The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[old man villa fan]

I'm hearing that the North Stand jet washing is part of our new £300m sponsorship from Persil. Washes whites whiter don't you know and nothing to do with the FFP rules.

You mean the whole thing has been a whitewash.

[dave.woodhall]

I will stick my neck out and predict that new owners are already in place but we will only find out when all transfers have been completed.So many little clues around from a business sense but we will only be told when it suits them. I don't believe a word that is said coming from Villa Park at the moment.

Why not? Whatever else they might have done, when have the people who run the club ever given cause to doubt their word?

I can think of one instance of them doing that on something big.

When General Krulak used to tell us they were here for the long run, and would be through thick and thin. Only to disappear (overnight in his case) and pretty sharpish, in terms of interest and commitment, at the first sight of rough taking over from smooth.

That was one thing which genuinely disappointed me, the pretty rapid withdrawal. It wasn't just money, either, it was an emotional shutdown.

Randy gets a lot of stick, some of it deserved, some of it not. That deserved stick is usually down to incompetence rather than misleading us, but the whole "in it for the long run" thing sticks in the craw for me a bit.

I said the people running the club, not him.

[footyskillz]

Sherwood needs to shut it more . I think others agree. And others have mentioned about him being like redknapp . No need to disclose the take over business seems to stem from personal frustration or relief. 

[peter w]

Well do we know who really is running the club on a day-to-day basis. I mean I know Renady is overseeing things, and Tom Fox is the CEO, but what do the other board members do? What's their portfoliio? Literally, in the words of Nigel Farage (apologies) "who are you"?

[AV82EC]

If true, we are f*cked....nothing in the last 3 years has showed any signs of wanting to take the club forward, minimal investment to keep us in the league. On top of that the, jury is still out on Sherwood for me.

The last 3 years have been treading water and just about staying afloat as we have waited for the wage bill to reduce to meet FFP rules.  Income is on an upward trend which will allow us to spend more.

Other clubs are in same boat. We need more investment in the team, I hope Randy does it, but it seems he wants to do as little as possible until we are bought, a dangerous game.

But he can't (won't?) invest in the team because of FFP. Can you not see this? Without going over this again we filled our boots for the first 5 years of his reign with signings and wages we couldn't afford compared to our income, it's taken 4 years to get that back under control wth Lerner bankrolling most of it and converting his loans into ultimately worthless shares. That's probably cost him c£200m. He won't get it back its gone.

The only way this improves for us is if we increase our income, it is the ONLY way to compete other than finding an owner who is willing to run up £100m in losses for the first 3 years to stay within FFP and that only works if we increase our income at the same time.  Our commercial and match day income is on a par with Everton/West Ham/Newcastle but despite all the cock ups on the playing side it's been an area of poor performance ever since Lerner arrived. Spurs have advanced their turnover to nearly £60m more than us, with double our match day income with a smaller ground and double our commercial income. Hopefully Fox can start move this forwards rapidly.

With our turnover levels we should be at least competing in upper mid table.

[DB]

Do you think he has invested as much as he could over last few years?? As you say, his mistakes in the past, his poor judgment that has us down the bottom of the table, while Everton are doing a lot better (using your comparison). I hope Fox does turn it around, but at the end of the day Randy wants to sell - my original point is we need new owners to take us forward. As for Spurs, it is a lot easier to make money in London that here, combined that with the Levy factor.

[AV82EC]

Do you think he has invested as much as he could over last few years?? As you say, his mistakes in the past, his poor judgment that has us down the bottom of the table, while Everton are doing a lot better (using your comparison). I hope Fox does turn it around, but at the end of the day Randy wants to sell - my original point is we need new owners to take us forward. As for Spurs, it is a lot easier to make money in London that here, combined that with the Levy factor.

No because he couldn't invest due to FFP. And getting new owners isn't the silver bullet either as they'd be working under exactly the same restrictions as Lerner. Agree on your Spurs point.

My stance here is that if Lerner stays as owner he should disappear into the background as owner, appoint an Executive Chairman to over see his asset and provide whatever top up funding FFP allows. Meanwhile Fox and co need to get serious with increasing our turnover so we can compete better.

[Matt Collins]

But surely whatever we can do commercially to increase turnover pales into insignificance compared to TV revenue, attendances and player sales? All of that is really driven by successs or not on the field and in the transfer market. Making avtv a bit more expensive isn't going to reap too many rewards

[walsall villain]

Sherwood needs to shut it more . I think others agree. And others have mentioned about him being like redknapp . No need to disclose the take over business seems to stem from personal frustration or relief. 

I'm pleased somebody has at last said something. All this talk of a takeover must surely be unsettling. He probably is relieved but perhaps wanting to focus on what matters, the new season and getting his squad sorted.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I'm pleased Sherwood has spoken, otherwise we'd be typing rumours on this stupid thread

[Ron Manager]

Good Morning one and all.If yesterdays announcement by the team manager is true then it should have come from MrFoxor preferably Mr Lerner.Most unprofessional in my view.

PerhapsMr Sherwood should be told to concentrate on what he is employed for,that is improving the team other than opening his mouth to Sky Rednapp style.

[LeeB]

Good Morning one and all.If yesterdays announcement by the team manager is true then it should have come from MrFoxor preferably Mr Lerner.Most unprofessional in my view.

PerhapsMr Sherwood should be told to concentrate on what he is employed for,that is improving the team other than opening his mouth to Sky Rednapp style.

Perhaps Mr Sherwood is free to make such statements by his employer.

It seems people are upset that the news isn't what they wanted to hear, and are now shooting the messenger.

[RussellC]

As disappointing as the news is, I'm adopting a 'better the devil' attitude. After-all,  WBA are in the process of being taken over and are still being linked to the likes of Michail Antonio and Wayne Hennessy. If Randy stays, learns from his mistakes of recent seasons and adopts a sensible approach to spending, I honestly think we've now got the right team in placed (Tim, Tom & Paddy) to make a relative success of things, without the need for a sugar-daddy owner.

[LTA]

As much as Sherwood sometimes opens his mouth before engaging his brain, I doubt he would have said what he said if he hadn't been given the all clear by those above him.

[Chris Smith]

Good Morning one and all.If yesterdays announcement by the team manager is true then it should have come from MrFoxor preferably Mr Lerner.Most unprofessional in my view.

PerhapsMr Sherwood should be told to concentrate on what he is employed for,that is improving the team other than opening his mouth to Sky Rednapp style.

He was asked a question, if he had ducked it he would be accused of hiding information from fans. Far better to be straight in my view.