Sir Doug Ellis donates £1 million

[saunders_heroes]

It is possible to be critical of Doug AND Randy. Ironically Doug's pride both caused and solved problems over the years. His much criticised (and rightly so) ego meant he didn't take kindly to failure and took steps to avoid it or recover from it as quickly as possible.

Exactly!
It seems only Ellis can be criticised but not Lerner though.

[saunders_heroes]

I was so happy the day Ellis sold us. Thinking back to his years running the club as glorious, stable and successful times is a bit like the Carlos Cuéllar effect.

No one is saying it was a glorious and successful, but stable? Yes it was. He gave us the longest unbroken run the top division for decades. That can't be denied.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I curse the day he sold us to Randy fuckin Lerner that's for sure.

Because on that day we were doing so fuckin well.

No one said we were. I don't rememeber us being perennial relegation strugglers who broke every shit record at the club back then though. Do you?

[dave.woodhall]

It is possible to be critical of Doug AND Randy. Ironically Doug's pride both caused and solved problems over the years. His much criticised (and rightly so) ego meant he didn't take kindly to failure and took steps to avoid it or recover from it as quickly as possible.

Exactly!
It seems only Ellis can be criticised but not Lerner though.

Tell me anyone who hasn't criticised Lerner.

[LTA]

Interesting Mortimer seems to have kept his counsel over 5 years of utter tripe when you consider he couldn't wait to stick the boot into Ellis.

Yes, Doug made mistakes, but at least he made one of two good decisions along the way.  Lerner has made one cock up after another.

[dave.woodhall]

I was so happy the day Ellis sold us. Thinking back to his years running the club as glorious, stable and successful times is a bit like the Carlos Cuéllar effect.

No one is saying it was a glorious and successful, but stable? Yes it was. He gave us the longest unbroken run the top division for decades. That can't be denied.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I curse the day he sold us to Randy fuckin Lerner that's for sure.

Because on that day we were doing so fuckin well.

No one said we were. I don't rememeber us being perennial relegation strugglers who broke every shit record at the club back then though. Do you?

Yes I can remember us being perennial relegation strugglers. 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2006. Seven times in twenty years, not including the time we actually managed to get relegated. And this from the start point Ellis had, at a time when we only had about three clubs in the country to worry about, none of which were within eighty miles. And if you really want to talk about bad times, how about finishing below Halifax in the league?

[saunders_heroes]

It is possible to be critical of Doug AND Randy. Ironically Doug's pride both caused and solved problems over the years. His much criticised (and rightly so) ego meant he didn't take kindly to failure and took steps to avoid it or recover from it as quickly as possible.

Exactly!
It seems only Ellis can be criticised but not Lerner though.

Tell me anyone who hasn't criticised Lerner.

Well there's you for a start. Unless you class the mild "oh I wish he'd sack Lambert" stuff you come out with in your weekly blog as criticism of the chairman? You're quick to criticise the manager, but the chairman? He gets away scot free from what I can see.

[saunders_heroes]

Interesting Mortimer seems to have kept his counsel over 5 years of utter tripe when you consider. He couldn't wait to stick the boot into Ellis.

Yes, Doug made mistakes, but at least he made one of two good decisions along the way.  Lerner has made one cock up after another.

Very true. Mortimer comes across as a tad bitter to me, and seems to fall out with a lot of people at Villa. He's obviously got a problem with Ellis (which I think was about money) and he was always quick to stick the boot in. He doesn't seem to say much about the shit we've been in for the last 5 years though.

[saunders_heroes]

I was so happy the day Ellis sold us. Thinking back to his years running the club as glorious, stable and successful times is a bit like the Carlos Cuéllar effect.

No one is saying it was a glorious and successful, but stable? Yes it was. He gave us the longest unbroken run the top division for decades. That can't be denied.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I curse the day he sold us to Randy fuckin Lerner that's for sure.

Because on that day we were doing so fuckin well.

No one said we were. I don't rememeber us being perennial relegation strugglers who broke every shit record at the club back then though. Do you?

Yes I can remember us being perennial relegation strugglers. 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2006. Seven times in twenty years, not including the time we actually managed to get relegated. And this from the start point Ellis had, at a time when we only had about three clubs in the country to worry about, none of which were within eighty miles. And if you really want to talk about bad times, how about finishing below Halifax in the league?

