Goodbye Paul Faulkner.

[Steve R]

Surely if a deal was 'imminent' Faulkner would have stayed to see it out - unless there is a job offer elswhere that couldn't wait.

It all has a 'sod this for a game of soldiers' air to it to me. Maybe Faulkner wanted some serious position elsewhere in Lermer's empire post sale and Lerner wasn't exactly rolling out the red carpet with chief bottlewasher offers.

It's quite feasible that this process could take place over a number of weeks. I do doubt that Lerner received the resignation yesterday. There were probably all manner of contractual issues to resolve if nothing else.

[rob_bridge]

People bang on about the best kit deal, the best sponsorship deal. In a time when the PL is at an all time high in terms of TV deals and global exposure. Literally every current PL club can boast they've done the same. I can see very little Faulkner has brought to the club other than 3-4 years of absolute madness, lack of direction, leadership any form of plan or strategy and a series of bungled appointments which has all resulted in 3 years of relegation battles, internal bullying at a high level, senior players ostracised and then reintegrated etc etc. absolute joke.

Have to agree with a good deal of your post

Increasing income etc.. should be an absolute minimum requirement based on the popularlity of EPL.

Our total income is below West Ham's. Not something to shout about bearing in mind the shit we have thrown at their owners and CEO over the years.

As for the onfield stuff - the Houllier appointment was stupid. It looked like it was made by someone who started watching football in the early 00's.

The McLeish appointment utterly woeful, abysmal beyond belief. Most of us knew it would end badly and as I have stated before it screamed to me that Villa had become SMALL TIME.

The funniest thing was MON was told to get the wages under control and the wage bill has hardly moved with fewer players in the 4 years after his departure.

[paul_e]

Hasn't Faulkner recently started a new role with the FA?  Could it be that Lerner couldn't give him any assurances of a new position that would allow him to continue with that role and after a few weeks of trying to work something out they've agreed to a parting of ways now rather than have another management issue hanging around as a distraction, after the C&K thing and the sale announcement I guess they wanted to keep this as tidy as possible.

[rob_bridge]

Hasn't Faulkner recently started a new role with the FA?  Could it be that Lerner couldn't give him any assurances of a new position that would allow him to continue with that role and after a few weeks of trying to work something out they've agreed to a parting of ways now rather than have another management issue hanging around as a distraction, after the C&K thing and the sale announcement I guess they wanted to keep this as tidy as possible.

Yes he feathered his own nest with FA in preparation for this.

I doubt any new owner, assuming they have a modicum of footballing knowledge, in their right mind would want to continue to employ him.

[Ads]

Didn't Lerner fly out to Corsica to meet McLeish and seal the deal?

[rob_bridge]

Didn't Lerner fly out to Corsica to meet McLeish and seal the deal?

Indeed he did. I think a series of botched attempts - Bentiez who needs about £75m to get warmed up, Martinez (oh woe) turning us down and McLaren being turned down meant the panic button was pushed. I think Faulkner was heavily involved.

Lerner obviosuly felt he had to strike whilst the iron was hot before we lost McLeish to some other comparable 'medium- big' club. Maybe Leverkusen, Roma, Sevilla, PSV were all in the running to secure McLeish's services. Somehow doubt it.

The fact that if McLeish appeared on any 'long' list would have been cause for concern, the fact he made his was on a short list was astonishing and what followed....

Any CEO with a modicum of footballing credibility should have been able to block the suicidal appointment.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

This is bizarre; 2 more Facebook updates from Delph in the last hour. Firstly;

"The news has been revealed, fresh start?"

Followed by,

"Villa fans, I can't sign a contract if I haven't been offered one, hopefully now this means I can put pen to paper."

He's obviously insinuating that it was Faulkner not offering him a new contract....!! utterly, utterly bizarre.

That's assuming the Delph page is real.

Which I strongly doubt.

I'm fairly sure it's him. He's constantly putting videos of himself up. If it's not him, it's someone with access to that kind of stuff.

They're simply lifted from this personal trainer's Instagram account:
http://instagram.com/jamie_velocity

Dear oh dear.

