The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[PaulWinch again]

Whatever Randy may want, you need a buyer to reflect those requirements and that'll be difficult.

[Malandro]

I'm finding it hard today, I can't stop urging Randy to sell the club quickly (this seems to have been picked up by the media)

[not3bad]

On behalf of Aston Villa fans everywhere I also urge Randy Lerner to find a suitable buyer as quickly as possible.

[Toronto Villa]

Whatever Randy may want, you need a buyer to reflect those requirements and that'll be difficult.

The PL is a big draw around the world and is becoming really big in the US. There will be buyers. In terms of the price, if it is £200m or around $350m, then for a team in one of the top sports leagues and arguably the best marketed, it isn't a massive price.

[andrew08]

My take is that the club is now self sufficient mainly through Sky money and whatever us lot and the commercial department chuck in. How much is over for a transfer budget is unknown but about £20m if recent spend is anything to go by.

What the club needs is someone who is either oil rich (nice but unlikely) or more realistically someone/or a group who knows what they are doing or if not employs someone who does. Hundreds of millions would be nice, but just the ability to chuck an extra £20 million a season will do.

I don't expect Randy to give us away, but to sell us to the 'right' people is as important.

[mr underhill]

the problem is that a vital part of the asset base is shit; the playing staff, not to mention  the management. There are  areas that require significant investment - as far as the former is concerned, year on year investment and that's just to remain mid, to upper mid table. That's a big ask on top of the £200m asking price. As Randy's come across as Mr Anxious, if I were the buyer I'd  be saying £150m knowing that I'd have to bung £50m in the very short term and not far off that for the next few seasons. And because his statement  effectively said please come and buy me, Randy might well be tempted with that kind of offer to be able to dwell with his own as quickly as possible.

[Malandro]

we buy any club, we buy any club, any any any

[sirlordbaltimore]

How big do you think we could be if we were to have someone come in with Man City type investment? If we extended the ground to 60K, would we fill it every week if we had Ronaldo and Messi playing up front for us?

I think you'd find that there would suddenly be lots of Villa fans who'd never cared about us before and we'd easily fill 60K a week.

Absolutely no chance. If we couldn't get a steady full house when we were Div 1 Champions or European Champions why would we now ? From memory back then we'd go from 48k to 30k often.

We've got a core support of maybe 25-28k and loads of floating supporters (of which i've now become one) on top of that, that come as and when they feel like it. We haven't and never have had (in my lifetime) a genuine massive support week in week out.

I don't see why that would ever change. Well unless we suddenly turned into Barcelona (not going to happen) and pulled in a ton of glory hunters. Our ground will never need increasing due to capacity issues i'm sure. It could do with a facelift on the North Stand but the thought of that increasing capacity to say 50k and us being left with even more empty seats is not one i relish at all. It's bad enough now looking at banks of empty seats

[Billy Walker]

How big do you think we could be if we were to have someone come in with Man City type investment? If we extended the ground to 60K, would we fill it every week if we had Ronaldo and Messi playing up front for us?

I think you'd find that there would suddenly be lots of Villa fans who'd never cared about us before and we'd easily fill 60K a week.

Absolutely no chance. If we couldn't get a steady full house when we were Div 1 Champions or European Champions why would we now ? From memory back then we'd go from 48k to 30k often.

We've got a core support of maybe 25-28k and loads of floating supporters (of which i've now become one) on top of that, that come as and when they feel like it. We haven't and never have had (in my lifetime) a genuine massive support week in week out.

I don't see why that would ever change. Well unless we suddenly turned into Barcelona (not going to happen) and pulled in a ton of glory hunters. Our ground will never need increasing due to capacity issues i'm sure. It could do with a facelift on the North Stand but the thought of that increasing capacity to say 50k and us being left with even more empty seats is not one i relish at all. It's bad enough now looking at banks of empty seats

They were vastly different times back then.   When Liverpool were winning the league they were doing it in front of average crowds of 34k for some seasons, too.

When Villa won the league we had the third highest attendance in the country.   Taking our averages from Christmas '81 onwards (when the Villa faithful actually started to realise we had a chance of doing something) to May we had the highest average home attendance - higher than Liverpool's and neck and neck with Man Utd's.


