New chairman and Lerner ramblings

[Dave]

No it's an Internet forum it's about opinions.  This is mine.  But if I've done something wrong I'm sure you'll let me know.

I can't see that you've anything wrong, and it's a bit odd that you think you might have.

I just assumed that if you had an opinion you might have reasons for it. If not, that's still perfectly fine, you might just want to question why you hold that opinion.

[kippaxvilla2]

@brianlittle912 set to join villa board. At last we've needed a villa man on there for so long! #avfc

[kippaxvilla2]

No it's an Internet forum it's about opinions.  This is mine.  But if I've done something wrong I'm sure you'll let me know.

I can't see that you've anything wrong, and it's a bit odd that you think you might have.

I just assumed that if you had an opinion you might have reasons for it. If not, that's still perfectly fine, you might just want to question why you hold that opinion.

Okay sorry been a long day.  I was just interpreting the bit about wasting money - depends whether he will conclude whether our summer recruitment policy was a success I suppose.

[richtheholtender]

No it's an Internet forum it's about opinions.  This is mine.  But if I've done something wrong I'm sure you'll let me know.

I can't see that you've anything wrong, and it's a bit odd that you think you might have.

I just assumed that if you had an opinion you might have reasons for it. If not, that's still perfectly fine, you might just want to question why you hold that opinion.

Okay sorry been a long day.  I was just interpreting the bit about wasting money - depends whether he will conclude whether our summer recruitment policy was a success I suppose.

I have noticed you snap quite quickly Kippaxvilla. Chill my old son.

[kippaxvilla2]

No more than I've heard you do Rich especially at traffic lights and on five a side pitches.

[LTA]

The last #avfc boss to win a trophy could be set to join the club's board.

So could a former Bank of England chief. https://t.co/HNKf9wb4lx

[AV82EC]

This was always going to be the statement, they pretty much told us that last month so I don't understand why anyone is surprised/shocked/angry but if this thread is remotely indicative of the general fans then the guy is fucked before he starts, far too many people willing to throw him under a bus without seeing anything more than a very normal introduction statement.

Last summer Lerner promised to appoint a chairman if the sale didn't happen and this is him fulfilling that, it doesn't mean cost cutting or planning for the championship or anything of the sort, it simply means that he's sticking to his word.  I get that people are pissed with him over his poor management of the club but this should be a step towards improving that and yet he's getting shit over it and being told to drop the value of the club.  He even outright admits to having made a mess of things (read the 2nd paragraph of the story on the original link - "not been on stable footing for at least five years", "getting into the thick of troubled organisations, working with embattled executives", "deeply serious predicament in which the Club has found itself" - none of that suggests he's oblivious of the problems or doesn't see that the senior management structure has been at the heart of the problem) but it's clearly easier for many to call him thick and slag him off a bit more than accept that this is him trying to address his mistakes.

The money thing, he's absolutely right, spending huge sums with nothing to show for it can only work for 2-3 clubs in the country and all of those have a massive advantage over the rest of us from huge commercial operations underpinned by champions league money.  All the others that try to do the same end up in the shit, we're right art the end of that process and still people don't understand.  Spending money wisely will still happen, nothing suggests that isn't the case, they just won't throw money around stupidly, and allow huge amounts of waste, we should never be in a situation like we were a couple of years ago where we had a squad worth a fraction of what it cost. Losing those huge sums of money is not something supporters should be hoping for, as I said in the summer I find it bizarre that net spends of £20-30m every season are seen as some sort of requirement by so many fans no other league/sport operates to such utterly destructive intentions.

A rare chink of light in a whole mountain of shite I've seen written about this today.

[Steve R]

Does anyone know of an organisation that has both a chairman and a CEO? How can a CEO be a CEO when he reports to a chairman?

Whatever Hollis' (and Fox's) capabilities are, we have a structure in place that lends itself to conflict and politics and not to good corporate management.

They are completely different positions in most organisations, and for examples of companies having both I give you:

M&S
British Airways
Arsenal
Easyjet

Etc. In fact I'd be surprised if most big companies didn't have both.

