lots of links on the other thread but basically xwho are still operating as a subsidiary of recon, teamax is another subsidiary of recon.
He personally will be the chairman but the 'owner' is the group and the group will be the wealthy chinese backer who want to invest in the city.
"Last month, Lotus — Recon’s only verifiable asset — announced it had made a net loss in 2015 of Rmb508.5m ($77.6m) on revenues of Rmb1.7bn, compared with a net profit of Rmb23.9m the previous year"
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The bold bit is completely wrong, Lotus is 1 small part of the group, I've posted lots and lots of links on the other thread but basically xwho are still operating as a subsidiary of recon, teamax is another subsidiary of recon.
I assume Oldhill means The Financial Times article disputes that.
I hadn't read it before i posted but it's still only a small part of the group though. The main companies seem to be unlisted and because of that don't seem to have a requirement to post accounts so finding meaningful financial details is very difficult.
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Tony say he aim to make Aston Villa top 3 team in the world. How he will do that as there is Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus, for starters.
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ok - so we agree that his background is in city planning and that, through xwho he gained experience and was succesful.
He's now associated with Recon who's only business is making MSG at a loss. That seems strange to me.
Next, his business plan would appear to hinge on the regneration of Aston using funds from wealthy chinese backers who want to move their money off shore and diversify their assets.
Why does he need to buy Villa to do this? That again seems strange to me.
The bold bit is completely wrong, Lotus is 1 small part of the group, I've posted lots and lots of links on the other thread but basically xwho are still operating as a subsidiary of recon, teamax is another subsidiary of recon.
He personally will be the chairman but the 'owner' is the group and the group will be the wealthy chinese backer who want to invest in the city.
"Last month, Lotus — Recon’s only verifiable asset — announced it had made a net loss in 2015 of Rmb508.5m ($77.6m) on revenues of Rmb1.7bn, compared with a net profit of Rmb23.9m the previous year"
On the plus side, the company made nearly £1.2billion revenue last year. On the flip side, their costs were higher. I just hope there was a lot going on by way of depreciation and other overheads and they were aiming for a loss, I'm doubtful though.
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Tony say he aim to make Aston Villa top 3 team in the world. How he will do that as there is Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus, for starters.
He might want to start by making us the top team in the West Midlands
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Tony say he aim to make Aston Villa top 3 team in the world. How he will do that as there is Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus, for starters.
Right now, he has his work cut out to get us to top 30. I take this statement more as one of an emphasis of ambition rather than a specific target. The true target is recruiting the right manager and securing promotion quickly.
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Football is not big news in China, so my friends have not heard much of the deal. The only clubs that matter are the European elite. For now, basketball is far bigger (mainly due to a few Chinese players making it big in the NBA) and it will take a while for those Chinese plans for football to become the national game to take off.
Feedback on Tony Xia / Rui Kang has varied from "who?" to critical comments re his past from my old teacher, who knows nothing about football but did some research for me. On the other hand I heard from somebody close to the deal that Lerner was very determined that Hollis should ensure a sale to a fit and proper custodian only.
I shall assume positive intent for now and hope my Chinese contacts can get me freebies to all our big games to come in the next few years.
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Football is not big news in China, so my friends have not heard much of the deal. The only clubs that matter are the European elite. For now, basketball is far bigger (mainly due to a few Chinese players making it big in the NBA) and it will take a while for those Chinese plans for football to become the national game to take off.
Feedback on Tony Xia / Rui Kang has varied from "who?" to critical comments re his past from my old teacher, who knows nothing about football but did some research for me. On the other hand I heard from somebody close to the deal that Lerner was very determined that Hollis should ensure a sale to a fit and proper custodian only.
I shall assume positive intent for now and hope my Chinese contacts can get me freebies to all our big games to come in the next few years.
Hi Paul,
It's been a while, mate. Exciting times, eh? Especially for us former China expats.
A few football mad mates have been in touch to offer their congratulations. They've heard of him and his various business ventures, but didn't realise he was into his football. He's seen as a bit of a 'whizz kid' apparently, and has a fair bit of money.
