Randy wants to cut wages further - Mirror article

[Concrete John]

I may be in the minority here, but I'm not convinced on the whole 'Randy wants to sell' theory.  I may not be as knowledgeable of the finances as some on here, but for me every pound he adds to the clubs value by stripping another expensive player off the wagebill should detract from the club's value by way of average attendance and potential league placing.

[Dave Javu]

It is not a big stretch to conclude that the problems with BofA and MBNA is having a detrimental impact on RL personla fortunes.

I think this as well. The 5 year performance of Bank of America's share price is rather interesting. Or scary, if by chance you had suddenly acquired $billions worth a few years ago and then sat on them. They're now only worth about 10% of what they were 5 years ago. I hope they diversified their shareholdings.

The family's investment in Aston Villa has performed rather better, I'd say. If RL sold, I'm guessing that he'd at least get his money back.

Would he want to sell Villa, though?

He charges us a decent rate of interest on our debt and his management company charges the club pretty exorbitant fees (£7-8m p.a.) from memory. Answer? I just don't know. Personally, I still prefer him to the previous chap, though.

[VillaAlways]

I feel depressed about our future.We've set our stall out to be a feeder club to the top 4/6.Even if our youth players achieve their potential they'll be sold on-all for the right price of course.You could argue that the players wanted to leave but so did Modric and he's still at Spurs who have a very strong chance of making top 4 again
The lack of ambition by the board is frightening if they're not arsed anymore you can hardly expect the floating supporter to be.I am pleased at least that we have a Manager that does appears to give a shit whether he's good enough remains to be seen

[pauliewalnuts]

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.

No, I said someone would always be there to buy a club like Liverpool, which is exactly what happened.

[Risso]

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.

Pretty much agree with all of that Maz.  It's a shame that Randy didn't test the water in England with a much smaller club first before buying us, as I think that a decent manager given the amounts to spend that O'Neill had, would, with our youth set up, still have a decent chance of the top 4, Man City or no Man City.  I'm sure Lerner has learned from his mistakes, but the trouble is having put all of his eggs in the O'Neill basket, is now out of cash to spend on us.  If only he'd dispensed of O'Neill when I first suggested it!

[kippaxvilla2]

Does anyone seriously think he is looking to sell?  This is exactly the way the Browns have been run for years, he shows no signs of selling up there.

[TimTheVillain]

I feel depressed about our future.We've set our stall out to be a feeder club to the top 4/6.Even if our youth players achieve their potential they'll be sold on-all for the right price of course.You could argue that the players wanted to leave but so did Modric and he's still at Spurs who have a very strong chance of making top 4 again
The lack of ambition by the board is frightening if they're not arsed anymore you can hardly expect the floating supporter to be.I am pleased at least that we have a Manager that does appears to give a shit whether he's good enough remains to be seen

Zoggy, I think there is ambition, but not the funds to supplement it.

Who knows what Randy is thinking or doing, what is apparent is that he's not going to games any more and his right hand man has seemingly abandoned us.

I assume that the board are doing their daily jobs and obviously updating Randy on everything that's going on or not going on, but there is a deafening silence which is making fans anxious - the longer this goes on, I fear the more the anxiety will spread.

Myself, I want to keep going to VP with adrenaline pumping through my veins and if we win. lose or draw come away knowing that the lads tried 100%.

AM is a decent manager, we'l see how he's supported rather than making judgements, but silence isn't golden when you're running a Prem football club like Villa where the fans want inclusion at least and success if possible.

I've spent most of my life living in hope and continue to do so.

UTV

 

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I don't see Randy's name on this list, hopefully he got out whilst the going was good:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=BAC+Major+Holders

[Concrete John]

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.

Pretty much agree with all of that Maz.  It's a shame that Randy didn't test the water in England with a much smaller club first before buying us, as I think that a decent manager given the amounts to spend that O'Neill had, would, with our youth set up, still have a decent chance of the top 4, Man City or no Man City.  I'm sure Lerner has learned from his mistakes, but the trouble is having put all of his eggs in the O'Neill basket, is now out of cash to spend on us.  If only he'd dispensed of O'Neill when I first suggested it!

