New chairman and Lerner ramblings

[dave.woodhall]

Can't link right now but Hollis says Lerner won't be selling Villa until he's sorted us out and is ''pretty passionate'' about us. Yeah Ok, he doesn't understand the meaning of the word passion then, anyway as we suspected Lerner is currently not a motivated seller at all because he knows he wouldn't be offered anything like the price he wants for us.

He's clearly as much of an idiot as the man who pays him. And that's quite an achievement given that Lerner makes Prince Andrew look like Einstein

Are you ever going to say anything about anyone you don't like apart from calling them thick or an idiot - which Steve Hollis clearly isn't? Such constant repetition doesn't exactly say much for your own intelligence.

I'm not sure David, I'll give that some thought though, thank you for pointing out the errors of my ways. And I quite agree, it doesn't say much for my own intelligence does it? I envy those people on here like you who never repeat the same points over and over again about the club. It's one thing no one could ever criticise you for, that's for sure!

Here's the deal. Go away, have a think, then come back when you're capable of actually adding to a debate rather than coming out with the thick/idiot comments or your infantile "Yes, you're right" every time you're asked to moderate this incredibly monotonous behaviour.

I'll do that David, thank you for your advice as ever.

You clearly can't help yourself. Don't say you weren't warned on many occasions.

[saunders_heroes]

Can't link right now but Hollis says Lerner won't be selling Villa until he's sorted us out and is ''pretty passionate'' about us. Yeah Ok, he doesn't understand the meaning of the word passion then, anyway as we suspected Lerner is currently not a motivated seller at all because he knows he wouldn't be offered anything like the price he wants for us.

In other words he can't find a buyer for his inflated price.

[Villa in Denmark]

Can't link right now but Hollis says Lerner won't be selling Villa until he's sorted us out and is ''pretty passionate'' about us. Yeah Ok, he doesn't understand the meaning of the word passion then, anyway as we suspected Lerner is currently not a motivated seller at all because he knows he wouldn't be offered anything like the price he wants for us.

In other words he can't find a buyer for his inflated price.

Or he can't find anyone  that doesn't look like Cellino or Yeung at a reduced price.

Or have you registered with BoA and got the particulars of what he's looking for?

[paul_e]

Can't link right now but Hollis says Lerner won't be selling Villa until he's sorted us out and is ''pretty passionate'' about us. Yeah Ok, he doesn't understand the meaning of the word passion then, anyway as we suspected Lerner is currently not a motivated seller at all because he knows he wouldn't be offered anything like the price he wants for us.

I don't want him to sell us right now.  The chances of getting a haridresser from Hong Kong are too high right now, I'd much rather we carry on down this new path and push to get ourselves to mid-table in the premier league (via the championship if need be) and then he sells to someone looking to nudge us into the top 6.

He's clearly as much of an idiot as the man who pays him. And that's quite an achievement given that Lerner makes Prince Andrew look like Einstein

Yes it's completely idiotic to start a new job and not instantly start slagging off your new employer or to start the job and actually believe what your employer has told you.  It's also a sure sign of an idiot to have had numerous senior management jobs over a number of years at a company the size of KPMG.

You'd be surprised. As a senior manager of a company myself, I have a lot of dealings with KPMG. They have some great people, really excellent, but some who most certainly are not. Much like any A listed company I work with when doing consultancy.

No I wouldn't, what I would be surprised about is the path his career has taken being that of an idiot.  I fully understand that you can get stupid people in jobs they're incapable of doing, I also fully understand that those people tend to get found out sooner or later.  There's plenty of evidence that he's not an idiot and virtually nothing to suggest that he is one but he's nowe senior management at Villa so it fits your viewpoint that he must be one and nothing will get in the way of you saying so, you're fre to hold that opinion but the rest of us are also free to think you're talking nonsense.

[rob_bridge]

Can't link right now but Hollis says Lerner won't be selling Villa until he's sorted us out and is ''pretty passionate'' about us. Yeah Ok, he doesn't understand the meaning of the word passion then, anyway as we suspected Lerner is currently not a motivated seller at all because he knows he wouldn't be offered anything like the price he wants for us.

In other words he can't find a buyer for his inflated price.

Or he can't find anyone  that doesn't look like Cellino or Yeung at a reduced price.

Or have you registered with BoA and got the particulars of what he's looking for?

Maybe S_H can help us find this mythical benevolent, hitherto unknown, buyer at slightly reduced price (say £125m) with bottomless pockets of cash reserves, who is able to bypass the Financial Fair Play by paying £100,000 (PPW - Proper Premiership Wages) to 25 squad members until further notice, none of who will turn out to be as average / useless as Gabby/CNZ/Stephen Ireland/Habib Beye/Emile Heskey/Shay Given and will perform to an very good or exceptional level most of the time.

[KevinGage]

He's a Lerner appointee, so instantly there is a lack of credibility based on the previous batch of odds and sods over the past few years.

That might sound grossly unfair, but there it is.

There has been a feeling since at least 2011 (and possibly before that) that the mindset has changed from forward thinking and looking to succeed to what we have we hold (at best) or a managed decline (at worst). 

None of the recent appointments have excelled elsewhere at the very thing we need them to do.

They might in time bridge the gap, and kudos to them if they do.  But the odds are against it.