What?!

Dear oh dear, if the facebook update is really him, then that's disappointing.

Both his Facebook accounts are fake.

Check out the names tagged on his official Villa images. Some people have way too much time.

[AV82EC]

Hasn't Faulkner recently started a new role with the FA?  Could it be that Lerner couldn't give him any assurances of a new position that would allow him to continue with that role and after a few weeks of trying to work something out they've agreed to a parting of ways now rather than have another management issue hanging around as a distraction, after the C&K thing and the sale announcement I guess they wanted to keep this as tidy as possible.

Yes he feathered his own nest with FA in preparation for this.

I doubt any new owner, assuming they have a modicum of footballing knowledge, in their right mind would want to continue to employ him.

According to Kendricks Mail article, he'll immediately lose his FA roles unless he gets another job in Football.

[Toronto Villa]

I have always found Delph to be the most honest and humble of almost any footballer you hear speaking. I think he feels a debt of loyalty to the club and comes across that way. It doesn't guarantee anything off course but at the same time I don't think he'd be airing his laundry in public. I think he has more respect for the club than to do that.

[olaftab]

I see this as a positive. The guy was clueless and out of his depth. Don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out.

This is not a fair comment but you are entitled to make it I guess.

[LeeB]

It makes me laugh all the shit that Faulkner takes, it must be a modern thing, because I don't remember people pinning the blame of relegation on Steve Stride's head at all.

[kippaxvilla2]

Surely if a deal was 'imminent' Faulkner would have stayed to see it out - unless there is a job offer elswhere that couldn't wait.

It all has a 'sod this for a game of soldiers' air to it to me. Maybe Faulkner wanted some serious position elsewhere in Lermer's empire post sale and Lerner wasn't exactly rolling out the red carpet with chief bottlewasher offers.

It's quite feasible that this process could take place over a number of weeks. I do doubt that Lerner received the resignation yesterday. There were probably all manner of contractual issues to resolve if nothing else.

Isn't it quite common for CEO's to have 12 month notice periods? 

[hilts_coolerking]

I see this as a positive. The guy was clueless and out of his depth. Don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out.

This is not a fair comment but you are entitled to make it I guess.

I don't know that it is unfair.  Admittedly I don't know exactly what Lerner tasked Faulkner to do so I can't say how successful he was but a well-run club would see a proper balance between a sound financial base, good investment in the playing staff and, as a consequence of those, reasonable performance on the pitch.

Put it this way, it would be relatively straightforward to cut costs and make savings if performance on the pitch wasn't a priority.  All you'd do is get rid of your big earners, sell your assets and replace them with cheaper alternatives.

[cheltenhamlion]

Paul F doesn't have a job with the FA. He is on a couple of committees. Just like Doug was.

Perhaps he has just had enough. Of hearing how everything is his fault when he turns on the radio. Of opening his emails each day to a barrel load of abuse.

Perhaps he wants to spend more time with his lad and wants a less high profile, time consuming role.

Perhaps a takeover is round the corner and he has been offered something that would be foolish to turn down.

Perhaps there has been a breakdown in his relationship with Randy about the grief he is getting where he believes that it would be better aimed at the owner.

Who knows the reason. What I would guess at is that this has been in the pipeline for a little while. He didn't turn up this morning with a hastily scribbled resignation post it note.

What worries me more is why now? It is either good because the sale is close or we are utterly rudderless and sat in a state of paralysis.

What worries me more is Robin Russell who is just a bean counter being the only board member liable to be this side of the Atlantic this summer.

If I was Randy I would be placing an emergency call to Steve Stride right about now to see if he will help out until the sale goes through.

[Toronto Villa]

It makes me laugh all the shit that Faulkner takes, it must be a modern thing, because I don't remember people pinning the blame of relegation on Steve Stride's head at all.

You have to wonder what the world would have looked like had the internet existed in the mid 80's. Not dismissing the merits of Stride but you'd think he is the answer we are all craving from some people's posts. Like you said he's never given any grief considering we went down.