I don't think it would've made much of a difference, Risso, unless we got a BETTER manager.  And managers better then MON are usually only after the very top jobs.  We spent to the level where we had a chance, but didn't quite make it.  With the youth players now emerging we might be able to get back up there with less spend 2nd time around, but that would still be more than we presently seem willing/able to spend.

[German James]

I believe all the worries (real or imagined) concerning the club's direction are exacerbated by a lack of communication from the highest level. RL cannot possibly be unaware of the the fears that so many fans have and, whereas I used to admire him for not being a rentagob, his silence now is baffling and disingenuous, as the Chinese whispers currently clogging up the forums are certainly unsettling and liable to be used for "Villa Fans Up in Arms" type headlines at any time. A clear statement about his plans (and not just financial plans) would calm a lot of this speculation down.

[Concrete John]

The thing that gets me is that Faulkner is almost as anonymous as Randy.  OK, if the owner doesn't like the limelight then fair enough, but you compensate for that with a chief executive who does and is both media savvy and experienced. 

[kippaxvilla2]

The thing that gets me is that Faulkner is almost as anonymous as Randy.  OK, if the owner doesn't like the limelight then fair enough, but you compensate for that with a chief executive who does and is both media savvy and experienced. 

Hardly fair on the bloke that.  He is still learning his times tables.

[dave.woodhall]

The thing that gets me is that Faulkner is almost as anonymous as Randy.  OK, if the owner doesn't like the limelight then fair enough, but you compensate for that with a chief executive who does and is both media savvy and experienced. 

Like the ones at Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United for example? Without looking it up, name all six.

[kippaxvilla2]

The thing that gets me is that Faulkner is almost as anonymous as Randy.  OK, if the owner doesn't like the limelight then fair enough, but you compensate for that with a chief executive who does and is both media savvy and experienced. 

 

Like the ones at Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United for example? Without looking it up, name all six.

David Gill (united) Bruce Buck (Chelsea) no idea since Dein at Arse.

[Mazrim]

Does anyone seriously think he is looking to sell?  This is exactly the way the Browns have been run for years, he shows no signs of selling up there.

I do think he is considering it or at least courting investment. He'd be a fool not to as his investment in Aston Villa will be for nothing otherwise if we stagnate.

Something has changed. I dont know what it is but somethIng has happened behind the curtains. It could be financial, it most probably is in fact as I doubt Randy is all of a sudden uninterested. He doesn't strike me as a  fickle sort. I do honestly believe he has the best interests of the club at heart but has made mistakes by not having the right football people around him. I believe this was crucial. One man was given free reign and was not the right man. Whilst I respect MON as a manager, if you're going to appoint somebody to play Tyrant with your footballing empire make sure he's the right man because all your eggs are in one basket. MON was probably a man to work under this man, not be it himself. That's just my opinion.
I think with the money that was there to spend at the time, the plans in place, somebody like Hiddink should have been approached.

Still, we're not talking about an autopsy here. The club is doing O.K. McLeish is doing O.K. There's going to be a period of rebuilding where the fans who feel betrayed with the perceived lack of ambition and investment come trickling back (as long as things continue to stabilise and improve) and if we can keep our academy ticking over as it has been or better, there are definitely good times ahead whoever is in charge.

As for potential suitors, presuming it could be on the cards. Aston Villa is in a good position. Unlike Everton for instance, we are the biggest club for a huge distance. There are so many things going for us in that regard. Location, prestige, facilities..etc. If somebody was to look for a club in this league as a project to take on we'd have to be up there. Hicks and Gillette wanted Villa before Liverpool apparently. Randy had the opportunity to buy Liverpool. Groups were looking at Villa that weren't really interested in other clubs that were available at the time.

Still, there are a lot of gobshites out there who could be disasterous. I dont want to see naff adverts of Villa players stuffing their face full of chicken or being whisked of to god knows where for a PR stunt after a run of awful results.
I think Randy has done a lot for Villa and deserves respect for that and if he stays in control he has my support.
But I wouldn't be suprised if he was thinking about selling or even actively seeking buyers or investors.
All I really want is more communication and perhaps more footballing nous on the board.

As for the Browns. Randy may love Villa but his family are rooted in the Browns. I very much doubt he'd sell up even if he wanted to. It meant so much to his old man.