It's nice to be rid of Lerner, and it'll be great to see Villa on previous season tours of China, hopefully in the near future.
Hope all is going well for you, mate.
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Where is Beatles band?
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(https://i.imgflip.com/14ho77.jpg)
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Football is not big news in China, so my friends have not heard much of the deal. The only clubs that matter are the European elite. For now, basketball is far bigger (mainly due to a few Chinese players making it big in the NBA) and it will take a while for those Chinese plans for football to become the national game to take off.
Feedback on Tony Xia / Rui Kang has varied from "who?" to critical comments re his past from my old teacher, who knows nothing about football but did some research for me. On the other hand I heard from somebody close to the deal that Lerner was very determined that Hollis should ensure a sale to a fit and proper custodian only.
I shall assume positive intent for now and hope my Chinese contacts can get me freebies to all our big games to come in the next few years.
Hi Paul,
It's been a while, mate. Exciting times, eh? Especially for us former China expats.
A few football mad mates have been in touch to offer their congratulations. They've heard of him and his various business ventures, but didn't realise he was into his football. He's seen as a bit of a 'whizz kid' apparently, and has a fair bit of money.
It's nice to be rid of Lerner, and it'll be great to see Villa on previous season tours of China, hopefully in the near future.
Hope all is going well for you, mate.
Thanks chaps - makes me feel a little more comfortable. Ultimately if there is money behind him (from a consortium for example) we will most likely never know anything about 'who' they are. Proof is in the manager etc and what state we are in come the beginning of August...
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Really he gave a bit of a soundbite. I hope so because what we need is a grounded owner with a sense of direction who is going to back whoever the manager is. We needed the change as soon as possible, lets wait and see. I do have my doubts.
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Putting aside our previous with Dr Jo you have to feel comforted by someone called Dr Tony coming in to make everyone feel better. Although with that name he does sound more suited to a place on the This Morning sofa next to Pip Schofield and Holly Willoughboobies. I have allowed myself to be both optimistic and excited that the good doctor is in the Villa house.
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Salsa,
If Carlsberg did football, AVFC would be in the top three!!!!
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if we could get two top notch chinese and indians players playing for us we will be one of biggest club in China and India and indian community in midlands.
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if we could get two top notch chinese and indians players playing for us we will be one of biggest club in China and India and indian community in midlands.
And possibly relegated again in the process. It's all good and well bringing players in from those countries for commercial reasons. Bottom line is they have to be good enough to keep their place in the team. If not it will only hurt us. And the last thing we need again is another dressing room situation because the other players get fucked off because of it.
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We had an Indian player on trial some years ago . Wasn't any good went to Bury I think.
Just looked him up. Bhuttia was and still is his name
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Didn't Everton sign a player when they signed a sponsorship deal a few years back? Was it with Kejian?
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When Tottingham were sponsored by Holstein they were linked wth Stefan Kuntz.
Who would have been the most appropriately named Tottingham player ever.
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When Tottingham were sponsored by Holstein they were linked wth Stefan Kuntz.
Who would have been the most appropriately named Tottingham player ever.
Yawn...
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if we could get two top notch chinese and indians players playing for us we will be one of biggest club in China and India and indian community in midlands.
And possibly relegated again in the process. It's all good and well bringing players in from those countries for commercial reasons. Bottom line is they have to be good enough to keep their place in the team. If not it will only hurt us. And the last thing we need again is another dressing room situation because the other players get fucked off because of it.
I don't think anyone is suggesting we sign Indian or Chinese players for the sake of it. If they (China in particular) are going to be putting a huge effort into developing players there over the next 30+ years and we have things in our favour that others don't, that help us to identify highly promising players, then I don't have a problem with that.
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There are Chinese state funds involved ?
I'd hope not or we'd better start rewriting the West Ham stadium thread sharpish...
yes, the whole deal is as dodgy as f*ck imo
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Tony say he aim to make Aston Villa top 3 team in the world. How he will do that as there is Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus, for starters.
See how man city and Chelsea gate crashed the big players league....
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if we could get two top notch chinese and indians players playing for us we will be one of biggest club in China and India and indian community in midlands.
