AGM - Protest

[saunders_heroes]

We protested against Ellis - and all those marches, banners, meetings, leaflets, chants, moved his departure forward not one second and that was when we kidded ourselves that there was someone out there who would cut the shackles and send us soaring to the heavens because, well, because there just was. We are Aston Villa so it stands to reason. Now, things are very different not least because you're looking at the best part of £250 million just for starters.

The fans still have pride in the club even if the owner hasn't. It'd be worth staging just for that alone. We should remember we're still a big club.

[ChicagoLion]

How committed are we to finding a buyer?

We hear different utterances depending on how badly we've done the previous few months. Couple of good results and we hear that he's motivated and enjoying owning us again. End of a poor season and it's Randy Loser wants to sell again.

It seems to me like he's as haphazard about selling the club as he is in every other aspect of running a football club and if there's a way to scupper and fuck up selling a club then this is the pillock to find it. He's not a business man and he's not a sports club owner, he's a daddy's boy who got given a load of money and plays at doing things.

Word is,He is not easy to do business with, he is aloof. Passed off as being shy. That does not alter the fact that he is operating in a buyers market, there is not a que of people linning up to buy Villa or any Championship Club.Even if we were a top 10 PL club he would struggle to recoup his investment. Now he has no chance of selling without taking a £200mil hit.
I bet he is kicking himself that he didn't take the discussions he had 18 months ago a little more seriously.

[Villa in Denmark]

I think he gave up any thoughts of recouping his investment the day he sacked McLeish, maybe even as far back as when MON flounced off.  Everything since has been about making the club financially fit for sale, although to achieve that he had to convert the last £90M of loans to equity.  He's just completely f##ked up by not managing the playing side doing it, which in turn was largely caused by a lack of footballing experience from day 1.

No outstanding debt in the accounts - Check
Wages as % of turnover at acceptable level - Check
Wages bill commensurate with mid table stability - Check
Stable backroom staff and playing squad ready to push on - OH F##K.


If the whispers and rumours of Lambert never spending all of the money available are true, I wonder how much he didn't spend last summer. A centre back that wasn't Senderos to make up the 5 there and another defensive midfielder to share the work with Delph and Sanchez that were bedded in by now, even if they'd come from a foreign league or The Championship, even 2/3 decent would have made such a difference by now.

No need to play Richards at CB instead of RB, regardless of circumstances, less pressure on Veretout as he adapts to the league and the only remaining burgeoning problem would have been finding an adequate centre forward.

We wouldn't have been fantastic, but we'd have been a darn sight more solid.

As an aside had Cissokho and Bennett been loaned out before the squad numbers deadline?  If so why the bleeding hell didn't Nice But Tim fill one of the spots with Senderos?

[dave.woodhall]

We protested against Ellis - and all those marches, banners, meetings, leaflets, chants, moved his departure forward not one second and that was when we kidded ourselves that there was someone out there who would cut the shackles and send us soaring to the heavens because, well, because there just was. We are Aston Villa so it stands to reason. Now, things are very different not least because you're looking at the best part of £250 million just for starters.

The fans still have pride in the club even if the owner hasn't. It'd be worth staging just for that alone. We should remember we're still a big club.

Go and start one then. Nobody's stopping you.

[Durham58]

I would have thought that the one thing we all agree on is that  Lerner's running of the club since 2010 has been completely unacceptable. 

The reason we are going to be relegated is entirely his responsibility, if keeping  Aston Villa  in the  premier league was a priority for him then  this wouldn't be happening.

So we have the ridiculous situation of a multimillionaire owner with a seemingly ambivalent attitude to the  fortunes of the  club that he owns. That has to change.

The last game he went to was the  FA cup final. He would have seen then that we required an urgent injection of premier league quality and experience in the close season , but again for the 4th season running he chose to play fast and loose risking everything on unproven players.

Lerner could take another 10 years trying to find a buyer, we can't continue letting him off the  hook because  he wants to sell the  club.

