Randy Lerner

[Clampy]

Pelty, we are a laughing stock. I don't care about blame any more as it doesn't matter. All I want to know is: when will it end?

Agree with Newby. The whole saga is becoming a bit tedious. Suffering relegation is bad enough without having to watch the club act in an undignified manner off the pitch as well.

[cdward]

Thanks Pelty.
We can stop worrying about another relegation now we know that college in the US is back on a firm footing.

Any other patronizing stories you want to tell us about how great Randy and Charles are?

[SamTheMouse]

Transparency is an overused word, and it's not always appropriate in business and certainly in football.

But I think it's very relevant indeed here.

If the fans are left with merely crumbs of information to go on, we will naturally draw our own conclusions. Those conclusions are unlikely to be favourable to anyone who has played any part whatsoever in our current plight.

Randy may think his lofty detachment is somehow professional, but in reality it reinforces the impression that he is indifferent, and has resulted in the tolerance of incompetence that has led us to Division 2.

[sid1964]

If Lerner does not go this summer, then we could be heading for Division 3!

It is a total disaster at the Villa, from top to bottom.

I hope that Hollis / King were not lying about the takeover stories.

[Trinitymiddle]

Pelty, you mentioned that your father has no footballing remit at Aston Villa. What is his remit?

To read other peoples emails?

[auntiesledd]

Pelty,

You believe it's dishonourable for these 'men' to air their dirty laundry in the press. But somebody needs to let us know what's going on. We deserve that much. The fans have remained loyal despite all the crap thrown their way year after year, and all we've had are a couple of detached and surreal statements from Lerner, some hearsay, and a massive wall of silence.

Meanwhile the club has fallen apart, with no sign of being put back together again. Isn't hiding away somewhere across the Atlantic while your football club disintegrates dishonourable? 500 jobs are being lost, for Christ's sake, and not a word.

It's time to come clean. What the fuck is going on?

Exactly. How are we supposed to feel towards Krulak and Lerner when the only information we get from the club are Chinese whispers and tempting half stories from Krulak's son. Krulak, he was all mouth on here when things were going well and he was happy to reply to the sycophants who thought he was wonderful. I don't care how many medals he's won, good luck to him for that, I just care that he's been a part of making this club the absolute laughing stock that it has become. I'm sorry, but he can fuck off

Well said guys.

[mattjpa]

I don't really see what CK has done wrong, unfortunately he is guilty by association. Regarding the other two, The report on the emails say they were critical of RL's methods, well to be fair I'm bloody critical of them as well. They are shit.

[aj2k77]

Pelty, you mentioned that your father has no footballing remit at Aston Villa. What is his remit?

To tell the little baby Lerner what he wants to hear all the time, especially when he's feeling under attack or under appreciated.

[auntiesledd]

Pelty

If you have any influence over either your Fathers involvement with the club or Randy himself then please tell him a statement from the owner himself is needed ASAP. There are literally thousands of loyal fans over here that are very, very worried about their clubs future and the fact we are a national laughing stock.

It could start with a simple apology followed by "I will sort this mess out........."

During this or any other crisis you need good management, good communication and above all else faith in those with the task at hand

Fine words, Hookey, but there's more chance of Flabby taking his profession seriously by actually getting fit and offering to take a 95% pay cut!

[peter w]

I think everyone is more than aware that there are two sides to the story. I am also in full agreement that it does look a bit odd shall I say that letters have been leaked and then King goes on Bloomberg (?) publicly calling for the sale to go through quickly whilst both men have now firmly pointed the finger at Lerner.

I don't think they have acted professionally at all.

But...

name one journalist over here that has not highlighted Randy Lerner as being the problem at Villa. There is a big big problem behind the scenes that has manifested itself into a shambolic club with no sense of direction of one hopeless appointment after another. It appears from stories on the web, and from posters here from the US, that Lerner's tenure of the Cleveland Browns was very similar.

At last it seemed that Lerner was going to take a back step and the appointed Chairman and the newly formed football board would have free reign in putting the thing that we care about the most, the football side, right. We expect that stuff that we don't see to be managed correctly, efficiently, and with due care.

It appeared that the appointments of Bernstein, King, Little, and Bevington was an amazing coup for the club and saw us finally grasping what was needed. These people are leaders in their own areas of expertise and have more business acumen dripping from them in terms of how to either build the foundations of a football club, how to make it successful, how to broadly move it to a level where it is flourishing and producing on relative terms, and how to link the club with different areas of the finance or business sector to encourage more partnerships for the club's benefit.

And Pelty seems fit to denigrate their stature as "These two men" without seemingly realising that "these two men" were doing one thing and one thing alone. The very best for Aston Villa. Is Lerner doing that? No, he is protecting his wealth (and you could argue rightly so). Is Krulak doing that? No, he is protecting Lerner and doing his bidding.

No, we don't know what has gone on and how Bernstein & King have behaved. But considering what Lerner has done to us short of grabbing Lerner by the throat whilst pulling a knife on him whilst the other beats up his wife and kids, there is going to be very very little support here for Lerner if two beastly men have identified him as being the problem.

Pelty, your argument is like the owner of the Big Top being annoyed at the acrobat who is complaining that he won't supply a net to stop him falling to his death . The cancer here is not Bernstein & King. It's Lerner. if anyone is behaving in a disgraceful manner it's not the people who genuinely care for Aston villa, it's those that don't. Neither you, Krulak, nor Lerner do. We were tricked when you rode into town hooting and a-hollering shooting from the hip with your yee-ha's but it turned out to be smoke and mirrors.

