The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[paul_e]

So what has been shown to Hollis, a man the Birmingham Post has referenced as having

"a CV awash with high-profile roles for KPMG in the Middle East, the Far East, the USA and Europe demonstrates that it’s been professionally challenging – and equally rewarding, that has convinced him to say

 "You start putting the bits together and it all looks exciting. I genuinely think it will be transformational for Aston Villa and the city of Birmingham."

This is exactly why I'm less worried than many.  Hollis didn't have any responsibility to say any of those things so his entire credibility is on the line with that statement and I doubt he'd be willing to throw that away cheaply.

[kippaxvilla2]

Hollis is a polished business restructuring expert.  He is not going to say anything other than positive spin to make this guy look like the answer to all our prayers.  He isn't going to say 'I know Lotus are loss making but you need to look at the wider group.  I realise that Recon have never filed audited accounts, but really this guy is the real deal.'

[DeeBoy1]

I have to say, this has sucked every ounce of wind out of my sails on what was an enjoyable Friday afternoon. The club or Dr T need to come out with a statement in response to this as fans will quite understandably be fearing the absolute worst now. I am clinging to paul_e's optimism and the fact that Hollis surely can't have agreed this without indepth checks....but right now I feel a muppet for dismissing  my sceptical mates. The FT is a pretty reliable source.

[Scott Nielsen]

So what has been shown to Hollis, a man the Birmingham Post has referenced as having

"a CV awash with high-profile roles for KPMG in the Middle East, the Far East, the USA and Europe demonstrates that it’s been professionally challenging – and equally rewarding, that has convinced him to say

 "You start putting the bits together and it all looks exciting. I genuinely think it will be transformational for Aston Villa and the city of Birmingham."

1. Hollis is right to be impressed and we will all be content.
2. Hollis has been bamboozled. Has happened to better men than him.
3. Hollis is under no illusions but priority is to fulfil the remit of his employer.

I want to think the first but worry given his recent ill-judged rhetoric.

[kippaxvilla2]

In earlier posts I have been positive and I still am - I still think we would have been slightly more fcuked if Lerner had continued because it was clear he wasn't going to invest another penny this summer.  I simply don't know which way this is going to go.

[AVH87]

So what has been shown to Hollis, a man the Birmingham Post has referenced as having

"a CV awash with high-profile roles for KPMG in the Middle East, the Far East, the USA and Europe demonstrates that it’s been professionally challenging – and equally rewarding, that has convinced him to say

 "You start putting the bits together and it all looks exciting. I genuinely think it will be transformational for Aston Villa and the city of Birmingham."

This is exactly why I'm less worried than many.  Hollis didn't have any responsibility to say any of those things so his entire credibility is on the line with that statement and I doubt he'd be willing to throw that away cheaply.

He's in his fifties, with easily enough money to piss off to Barbados or somewhere and retire in the sun if this all goes tits up.

[placeforparks]

Hollis's loyalty is not to us, it is to Randy Lerner, his employer.

If Randy says he wants to sell and Xia has the money and he wants to sell to him (and it seems he at least has the money to buy the club), then Hollis's job is to get it done, not to check whether he has the wherewithal to grow the club or anything.

wouldn't surprise me if hollis wasn't on some kind of commission to find a buyer.

randy lerner is a motivated seller, even more so, given the last few weeks.

[pauliewalnuts]

So what has been shown to Hollis, a man the Birmingham Post has referenced as having

"a CV awash with high-profile roles for KPMG in the Middle East, the Far East, the USA and Europe demonstrates that it’s been professionally challenging – and equally rewarding, that has convinced him to say

 "You start putting the bits together and it all looks exciting. I genuinely think it will be transformational for Aston Villa and the city of Birmingham."

This is exactly why I'm less worried than many.  Hollis didn't have any responsibility to say any of those things so his entire credibility is on the line with that statement and I doubt he'd be willing to throw that away cheaply.

He's already said Xia helped build the birdsnest stadium, and that's already been stated as untrue today.

My worry is that Randy swallowed a lot of this stuff and told Hollis he approved of Xia as a buyer.

