Relegation Possibility

[PeterWithesShin]

Apologies if already posted....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/apr/16/five-things-football-this-weekend

Not havin that at all! Going down will ruin us.  Staying in the Prem is key even if it means finishing mid table for the next few years

Quite true.

Yes, we need a re-think and a bit of a clear out, but we can just as easily do that in the PL as the Championship.

Indeed, at the end of that article he reckons we as fans might have a bit of fun for once if we were relegated. The only chance it might be fun is if we come straight back up by pissing the league.
However, earlier in the article he says "What better way to do that than with a year or two (or more) in the Championship?" Fuck that, a few years scrabbling around in Division 2 isn't my idea of fun.

[Monty]

We might still get a 'Venky's'

Another standard response when anybody questions Lerner's ownership.  It's either "how many oil billionaires are waiting to take over" or "it'll be somebody like Venkys".  Why couldn't it be another Ellis Short, Peter Coates or Fenway?

Indeed - and don't forget when this conversation takes place on the message boards of plenty of American sports franchises, a standard response is probably "be careful what you wish for - it could be someone like Lerner."

[Dave Cooper please]

We might still get a 'Venky's'

Another standard response when anybody questions Lerner's ownership.  It's either "how many oil billionaires are waiting to take over" or "it'll be somebody like Venkys".  Why couldn't it be another Ellis Short, Peter Coates or Fenway?

It's not just a standard response, there seems to be a consensus building on here similar to the time that Ellis was obviously finally looking like selling up. "Anyone will be better than Ellis".
Well look, we got Lerner, who is now generally considered to be clueless.
Happy then?
Happy now?
Have any fucking clue who he will sell to when Lerner finally gets fed up of hearing us whine and moan at him? After all, we are really just his hobby, his real passion is Cleveland Browns. Will he hold out for the legions of multi-billionaire Arabs that are obviously dying to own us, or will he just flog us to the first bunch of chancers who put up enough dosh so he can cut his losses with a modicum of respectability?
Never has 'be careful what you wish for' been more pertinent.

Edited for quote fail.

[Risso]

"It's not just a standard response......legions of multi-billionaire Arabs...."  Zzzzzzzzzzzz

[Dave Cooper please]

"It's not just a standard response......legions of multi-billionaire Arabs...."  Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Yep, all those posts about Arabs dying to buy us are very boring, I agree.

[NeilH]

I just hope that any potential buyers don’t come on here, because the impression they are going to get is that at the first sign of trouble they’ll be branded clueless wankers and told to sell up to the next lot.

Something has to change and Lerner has to get a grip on the situation, but calling for him to go given what he has tried to achieve here is just ungrateful sour grapes.

[N'ZMAV]

Going down might kill us off. That gamble wouldn't be worth it. We must fight for our Premier League life at all times.

[N'ZMAV]

I just hope that any potential buyers don’t come on here, because the impression they are going to get is that at the first sign of trouble they’ll be branded clueless wankers and told to sell up to the next lot.

If they don't act like clueless wankers they won't be branded as such..

[PeterWithesShin]

We might still get a 'Venky's'

Another standard response when anybody questions Lerner's ownership.  It's either "how many oil billionaires are waiting to take over" or "it'll be somebody like Venkys".  Why couldn't it be another Ellis Short, Peter Coates or Fenway?

Ellis Short who recently employed MON? Fenway who seem to be doing exactly what Randy did? Peter Coates of anti-football Stoke City?

Didn't realise you wished MON was here with Rory Delap spending half the game with the ball in his shirt trying to throw the ball to Andy Carroll as Jordan Henderson meanders about aimlessly.

Still, whatever makes you happy 

[Risso]

We might still get a 'Venky's'

Another standard response when anybody questions Lerner's ownership.  It's either "how many oil billionaires are waiting to take over" or "it'll be somebody like Venkys".  Why couldn't it be another Ellis Short, Peter Coates or Fenway?

Ellis Short who recently employed MON? Fenway who seem to be doing exactly what Randy did? Peter Coates of anti-football Stoke City?

