Randy Lerner "State of Aston Villa" Statement

[bertlambshank]

Difficult, it has been a shit of a year.and Randy still doesn't learn,until football people get on the board it will stay the same.

[Toronto Villa]

I think Randy's been brilliant too. Maybe this is just a year to consolidate, and by the end of this season you've also dropped the burdenous contracts of Heskey and Beye too. I do think the club will invest as soon as the time is right, but only on players that are proven quality and not just looking for a hefty payout to end their career. We might have to accept that may not happen during this window. But players like N'Zogbia are the right age, on money worthy of their talents, and will be here on decent length contracts and unavilable for sale unless some stupid offer comes in. What we are seeing right in front of our eyes is the era of Davies, Sidwell, NRC, Harewood, Heskey etc, players bought for really good money and wages that just sat on the bench come to a crashing end.

[dave.woodhall]

It is no different to the ambitions under Doug.

I am sorry but Randy needs to focus on finding us a new owner with the requisite funds to make us competitive

Thanks Randy. We thought you were great when you were spending loads, but now you aren't fuck off.

The real question here though dave is was he spending his money or future revenues from the Villa. If he writes off the loans then fair play to the guy. If on the other hand he charges the club interest, management charges and loan repayments etc then we will all be agreeing with Fuse I imagine.

That's a completely different argument. What Fuse is saying is that as Randy seems to have reached the bottom of his pockets we should want him to sell the club and another owner take his place - debts and all.

It is a variation of the argument.

The reality is that the club is now loaded with debt albeit all owed to Randy. So the point is was he spending his money or the club's future revenues which he now intends to extract.

If it is the latter then quite frankly I would expect most people would prefer him to fuck off now.

The debt issues are all of randy's own making through incompetent financial management. It is not unreasonable that the average supporter would have assumed that the guy knew what he was doing so were quite happy to see him spending.

So if he ever wants his money back he should "fuck off now". Charming.

We must be the only supporters in football who are unhappy that our owner spent too much of his own money.

[robbyfvillain]

It is no different to the ambitions under Doug.

I am sorry but Randy needs to focus on finding us a new owner with the requisite funds to make us competitive

Thanks Randy. We thought you were great when you were spending loads, but now you aren't fuck off.

The real question here though dave is was he spending his money or future revenues from the Villa. If he writes off the loans then fair play to the guy. If on the other hand he charges the club interest, management charges and loan repayments etc then we will all be agreeing with Fuse I imagine.

That's a completely different argument. What Fuse is saying is that as Randy seems to have reached the bottom of his pockets we should want him to sell the club and another owner take his place - debts and all.

It is a variation of the argument.

The reality is that the club is now loaded with debt albeit all owed to Randy. So the point is was he spending his money or the club's future revenues which he now intends to extract.

If it is the latter then quite frankly I would expect most people would prefer him to fuck off now.

The debt issues are all of randy's own making through incompetent financial management. It is not unreasonable that the average supporter would have assumed that the guy knew what he was doing so were quite happy to see him spending.

We must be the only supporters in football who are unhappy that our owner spent too much of his own money.

But that is exactly the point is it his money or the club's future revenues. Only time will tell.

[bertlambshank]

Does anybody think he will ever get his money back?

[dave.woodhall]

But that is exactly the point is it his money or the club's future revenues. Only time will tell.

Of course it's his money. He lent it to the club. Do you think he should never get it back?

[robbyfvillain]

But that is exactly the point is it his money or the club's future revenues. Only time will tell.

Of course it's his money. He lent it to the club. Do you think he should never get it back?

When he has mismanaged it to the extent that he has, then NO I don't think he should get all of it back because if he does then the club will have carried the burden of his financial incompetence.

[Dave]

But that is exactly the point is it his money or the club's future revenues. Only time will tell.

Of course it's his money. He lent it to the club. Do you think he should never get it back?

When he has mismanaged it to the extent that he has, then NO I don't think he should get all of it back because if he does then the club will have carried the burden of his financial incompetence.

"We must be the only supporters in football who are unhappy that our owner spent too much of his own money."

[dave.woodhall]

But that is exactly the point is it his money or the club's future revenues. Only time will tell.

Of course it's his money. He lent it to the club. Do you think he should never get it back?

When he has mismanaged it to the extent that he has, then NO I don't think he should get all of it back because if he does then the club will have carried the burden of his financial incompetence.

I don't remember it being called incompetence when we were paying top money for players.

Presumably your rule should apply to any other potential owner that might be out there - come in, spend a fortune, then fuck off when you can't spend any more.

[Hoppo]

Ok i'll try not to be thick! I always thought Randy brought the football club so why are we paying him back? Am I missing something?

[JJ-AV]

It frustrates me but we should be rid of the overpaid crap this time next year. By which time we'll have had a couple of years of not spending big, which should enable us to have another crack at the top 4 again.

That's the way I see it anyway. We just can't afford to bring in players to replace the likes of Heskey, Dunne, Beye, Warnock and Ireland as they'll just be sitting in the stands picking up their astronimical wages.

And as there's no takers it's a stand off where we'll just have to wait until they're on frees/someone wants them.

[Toronto Villa]

I'm having a hard time believing Randy has given up on the club. I do think he's said that we need to get our house in order before we try again. He tried it using one method and it nearly crippled the club. Now to try a different approach, more patient and sustainable. I think the club have placed a lot of stock in FFP and I hope for our sake that it is what they hope it is, and truly does provide a little bit of balance to the playing field. It's going to be hard to compete with the very top clubs as long the CL money creates such a financial disparity, but good future in-house management should always give us a chance to try and get there.

[gervilla]

But that is exactly the point is it his money or the club's future revenues. Only time will tell.

Of course it's his money. He lent it to the club. Do you think he should never get it back?

When he has mismanaged it to the extent that he has, then NO I don't think he should get all of it back because if he does then the club will have carried the burden of his financial incompetence.

I don't remember it being called incompetence when we were paying top money for players.

Presumably your rule should apply to any other potential owner that might be out there - come in, spend a fortune, then fuck off when you can't spend any more.

I like it. Good call.

[robbyfvillain]

But that is exactly the point is it his money or the club's future revenues. Only time will tell.

Of course it's his money. He lent it to the club. Do you think he should never get it back?

When he has mismanaged it to the extent that he has, then NO I don't think he should get all of it back because if he does then the club will have carried the burden of his financial incompetence.

I don't remember it being called incompetence when we were paying top money for players.

Presumably your rule should apply to any other potential owner that might be out there - come in, spend a fortune, then fuck off when you can't spend any more.

As financial statements aren't released for the best part of 6 months later than the period to which they relate then you would have to be mystic meg to know how well the commercial and marketing side were doing.

As for any new owners, on a personal level I absolutely would not want them to spend a fortune. I would prefer them to grow the business as per the current regime intend to but with 2 exceptions.

1) They need to start from a sensible wage structure. Cutting back the way Randy is doing at the moment could well result in the unthinkable happening if we hit a run of injuries.

2) They need to get football knowledge on the board.

I have to say I have no faith in any part of their management skills and feel if past performance is anything to go by then the future is looking anything but bright.

[Dante Lavelli]

I really should try and find a copy of the last accounts so I stop asking dumb questions (although I doubt I'd understand them). If we ignore abnormals costs etc (two lots of compensation for managers etc) how much money would be generated for transfers each financial year.

That is, based on current turnover what is a "sustainable" transfer budget for each transfer window/season etc?