Randy Lerner

[liam]

I liked his statement. But then I am easily duped.

I liked the statement as well - I know its gone horribly wrong - but some of the stuff he did when he came in was great. It seems he must have told Doug he would invest £250 Million and he did - just a shame we wasted huge amounts of it. 

I think we all get nostalgic about moments in the past - and the Everton goal was one of my fave moments, Lescotts face when Young scores is class - should show that moment again on the big screen again. Because lescott never seems that upset when we let a goal in these days. The Sheffield United Game when the European winners came out before Kick off - the whole ground was bouncing - loved it.  I also loved the Chelsea goal, when Lerner and Faulkner were jumping on each other... I think he does genuinely feel for the club and glad he has some memories of his and our team, his arrogance/inexperience has cost the club badly, as well as himself financially, I just hope he sells to the right person - and if we have had to hang on till now to find the next and right custodian to lead us forward then so be it...I know i'm in the minority and this week with the board resignations I was furious, but I struggle to detest the man. Not the right man for the job, but I think he wanted to work.

[kippaxvilla2]

It's just shown him in Brum carrying a yellow man bag.

[eddiemunster]

"Memories of Acorns on the shirt, and Ashley Young scoring a late winner against Everton still romantically nourish me. "

Sounds as if RL is morphing into Ron Manager......
 
Self belief. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it, I can do it, I can really move from my head right down to my blue suede shoes. Isn't it? Rubettes, 1973? Marvellous.

Cor, Ryan Giggs, you know? Giggsy, isn't it? Mmm? Giggsy-wiggsy? Mmm? Oh! Ryan-y Giggsy-wiggsy. Isn't it? You know, marvellous.
Is George Best the old Ryan Giggs? But Giggsy-wiggsy. Precocious talent, isn't he? Mmm? Ooh, got it all, you know? Speed, acceleration, sweet left foot, all the tricks - the dummy, the drop of the shoulder, the shimmy, nutmeg, jiggery-pokery, hocus pocus, abracadabra, I wanna reach out and grab ya. Steve Miller Band? Spin Doctors? Ooh, very similar.

 Diamond formation? Does anyone really know what that is? I mean, at least you knew where you were with Alf Ramsey's wingless wonders. You know? 4-4-2, 4-2-4, 4-3-3... 0898 654000, freephone double glazing?

Oh, those Brazilians, you know? Circa 1970? Broke the mould. Theory out the window. Free expression of football. Uncategorisable. Is that a word? It is now! You know? Far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Rush goalie. Two at the back, three in the middle, four up front, one's gone home for his tea. Beans on toast? Possibly, don't quote me on that. Marvellous.

Who's that, over in the corner? It's me, losing my religion


I would probably have took more notice of his statement, if he had said any of the above!!!

[DeKuip]

The Guardian's latest take.

Have to say I agree with most of the comments regarding Lerner.

(Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.)

"Lerner is not a bad man…. He is simply bad at being a tycoon, and bad at running Aston Villa."

[Mister E]

The Guardian's latest take.

Have to say I agree with most of the comments regarding Lerner.

(Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.)

"Lerner is not a bad man…. He is simply bad at being a tycoon, and bad at running Aston Villa."

Good article

[PaulWinch again]

The Guardian's latest take.

Have to say I agree with most of the comments regarding Lerner.

(Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.)

"Lerner is not a bad man…. He is simply bad at being a tycoon, and bad at running Aston Villa."

I'd agree with that.

[chrisw1]

It's easy to take the piss, but he's a man of few words and a bit of an enigma.  I quite like the statement.  He has accepted blame and his passion for the club does come through.  There wasn't much he could say that wouldn't be met with derision - damned if you do and damned if you don't. 

I can't recall ever feeling more positive about the club than when he bought us out and he appointed O'Neil.  Cup finals, top 6 finishes, Acorns on the shirt - halcyon days.  He shot for the stars and fell just short - a number of reasons for this, not least MON's limited transfer acumen.  He turned off the tap far too quickly though and the subsequent demise falls squarely on his shoulders, the only consolation being we haven't quite 'done a Leeds.'  Obviously his ownership of the club has been an unmitigated disaster.  He's aware of this and I'm sure it hurts him emotionally as well as financially.  I know people will say he can't hurt like a 'real fan', but I suspect he would dispute that.

Hopefully his final act will be to hand us over to someone credible, with the right motives and finances to get us back on track.  We need that one last favour from him, let's all hope he comes through.  If he does I will wish him well.  His stewardship has ultimately be hugely disappointing, but there is no doubt in my mind he came into this with the very best of intentions.

[Steve67]

I am not really sure what else Lerner can really say.  Yes he's poor at running a football club and, if he thought that we were doomed after the Leicester game, why didn't he back Garde in January to try to turn it around?  However, I hope his words are not empty, 'get Villa back at the earliest possible oppritunity'.  I want them to appoint a serious Manager, not, with all due respect Simon Grayson or Gareth Southgate.  A serious Manager with the right credentials to get us back up. Spend the money to get us back up.  If we DO appoint a less than credible Manager, then for me, these ARE empty words.  I guess one could argue that he didn't need to say anything at all, he can be quiet flowery and poetic, he takes responsibility for it all and yet, those words don't say to me that any sale is imminent. a

[PeterWithe]

I drove past a bloke in a Porsche earlier and thought that he looked just like Randy Lerner, maybe it was.

