New chairman and Lerner ramblings

[brian green]

I make a preemptive strike Richard.  I say I have seen over 1000 Villa games live. You wish to say something about them?

[The Edge]

NO - we as fans shouldn't be ashamed - it is the people within the club that should be ashamed of the way they have managed the things things that are beyond our control.

That's the one

Absolutely. We may be embarrassing on the pitch most of the time but I am never ever ashamed to be a Villa fan or embarrassed to say so - even though I might start conversations these days with 'for my sins, I follow the Villa', it's only to stop the other person getting in first about how shit we are

I met a Welsh bloke at work recently and upon hearing my accent he asked which team I supported. When I said the Villa he laughed! A fuckin Swansea City supporter laughing at our proud club. Thanks Randy. After that I did educate him on Englands 4th most successful football club since the game was invented but it felt hollow. Thanks again Randy. Mind you it was quite funny watching him change the wheel on his van as I set off home. Dunno what happened there 

[Jimbo]

Ashamed to be a Villa fan? No. Ashamed of the utter shitehawks masquerading as Aston Villa for the last five years? Mostly, definitely.

Money certainly doesn't guarantee success, but what should have been said was 'We need to be smarter when it comes to spending money.' But they're not very smart, are they?

[old man villa fan]

The trouble with making statements, people analyse how it could be interpreted or even how they want to interpret it. The statement was not a full legal 'dotting the i's and crossing the t's' statement and there was a lot not said that people are rightly questioning.

We can only wait to see how it develops or wait for further statements.

I take this development as positive as it means Lerner has finally recognised what a mess the club is in. Putting in place professional people to run a business is fundamental.

[pauliewalnuts]

Absolutely agree Mellon. If they are going to trot out aphorisms to tranquilizes us at least they should be conclusive aphorisms. Money does not buy success but it makes failure less likely.

Or money is no guarantee of success but failure has a proven track record of being available on the cheap.

Exactly

And that's the bit I am worried they don't quite get.

[brian green]

I think they get it Paulie.  They just don't come out with it in front of us. Pas avant des domestiques sort of thing.

[Witton Warrior]

The trouble with making statements, people analyse how it could be interpreted or even how they want to interpret it. The statement was not a full legal 'dotting the i's and crossing the t's' statement and there was a lot not said that people are rightly questioning.

We can only wait to see how it develops or wait for further statements.

I take this development as positive as it means Lerner has finally recognised what a mess the club is in. Putting in place professional people to run a business is fundamental.

The issue I have with it omvf is that it is almost entirely business focussed, hardly a mention of the team or performances on the pitch. It smacks of someone who has had enough of us but can't get rid of a millstone round their neck so is just going to turn away and ignore us while hopefully not losing too much dosh

[aj2k77]

Exactly, we will be in complete stasis I think now until someone ponies up some offer that Lerner finds acceptable. He wont be in a rush to sell us as long as we cost him no money and will now be causing him no stress and taking up zero of his time.

Whilst other clubs will be building towards achieving something and dreaming of better things under this regime we will be building towards causing Lerner no trouble at all and just getting by.

[cdward]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35312385

"..so that when we go to our board and ask them to spend money on acquiring players or coaches, we have a good sense for how that investment is going to pay off for the owner.."

There it is. No grey areas there.

[old man villa fan]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35312385

"..so that when we go to our board and ask them to spend money on acquiring players or coaches, we have a good sense for how that investment is going to pay off for the owner.."

There it is. No grey areas there.

The only thing that concerns me in that report is the bit about Bodymore Heath. Reading between the lines it would appear that things are far worse than I imagined.

To have a successful club it must be based on sound financial footings unless we expect the Owner to keep on investing his own money into the club or risking the club future by borrowing money. There is probably only Man City and Chelsea that are investing significantly beyond their means. The remainder are either living within their means or speculating to accumulate. Speculation can only go on so long and with risk, must ask Leeds, Portsmouth etc.

[DaveD]

Acknowledging that the system is broken is only the beginning.

Identifying what good looks like is harder, and I have seen no evidence that we have anyone currently employed by the football club who is capable of defining that future state, let alone executing the transition.

What worries me is that we continue with the "we must do something, this is something, therefore we must do this" approach that has characterised the club over the last ten years.