There aren't any top notch Chinese or Indian players - China can't qualify for the World Cup, and India wouldn't be favourites to beat Luxembourg.
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True but you'd have to think with 2 billion people between them and massive growing popularity that this will come. I'd also assume the USA will start to produce much better players too
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His aim is to use our facilities and personnel to bring Chinese players over here and also allow some of our coaches to go over there, a far far cry from signing someone just because they are Chinese. Leicester have no Thai players, but believe me as I have a house in Thailand there profile has grown over the last couple of years, obviously this year, but prior to this there was Leicester shop at Swampy airport, since King Powers involvement their profile is alot bigger than their size of club would justify normally, once back in the Prem the Chinese interest will rocket.
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Agree. Put another way, as Asian influence in the world grows at an astonishing rate if we had no foothold in the Far East we would be alarmed that other clubs were more progressive than us.
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The interest in football is beginning to grow in China. It seems that Xi Jingping wants to improve grassroots and improve China's standing in the game. They're also trying to entice higher profile players from Europe to go play in China too. Give it 5-10 years and we may see more Chinese players achieving what the Korean and Japanese players have in as much as making their way over to a high levels in Europe to play. If we can aid that process then why not? But not at the hindrance of our own home grown players of course. It could also be beneficial to send a few of our youngsters on exchange programmes to China for a month or two, maybe more. It may not be the highest level, but they'd potentially get to taste competitive football perhaps and also appreciate different culture. One thing that may also be beneficial for English players in the future is the ability to play abroad. We're not good at it historically. We don't see many English players ply their trade abroad and almost always it ends in failure. Retiring in the MLS is one thing...But it may aid the national side if our players are able to play abroad, adapt to other styles of playing, gain a bit of humility.
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Agree. Put another way, as Asian influence in the world grows at an astonishing rate if we had no foothold in the Far East we would be alarmed that other clubs were more progressive than us.
That is very far forward thinking and I agree fully with your point.
Put another way, in fact I won't cos yor spot on mate
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You have to wonder if China could create a football super league in a way similar to the IPL in cricket?
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China will try but getting key European players to move there will be hard.
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You have to wonder if China could create a football super league in a way similar to the IPL in cricket?
I've often wondered if that is the way the US should go. Instead of expanding the number of teams in the MLS, condense it into a smaller number based in the desirable locations (New York, LA etc) and then grow the game below that level.
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Salsa, key European players will go there if the money is right, even if it is for shorter 12 or 24 month contracts, in the life of a professional footballer two things have sway, his agent and the size of the pay packet.
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Good article in the times:
‘I’ll make world a better place with my ability’
Aston Villa’s Chinese owner Tony Xia tells Henry Winter that he has big plans for his club and says he has been surprised by the openness of Steve Bruce.
When Aston Villa’s owner, Dr Tony Xia, addressed the World Robot Conference in Beijing in October, he was inundated with tweets from Villa fans asking everything from “any chance they can build us a decent right back” to “are we re-signing Peter Crouch?”
Villa supporters are fascinated by Xia. Many in football are curious about the little-known Chinese businessman who now controls one of the founding fathers of the Football League. Xia engages readily with fans via social media but since buying Randy Lerner out for £76 million, he has largely avoided interviews. So his image has gained layer after layer: Xia has been depicted as everything from a saviour of the Holte End to a stooge for the Chinese government, from a Bond villain to the Harvard-educated hero who sailed through the Football League owners’ and directors’ test.
In six years we can be top of the Premier League so we can be in Champions League
But who is Tony Xia? He’s certainly different from Lerner, let alone Doug Ellis. The situation is confusion meets Confucius. Xia is a ferociously intelligent best-selling author who reads Jane Austen and has inserted two safe-standing areas in new plans for the Holte End. He says that Villa were “a mess” when he bought them, that Steve Bruce “is better than I expected” and wants to turn the 11th-best team in the Championship into Champions League winners “in ten years”.