[peter w]

So what has been shown to Hollis, a man the Birmingham Post has referenced as having

"a CV awash with high-profile roles for KPMG in the Middle East, the Far East, the USA and Europe demonstrates that it’s been professionally challenging – and equally rewarding, that has convinced him to say

 "You start putting the bits together and it all looks exciting. I genuinely think it will be transformational for Aston Villa and the city of Birmingham."

This is exactly why I'm less worried than many.  Hollis didn't have any responsibility to say any of those things so his entire credibility is on the line with that statement and I doubt he'd be willing to throw that away cheaply.

He's already said Xia helped build the birdsnest stadium, and that's already been stated as untrue today.

My worry is that Randy swallowed a lot of this stuff and told Hollis he approved of Xia as a buyer.

I suppose you could argue it is true because he was involved in some tiny way from conception to the final product being completed. therefore, you could say that he helped to build it just not in the physical sense.

[Chico Hamilton III]

So what has been shown to Hollis, a man the Birmingham Post has referenced as having

"a CV awash with high-profile roles for KPMG in the Middle East, the Far East, the USA and Europe demonstrates that it’s been professionally challenging – and equally rewarding, that has convinced him to say

 "You start putting the bits together and it all looks exciting. I genuinely think it will be transformational for Aston Villa and the city of Birmingham."

This is exactly why I'm less worried than many.  Hollis didn't have any responsibility to say any of those things so his entire credibility is on the line with that statement and I doubt he'd be willing to throw that away cheaply.

He's already said Xia helped build the birdsnest stadium, and that's already been stated as untrue today.

My worry is that Randy swallowed a lot of this stuff and told Hollis he approved of Xia as a buyer.

I suppose you could argue it is true because he was involved in some tiny way from conception to the final product being completed. therefore, you could say that he helped to build it just not in the physical sense.

A bit like we could all say we've "helped" to build West Ham's new ground by paying our taxes?

[paul_e]

I have to say, this has sucked every ounce of wind out of my sails on what was an enjoyable Friday afternoon. The club or Dr T need to come out with a statement in response to this as fans will quite understandably be fearing the absolute worst now. I am clinging to paul_e's optimism and the fact that Hollis surely can't have agreed this without indepth checks....but right now I feel a muppet for dismissing  my sceptical mates. The FT is a pretty reliable source.

I wouldn't say I'm overly optimistic, I'm just trying to bring some balance to things.  I just don't think you get into 3-4 top jobs at one of the world's biggest auditing companies if you can't spot bullshit.  The bird's nest thing sounds odd but I can only assume he's seen something that has made that link so lets see how he responds.

[peter w]

Yeah, something like that.

[DeeBoy1]

I have to say, this has sucked every ounce of wind out of my sails on what was an enjoyable Friday afternoon. The club or Dr T need to come out with a statement in response to this as fans will quite understandably be fearing the absolute worst now. I am clinging to paul_e's optimism and the fact that Hollis surely can't have agreed this without indepth checks....but right now I feel a muppet for dismissing  my sceptical mates. The FT is a pretty reliable source.

I wouldn't say I'm overly optimistic, I'm just trying to bring some balance to things.  I just don't think you get into 3-4 top jobs at one of the world's biggest auditing companies if you can't spot bullshit.  The bird's nest thing sounds odd but I can only assume he's seen something that has made that link so lets see how he responds.

Exactly mate. Don't think you're being naively optimistic in any way, I just want to believe that Hollis is no mug. It's tough right now though, they really need to give us glass half full guys something to cling to now. The longer the silence the more the glass starts to drain...

[Billy Walker]

I'm glad all this scrutinising is being done  because, let's face it, we simply don't know that much about  Recon Group.  It's possible a lot of information is being lost in translation so hopefully a press conference might be called to clear things up.   We're right as Villa fans to be very cautious about this but I'm going to remain optimistic.  Every owner out there has dodgy dealings on their CV - a quick Google search of Abramovich reveals acres of shady stuff.  From a Villa point of view, the bottom line is do Recon have the money, the ambition and the plan to get us back on top?  The truth will out.

[aj2k77]

It would be nice if Hollis came out and commented on the FT article etc just to calm people's nerves......

He was hoping to light the blue touch paper and retreat. Now he does have some explaining to do. This is all going to come out in the news over the hours-days.

Well he needs to explain the Birds nest comment. People are going to keep digging and digging, any Skeletons will come out.