Just to add, I'd argue our core support at the moment is nearer 35k - those are the numbers that have stuck with us through three solid years of struggle.   

In terms of full houses, didn't we pretty much get steady full houses in Martin O'Neill's second or third season here (in the honeymoon days of Lerner's Chairmanship?).  We certainly averaged over 40k in a stadium that holds 42k.   Now, if the Villa faithful will turn out in those numbers to see Marlon Marewood, Nigel Reo-Coker and Co, just imagine what they would do if we signed genuine top players and showed genuine ambition to win things?  Our crowds would go up in a similar way to Man City's. 

[pauliewalnuts]

the problem is that a vital part of the asset base is shit; the playing staff, not to mention  the management. There are  areas that require significant investment - as far as the former is concerned, year on year investment and that's just to remain mid, to upper mid table. That's a big ask on top of the £200m asking price. As Randy's come across as Mr Anxious, if I were the buyer I'd  be saying £150m knowing that I'd have to bung £50m in the very short term and not far off that for the next few seasons. And because his statement  effectively said please come and buy me, Randy might well be tempted with that kind of offer to be able to dwell with his own as quickly as possible

That is what gives me the most hope that a deal is actually done.

There are other things which point at it, too. Stuff like, why say anything if there is no buyer?

That Times article today said there was a deal three months ago but it fell apart. That's about the same time PF was answering questions by saying Randy has no intention of selling.

What's more, everything that has happened in the last 2 or 3 years has pointed at being primed to be sold. Wages bill, transfer spending, FFP compliance, all that stuff, and that has been going on years.

Given that, why did he feel no need to say anything about his intentions then? He's a man known for saying nothing whatsoever, yet in the last four weeks or so we have had two statements from him.

Something's afoot, I tell you, something's afoot.

[KevinGage]

Football has changed though. 

We are getting consistently bigger gates now than we did during the 80's even under BFR - despite us being nowhere near contention for major trophies or even European football. And despite the ridiculous cost associated with going to games today.

I recall the Arsenal team of that era often getting between 18,000-20,000,  and the Jawdies are often ridiculed for this history of passionate support whn gates of 21,000 odd in the late 80's contradict that. 

[godzvilla]

My take is that the club is now self sufficient mainly through Sky money and whatever us lot and the commercial department chuck in. How much is over for a transfer budget is unknown but about £20m if recent spend is anything to go by.

What the club needs is someone who is either oil rich (nice but unlikely) or more realistically someone/or a group who knows what they are doing or if not employs someone who does. Hundreds of millions would be nice, but just the ability to chuck an extra £20 million a season will do.

I don't expect Randy to give us away, but to sell us to the 'right' people is as important.

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but we got a ' shitload ' of Cash for being crap for most of las Season , £73 million , to be precise ! ......Godzvilla !

From the B;ham Mail :
" West Brom and Aston Villa both earned more for finishing near the Premier League drop zone this season than Manchester United did as champions the previous campaign.

The league’s new £5.5 billion broadcast deal meant Albion cashed in by receiving £65.8 million for finishing 17th – just outside the relegation places.

Villa received £73 million for finishing two places higher, compared to United’s £60.8 million for winning the 2012/13 title."

[pauliewalnuts]

Yesterday I read that Bayern Munich, as champions, got £30m from the Bundesliga television deal last year, whereas Cardiff City, 20th in the Premier League, picked up £62m from their share of our deal.

[andrew08]

Yesterday I read that Bayern Munich, as champions, got £30m from the Bundesliga television deal last year, whereas Cardiff City, 20th in the Premier League, picked up £62m from their share of our deal.

Athletico Madrid possible European and Spanish Champions are because of the poor/unfair TV deal going to be stripped of players by Real and Barca and the likes of Citeh, Chelsea and PSG.

Mind you as are Southampton here... The TV money makes no odds to the Oil Clubs.

[brian green]

As regards attendances I have been in Villa Park with over 60,000 officially through the turnstiles and probably half as many again over the turnstiles and up the drainpipes into the Holte to watch a Villa team that struggled to beat Grimsby and Huddersfield. I think many of you would be surprised at the numbers a winning Villa side can pull in. Build it and they will come (if you are winning).