Villa fans don’t think he’s crazy. “On a scale of one to Cellino, you’re about a four, Tony,” one supporter reassured him. Xia’s club travel to Massimo Cellino’s Leeds United today. English football is a broad church, especially at board level. Chinese expansion has been particularly felt in the West Midlands with Trillion Trophy Asia taking over Birmingham City, Guochuan Lai buying West Bromwich Albion, Jeff Shi fronting the conglomerate owning Wolverhampton Wanderers while Xia has Villa.
Meeting Xia is a two-fold process, first a ten-minute private chat in the Bodymoor Heath canteen followed a week later by an interview in the boardroom at the training ground where all the photographs have been taken down. He does not have to look far for local heroes, having just spent two hours watching training in the company of Peter Withe and Brian Little.
He seems surprised at any suspicions. “Chinese people are very friendly,” Xia says. “It’s from our very long history of philosophy, they want to make harmony with the world. From Confucius they start to implement that conception of harmony.” Xia insists the Western perception of Beijing being closed and suspicious of the outside world is outdated. “For now, the Chinese government has changed a lot, they are now not considered enemies. They do not have very strong suspicions to other parts of the world. They start to change their minds and learn how to understand others, not only with the US, but UK and other countries. There’s really no big barrier between East and West now.”
So, really, who is this Beijing-based, Villa-backing citizen of the world? Xia patiently explains. His family history seems partly to reflect China in the 20th century, including the grip of Communism when Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China in 1949. “Before ’49 we were a very wealthy family. My grandfather’s father used to be a minister for the Kuomintang party, which went to Taiwan [in 1949 after defeat in the Chinese Civil War to Mao]. It was not good for our family to stay in mainland China because of the political situation, but we couldn’t move.”
They stayed and suffered. “Our life was affected a lot, not only economically. My father was not allowed to go to college because of the political background, even though he was admitted to university. He couldn’t take some jobs. He lost opportunity. It was very difficult. For the Cultural Revolution era, you can compare with North Korea now.”
Deng Xiaoping brought in economic reforms and things began to improve for families like Xia’s, increasing when Deng stepped down in 1989. “After Deng Xiaoping came off the stage, some families like ours who had difficult times in the Cultural Revolution era were allowed to get equal opportunity again to go to school and have jobs. My father was free to do something. He started to do some business but it was very minor business for him, just so he can afford for us to go to school. My family taught me that the only way to go through hard times was to study hard.
“The difficulties that our family faced taught me a lot, like you have to work hard.” He still managed to fit in football training and playing as a striker while studying in Beijing. “We had a college league for all the universities in Beijing, close to semi-professional level.”
Harvard beckoned where he studied design and landscape architecture. “A dramatic change for China was that starting from the early Nineties, a lot of people like me went abroad to study. A lot of those students went back to China either to do business or to teach at university or college. Those people are changing the country a lot.
“Harvard opened up a broader view of the world for me. I got the chance to access all kinds of knowledge. Harvard has more than 100 libraries! I got a chance to meet people from all over the world, from different fields and that made me understand the world better.”
He spent five months at the University of Oxford in 1999. “There are a lot of similarities between Oxford and Harvard, actually, but Oxford is much more historic. It’s more like the difference between America and the UK. America is much more open and ‘pop’. But here it’s more Classical and more disciplined in parts.”
It was not all work amid the dreaming spires. He headed up the motorway to catch John Gregory’s team in action. “I watched one game at Villa when I was at Oxford — against Liverpool.”
Xia returned to China and continued building his business, The Recon Group, which is involved in everything from monosodium glutamate to small loans. When his wealth was recently estimated at £550 million, he laughed it off, tweeting “those rich-list ranking stuffs never get even close to ‘correct’.” Yet he sees fit to mention when he has landed a large deal for Recon, as if to show he’s not a “pauper”.
So does he consider himself a capitalist? “Honestly, I never understand the term ‘capitalist’ and in mainland China there’s ‘communist’. The driving force for me to do some business came from my childhood experiences and from my education, not only at Harvard but also in China. When I was in China, from elementary school to college, I was trying to learn so that one day I can make some changes in society for the country. When I completed my studies at Harvard, I started to learn that maybe I can not only do something for my country but do something to make the world a much better place with my ability. At Harvard, I was trained to be a person who can be valuable to the world.”