As I said, I don't remember us being perennial relation strugglers back then.

[dave.woodhall]

It is possible to be critical of Doug AND Randy. Ironically Doug's pride both caused and solved problems over the years. His much criticised (and rightly so) ego meant he didn't take kindly to failure and took steps to avoid it or recover from it as quickly as possible.

Exactly!
It seems only Ellis can be criticised but not Lerner though.

Tell me anyone who hasn't criticised Lerner.

Well there's you for a start. Unless you class the mild "oh I wish he'd sack Lambert" stuff you come out with in your weekly blog as criticism of the chairman? You're quick to criticise the manager, but the chairman? He gets away scot free from what I can see.

Right, so it's not criticism unless you see it and you agree with it. Thank you for making the rules clear.

[saunders_heroes]

It is possible to be critical of Doug AND Randy. Ironically Doug's pride both caused and solved problems over the years. His much criticised (and rightly so) ego meant he didn't take kindly to failure and took steps to avoid it or recover from it as quickly as possible.

Exactly!
It seems only Ellis can be criticised but not Lerner though.

Tell me anyone who hasn't criticised Lerner.

Well there's you for a start. Unless you class the mild "oh I wish he'd sack Lambert" stuff you come out with in your weekly blog as criticism of the chairman? You're quick to criticise the manager, but the chairman? He gets away scot free from what I can see.

Right, so it's not criticism unless you see it and you agree with it. Thank you for making the rules clear.

Not at all, Dave, don't be like that. I'm just surprised that you don't feel the need to criticise the chairman much considering we're now in our 5th season of utter tripe whilst breaking practically every single shit record at the club and have been turned into a laughing stock. Obviously it's nothing to do with Randy Lerner. After all he's only the fuckin chairman.

[dave.woodhall]

First of all you can answer how my opinion of Randy Lerner is connected to a thread about Doug Ellis. Second, you can tell me that you've read and heard everything I've had to say on the subject. Did you, for example, watch Central News on Friday night? This forum is not the entire world. Third, I can only paraphrase the words of lamdrew08 to add to my own - Randy may have failed to bring about a modicum of success which may or may not have been sustainable given the changes in football over the past eight years but Ellis singlehandedly destroyed the greatest opportunity this club has ever had purely for his own vanity and then failed to capitalise on numerous others because of his lack of vision. I do not believe that Randy Lerner has deliberately sabotaged the club. I do believe that Doug Ellis did.

[Damo70]

Was it three relegations Doug presided over?

[LTA]

Was it three relegations Doug presided over?

1970 and 1987 I believe

[saunders_heroes]

First of all you can answer how my opinion of Randy Lerner is connected to a thread about Doug Ellis. Second, you can tell me that you've read and heard everything I've had to say on the subject. Did you, for example, watch Central News on Friday night? This forum is not the entire world. Third, I can only paraphrase the words of lamdrew08 to add to my own - Randy may have failed to bring about a modicum of success which may or may not have been sustainable given the changes in football over the past eight years but Ellis singlehandedly destroyed the greatest opportunity this club has ever had purely for his own vanity and then failed to capitalise on numerous others because of his lack of vision. I do not believe that Randy Lerner has deliberately sabotaged the club. I do believe that Doug Ellis did.

Even in the above post you give Lerner such an easy ride then you let rip into Ellis!

Deliberate sabotage? Come on!

[dave.woodhall]

First of all you can answer how my opinion of Randy Lerner is connected to a thread about Doug Ellis. Second, you can tell me that you've read and heard everything I've had to say on the subject. Did you, for example, watch Central News on Friday night? This forum is not the entire world. Third, I can only paraphrase the words of lamdrew08 to add to my own - Randy may have failed to bring about a modicum of success which may or may not have been sustainable given the changes in football over the past eight years but Ellis singlehandedly destroyed the greatest opportunity this club has ever had purely for his own vanity and then failed to capitalise on numerous others because of his lack of vision. I do not believe that Randy Lerner has deliberately sabotaged the club. I do believe that Doug Ellis did.

Even in the above post you give Lerner such an easy ride then you let rip into Ellis!

Deliberate sabotage? Come on!

Given that I was explaining the reason why I wouldn't criticise Randy as much as Ellis it's hardly surprising is it?

Yes, deliberate for the reasons explained above.