It's the here and now that we are dealing with , and whether he likes it or not Lerner owns the  biggest club in the  second city not some tin pot outfit, and he cannot continue to shirk his responsibilities just because he claims the club is for sale.

He should be made  to understand that silence is no longer an option  he must communicate with the supporters (an apology would be a good starting point)  and assure us that he will do everything in his power to ensure that we are promoted as  swiftly as possible with the  objective thereafter of the club competing properly in the premier league, in a manner befitting a club of our standing.

I don't know about demonstrations  as such, I just believe that somehow we have to get it through to Lerner that  he cannot continue to  run Aston Villa in this manner, the club and the supporters deserve far better than this from him.

[ROBBO]

Maybe when gates are down to fifteen thousand he will wake up but I wouldn't guarantee it. He seems typical of someone who has enough money not to care.

[saunders_heroes]

We protested against Ellis - and all those marches, banners, meetings, leaflets, chants, moved his departure forward not one second and that was when we kidded ourselves that there was someone out there who would cut the shackles and send us soaring to the heavens because, well, because there just was. We are Aston Villa so it stands to reason. Now, things are very different not least because you're looking at the best part of £250 million just for starters.

The fans still have pride in the club even if the owner hasn't. It'd be worth staging just for that alone. We should remember we're still a big club.

Go and start one then. Nobody's stopping you.

Not as eloquent or as high profile as you Dave, and that's what's needed. Perhaps Howard Hodgson could do something. He clearly sussed out Lerner way before the majority of us.

[David_Nab]

The guy has made it clear he wants to sell , he is also well aware the fans are not happy.

He wants out and we want him out but unless someone comes along with an offer we are both stuck.Protesting will get some media coverage but IMO it won't change anything.

[Legion]

It might make him hurry up a little.

[dave.woodhall]

We protested against Ellis - and all those marches, banners, meetings, leaflets, chants, moved his departure forward not one second and that was when we kidded ourselves that there was someone out there who would cut the shackles and send us soaring to the heavens because, well, because there just was. We are Aston Villa so it stands to reason. Now, things are very different not least because you're looking at the best part of £250 million just for starters.

The fans still have pride in the club even if the owner hasn't. It'd be worth staging just for that alone. We should remember we're still a big club.

Go and start one then. Nobody's stopping you.

Not as eloquent or as high profile as you Dave, and that's what's needed. Perhaps Howard Hodgson could do something. He clearly sussed out Lerner way before the majority of us.

How many times do I have to say it? I don't think there is any point. I have neither the time, nor the inclination. Now please can that be an end to it.

[saunders_heroes]

It might make him hurry up a little.

It may even remind him he actually owns a magnificent football club that he's running into the ground with his austerity.

[Chris Harte]

The guy has made it clear he wants to sell , he is also well aware the fans are not happy.

He wants out and we want him out but unless someone comes along with an offer we are both stuck.Protesting will get some media coverage but IMO it won't change anything.

Does he though? The article is almost a year old, but...

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/422538/Randy-Lerner-NOT-sell-Aston-Villa-Tom-Fox

Chief executive Tom Fox said: "I don't think he is a motivated seller right now."

So has that changed since? There was someone with exclusivity in the summer supposedly, but this came to nothing.

[Clampy]

Howard Hodgson is a jolly good shout, it's worth asking him I think. He's on twitter, try sending him a tweet and he's also on tbar. Try both though in case  he doesn't respond to either.

[saunders_heroes]

Howard Hodgson is a jolly good shout, it's worth asking him I think. He's on twitter, try sending him a tweet and he's also on tbar. Try both though in case  he doesn't respond to either.

Jolly good! He sounds great, and crikey did he see through Lerner's bullshit way way before so many.

[Clampy]

Howard Hodgson is a jolly good shout, it's worth asking him I think. He's on twitter, try sending him a tweet and he's also on tbar. Try both though in case  he doesn't respond to either.

Jolly good! He sounds great, and crikey did he see through Lerner's bullshit way way before so many.

Well, what are you waiting for? Send him that tweet or ask him on tbar. It sounds like you want to.