Randy Lerner "State of Aston Villa" Statement

[Risso]

The Lerners got something like $2.5billion in Bank of America shares and $300million in cash, for their share of MBNA.

If that's true and the above figures are correct, then that $2.5bn is now worth about $400m, or about £250m.  Add in his recent dicorce, and I think you can start to see why the investment in Aston Villa isn't looking like such a good idea any more.

[TimTheVillain]

The Lerners got something like $2.5billion in Bank of America shares and $300million in cash, for their share of MBNA.

If that's true and the above figures are correct, then that $2.5bn is now worth about $400m, or about £250m.  Add in his recent dicorce, and I think you can start to see why the investment in Aston Villa isn't looking like such a good idea any more.

And why we're selling to buy.

[Damo70]

He has lost more money in recent times than most of us could dream of but it's all relative. He's a business man and is tightening his belt. Amongst his portfolio of interests is AVFC and it has been losing money so he has taken steps to deal with that. At the same time he realises he still has to speculate to accumulate. He will be fine and we will be fine.

[The Laughing Policeman]

He has lost more money in recent times than most of us could dream of but it's all relative. He's a business man and is tightening his belt. Amongst his portfolio of interests is AVFC and it has been losing money so he has taken steps to deal with that. At the same time he realises he still has to speculate to accumulate. He will be fine and we will be fine.

Hands above the head clappy smiley thing.

[Fuse]

He has lost more money in recent times than most of us could dream of but it's all relative. He's a business man and is tightening his belt. Amongst his portfolio of interests is AVFC and it has been losing money so he has taken steps to deal with that. At the same time he realises he still has to speculate to accumulate. He will be fine and we will be fine.

I'm not syaing he is going to go short of a meal and nor will Villa go to the wall. I do still firmly believe he is looking to sell though.

[CJ]

The letter from Mr Lerner Sir landed on my doormat this morning. In short - thanks for your support, knew McLeish would be unpopular at first but right man for the Villa, ambitions to manage for growth. Commercial activities to generate revenue for player and manager wages and costs and create stable business. Target to be in top 20 ranking clubs in Europe by revenue, which we already are.

Worrying take on that by me is that commercial revenue has replaced CL qualification, though of course they are by no means mutually exclusive - but certainly the 'five year plan' seems to have shifted from competing in Europe football-wise to competing in Europe commercially.

[Dave Clark Five]

Interesting that the managerial changes last August were 'unexpected'. They must have known that something would be done which was sufficient to have to pay O'Neill off, such as sacking him.

I think that the reasons for appointing Alex McLeish are very worthy ones.

It is quite clear that the club are not going to throw money away and who can blame them. There is a balance to be found though as we will have to spend to create the 'enduring business model'. 

[Chris Smith]

The letter from Mr Lerner Sir landed on my doormat this morning. In short - thanks for your support, knew McLeish would be unpopular at first but right man for the Villa, ambitions to manage for growth. Commercial activities to generate revenue for player and manager wages and costs and create stable business. Target to be in top 20 ranking clubs in Europe by revenue, which we already are.

Worrying take on that by me is that commercial revenue has replaced CL qualification, though of course they are by no means mutually exclusive - but certainly the 'five year plan' seems to have shifted from competing in Europe football-wise to competing in Europe commercially.

Shame on you CJ, you shouldn't be sharing this privileged information with the hoi polloi.

[sg]

Nothing unexpected in the letter.  I mean he's hardly going to come out and say "im cutting costs so we look more attractive to the rich arabs" - not that i think he's trying to sell anyway.

Im sure some people wont be happy and will find some things to pick fault with, but hey, you cant please everyone.

[pauliewalnuts]

The letter from Mr Lerner Sir landed on my doormat this morning. In short - thanks for your support, knew McLeish would be unpopular at first but right man for the Villa, ambitions to manage for growth. Commercial activities to generate revenue for player and manager wages and costs and create stable business. Target to be in top 20 ranking clubs in Europe by revenue, which we already are.

Worrying take on that by me is that commercial revenue has replaced CL qualification, though of course they are by no means mutually exclusive - but certainly the 'five year plan' seems to have shifted from competing in Europe football-wise to competing in Europe commercially.

So, nothing about football ambitions then?