It’s not us who is failing to see clearly. It's not Randy who is showing a great deal of restraint. It's not Randy who is showing any signs of "class". It's not Randy who is humiliated, embarrassed, outraged, hurt, despondent, and has the emotional torment of seeing us turned into a laughing stock. That's us. The fans. The real fans. The fans who care about this club. The fans that will be here long after Lerner, and you, have gone. The fans, like King, who actually care about this club and restoring it to its rightful place. The fans who have been held in such contempt for years now. The fans who have little truck with nonsensical responses that are designed for us to side with the person who is killing our club against the 2 are trying to save it. The fans who want Lerner out. You may say that we don't know how or what Lerner and his associates really feel, well we watch every Saturday and that's enough. Go now. The lot of you.

[Walmley_Villa]

Pelty - any communication is gratefully received so thank you for taking the time and effort.

The big issue is that the club appears to be in freefall and chaos. Relegated, 100's of people losing jobs, players out of control and no manager. A big criticism has always been that not enough football knowledge has been in the boardroom. This was seen as finally resolved and a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. This has been extinguished and in the eyes of football and especially the Villa fans the trapdoor does again seem open with no strategy or plan to turn things around.The leak of a potential takeover whilst at the same time making cuts and closing parts of the stadium is suspiciously viewed - as anybody would suspect.

Fans invest a large amount of time and money into every football club and deserve to be dealt with honestly and in a mature manner. The silence from the owner etc is what fuels these boards and the press into the frenzy of hyperbole and abuse that you are seeing. 

[ozzjim]

Fair play to Pelty for trying to add balance and there at always 2 sides. It's interesting Little had not gone and Bevington had not officially left either. 

I think the only solution that benefits everyone now though is for a quick sale.  Is that likely? If King is not being genuine as you state Pelty then his talk yesterday of the next few weeks might be wide of the mark?

[Lucky Eddie]

If Mr. Lerner holds 'loyalty' in such regard pray why has he taken mine for granted?

[Jimbo]

And let's not forget. Randy Lerner has been given the benefit of the doubt by a lot of Villa fans in the years preceding this disastrous campaign. He's had a very smooth ride while he presided over one of the biggest clusterfucks in English football. Yet he's been the only constant during that time. He should consider himself lucky.

[DeeBoy1]

I think everyone is more than aware that there are two sides to the story. I am also in full agreement that it does look a bit odd shall I say that letters have been leaked and then King goes on Bloomberg (?) publicly calling for the sale to go through quickly whilst both men have now firmly pointed the finger at Lerner.

I don't think they have acted professionally at all.

But...

name one journalist over here that has not highlighted Randy Lerner as being the problem at Villa. There is a big big problem behind the scenes that has manifested itself into a shambolic club with no sense of direction of one hopeless appointment after another. It appears from stories on the web, and from posters here from the US, that Lerner's tenure of the Cleveland Browns was very similar.

At last it seemed that Lerner was going to take a back step and the appointed Chairman and the newly formed football board would have free reign in putting the thing that we care about the most, the football side, right. We expect that stuff that we don't see to be managed correctly, efficiently, and with due care.

It appeared that the appointments of Bernstein, King, Little, and Bevington was an amazing coup for the club and saw us finally grasping what was needed. These people are leaders in their own areas of expertise and have more business acumen dripping from them in terms of how to either build the foundations of a football club, how to make it successful, how to broadly move it to a level where it is flourishing and producing on relative terms, and how to link the club with different areas of the finance or business sector to encourage more partnerships for the club's benefit.

And Pelty seems fit to denigrate their stature as "These two men" without seemingly realising that "these two men" were doing one thing and one thing alone. The very best for Aston Villa. Is Lerner doing that? No, he is protecting his wealth (and you could argue rightly so). Is Krulak doing that? No, he is protecting Lerner and doing his bidding.

No, we don't know what has gone on and how Bernstein & King have behaved. But considering what Lerner has done to us short of grabbing Lerner by the throat whilst pulling a knife on him whilst the other beats up his wife and kids, there is going to be very very little support here for Lerner if two beastly men have identified him as being the problem.

Pelty, your argument is like the owner of the Big Top being annoyed at the acrobat who is complaining that he won't supply a net to stop him falling to his death . The cancer here is not Bernstein & King. It's Lerner. if anyone is behaving in a disgraceful manner it's not the people who genuinely care for Aston villa, it's those that don't. Neither you, Krulak, nor Lerner do. We were tricked when you rode into town hooting and a-hollering shooting from the hip with your yee-ha's but it turned out to be smoke and mirrors.

It’s not us who is failing to see clearly. It's not Randy who is showing a great deal of restraint. It's not Randy who is showing any signs of "class". It's not Randy who is humiliated, embarrassed, outraged, hurt, despondent, and has the emotional torment of seeing us turned into a laughing stock. That's us. The fans. The real fans. The fans who care about this club. The fans that will be here long after Lerner, and you, have gone. The fans, like King, who actually care about this club and restoring it to its rightful place. The fans who have been held in such contempt for years now. The fans who have little truck with nonsensical responses that are designed for us to side with the person who is killing our club against the 2 are trying to save it. The fans who want Lerner out. You may say that we don't know how or what Lerner and his associates really feel, well we watch every Saturday and that's enough. Go now. The lot of you.

Speech