[paul_e]

The Guardian's latest take.

Have to say I agree with most of the comments regarding Lerner.

(Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.)

"Lerner is not a bad man…. He is simply bad at being a tycoon, and bad at running Aston Villa."

I think it's because he's not a bad man that's he is a bad owner.  He's not ruthless enough with people that he likes and he thinks that they'll be as loyal as he is.

He shot for the stars and fell just short - a number of reasons for this, not least MON's limited transfer acumen.  He turned off the tap far too quickly though and the subsequent demise falls squarely on his shoulders, the only consolation being we haven't quite 'done a Leeds.'  Obviously his ownership of the club has been an unmitigated disaster.  He's aware of this and I'm sure it hurts him emotionally as well as financially.  I know people will say he can't hurt like a 'real fan', but I suspect he would dispute that.

This is always the bit I find frustrating, we didn't 'do a leeds' precisely because he turned the taps off when he did, a big part of our problems is because he should've turned them off a year sooner but he was determined to back MON to break the top 4.  Another summer of mon-style big spending (instead of  forcing sell to buy leading to mon walking out) and I think we'd be in a much worse situation with administration a far more realistic prospect.

[Stinkin_Thinkin]

FFS if Lerner felt the leicester defeat was so seminal why didn't he go with his gut feeling and take action there and then?


This whole circus could of been avoided
The sort of whatever'll be will be people drive me nuts

[chrisw1]

The Guardian's latest take.

Have to say I agree with most of the comments regarding Lerner.

(Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.)

"Lerner is not a bad man…. He is simply bad at being a tycoon, and bad at running Aston Villa."

I think it's because he's not a bad man that's he is a bad owner.  He's not ruthless enough with people that he likes and he thinks that they'll be as loyal as he is.

He shot for the stars and fell just short - a number of reasons for this, not least MON's limited transfer acumen.  He turned off the tap far too quickly though and the subsequent demise falls squarely on his shoulders, the only consolation being we haven't quite 'done a Leeds.'  Obviously his ownership of the club has been an unmitigated disaster.  He's aware of this and I'm sure it hurts him emotionally as well as financially.  I know people will say he can't hurt like a 'real fan', but I suspect he would dispute that.

This is always the bit I find frustrating, we didn't 'do a leeds' precisely because he turned the taps off when he did, a big part of our problems is because he should've turned them off a year sooner but he was determined to back MON to break the top 4.  Another summer of mon-style big spending (instead of  forcing sell to buy leading to mon walking out) and I think we'd be in a much worse situation with administration a far more realistic prospect.

I agree with this Paul.  Of course it's easy to say dip further into your pocket Randy, but nobody can deny he did have a good shot at it and I guess we should be grateful for that.  What I mean about turning off the tap too quickly though is not too early, but to suddenly rather than a more managed scaling down.  Obviously the combination of that and several poor decisions has left us floundering though.

[E I Adio]

The Guardian's latest take.

Have to say I agree with most of the comments regarding Lerner.

(Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.)

"Lerner is not a bad man…. He is simply bad at being a tycoon, and bad at running Aston Villa."

I think it's because he's not a bad man that's he is a bad owner.  He's not ruthless enough with people that he likes and he thinks that they'll be as loyal as he is.

He shot for the stars and fell just short - a number of reasons for this, not least MON's limited transfer acumen.  He turned off the tap far too quickly though and the subsequent demise falls squarely on his shoulders, the only consolation being we haven't quite 'done a Leeds.'  Obviously his ownership of the club has been an unmitigated disaster.  He's aware of this and I'm sure it hurts him emotionally as well as financially.  I know people will say he can't hurt like a 'real fan', but I suspect he would dispute that.

This is always the bit I find frustrating, we didn't 'do a leeds' precisely because he turned the taps off when he did, a big part of our problems is because he should've turned them off a year sooner but he was determined to back MON to break the top 4.  Another summer of mon-style big spending (instead of  forcing sell to buy leading to mon walking out) and I think we'd be in a much worse situation with administration a far more realistic prospect.

I also found it a bit surprising, but rather encouraging, that a national newspaper would print this remark: "..... a club captain who raises the question of what exactly a footballer has to do to get sacked around here."

[Jimbo]

Are we going through the Randy Lerner revisionism stage already? It took us at least a couple of years to turn Ellis into cuddly Uncle Doug.

Oh, well. Good old Randy, our Randy, the mosaics, Acorns, The Holte pub, the scarves and that free coach to Chelsea... Sigh. Etc.

[Villa in Denmark]

I drove past a bloke in a Porsche earlier and thought that he looked just like Randy Lerner, maybe it was.

Did he crash it after a couple of miles, putting what looked like only a minor dent in it?

Did he then carry on driving, not realising that the steering was now wonky and the brakes were binding meaning he couldn't get anywhere very fast, it was impossible to go in the direction he wanted, it was costing him even more in fuel than he'd budgeted with and it was now worthless compared to what he paid for it?