RAL Takeover 5 Years In

[Villafirst]

They haven't realised their ambitions, the Premier League has moved on and Lerner doesn't have the money or the nous to keep up with the pace.

Totally agree. He should look for an investment partner to put money in which is desperately neede for transfers. If not, he should sell up. Trouble is, he never speaks to the fans about his intentions which is poor PR. The club is sliding backwards as it did under Deadly.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

If not, he should sell up.

I'm sure we'd find it just as easy to find a big money buyer as Everton have

[Villafirst]

If not, he should sell up.

I'm sure we'd find it just as easy to find a big money buyer as Everton have

I know that's easier said than done, but the club are going nowhere under his leadership. Next season I predict a bottom half finish - a squence of: 6th, 6th, 6th, 9th and probably 12th. Just face it, we're in decline.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

I'll face it when there is more evidence, such as little transfer budget or AM clearly not able to manage properly

[King of the Nørth]

A series of missed opportunities.

 If there was ever a film made about our recent history from Doug Ellis to Randy Lerner, this would be the perfect tagline.

 Aston Villa FC - A series of missed opportunities.

[andrew08]

The thing is what would we consider a success for RL after 5 years?

We watch comparitively cheap premier league footy in a good facility, but it could be argued that RL inherited most of that from Doug. Yes the ground's been spruced up,we have a great pub but prices have gone up year on year since Randy took over. The Acorn sponsorship was/is the most outstanding thing he has done so far, it really made me proud to be a fan.

On the pitch we have purchased some exciting young talent and have sold the two of the better ones on for profit without actually using their time with us by having a trophy winning team in any of the last 5 seasons. It could be said that the 3 6th place finishes showed a degree of success but then this was completely imo written off subsequently by not taking the European qualification reward seriously by fielding weakened teams. Our FA Cup team selected at Man City was a disgrace and will remain a blot on RL's tenure.

I will watch Aston Villa in whatever league they play in so from a personal point of view it makes no odds to me who is in charge of the team or who owns the club. To them this is just a passing interest or a job. My commitment is cradle to grave, and every year season tickets for me and my boys. All I want from owners is a respect for our traditions and don't mess with the colours !

So from my perspective the RL years have been about on a par with all the other non trophy winning seasons in my 40 odd years. 

[hartman_1982]

If not, he should sell up.

I'm sure we'd find it just as easy to find a big money buyer as Everton have

I know that's easier said than done, but the club are going nowhere under his leadership. Next season I predict a bottom half finish - a squence of: 6th, 6th, 6th, 9th and probably 12th. Just face it, we're in decline.

Yeah that 12h placed finish in the 2011/12 season was a real low point.

[TheSandman]

If not, he should sell up.

I'm sure we'd find it just as easy to find a big money buyer as Everton have

Indeed. Remember the bunch of chancers linked with a takeover last time round. Some people have a somewhat misguided belief that there is an Arab sheikh around every corner but their isn't. It is entirely possible we will end up with some hair dresser or chicken farmer who have no money.

[Monty]

If not, he should sell up.

I'm sure we'd find it just as easy to find a big money buyer as Everton have

Indeed. Remember the bunch of chancers linked with a takeover last time round. Some people have a somewhat misguided belief that there is an Arab sheikh around every corner but their isn't. It is entirely possible we will end up with some hair dresser or chicken farmer who have no money.

I agree that he shouldn't just sell to anybody. However, he certainly should consider his ownership of the club no longer a sine qua non, whereas beforehand his being in charge was indisputable. If an offer were to, for some reason, come in from a reputable source, he should no longer dismiss it out of hand if the club is to progress.

[rutski]

write to randy and ask him to charge us 75% minimum more than we are paying! Simple. then we may keep up with the rest.

Ask not what aston villa can do for us but what we can do for Aston Villa

[dave.woodhall]

Just about every club in the Premier League has changed hands over the past ten years or so. Now, of all those owners, how many would you swap for Randy? 

[PhilGibson]

Just about every club in the Premier League has changed hands over the past ten years or so. Now, of all those owners, how many would you swap for Randy? 

I would not swap him because he has done a lot of excellent work since taking over.

The problem for me is the over riding feeling that we had a go, but once again we fell short and now we are back to just being happy with our lot and consolidating our premier league position.

Sometimes we flirt with the big boys and then others times we have a crisis season and come close to relegation, but mostly we are fair to middling!

Would have been nice if at some point we could get back on the gravy train and win some trophies.

[rutski]

Mon out, get rid of houllier, dont dare appoint mclaren, if mcleish steps near us i will never walk in vp again. Now randy, you are shit, get a new owner!
Take a look at yourselves chaps.

i cannot wait to get back to my seat and ask all those idiots around me, are you happy now?

[Eigentor]

Part of the problem is the combination of Randy not talking and the hapless manager search this summer. The appointment of Houllier was understandable because it seemed to be in line with a shift in strategy, from spending our way into top four to achieving our goals by nurturing our youngers and spotting foreign gems. But McLeish doesn't seem like a man capable of carrying out such a strategy, and anyway the manager search appeared to be a half-hearted walk from door to door with the board seemingly clueless as to what kind of manager they really wanted. Yes, Man City, Spurs etc have changed the terrain, but we don't seem to have drawn a new map. Hence the growing suspicion that Randy is happy to just "coast along".

[hilts_coolerking]

Just about every club in the Premier League has changed hands over the past ten years or so. Now, of all those owners, how many would you swap for Randy?

12 or 13 months ago, none; now, I'm not so sure - I'd need to see a list.  Even Randy's most ardent supporters would surely concede that the last 12 months have been shambolic at times.  I'm prepared to keep supporting him because I think he's a decent man but he definitely needs to raise his game.  If the McLeish appointment doesn't work out, it's anyone's guess what will happen.