And valuable to Villa? What was the attraction? “It’s much more difficult to buy Arsenal or Liverpool,” he explains. He could also see the potential of a fallen giant, a 142-year-old club who have won the title seven times, the FA Cup seven times and the European Cup with that goal from Withe in 1982.
“I’m absolutely aware of the heritage,” Xia adds. “That’s another big reason for us to consider Aston Villa, the long history, the large fanbase that maybe was broken somehow for some years. We have time to recover and take it back to being a great club again.
“Honestly, the first part [of his interest in Villa] comes from my passion for the sport. The second is the business part. When we bought Villa, it was a total mess. We are talking about the management system through the club. It was even much worse than I expected when I took over.
“We have bought a lot of similar businesses, some companies in crisis, and we had to fix them. That’s the value we can give.” Fixing problems. Roberto Di Matteo was appointed in June, partly, it seems because Xia respected his academic qualifications including attending an MBA course. He lasted until early October and the more experienced Bruce came in.
“He’s much better than I expected,” Xia says of Bruce. “I didn’t expect him to be so open to learn a lot of new things. Honestly, a lot of people said he was quite good as a manager to get out of the Championship, and go back to the Premier League — and that was the first priority and we didn’t expect much more. But now I think he is much more open, and learning. Now I’m very confident and quite comfortable not only just Steve, but Keith [Wyness, chief executive] and Steve Round [technical director]. I like the whole team.
“Everyone knows we have to build everything step by step. We plan to go back to the Premier League in one year, at most two years, stay [consolidate] for one or two years and we hope in five or six years we can be the top club in the Premier League so we can play in Champions League and then two or three more years we can challenge to go top of Europe. I’m very confident for that.
“I foresee modern football changing very quickly. The club that is top now won’t stay there for many years if they don’t push to fit into the changes that are happening. Football will be dramatically changed by the implementation of more data technology, internet, communication technology, and one day, maybe also, bio-science, bio-technology. Even a club like Man United now, if you don’t start to make a lot of changes will very soon be left behind.”
Football is changing already, especially with the areas around grounds being turned into fan-friendly areas as at Anfield and the Etihad. Xia has similar plans for Villa Park, mixing business enterprise and theme park. “My conception for the redevelopment of the Villa Park area is not just the stadium itself,” Xia continues. “We are going to redevelop the whole area, so we can combine with all kinds of stores, specialising in sport, and some entertainment location experience.
“Maybe we will build some tourism destination to demonstrate the history of Villa as the first club to [help] found the [Football] League. We can bring not only Villa fans from all over the world but tourists from China, India and other countries to visit. That’s the large plans we take to Birmingham city council. It’s exciting. I pretty much agree we can insert some safe standing. We might add two standing areas in-between a seating area. That would be interesting.” Having transformed Villa Park, would he sell? “No, no, no,” Xia insists.
He enjoys watching Villa, meeting supporters, relaxing. “Honestly for the past five years I’ve been working too much. I’m not young any more. I realise I can’t work like I studied at Harvard, when I worked 18 hours every day, so for now, sometimes I take one day off to sleep on the beach, just make peace. My daughter was born two years ago and she’s made me more relaxed.”
He also relaxes by reading. “I was a best-selling writer 11 years ago. I had two books published as best-sellers in Chinese. I’m very much into literature and philosophy. From the traditional Chinese literature, my favourite would be Cao Xueqin.” Cao’s book Dream of the Red Chamber is considered one of the four great books of Chinese literature but he also loves one English author in particular, Jane Austen. “I went to Bath city for The Three Sisters! Jane Austen!” Xia has yet to read any of Steve Bruce’s three novels, but the engaging, slightly mysterious Dr Xia has certainly become embedded in English footballing life.
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Think the test of Xia will be if you don't go up this season. Common sense says that you back Bruce for next season. But given he doesn't know much about football that will be a test of his knee jerk reactions ;) He's putting his money where his mouth is right now which he needed to do. Fair play on that, and also fair play for learning from his mistake with the appointment of RDM and this listening to the football people when going with Bruce.
