The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

'We did not target only on Villa'

'we signed the deal a long time ago, when I was there watching a game of villa. it was some approval process (this is vague in Chinese but I try to be accurate) involved so we waited till yesterday to announce this'

'we paid 75mil pounds as the first installment. Once the club back to PL, another 40M will be paid. for sure there will other things involved'

'we will decide on the managerial choice in 2 weeks. they have their opinion on manager and players (which mean who to buy)'

'we have 6 managers to choose from, including Di Mateo and Perrson. We know reduce the number to three. the manager has to have experience with Championship, but will need to have european leagues ambition and experience'

'we have clauses in the contract with manager. anytime the club is not within the first 6 positions of the league, we can sack him'

'we will recommend a few talents chinese youth players to the club, but the coach has final decision. We will not just send them to the club '

'my plan is to take Villa back to PL as soon as possible', he then pointed the shirt that the journalist wears (Arsenal), 'like this club, I want to see my club to stay in Champions league every season'.

'in 8-10 years i want Villa back to its best time - to become one of the best clubs in europe'

'I beleive in Villa- they have the best fan base - if we exploit it well - it will form the base of the best club of the world (he didnt use 'one of the best' in this sentence)'

If you don't include a source, I'm going to have to assume you made this up.

Seems to be an interview that Xia did in Chinese with their equivalent of the BBC: http://news.xinhuanet.com/sports/2016-05/19/c_128998839.htm

That certainly reads better than the quote above - I like the manager clause (as it states only applicable in the Premier) it might give the managers a provebial cattle prod up their arses. It also means, if it is legal, that we can dump the fuckers (should they turn out to be shit) without compo hopefully.

[AVH87]

This part is a bit of a concern from Xia's translated Chinese interview ''We have a clause which is very important. Simply put, in the whole process, if at any time less than the British crown the top six (promoted to the Premiership prerequisite), we may at any time be unconditionally replaced.''

I hope he would think very carefully before sacking a manager who'd just finished 8th in the Prem for us.

[Richard E]

This part is a bit of a concern from Xia's translated Chinese interview ''We have a clause which is very important. Simply put, in the whole process, if at any time less than the British crown the top six (promoted to the Premiership prerequisite), we may at any time be unconditionally replaced.''

I hope he would think very carefully before sacking a manager who'd just finished 8th in the Prem for us.

I'd be amazed if this actually made its way into any Manager's contract. I doubt many would sign it.

[Ads]

I guess as others have said it makes it cheaper to sack them and actually places some expectation on a manger to do more than just finish 17th, which was Lerner's remit.

That culture of survival only is part of the reason for our slide.

[aj2k77]

Depends on how much money they'd spent I'd say. After all the MON transfers I'd say his 3rd 6th place you could argue a case for sacking him. If we'd spent £100m net over 2 years and then finished 8th you'd probably say that isn't good enough. As long as the manager signs the contract then any clause that protects us is good, god knows we've been burnt badly by poor managers on big wedges.

[kippaxvilla2]

He is ambitious, and won't stand shit on the field from the likes of 'we were excellent and go again' that is fine by me.

[AVH87]

The ambition is very welcome. He just has to make sure he's realistic - the Manchester and London clubs have massive revenues so we'd have to go some to dislodge one of them from the top 6 any more than just the odd one-off. Last time we were finishing top 6, Man City weren't a permanent fixture in there, and even Spurs look one now too.

[Rigadon]

If this season proves nothing else it's that nothing in football is permanent. 

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

The ambition is very welcome. He just has to make sure he's realistic - the Manchester and London clubs have massive revenues so we'd have to go some to dislodge one of them from the top 6 any more than just the odd one-off. Last time we were finishing top 6, Man City weren't a permanent fixture in there, and even Spurs look one now too.

he is relying on the Chinese revenues, which could be very large, but presumably wont be while we are knocking around in the championship

[Percy McCarthy]

If this season proves nothing else it's that nothing in football is permanent.

Indeed. I recall being laughed out of town for predicting the 'eternal' top four (Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea) would soon be dotted about the top half of the table. (2nd, 5th, 8th, 10th this season). I think Liverpool have qualified for the Chumps League once since I predicted they were most at risk of losing their place.

[aj2k77]

The ambition is very welcome. He just has to make sure he's realistic - the Manchester and London clubs have massive revenues so we'd have to go some to dislodge one of them from the top 6 any more than just the odd one-off. Last time we were finishing top 6, Man City weren't a permanent fixture in there, and even Spurs look one now too.

Leicester, Southampton and West Ham have all challenged the top 6 this season. We should be aiming for that, even without Claret and Blue specs on we are a bigger club that those. We've just been treated like a rich mans hobby who got bored after 5 minutes and now everyone is free loading off of us.

[paul_e]

The ambition is very welcome. He just has to make sure he's realistic - the Manchester and London clubs have massive revenues so we'd have to go some to dislodge one of them from the top 6 any more than just the odd one-off. Last time we were finishing top 6, Man City weren't a permanent fixture in there, and even Spurs look one now too.

The problem is saying "I want us to finish 7th or 8th in the premier league" isn't ambitious, yes we're not there right now but for most of the last 25-30 years we have been top half.  Top 6 is a good measure, not demanding we compete for the title or requiring a champions league place but wanting us to be slightly above where we have been for most of the time since the premier league came into existence.

[Walmley_Villa]

I think we have to be grateful to Leicester's success and the impact it has had in Thailand with thousands flooding the street of Bangkok for a bus tour by the team. It shows that the dream is possible to these far east owners and has to be the model we try and follow I hope.

[avfcpg]

Strange clause but kind of like the intent..doesn't say he will sack them, just that they are able to...if he provides realistic funds for them to do the job he wants them to and finds out they can't, then get someone in who can. Having said that, I'm assuming it's just with regards to paying them off. It's not like clubs don't sack managers any time they want to anyway.

[KevinGage]

Fine to have that sort of idea for a contract (if that is a legitimate quote) a bit less fine if you are broadcasting it for all and sundry to hear.

As others have mentioned, it immediately reduces the appeal of the job.  You can talk about rewarding failure, but the average life expectancy for any manager in the top two divisions is about two years now. Paul Lambert was third longest serving manager in the PL at one point.

Even good managers aren't immune from a 4/5 game losing streak, which will immediately have the knives out for most managers these days.   It is a precarious job, so it is an extremely hard sell without compensation. 

The key is picking a manager who has a bit of pride in himself and isn't attracted to the job for that reason alone.

All this shooting from the hip is fine, but talking about these kind of high performance winning standards doesn't ring true for me.  I come back to the earlier point that if this chap does want to make us a major player in the world game (and has the resources to do so) why wait until we have dropped out of the most high profile league in the world?   Why risk the complication of having to gain promotion and the two lots of rebuilding it will need (this summer and then having a team fit for the PL) when he could have gone in with a higher purchase price in Jan (or even last summer) and banked the new TV deal?

The 'We will spend £30, £40 or £50 million' all sounds a bit vague and Carson-esque to me too (not saying he will go on to be a rotter of Yeung-like proportions, mind).   There is a big difference between £30 and 50 million. 

Paul Winch and a few others have mentioned that there are reasons to be concerned with this deal, but that another year of Lerner and co would have seen us plummet even further, and that is a fair point.

I don't think this will be a long-term fit.  But If it is a venture capitalist-style deal and the aim is to invest heavily in the first year or two, get us up and and then sell on at a profit, then so be it.