Didn't realise you wished MON was here with Rory Delap spending half the game with the ball in his shirt trying to throw the ball to Andy Carroll as Jordan Henderson meanders about aimlessly.

Still, whatever makes you happy 

I'm talking about the general way the clubs are run, rather than the style of play of the teams.  I don't suppose Coates minds Pulis's brand of football if it keeps them as an established Premier League team.

[eastie]

I just hope that any potential buyers don’t come on here, because the impression they are going to get is that at the first sign of trouble they’ll be branded clueless wankers and told to sell up to the next lot.

If they don't act like clueless wankers they won't be branded as such..

Spot on nz- lerner deserves the criticism he gets in the same way he deserved praise in his early days, we are in the present not the past and he should be judged on where we are now.

[Risso]

I just hope that any potential buyers don’t come on here, because the impression they are going to get is that at the first sign of trouble they’ll be branded clueless wankers and told to sell up to the next lot.

Something has to change and Lerner has to get a grip on the situation, but calling for him to go given what he has tried to achieve here is just ungrateful sour grapes.

It's not ungrateful, we didn't ask for him to buy us, and didn't have any choice.  He's made a right mess of everything, and so we don't have to tug our forelocks in his direction. 

[PeterWithesShin]

We might still get a 'Venky's'

Another standard response when anybody questions Lerner's ownership.  It's either "how many oil billionaires are waiting to take over" or "it'll be somebody like Venkys".  Why couldn't it be another Ellis Short, Peter Coates or Fenway?

Ellis Short who recently employed MON? Fenway who seem to be doing exactly what Randy did? Peter Coates of anti-football Stoke City?

Didn't realise you wished MON was here with Rory Delap spending half the game with the ball in his shirt trying to throw the ball to Andy Carroll as Jordan Henderson meanders about aimlessly.

Still, whatever makes you happy 

I'm talking about the general way the clubs are run, rather than the style of play of the teams.  I don't suppose Coates minds Pulis's brand of football if it keeps them as an established Premier League team.

You really think Fenway are running the club well by letting KKKenny spend money like he does? One of the reasons folks blame Randy is that he let MON do the same. Who is to say Fenway won't run out of money like Randy did, then what? Will they still be the kind of owner you want?

Randy employs AM, we play shit football it's Randy's fault. Coates employs Pulis who plays even worse football and it's ok. What evidence is there that if he owned Vila he wouldn't just bring Pulis with him. Would he be a great owner then?

My point is it's easy to say Randy out, but there aren't that many great owners out there.

[NeilH]

I just hope that any potential buyers don’t come on here, because the impression they are going to get is that at the first sign of trouble they’ll be branded clueless wankers and told to sell up to the next lot.

Something has to change and Lerner has to get a grip on the situation, but calling for him to go given what he has tried to achieve here is just ungrateful sour grapes.

It's not ungrateful, we didn't ask for him to buy us, and didn't have any choice.  He's made a right mess of everything, and so we don't have to tug our forelocks in his direction. 

Most of us were like kids in a candy shop when he took over the reins from Doug (me included). In fact I don’t recall any voices of concern on here when Randy came into town. Hell the Holte End even chanted his name, like a hero.

He has royally f**ked up and he has to put it right. In fact I remember posting on here a couple of weeks ago that the venom directed at McLeish detracts from the mess Lerner has made of late. He has to put it right and we should enable him to do so.

Like most on here I agree that it starts by being a man and accepting that McLeish was a terrible decision. However, Lerner has invested heavily in the club and improved many things that were sorely lacking under Doug – Bodymoor and the treatment of the class of ’82 come to mind for one. Let him fix this, because if he decides to jack it in due our own stroppy and sometime personal reaction to an appalling season, we’ll be royally up shit creek without a paddle.

[Ads]

I think given the value of the club and what it would cost to acquire, the only new buyers who we will get will have more than a bob or two to spare.

That said, it won’t mean anything unless they learn from recent history, as all the money in the world, without proper direction and thinking will only build a house on the sand, as we’ve seen.

There is still hope for Lerner in this regard.