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Jane Austen.Didnt she invent the motor car?
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Thank for sharing the article from The Times. Couldn't read it on web site. Didn't know Henry Winter move from Telegraph to Times. When did he move ?
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Well that all sounds very grown-up and proper doesn't it.
He has a way with the narrative for sure - impressive
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Best selling author? Not heard that mention before.
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If biotech becomes involved in the game I am out of here, dude. Imagine Gobby Savage's head, Zidane's torso and Messi's legs fused into a franchise fuckwit and let loose to ply his trade. Gobby would clean up on the hair product commercials.
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Best selling author? Not heard that mention before.
We must be the only club in the world with an author as owner and manager
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Biotech. We can use McGrath defending skills in back 4 and central midfield and Gordon Cowans passing skills in back 5, whole midfield and Shaun Teale's heart in every player, Olof Mellberg's passion for every player, Tony Morley wing wizard in every winger and full back and James Milner energy and workrate on every player, and Martin Laursen set pieces heading for every strikers and defenders and Gerry Hitchens finishing on every attacking player ;)
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We have Gestede. Difficult to improve on perfection.
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Think back to December 2006 and we were praising Lerner for free coaches to Chelsea, the restoration of the Holte Pub, the next month we signed Ashley Young and Carew.
I think it's easy to judge Dr Tony know....from bitter experience the time to judge is when things start to go wrong...how will he react if we lose in the play offs for example? What will he do if a key manager walks out at a difficult stage of the season?
At least he has a decent board of football people which Lerner never showed any interest in setting up but it's easy so far to say Xia has been a great owner so far. The hard work on and off the pitch is still to come.
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Think back to December 2006 and we were praising Lerner for free coaches to Chelsea, the restoration of the Holte Pub, the next month we signed Ashley Young and Carew.
I think it's easy to judge Dr Tony know....from bitter experience the time to judge is when things start to go wrong...how will he react if we lose in the play offs for example? What will he do if a key manager walks out at a difficult stage of the season?
At least he has a decent board of football people which Lerner never showed any interest in setting up but it's easy so far to say Xia has been a great owner so far. The hard work on and off the pitch is still to come.
I agree.
The time to really judge him is when we see the first set of accounts and see where the money spent so far is coming from.
That doesn't equate to assuming it'll be bad news, but we really will not know until then.
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Soft loan from Republic of China Peoples The Group?
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A great interview in the Times on Saturday too.
I still worry that he thinks his will be easier than it is, but am reassured that with the RDM sacking he was prepared to admit to a mistake.
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Think back to December 2006 and we were praising Lerner for free coaches to Chelsea, the restoration of the Holte Pub, the next month we signed Ashley Young and Carew.
I think it's easy to judge Dr Tony know....from bitter experience the time to judge is when things start to go wrong...how will he react if we lose in the play offs for example? What will he do if a key manager walks out at a difficult stage of the season?
At least he has a decent board of football people which Lerner never showed any interest in setting up but it's easy so far to say Xia has been a great owner so far. The hard work on and off the pitch is still to come.
I agree.
The time to really judge him is when we see the first set of accounts and see where the money spent so far is coming from.
That doesn't equate to assuming it'll be bad news, but we really will not know until then.
The difference is Xia hasn't built a pub, put on free coaches. He's brought in an experienced CEO and somebody like Round who has the nous to restructure the club for the long term.
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Think back to December 2006 and we were praising Lerner for free coaches to Chelsea, the restoration of the Holte Pub, the next month we signed Ashley Young and Carew.
I think it's easy to judge Dr Tony know....from bitter experience the time to judge is when things start to go wrong...how will he react if we lose in the play offs for example? What will he do if a key manager walks out at a difficult stage of the season?
At least he has a decent board of football people which Lerner never showed any interest in setting up but it's easy so far to say Xia has been a great owner so far. The hard work on and off the pitch is still to come.
I agree.
The time to really judge him is when we see the first set of accounts and see where the money spent so far is coming from.
