The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Under a more progressive manager than O'Neill we would have qualified for the Champions League on two occassions, I am sure of that. We went pretty close, twice and it was always our home form that let us down.

His one dimensional tactics, his money wasted on average players, running the fit players to a stand still in march etc.

There was enough investment to have got us there then.

Correct.

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That's why I think it could have been sustained, as we got very close twice. The boost from having two consecutive seasons of Champions League football on the back of a more nuanced approach at transfers and specifically tactics at home, would have provided significant advantages.

[dave.woodhall]

Without O'Neill we might still have FitzGerald and/or Cunnah.

[ChicagoLion]

Without O'Neill we might still have FitzGerald and/or Cunnah.

Were they good or bad for the club?

[pauliewalnuts]

Without O'Neill we might still have FitzGerald and/or Cunnah.

Were they good or bad for the club?

We'll never know, they were here for such a short time.

I was told, directly, by the man who organised the 32Red sponsorship deal (he was working for 32Red at the time) and who happened to be a life long friend of Richard FitzGerlrd, in no uncertain terms, that the problem was that MON was impossible to work with.

That doesn't mean he'd have been amazing, necessarily, it just shows why he left.

[dave.woodhall]

Without O'Neill we might still have FitzGerald and/or Cunnah.

Were they good or bad for the club?

Nobody ever complained.

[villan from luton]

Lets face it we were fecked up with DHE when MON came in. He only came in with provisos of course, I was chuffed and enjoyed the ride, though some signings were a bit errrr, wtf. However he did well but fecked up near the end surely. We give Lambert stick, but did he get the finances of MON? Benteke will make big money and there were moans with that,, what about the others?

[brian green]

I don't follow Luton. Do you mean the other players Lambert has bought or do you mean the other managers who have let us down?

[ROBBO]

His biggest problem was that he was blinkered as far as foreign players were concerned, he tried to form a British team.

[Steve67]

Benteke in MON's team might have been the difference! At least he played with wingers too.

[Dave]

His biggest problem was that he was blinkered as far as foreign players were concerned, he tried to form a British team.

It wasn't so much a British team, it was British-based players that he invariably wanted.

Cuellar, Beye, Friedel, Petrov, Dunne being cases in point.

[Risso]

His biggest problem was that he was blinkered as far as foreign players were concerned, he tried to form a British team.

It wasn't so much a British team, it was British-based players that he invariably wanted.

Cuellar, Beye, Friedel, Petrov, Dunne being cases in point.

I think it was true at one point, that in 6 years at both Celtic and Villa, he'd signed something like two or three players from outside the British leagues.  While he did buy some good players (and a lot of dross) it was nearly always at the over-inflated prices that Premier League players commanded.

[paul_e]

MONs bigger problem wasn't the location of his signings, it was their ages.  We've been fucked for years because he signed mostly 28+ players who were never going to get us our money back.  If you do that those players need to be good enough to push you on to the next level so that you make the money spent on them back in prize money.

[PeterWithesShin]

Birmingham Mail

Aston Villa are rumoured to be at the centre of a mystery takeover bid from Azerbaijan.

The club was put up for sale by Randy Lerner last year and sports broadcaster and Villa season ticket holder Jonny Gould claims there is interest from the oil and gas-rich eastern European country.

In an interview with former Villa star Andy Gray, Gould claims a company called Gilan Holdings was involved in a possible bid.

It is not the first rumour of a takeover at Villa, with American billionaire Mark Cuban linked with the club last month.

Meanwhile, Gray, now working as broadcaster in World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar, tells Gould he has been trying to find a buyer for Villa in the Middle East - with little success.

“I’ve been very anxious to see this thing brought to a settlement,” Gray said. “Randy’s lost his interest, there’s no doubt about that.

“His lost his passion, he’s lost his interest, he’s lost his drive. That’s fine, I understand that. But it’s in limbo the club and it needs to be sold.

“But try as I might to maybe encourage one of the sheikhs to invest his multi millions in Aston Villa, I find it difficult.

“And what I also find difficult is Villa seems not to be an attractive proposition. I don’t get it. When I look around Villa Park I see a magnificent stadium.

“When I look at the training ground I see a fantastic training ground. It’s not like you’re buying a club where you’re going to have to build these things. You’re not.

“I’m amazed how little interest has been shown in Villa. I don’t know whether the reputation of Villa has dropped over the years and it’s not as attractive? But you and I know the size and potential of this club.

I’m not saying they could be Manchester City or Chelsea, but they could be Tottenham or Everton and these are teams that have been battling for fourth, fifth and sixth for the last seven, eight, nine, 10 years.”

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Pat Murphy said earlier that he was sure we would be sold this coming summer.