It has been a few years since I retired Risso, and it looks like a certain amount of job title engineering has been going on there.

The 'chairman' of M&S, for example is a non executive director. It begs the question therefore of what exactly he is chairing. I can understand a role that acts as a conduit/sanity check between what the CEO is doing and what significant shareholders are comfortable with. In an age where the cost of failure is a good deal more than profits dipping by a few mil it makes sense.

Getting back to my original post and the Villa, a relatively small organisation with a single shareholder, it is hard to see how a structure with an owner, a chairman and a CEO will work. If Hollis has any job to speak of, Fox loses powers that (presumably) he once held. If on the other hand he is a non exec director, Lerner's man on the spot with peripheral executive powers, he isn't going to be doing much.

Lerner has previous with the Browns for setting up management structures that guarantee conflict. It did not work well.

[saunders_heroes]

The last #avfc boss to win a trophy could be set to join the club's board.

So could a former Bank of England chief. https://t.co/HNKf9wb4lx

Any truth in this?

[dave.woodhall]

The last #avfc boss to win a trophy could be set to join the club's board.

So could a former Bank of England chief. https://t.co/HNKf9wb4lx

Any truth in this?

It's unconfirmed as yet.

[LeeB]

The last #avfc boss to win a trophy could be set to join the club's board.

So could a former Bank of England chief. https://t.co/HNKf9wb4lx

Any truth in this?

Fingers crossed.

[The Edge]

I don't know if Sir Brian has the necessary experience for a role on the board but I welcome him back to the club with open arms(if it happens ) and I know he will be trying his best to improve things at the club. I've never heard of this Hollis guy but with the shit storm that we've found ourselves in I'm happy to wish him and the rest of the board the very best of luck in sorting the club out. Something had to be done. We couldn't carry on the way we were. It's going to be very interesting times ahead.

[Dante Lavelli]

I've just got home from a hard days graft.  I've just found out about this and read the statement.  A bigger load of horseshit I will not read in a very long time. He's here to cut costs make no mistake. A plan for the championship and below.

from what you've just read can you please expand on how you have reached these conclusions?  I've missed some pages so...

[Toronto Villa]

To have a man who genuinely loves Aston Villa join the board would be brilliant. And he walks on water. I hope this is true.

[bertlambshank]

This was always going to be the statement, they pretty much told us that last month so I don't understand why anyone is surprised/shocked/angry but if this thread is remotely indicative of the general fans then the guy is fucked before he starts, far too many people willing to throw him under a bus without seeing anything more than a very normal introduction statement.

Last summer Lerner promised to appoint a chairman if the sale didn't happen and this is him fulfilling that, it doesn't mean cost cutting or planning for the championship or anything of the sort, it simply means that he's sticking to his word.  I get that people are pissed with him over his poor management of the club but this should be a step towards improving that and yet he's getting shit over it and being told to drop the value of the club.  He even outright admits to having made a mess of things (read the 2nd paragraph of the story on the original link - "not been on stable footing for at least five years", "getting into the thick of troubled organisations, working with embattled executives", "deeply serious predicament in which the Club has found itself" - none of that suggests he's oblivious of the problems or doesn't see that the senior management structure has been at the heart of the problem) but it's clearly easier for many to call him thick and slag him off a bit more than accept that this is him trying to address his mistakes.

The money thing, he's absolutely right, spending huge sums with nothing to show for it can only work for 2-3 clubs in the country and all of those have a massive advantage over the rest of us from huge commercial operations underpinned by champions league money.  All the others that try to do the same end up in the shit, we're right art the end of that process and still people don't understand.  Spending money wisely will still happen, nothing suggests that isn't the case, they just won't throw money around stupidly, and allow huge amounts of waste, we should never be in a situation like we were a couple of years ago where we had a squad worth a fraction of what it cost. Losing those huge sums of money is not something supporters should be hoping for, as I said in the summer I find it bizarre that net spends of £20-30m every season are seen as some sort of requirement by so many fans no other league/sport operates to such utterly destructive intentions.

100% agree.