Randy Lerner

[joe_c]

Who is going to be on the Board of this fan based ownership ?

Will it be the People's Front of Judea or the Judea People's Front?

God help us.

HOUSE!

[rob_bridge]

The great man has his say.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/lowly-aston-villa-heading-third-7018231

In fairness, and respecting his Godly status, that's alarmist rubbish.

I find the Should Sherwood have been sacked poll results under the article currently far more alarming? Yes 40% No 60%???!!

Yep I noticed that too.

[joe_c]

The great man has his say.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/lowly-aston-villa-heading-third-7018231

In fairness, and respecting his Godly status, that's alarmist rubbish.

I find the Should Sherwood have been sacked poll results under the article currently far more alarming? Yes 40% No 60%???!!

Yep I noticed that too.

I gather these polls are open to supporters of lesser clubs. I'd be surprised if there was any real groundswell of support for this charlatan among actual Villa fans.

[Jon Crofts]

Exactly what is the point of hiring a Chairman under this ownership structure exactly?

Needs to maintain a firm grip on the wheel and steer the ship firmly into that massive fucking iceberg.

Far too busy organising the deck chairs to be steering ships.

I had a nasty thought this morning that we might see the return of The General, that won't happen I'm sure, but I do worry that whoever comes in will a: be a scapegoat for Lerner & Fox to point at & b: not have a clue about being the Chairman of an association football club & coming from a financial services/toothpick manufacturing background.

[ChicagoLion]

Who is going to be on the Board of this fan based ownership ?

Will it be the People's Front of Judea or the Judea People's Front?

God help us.

HOUSE!

BINGO

[oldhill_avfc]

Stan Collymore tweeted about the "German Way" and how their clubs are owned and run in the Bundesliga, they are usually supporter owned and the memberships and ticket prices are ludicrously cheap compared to England which leads to sell out crowds and a better relationship with the fans plus they have great youth systems and academies (so all good for the national team).

Now I don't know how we'd go about organizing x amount of supporters stumping up x amount of pounds each but you'd like to believe that with the potential fan base we had in the midlands and around the globe we could put enough together to get our club back. I know it is all a pipe dream but if we are going to rebuild then why not go the whole hog... like I said, nice to dream.

It's an old & touchy subject, but this is sort of the system we used to have.

The rebirth of Villa in the late '60s was fuelled by a combination of the supporters voluntary efforts in refurbishing the ground and the purchase of shares, which at the time gave a nominal say in how the club was run.

Over time supporter power was eroded due to the mass of shares owned by HDE but nonetheless he could be embarrassed and held to some account at the legendary AGMs. 

Lerner felt he needed to own the whole club and enacted his right under UK company law to compulsorarily purchase the shares owned in small quantities by individual supporters.

I can't think of 1 decent busines or ideological reason why he felt the need to avoid the scrutiny or involvement of the supporters.

[Rico]

Randy Lerner = Blue nose!
(I can't think of a worse thing to say about the man)

[dave.woodhall]

Lerner felt he needed to own the whole club and enacted his right under UK company law to compulsorarily purchase the shares owned in small quantities by individual supporters.

I can't think of 1 decent busines or ideological reason why he felt the need to avoid the scrutiny or involvement of the supporters.

I can remember at the time having this argument and being shouted down by posters who were demanding that small shareholders sell to him because a Premier League club owner needs 100% control. One poster in particular came close to being reported to the police for threats of violence against anyone who didn't sell.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Lerner felt he needed to own the whole club and enacted his right under UK company law to compulsorarily purchase the shares owned in small quantities by individual supporters.

I can't think of 1 decent busines or ideological reason why he felt the need to avoid the scrutiny or involvement of the supporters.

I can remember at the time having this argument and being shouted down by posters who were demanding that small shareholders sell to him because a Premier League club owner needs 100% control. One poster in particular came close to being reported to the police for threats of violence against anyone who didn't sell.

I held on to my single, token Villa share when RAL wrote to me. I know it means nothing in business terms, and that he owns it, but at least I can say I didn't sell out to the incompetent bastard. It's framed on my wall at home. 

[oldhill_avfc]

Lerner felt he needed to own the whole club and enacted his right under UK company law to compulsorarily purchase the shares owned in small quantities by individual supporters.

I can't think of 1 decent busines or ideological reason why he felt the need to avoid the scrutiny or involvement of the supporters.

I can remember at the time having this argument and being shouted down by posters who were demanding that small shareholders sell to him because a Premier League club owner needs 100% control. One poster in particular came close to being reported to the police for threats of violence against anyone who didn't sell.

I held on to my single, token Villa share when RAL wrote to me. I know it means nothing in business terms, and that he owns it, but at least I can say I didn't sell out to the incompetent bastard. It's framed on my wall at home.

Held on to mine as a matter of principle until being forced to sell.

The attempted conversion of supporters into customers and the club into a brand are admittedly symptoms of the modern footballing world, but more importantly mistakes that will remove the mystique, grandeur and 'specialness' of Villa forever.

[Chico Hamilton III]

When I raised concerns on here ( with others, it should be said) about Lerner being in total control when he took over, some other posters on here were pretty much accusing us of being Ellis apologists.

[MarkM]

Lerner felt he needed to own the whole club and enacted his right under UK company law to compulsorarily purchase the shares owned in small quantities by individual supporters.

I can't think of 1 decent busines or ideological reason why he felt the need to avoid the scrutiny or involvement of the supporters.

I can remember at the time having this argument and being shouted down by posters who were demanding that small shareholders sell to him because a Premier League club owner needs 100% control. One poster in particular came close to being reported to the police for threats of violence against anyone who didn't sell.

I held on to my single, token Villa share when RAL wrote to me. I know it means nothing in business terms, and that he owns it, but at least I can say I didn't sell out to the incompetent bastard. It's framed on my wall at home.

Held on to mine as a matter of principle until being forced to sell.

The attempted conversion of supporters into customers and the club into a brand are admittedly symptoms of the modern footballing world, but more importantly mistakes that will remove the mystique, grandeur and 'specialness' of Villa forever.

I still have mine, refused to sell.

I know it made no difference as it was bought anyway but my ten shares were mine and I would not sell them.

[cheltenhamlion]

I kept mine as well.

[class-of-82]

I still got my share certificate from the late 60s
Bought 5 shares for 50p each sold for £1000 each

[class-of-82]

Sorry the equivalent of 50p I will have to dig it out and frame it