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.
Quote from: LeeB on July 08, 2014, 04:53:14 PMIt 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.
Quote from: Toronto Villa on July 08, 2014, 05:16:13 PMQuote from: LeeB on July 08, 2014, 04:53:14 PMIt 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.If Stride deserved flak for us going down then surely Faulkner also deserves some for us being in relegation scraps for the last two or three seasons?
I have no real idea what a CEO does, so have no idea whether or not Faulkner did the job well or not. All I can suppose is that he took the role on after the Lord Mayor's Show, as it were, and probably in the circumstances did it as well as could be expected.
Quote from: curiousorange on July 08, 2014, 05:29:57 PMI have no real idea what a CEO does, so have no idea whether or not Faulkner did the job well or not. All I can suppose is that he took the role on after the Lord Mayor's Show, as it were, and probably in the circumstances did it as well as could be expected.The CEO certainly shouldn't be organ grinders monkey.
Mat Kendrick comment: Paul Faulkner departure leaves Aston Villa rudderless Aston Villa comment: Mat Kendrick believes Paul Faulkner's departure leaves Villa even more rudderless than before“A few people have requested that I do this abseil from the Holte End without a rope,” quipped Paul Faulkner, well aware of his reputation as a pantomime villain rather than a Proper Villan, ahead of his charity descent last weekend.In fact, Faulkner will not be hanging around at Aston Villa Football Club much longer at all. The news he is to leave his chief executive role in the very near future is a shock.Not so much that Faulkner is departing, more the timing of his departure, and that he is exiting the club while the Randy Lerner era stumbles on.He was widely expected to go when Lerner passed control of the club to a new owner some time whenever, but with a takeover still way off – according to the chairman’s latest vague update – this development signifies a surprise yet significant breakdown in the relationship between them.The pair had previously been very close, with 52-year-old Lerner almost treating 36-year-old Faulkner as a younger sibling as well as a trusted ally.In return Faulkner acted as the eyes and ears of the absent owner at Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath, remaining fiercely loyal to his boss even when there were dubious decisions he did not agree with – and there were several – and trying desperately to front a directionless club, with the big boss thousands of miles away.Of the statement issued to announce Faulkner’s impending exit, the third sentence was most intriguiging: “Having discussed his re-engaging with the chairman’s broader business while remaining involved with Villa in a non-operational role, agreement could not be reached.”My sense all along was that when Lerner did eventually get bored and want out of Villa – and it is safe to assume that has been the case for at least two years – then Faulkner, who first came to the American’s attention as the upwardly mobile golden boy of his former MBNA UK operation in Chester, would be moved to another arm of the Lerner empire with a golden handshake. It transpires that Faulkner, who has enjoyed his formative years as a football administrator despite the hassles of being involved in Villa’s grim fall from grace, wanted to retain a football role, but a dual role was not forthcoming (maybe he should have gone to Roy Keane for jobshare advice...). Where this leaves Villa is more rudderless in the boardroom than before and with manager Paul Lambert developing a stronger powerbase, despite just a year remaining on his contract and the worst record of any of the club’s previous Premier League managers.Robin Russell, the club’s chief finance officer, is stepping into Faulkner’s role. It must only be an interim appointment, regardless of whether a buyer can be found for a great club drifting from the ridiculous to the even more ridiculous.Villa need an experienced administrator, and if he is of a claret and blue persuasion, even better.Again, this is complicated by Villa’s up-for-sale status. Whether Lerner is here for the next week, month or year, it will be hard to attract a top candidate with the club in such a state of flux.Russell is a whizz with figures and a charming chap, but has no real interest in football and wouldn’t know a 4-4-2 from a 4-3-3, giving Lambert and Keane, for the time being at least, the kind of clout Martin O’Neill boasted before his acrimonious departure in August 2010. It was around that time – three months earlier, in actual fact – that Faulkner was handed the role of chief executive. He had played a part behind the scenes from the very start of Lerner’s associations with Villa. Faulkner suggested Villa as a business ripe for Lerner’s investment after being tasked with studying available Premier League clubs – and the Cambridge graduate also assisted throughout the 2006 takeover process and the early days of the current regime eight years ago.Back then Villa were getting through chief executives like Lambert gets through left-backs. Club stalwart Steve Stride was discarded far too quickly, and subsequently Richard Fitzgerald and Michael Cunnah followed him out of the door, with O’Neill essentially performing elements of that role himself during his authoritarian reign.Having spent two years as Villa’s chief operating officer Faulkner took over as CEO in May 2010 and, as I have observed before, Lerner’s lieutenant has been forced to learn on the job from his mistakes rather than from an established expert football administrator.A boyhood Norwich fan (although Lambert, David McNally, Wes Hoolahan, Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa have tested those age-old allegiances) Faulkner is passionate about football and his drive to start the debate to return safe-standing to Villa Park hinted he was more than capable of cutting through the corporate to ‘get’ the claret and blue faithful and their traditions.The case remains, however, that the matchday experience in B6 is great – apart from the match. Villa’s trophy cabinet is deservedly buckling under the weight of hospitality awards, record sponsorship deals have been struck during Faulkner’s time and staff at Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath will describe him as a fair boss who takes time and interest in all of their duties. But, rightly or wrongly, the millions upon millions squandered because of bad football decisions will be his claret and blue legacy. Precisely how much say Faulkner had in the strange managerial appointments of Gerard Houllier (doomed by his heart) and Alex McLeish (doomed from the start) is unknown and the suggestion is he was simply following Lerner’s orders.Likewise, the sanctioning of a string of disastrous signings on lucrative long contracts, who boosted their own bank balances but drained Villa’s, damaging collective reputations in the process. Sadly, that’s the point. When Villa needed someone to advise and challenge Lerner and the various managers, Faulkner lacked either the experience, expertise or authority to do so and errors were repeated or exacerbated. In recent months there have been signs that Faulkner, often a voice of calm around the club, has been feeling the strain, while Lambert has somehow emerged as an increasingly dominant character. The main criticism of Faulkner and one that irks him terribly is that he is a glorified call centre worker, promoted above his station and out of touch with the game. This is harsh for a bright, ambitious young professional who has developed an extensive contacts book and a steelier side since being plunged into running a Premier League football club in his early thirties. With some established assistance in the boardroom he might have become a very good football administrator at Villa.Faulkner, who commanded an annual salary of approximately £250,000, is expected to leave Villa with a handsome pay-off, and will spend time with wife Jane and baby son William, a cystic fibrosis sufferer who inspired him to raise money for the charity with last weekend’s abseil.His role on the FA Council will cease with his employment at Villa and a man whose career aim is to shake off his ‘public schoolboy’ tag and earn the epitaph ‘Paul Faulkner: Football Man’ must do so away from the club where he took his most daunting plunge.
Isn't it quite common for CEO's to have 12 month notice periods?
So he was pushed rather than walked ?
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Topic: Goodbye Paul Faulkner. (Read 59048 times)
