Randy wants to cut wages further - Mirror article

[Villanation]

I'm sure the Mirror story is true, and it ought to be. Not just for us but for 98% of the other clubs too.

If people think there are multi-billionaires still out there who are daft enough to still want to invest in football then dream on. The timing is not right for anyone at the moment.
No-one can compete with the wealth of Abu Dhabi and what they're ploughing into Man City.
Anyone tempted will surely hold fire for a few years. Apart from seeing how their own wealth suffers in the forecasted financially depressing years ahead, you'd think they'd want to see how the Premier League itself copes with the next few years and a poor economy. They might also want to wait and see how long Abu Dhabi retains its interest in Manchester.

Big cuts have to made. What is the point of having a league where the only people who will be able to afford to go and watch it will be the players themselves? Or should I say the players who aren't even good enough to get in the team!

I was only reading the other day that the vast wealth of the Man City owners is not an isolated one and there are many of these people in the middle east with vast wealth to spend or invest in, and UK based sporting brands are ideal prospects, also went on to say that there are many many of these Russian oligarchs, again with huge enormous wealth to invest and always looking at the UK market to get into such as Football Clubs, that said your point about the state of these times i think is bang on.

[Californian Villain]

Americans are all talk, bullshit is in their blood - I can see some 'Randy out' banners around VP before Christmas.

I think we've seen the proof of their fleeting interest followed by a quick exit when the going got tough.

Semper Videlis - my arse.

All 300+ million of them? I think that may be an slight exaggeration.

[pauliewalnuts]

I'm sure the Mirror story is true, and it ought to be. Not just for us but for 98% of the other clubs too.

If people think there are multi-billionaires still out there who are daft enough to still want to invest in football then dream on. The timing is not right for anyone at the moment.
No-one can compete with the wealth of Abu Dhabi and what they're ploughing into Man City.
Anyone tempted will surely hold fire for a few years. Apart from seeing how their own wealth suffers in the forecasted financially depressing years ahead, you'd think they'd want to see how the Premier League itself copes with the next few years and a poor economy. They might also want to wait and see how long Abu Dhabi retains its interest in Manchester.

Big cuts have to made. What is the point of having a league where the only people who will be able to afford to go and watch it will be the players themselves? Or should I say the players who aren't even good enough to get in the team!

I was only reading the other day that the vast wealth of the Man City owners is not an isolated one and there are many of these people in the middle east with vast wealth to spend or invest in, and UK based sporting brands are ideal prospects, also went on to say that there are many many of these Russian oligarchs, again with huge enormous wealth to invest and always looking at the UK market to get into such as Football Clubs, that said your point about the state of these times i think is bang on.

Yeah, there are so many of them, that Bill Kenwright hasn't been able to sell Everton, despite trying to do so for years.

[Percy McCarthy]

Perhaps they're all still queueing round the block to buy Liverpool (wink).

[pauliewalnuts]

Perhaps they're all still queueing round the block to buy Liverpool (wink).

Liverpool have already been bought by very rich people (double wink)

[Percy McCarthy]

Paulie, I'm just surprised you now think there aren't many billionaires willing to invest in football after your previous talk of loads of them queueing up to do so.

[Dave Clark Five]

Americans are all talk, bullshit is in their blood - I can see some 'Randy out' banners around VP before Christmas.

I think we've seen the proof of their fleeting interest followed by a quick exit when the going got tough.

At the Fulham game, at the beginning of the season, their Chairman walked round the pitch at the start of the game and waved to all their fans, with a Fulham scarf around his neck. No matter how some may see this, I think that it was a demonstration that he valued their support and that he was actually interested in the club.     

[Dave Clark Five]

I've heard over the last couple of months and increasingly over the last few days or so that there is a massive financial crisis brewing.  People have referred to it on other threads on here.  I know about the General's new job and that he might not have the time or opportunity to keep up a forum presence, but isn't it possible thatin Randy's case, the reason Randy's not been in evidence for a few weeks this season is connected at least to this situation and its impact upon his business and his investments, including Villa and doing his best to manage all of his interests within the context of this global financial problem?

In this case the man can't be everywhere and I've no doubt that he is in constant contact with his CEOs whilst he works hard to stabilize and assure the future of his various responsibilities.

I think the phrase 'we were here before them and we will be here long after they have gone' has been mentioned before. 

[hawkeye]

I don't know what interest  Randy still has in MBNA but I understand they are in  financial melt down and seeking an urgent sale of their entire credit book. However possible buyers are only willing to pay a fraction of the value.

Yes MBNA are in difficulty, what we dont know is how much of the purchase by BofA was deffered 9and subject to future performance) and how much was in BofA shares.
It is not a big stretch to conclude that the problems with BofA and MBNA is having a detrimental impact on RL personla fortunes.

[Percy McCarthy]

The Lerners' received 2.5 billion dollars worth of B of A shares and 300 million dollars in cash (for MBNA).

[Irish villain]

The Lerners' received 2.5 billion dollars worth of B of A shares and 300 million dollars in cash (for MBNA).

That's plenty for the type of midfield general we need!

[TimTheVillain]

The Lerners' received 2.5 billion dollars worth of B of A shares and 300 million dollars in cash (for MBNA).

That's plenty for the type of midfield general we need!

Ha ha

His sister inherited half of it as I understand ( just in case I'm marginally wrong).

[Mazrim]

The money was split between the family and the trust fund.

[Concrete John]

Just read this, so a few thoughts/opinions:-
1.  Even if the article is true - no quotes, not even a 'source close to the club' - then I doubt they know any actual numbers.
2.  Natural wastage of the likes of Cuellar, Heskey & Beye will go a long way to this.
3.  Based on a 25-man squad, then £46k a week is still an annual wagebill of almost £60m a year.
4.  The onus on our youth, who will be on less money, will also make this a more natural move.
5.  One drawback is that this surely creates a wage ceiling for us, which man hinder the signing of top players and the retention of our own.

I don't think what Randy is trying to do is wrong, but I do think it makes his manager's job harder.  Not impossible, just that we need to be much more efficient in who the wages go to and what we get back for them!


 

[Mazrim]

Whilst I think the club is essentially strong at the core with great potential, I do believe Randy is looking to sell. I expected or at least wasnt suprised with plans of stripping back but the speed of it has been amazing.

I agree with Risso that large amounts of money has been wasted but its pointless me dredging that up again so there you go. That's where we are. It still almost worked but now its back to the drawing board and a plan for youth development and very careful spending, which I'm not unhappy about as I think thats how it should be done anyway.

The communication with the powers that be is now abyssmal and our vast (as a %) floating support is voting with its feet as a result. Its unneccessarily incompetent to the point of negligence.
I'm not depressed or concerned about the future of Aston Villa but I'd like to know what the board are thinking at least. Our only line was through the General and that's gone. Our CEO is hopeless and our chairman makes the Yeti look like an attention whore.