That doesn't equate to assuming it'll be bad news, but we really will not know until then.
It looks like some of it is coming from HSBC as they now have a floating charge over the assets of the company.
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When we bought Villa, it was a total mess. We are talking about the management system through the club. It was even much worse than I expected when I took over.
I am genuinely curious about this. Round has alluded to it as well. I have seen a few aquisitions over the years in different lines of business but never the buyer so openly critical of the previous owners before.
I cant imagine how bad it would have to be for me to publically say the asset I just paid 80 million for was worse than I thought.
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When we bought Villa, it was a total mess. We are talking about the management system through the club. It was even much worse than I expected when I took over.
....is the correct answer.
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Aston Villa’s colourful chairman Tony Xia has been named one of the 10 richest people in the West Midlands.
The 40-year-old from China has become a popular figure at Villa Park with his honest views on social media and willingness to dig deep and invest in new players.
Hail Dr Tony! I really just want to say he's continued in this window to back the manager and really seems to want to push club forward.
I really embrace his communication and savvy and has really shown himself as a today time of owner . Like how he does things and his enthusiasm I hope will be matched by players and fans around the world .
He's a rightful owner for this beloved football club and we really are very fortunate to have him
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Five players signed with maybe a couple more to follow. Dr xia really backing up the club . Impressive.
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One of the ten richest people. Dear me.
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A billionaire with a company with almost no internet presence, with thousands of employees with no internet presence, who proved his wealth to the PL with a document which looked like someone had knocked it up in Paint Shop Pro.
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Proud to see from reviewing this thread that I very bravely said virtually nothing and let other people argue it out. Vindication at last.
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Think back to December 2006 and we were praising Lerner for free coaches to Chelsea, the restoration of the Holte Pub, the next month we signed Ashley Young and Carew.
I think it's easy to judge Dr Tony know....from bitter experience the time to judge is when things start to go wrong...how will he react if we lose in the play offs for example? What will he do if a key manager walks out at a difficult stage of the season?
At least he has a decent board of football people which Lerner never showed any interest in setting up but it's easy so far to say Xia has been a great owner so far. The hard work on and off the pitch is still to come.
This is working out well so far then!
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Proud to see from reviewing this thread that I very bravely said virtually nothing and let other people argue it out. Vindication at last.
I just made a flippant comment of no substance whatsoever, which was in turn ignored.
I'm learning.
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The highly detailed website of a multinational conglomerate is here.
http://en.reconig.com
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The highly detailed website of a multinational conglomerate is here.
http://en.reconig.com
“Enter Serach keywords”
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I have no idea how business is conducted in China. I have no idea how business is conducted here, for that matter. But all I can say is that Xia's business has never looked like a business that I would recognise as one, has no hallmarks of a successful conglomerate that I would expect to see, and even the first inkling that he was buying us, with that real/fake translated statement someone pulled out from somewhere was underwhelming.
Now, money has been put into the club. I'm not disputing that we must have thrown a fair amount of wedge around. Xia might be worth seventy trillion quid. But it seems to me that whenever a little red flag has popped up in our owner's business history, it's been rewritten as simply our lack of understanding of how these things are done. For those unable to take those little leaps of faith, it's small wonder we're cracking out the cutthroat razors and dusting off the bleach.
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I have no idea how business is conducted in China. I have no idea how business is conducted here, for that matter. But all I can say is that Xia's business has never looked like a business that I would recognise as one, has no hallmarks of a successful conglomerate that I would expect to see, and even the first inkling that he was buying us, with that real/fake translated statement someone pulled out from somewhere was underwhelming.
Now, money has been put into the club. I'm not disputing that we must have thrown a fair amount of wedge around. Xia might be worth seventy trillion quid. But it seems to me that whenever a little red flag has popped up in our owner's business history, it's been rewritten as simply our lack of understanding of how these things are done. For those unable to take those little leaps of faith, it's small wonder we're cracking out the cutthroat razors and dusting off the bleach.
He hasn't got any money, he's a fucking chancer.
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He hasn't got any money, he's a fucking chancer.
There's a thread here just for you - http://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?topic=58714.0
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Libel .... did Xia not start it?
