Tom Fox announced as new Villa CEO

[ROBBO]

I cannot imagine he would have taken the job without some assurance that there will be considerable financial backing. The only question i have is who will be supplying it.

[Toronto Villa]

I cannot imagine he would have taken the job without some assurance that there will be considerable financial backing. The only question i have is who will be supplying it.

He'll understand that there are different working conditions at the club than at Arsenal so he obviously won't have the same finances to work with. That said he'll be tasked with really growing our commercial revenues and his work over many years will serve us well. The kit deal with Macron is up at the end of this year and the recent deal with Puma might be a direction we go for a new supplier. Prior to that they had Nike off course. Most importantly which won't be lost on him, performance on the pitch goes a long way to dictating a clubs ability to attract strong commercial partners. That above all will be the priority this season and a lot of things should fall in place after that.

[Smirker]

The kit deal with Macron is up at the end of this year

It ends in 2016. Four year deal.

[Dave Cooper please]

Boo. I wanted a ruddy faced, bemused, camel coat wearing football man who bemoans the commercialization of the game as our new CEO.

Basically, Dave Cooper.

I have never owned a camel coat.

[paul_e]

I cannot imagine he would have taken the job without some assurance that there will be considerable financial backing. The only question i have is who will be supplying it.

Surely his job is to generate financial backing, the only assurances I can see a CEO requiring in this situation is that the growth potential is there, which with Villa it clearly is.

[Fuse]

Welcome Tom - you are in a privileged position. I hope you bring to us what we need.

On the football man front. I agree with Dave W point about when a manager change occurs then the whole philosophy changes. I'd like Brian Little to be given the job of overseeing all football structure. Not saying he gets involved in first team matters but from youth, through to coaching, our football philosophy and scouting. All under SBR.

[PaulWinch again]

I think the only role suitable for Graham Taylor or Brian Little would be as an ambassador. They've been out of the game too long to be able to be a Sporting Director who is responsible for the club's footballing philosophy. You need a younger person who's been involved in the game recently.

[Toronto Villa]

I hope Fox does consider that as one of his duties. Developing yhe football side of the club is the bit that everyone sees first and most people care about. It's a huge task on its own. Getting in the right person to handle a good piece of that with the right guidance will allow him to work on and oversee the commercial aspects of the job.

[dave shelley]

There wouldn't be too many that wouldn't relate to SGT.  IMO, he would be the ideal face of Aston Villa.

[PaulWinch again]

There wouldn't be too many that wouldn't relate to SGT.  IMO, he would be the ideal face of Aston Villa.

As an ambassador yes, although I'm not sure he'd want to do it. But as someone to be responsible for the club's footballing philosophy moving forward, I don't think so. It needs someone more in touch with how the game works now and where it's going.

[PaulWinch again]

I do think, as others have said, it's important that Fox's role incorporates the footballing side as it ties in with any commercial success. It's just he probably needs somebody beneath him to be more centrally focussed on the footballing side.

[Ron Manager]

Anyway, this is a very positive development for Aston Villa. Whoever was responsible has lifted our spirits no end!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I cannot imagine he would have taken the job without some assurance that there will be considerable financial backing. The only question i have is who will be supplying it.

I very much doubt it will be Randy Lerner, assuming he still has his shares tied up in Bank of America. They've just been fined 17 billion USD today. When he bought us the share price was 53 dollars, today they're worth just over 15 dollars a share. I doubt is was any co-incidence that when he told MON to get a grip of the costs, the share price was at an all time low of about 4 dollars.

[dave shelley]

There wouldn't be too many that wouldn't relate to SGT.  IMO, he would be the ideal face of Aston Villa.

As an ambassador yes, although I'm not sure he'd want to do it. But as someone to be responsible for the club's footballing philosophy moving forward, I don't think so. It needs someone more in touch with how the game works now and where it's going.

That, in essence was what I meant Paul, just didn't articulate it properly.

[DB]

I wonder if he came knowing someone else was coming in to replace Mr Lerner I.e. Similar situation when MON came in under Doug knowing he was about to sell...?