[saunders_heroes]

The letter from Mr Lerner Sir landed on my doormat this morning. In short - thanks for your support, knew McLeish would be unpopular at first but right man for the Villa, ambitions to manage for growth. Commercial activities to generate revenue for player and manager wages and costs and create stable business. Target to be in top 20 ranking clubs in Europe by revenue, which we already are.

Worrying take on that by me is that commercial revenue has replaced CL qualification, though of course they are by no means mutually exclusive - but certainly the 'five year plan' seems to have shifted from competing in Europe football-wise to competing in Europe commercially.

So, nothing about football ambitions then?

Absolutely nothing. According to the letter the main ambition is to reach the top 20 ranking clubs by revenue.

[pauliewalnuts]

The letter from Mr Lerner Sir landed on my doormat this morning. In short - thanks for your support, knew McLeish would be unpopular at first but right man for the Villa, ambitions to manage for growth. Commercial activities to generate revenue for player and manager wages and costs and create stable business. Target to be in top 20 ranking clubs in Europe by revenue, which we already are.

Worrying take on that by me is that commercial revenue has replaced CL qualification, though of course they are by no means mutually exclusive - but certainly the 'five year plan' seems to have shifted from competing in Europe football-wise to competing in Europe commercially.

So, nothing about football ambitions then?

Absolutely nothing. According to the letter the main ambition is to reach the top 20 ranking clubs by revenue.

I've just checked the post and mine has arrived too.

Seems a bit strange, really, you'd think they'd throw a line in about on the pitch ambitions.

[pauliewalnuts]

Contents below.

Googled a line, in case anyone thinks I'm sad enough to type it all up

As we approach the 2011-12 season, we wanted to express our thanks for your support. The last year was fraught with the unexpected, and was certainly frustrating and at times even disappointing. Throughout this past year, however, and now looking forward to the new season, you have continued your support and commitment to the club, and for that we are very appreciative.

The managerial changes that commenced last August, still less than a year ago, were unexpected, unsettling and certainly took their toll. Despite this, the team came through, finishing with good wins against Arsenal and Liverpool to secure a 9th place finish as we headed into the short summer break.

Looking ahead to this season, we feel that in Alex McLeish we have found a very special football man to manage Villa. Being deeply conscious of the controversy that would at first come along with selecting him as manager, we still felt that his broader and career-long reputation for hard work, leadership and professional enthusiasm, together with his willingness to work with the club, made him a worthy and in fact uniquely god fit for our club. To this end, we wish him every success in his new role and hope others do the same as there is no doubt that the great support of our fans will make a massive difference to the team, whether at Villa Park or away.

As regards our personal ambitions for the Club they remain as they've been from the beginning: to manage the club for growth. More precisely, our focus is to manage the investments we've made at Villa Park to promote strong financial performance in terms of our commercial activities in order that the Clubs revenue can grow and contribute accordingly to player, manager and other football related wages and costs. This approach is at the core of our broader strategy yo create an enduring business model that is stable and yet has the potential to grow, as we feel that the club revenue and player wages are the key to consistent competitiveness. In connection with this strategy, we have targeted being at or within range of a top 20 ranking among clubs in Europe by revenue, which was achieved in the last Deloitte Football report

So again, let us express our appreciation for your support as we look forward with hope and pride to the upcoming season

Yours sincerely

Randy Lerner... Paul Faulkner

[saunders_heroes]

The letter from Mr Lerner Sir landed on my doormat this morning. In short - thanks for your support, knew McLeish would be unpopular at first but right man for the Villa, ambitions to manage for growth. Commercial activities to generate revenue for player and manager wages and costs and create stable business. Target to be in top 20 ranking clubs in Europe by revenue, which we already are.

Worrying take on that by me is that commercial revenue has replaced CL qualification, though of course they are by no means mutually exclusive - but certainly the 'five year plan' seems to have shifted from competing in Europe football-wise to competing in Europe commercially.

So, nothing about football ambitions then?

Absolutely nothing. According to the letter the main ambition is to reach the top 20 ranking clubs by revenue.

I've just checked the post and mine has arrived too.

Seems a bit strange, really, you'd think they'd throw a line in about on the pitch ambitions.

For me it just confirms we won't be splashing out at all in the foreseeable future.
We go with what we've got, but I'm pretty sure we all knew that anyway.

[London Villan]

Nice of them to mention our footballing ambitions?!?

Replace the name Aston Villa Football Club with Any Company PLC and release it to shareholders then it would do the job.