He's a Dr don't you know?
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He hasn't got any money, he's a fucking chancer.
There's a thread here just for you - http://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?topic=58714.0
Absolutely. Pack it in or do it somewhere else.
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I do think Xia provided with a great platform and Its not unreasonable to think the football people failed him.
Everything was put in place for promotion and in some ways it wasn't a gamble.
An experienced manager. Experienced players. Unfortunately the result of non promotion is a real financial problem and Dr Xia pretty much did his side of the bargain don't we think?
As much as he could do given circumstances too!!
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I do think Xia provided with a great platform and Its not unreasonable to think the football people failed him.
Everything was put in place for promotion and in some ways it wasn't a gamble.
An experienced manager. Experienced players. Unfortunately the result of non promotion is a real financial problem and Dr Xia pretty much did his side of the bargain don't we think?
As much as he could do given circumstances too!!
But there are different types of gambles, and it looks like he bet everything. A gamble is not a sure thing and he has been very reckless, there was no backup plan by the look of things. I'm all for taking a chance, 2 often in the past we never speculated, but this time we went all in, and its backfired massively. To put at risk the future of the club is unacceptable and foolish,
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I do think Xia provided with a great platform and Its not unreasonable to think the football people failed him.
Everything was put in place for promotion and in some ways it wasn't a gamble.
An experienced manager. Experienced players. Unfortunately the result of non promotion is a real financial problem and Dr Xia pretty much did his side of the bargain don't we think?
As much as he could do given circumstances too!!
Indeed but you don't bet the farm on a three legged donkey. Xia obviously had his doubts but was convinced by Wyness and Round we had a pedigree. Where he most certainly is to blame is he more than anybody had access to the books and knew full well the consequences.
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Thing is, one area of business that's the same the world over, once your in a position of making arrangements to pay debts to such as HMRC and your doing it in a way of staged payments, 500k the other day, a further lump sum tomorrow, rest by the end of the month, then the games up, your cash flow is screwed and probably your line of credit at the bank, even taking into account any kind of bridging loan, so he can't even get that, furthermore, its no big deal being caught out by HMRC to pay a massive tax bill that catches you wrong footed, happens to a lot of massive business all over, the huge difference is if you have the money you put in place a team of very expensive accountants to sit down with HMRC to firewall you, make a settlement payment of a certain percent and write the rest of, that's when your coming from a position of strength, justs point out to me, even further, how deep this goes and how big casino these guy have been when they rolled the dice.
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Come on that squad and manager was put together for soul intention to be promoted. It was given so much opportunity in buying the best players of the championship and experienced players from the Prem.
It's shocking how that squad on those wages hasn't produced. It was quality all the way through.
Kodjia
Hogan
Grabban
Mccormack
Waste money or not it was the football side of things to get right.
That I concede would be a gamble but in comparison to what other squads in championship had were streets ahead.
I conclude the football side hadn't failed this wouldn't have happened.
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Come on that squad and manager was put together for soul intention to be promoted. It was given so much opportunity in buying the best players of the championship and experienced players from the Prem.
It's shocking how that squad on those wages hasn't produced. It was quality all the way through.
Kodjia
Hogan
Grabban
Mccormack
Waste money or not it was the football side of things to get right.
That I concede would be a gamble but in comparison to what other squads in championship had were streets ahead.
I conclude the football side hadn't failed this wouldn't have happened.
Hi Tony. I agree with you.
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Come on that squad and manager was put together for soul intention to be promoted. It was given so much opportunity in buying the best players of the championship and experienced players from the Prem.
It's shocking how that squad on those wages hasn't produced. It was quality all the way through.
Kodjia
Hogan
Grabban
Mccormack
Waste money or not it was the football side of things to get right.
That I concede would be a gamble but in comparison to what other squads in championship had were streets ahead.
I conclude the football side hadn't failed this wouldn't have happened.
Hi Tony. I agree with you.
That’s a bit unfair. I think the point is although the finances don’t fall under Bruce’s remit he was given a lot of money and wages to spend and didn’t build a balanced squad.