[old man villa fan]

I said it last night in that the various parts of the club appear to be disconnected. What we need on the Board is a 'footballing' advisor. Somebody that knows what 'good' looks like, as you say. Although I do not think Brian Little would be up to running the club as a whole because, basically he is too nice a guy, I think he could be ideal in this role.

[paul_e]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35312385

"..so that when we go to our board and ask them to spend money on acquiring players or coaches, we have a good sense for how that investment is going to pay off for the owner.."

There it is. No grey areas there.

I really don't see the problem, agian I just don't see the problem that so many of you are keen to jump on.  That statement, that's perfectly fine, pay off doesn't mean make a profit, it means provide value.  If we sign a striker for £10m and he scores for fun and fits the team then that's value, if we spend £10m on a flowerpot that does fuck all and leeches money from the club for 5 years then that's not value, does anyone want us to sign more like charlie?

Exactly, we will be in complete stasis I think now until someone ponies up some offer that Lerner finds acceptable. He wont be in a rush to sell us as long as we cost him no money and will now be causing him no stress and taking up zero of his time.

Whilst other clubs will be building towards achieving something and dreaming of better things under this regime we will be building towards causing Lerner no trouble at all and just getting by.

What part of the statement(s) suggests we're just going to be in statis, completely remove your own bias from this and read it again, they talk about rebuilding the structure of the club to improve things, that's about the most obvious thing anyone could say in this situation, it's painfully clear that it needs to happen, so why is this a negative?

Absolutely agree Mellon. If they are going to trot out aphorisms to tranquilizes us at least they should be conclusive aphorisms. Money does not buy success but it makes failure less likely.

Or money is no guarantee of success but failure has a proven track record of being available on the cheap.

Exactly

And that's the bit I am worried they don't quite get.

I disagree, the 2 biggest failures in the premier league era are Leeds and Portsmouth, both got themselves into that situation by spending money they didn't have and not getting anything to show for it, in real terms they gambled and lost.  Even the more minor failures (like Man U for the last couple of years, or Sunderland since Short arrived or QPR under fernandez) have generally spent enough money, they've just spent it really badly.  Being 'cheap' really shouldn't be seen as so negative, regularly losing money is a far worse situation to be in.

I take this development as positive as it means Lerner has finally recognised what a mess the club is in. Putting in place professional people to run a business is fundamental.

This is the right attitude for me, identifying the problem and appointing someone with a track record for fixing that particular problem, even if it was in another industry, is the absolute right thing to do.

The issue I have with it omvf is that it is almost entirely business focussed, hardly a mention of the team or performances on the pitch. It smacks of someone who has had enough of us but can't get rid of a millstone round their neck so is just going to turn away and ignore us while hopefully not losing too much dosh

Why should that matter, we've signed about 50 players and had 5 different managers and numerous coaches since things started to go wrong and none of that has helped.  Everyone talks about the problems being deeper than the players and manager so why aren't we pleased to see someone come in with the remit of finding the cause and having Lerner's full backing to deal with it?  This is what has needed to happen for years, it eventually happens and now people are complaining about it being just a way for Lerner to get further away, isn't that what most people have wanted for the last couple of years?

Again, I understand being angry but lots of the comments on here read like random lashing out rather than any thought out opinions of the appointment.

[olaftab]

I've not seen it anywhere but is the new bloke a full-time, hands-on appointment (in which case where does that leave Fox?) or a non-exec, pop in once a month to chair a meeting and look over the books type?

That is a very good question. I think it's Lerner's way to move himself out of the equation. I In his mind he has written off the investment he has made and we are now on our own. Earn and spend basis.

[aj2k77]

Because I think that as long as Lerner is there the primary goal of the club will be to cause Lerner no hassle and just tick along. Can you really see an ambitious Villa under the ownership of a man who doesn't want to be involved at all, a Chairman who is a local money man and a CEO who is a fuck wit who advised hiring Sherwood and talks of improvements the last couple of seasons?

I'm probably wanting us to jump before we can even crawl because as we all know the club is a shambles from top to bottom but the way they talk, it's all very dull and business like, it's all about processes and such. I know we need those in place but there's no talk of Villa being back at the top, entertaining football, winning matches. The football is hardly mentioned by anyone these days. I'm just not enjoying any of this at all, this season I've hated football.

Where is the drive at the club to do anything other than be ok and get Lerner some peace and quiet. The bloke is a prat and unfortunately I don't trust anyone he employs because of his appalling track record.