[dave.woodhall]

He's a Lerner appointee, so instantly there is a lack of credibility based on the previous batch of odds and sods over the past few years.

That might sound grossly unfair, but there it is.

There has been a feeling since at least 2011 (and possibly before that) that the mindset has changed from forward thinking and looking to succeed to what we have we hold (at best) or a managed decline (at worst). 

None of the recent appointments have excelled elsewhere at the very thing we need them to do.

They might in time bridge the gap, and kudos to them if they do.  But the odds are against it.

Cracked record time:

This is where we need someone in authority who is undoubtedly One Of Us, someone who can speak and your first instinct is to believe him rather than pour scorn. 

[rob_bridge]

He's a Lerner appointee, so instantly there is a lack of credibility based on the previous batch of odds and sods over the past few years.

That might sound grossly unfair, but there it is.

There has been a feeling since at least 2011 (and possibly before that) that the mindset has changed from forward thinking and looking to succeed to what we have we hold (at best) or a managed decline (at worst). 

None of the recent appointments have excelled elsewhere at the very thing we need them to do.

They might in time bridge the gap, and kudos to them if they do.  But the odds are against it.

Key Decisions made since 2011 have been largely woeful.

That still doesn't make the new chairman an idiot.

[ozzjim]

So if this guy brings in Mervyn King, a Villa fan but with a credible enough business background, onto the board, is that going to be labelled as an idiot decision because he is essentially a Lerner stooge too? 

Surely we need to give Hollis and the new structure time. Fox might be much better now he has some kind of direction above, you never know. I will wait until he has actually had time to perform to be critical, rather than starting now.

[KevinGage]

I have never had much truck with the One of Us argument.

That assumes that we have to limit every important position to someone with a connection to the club, immediately ruling out 99.9 of candidates who might be more than capable of doing the job.

The issue here -and I recognise it is unfair on the new guy- is that he will immediately be treated with suspicion in some quarters because of his association with Lerner.

A new chairman coming in under a new owner would get far more breathing space, and no doubt his KPMG credentials would be talked up (deja vu Bob Kain).

So how do you solve that conundrum?  Outside of new ownership, I'm not sure you can.

[rob_bridge]

So if this guy brings in Mervyn King, a Villa fan but with a credible enough business background, onto the board, is that going to be labelled as an idiot decision because he is essentially a Lerner stooge too? 

Surely we need to give Hollis and the new structure time. Fox might be much better now he has some kind of direction above, you never know. I will wait until he has actually had time to perform to be critical, rather than starting now.

We need to give Hollis time.

I don't want Mervyn King anywhere near the Villa board after his BoE stewardship. Thanks.

[rob_bridge]

I have never had much truck with the One of Us argument.

That assumes that we have to limit every important position to someone with a connection to the club, immediately ruling out 99.9 of candidates who might be more than capable of doing the job.

The issue here -and I recognise it is unfair on the new guy- is that he will immediately be treated with suspicion in some quarters because of his association with Lerner.

A new chairman coming in under a new owner would get far more breathing space, and no doubt his KPMG credentials would be talked up (deja vu Bob Kain).

So how do you solve that conundrum?  Outside of new ownership, I'm not sure you can.

Or take a step back and see how he does over the next 12-18 months before forming a considered opinion. O

bviously if he sacks Garde and replaces him with a reappointed Lambert or McLeish next month then we can hasten up the review timeline.

[Villa in Denmark]

I have never had much truck with the One of Us argument.

That assumes that we have to limit every important position to someone with a connection to the club, immediately ruling out 99.9 of candidates who might be more than capable of doing the job.

The issue here -and I recognise it is unfair on the new guy- is that he will immediately be treated with suspicion in some quarters because of his association with Lerner.

A new chairman coming in under a new owner would get far more breathing space, and no doubt his KPMG credentials would be talked up (deja vu Bob Kain).

So how do you solve that conundrum?  Outside of new ownership, I'm not sure you can.

As one of my plant operators said to me on my first day as his supervisor
"Goodwill and trust are hard earned, but they're easily thrown away. If you do lose them, you'll be gone a long time trying to find them again."

They had masses of goodwill, but I'm not sure they ever really had trust as they never had to make a decision for 4 years. They have spent 5 years now throwing any remaining goodwill away.

The only thing that will re-establish goodwill and earn trust is going to be a long period of hard work, where it's obvious that the vast majority of decisions are the right ones, or at least not "Let's hire McLeish" wrong.

[dave.woodhall]

I have never had much truck with the One of Us argument.

That assumes that we have to limit every important position to someone with a connection to the club, immediately ruling out 99.9 of candidates who might be more than capable of doing the job.

The issue here -and I recognise it is unfair on the new guy- is that he will immediately be treated with suspicion in some quarters because of his association with Lerner.

A new chairman coming in under a new owner would get far more breathing space, and no doubt his KPMG credentials would be talked up (deja vu Bob Kain).

So how do you solve that conundrum?  Outside of new ownership, I'm not sure you can.

I'm not saying that everyone needs to be OoU - in fact that sort of attitude held us back in the Ellis days. What I do think is that Villa need someone whose integrity and football knowledge are beyond question and who we know will have a first loyalty to Aston Villa rather than anyone else. 

[peter w]

So you say. Not one credible name really has ever been put forward though, has it?