Out the door on 74

[dave.woodhall]

Long as you get the last one, eh? Twas ever thus.

Absolutely but you missed out the bit about cliques and making money from Villa fans.

I have never accused you of either of those. Check your facts before making accusations like that, it's not appreciated and does you no credit.

If you want an argument, please go somewhere else for one. The last word stuff usually goes hand in hand with the rest - apologies if you weren't aware of that.

[The Edge]

All this bickering is getting us nowhere. Everyone has the right to say their piece about OUR club. We should be putting all this energy into challenging the morons who have turned Aston Villa into a laughing stock. All protests are valid in my view. 

[stuart r]

I didn't pull him into anything - he was the one who said it in the first place. What I did say is what I stick by, and it's something that is an increasing feature of modern life. Do you want to protest for the sake of it, to do "something" or do you want to effect real change? If it's the former then go ahead, but the latter takes careful consideration of everything you say and do.

The aim here is quite clear (albeit a little long winded as has been said) so its not just a protest for the sake of it. The message to Lerner is - You said if you couldn't make it work you would move on but the last comment attributed to you on the issue of selling is that you are not a motivated seller. Given the incompetence on and off the pitch these 2 messages seem to contradict each other. So tell us, are you selling or what?

So the protest itself may not effect real change but it can play a part...And then Lerner sells... Inevitably we are sold at a cut-price leaving us exposed to all sorts of crooks, chancers and parasites. A few years down the line we'll be traipsing around in Villa shirts with 'Mark-One' emblazoned across the chest with an idiot manager whose main tactic is to p*ss in each corner of the pitch before the game.

[lordmcgrath5]

All this bickering is getting us nowhere. Everyone has the right to say their piece about OUR club. We should be putting all this energy into challenging the morons who have turned Aston Villa into a laughing stock. All protests are valid in my view. 

Then I'll agree with this.

[Jimbo]

Sooner or later things are going to come to a head at Villa, and we might reflect that a peaceful protest with fans united against the destruction of the club was the better option.

[Ron Manager]

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-protest-group-write-11016668#nav-panel

each to their own and fair play for doing something but what is this going to achieve?

I've seen it reported in mainstream media so its achieving more than doing nothing.

Tomorrow's weather forecast is in the mainstream media. I still don't know what the ultimate aim of these protests is.

To get Lerner to sell the club....or at least get his asking price reduced so more interested parties come forward. (Although relegation will probably accelerate that).

There have been examples recently, Steve Morgan sold up at Wolves partly it seems due to fan abuse.

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2015/10/07/abuse-from-fans-cited-for-wolves-sale/

I'm sure the very negative atmosphere developing on matchdays is being fed back to him in the States from Fox and co...."Sir, Sir they're calling me a W^^ker!"

I'm not saying it will be the sole reason but I think it could help speed things up a bit.

Steve Morgan hasn't sold up at Wolves. He still owns Wolves. You have to get a buyer first before you can sell up. Randy is in the same boat.

[Ron Manager]

All this bickering is getting us nowhere. Everyone has the right to say their piece about OUR club. We should be putting all this energy into challenging the morons who have turned Aston Villa into a laughing stock. All protests are valid in my view.

"morons" is too strong a word to use without being offensive. Incompetents would be more suitable.

[lordmcgrath5]

All this bickering is getting us nowhere. Everyone has the right to say their piece about OUR club. We should be putting all this energy into challenging the morons who have turned Aston Villa into a laughing stock. All protests are valid in my view. 

Then I'll agree with this.

Sorry, qualification: no violence, as this would be wrong and totally counterproductive.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

Sooner or later things are going to come to a head at Villa, and we might reflect that a peaceful protest with fans united against the destruction of the club was the better option.

A co-ordinated protest would be excellent but it seems there are too many factions within the Villa Park faithful to agree on one single mode of attack.

[Marlon From Bearwood]

Well done and good luck to Markavfc40 and co. I find it sad that so many fellow Villa fans cant wait to criticise those who are actually getting up and trying to do something about the state of our club.

[Ads]

It actually is incredibly long, and while there might be plenty to complain about, putting everything down at once obscures your message. Never use ten words when one will do.

Dave that is fair enough. Feedback in the main to the open letter has been very positive from supporters. There is a lot that needs to be put to Randy and to do that was always going to require a substantial letter. It has already been reported on in the local and national press and with letter being relatively substantial it has helped publicise/draw attention to the issues at the club.

They aren't veiled threats at the end either. We are genuinely in this for the long haul and protests in one form or another will continue. That isn't a threat that is a promise. What we are asking of Randy Lerner is not something that cannot be achieved or asking him to go the extra mile. We are asking him, if he stays, to simply ensure that people with the proven expertise and experience are brought onto the board as that way we give ourselves the best chance of employing a manager that can bring us relative success. If he does stay he will also need to invest over the summer as only a fool would suggest we can get promotion with these players.

I think it would be best for all concerned if Randy did motivate himself to sell. His heart is clearly not in Aston Villa any more and we deserve better than that.

I agree with the aims and aspirations of the protest, but in respect of the letters, Dave is right.

You need your message to be succinct. You focus on the big ticket item and you hammer it home and remember that a letter is not a statement of case.

It may be worth seeing if there is a solicitor within you midst that you could chuck the next letter too to eviscerate the cliches and superfluous paragraphs.

I very much like the idea of throwing the towel in though.

[Richard E]

It actually is incredibly long, and while there might be plenty to complain about, putting everything down at once obscures your message. Never use ten words when one will do.

Dave that is fair enough. Feedback in the main to the open letter has been very positive from supporters. There is a lot that needs to be put to Randy and to do that was always going to require a substantial letter. It has already been reported on in the local and national press and with letter being relatively substantial it has helped publicise/draw attention to the issues at the club.

They aren't veiled threats at the end either. We are genuinely in this for the long haul and protests in one form or another will continue. That isn't a threat that is a promise. What we are asking of Randy Lerner is not something that cannot be achieved or asking him to go the extra mile. We are asking him, if he stays, to simply ensure that people with the proven expertise and experience are brought onto the board as that way we give ourselves the best chance of employing a manager that can bring us relative success. If he does stay he will also need to invest over the summer as only a fool would suggest we can get promotion with these players.

I think it would be best for all concerned if Randy did motivate himself to sell. His heart is clearly not in Aston Villa any more and we deserve better than that.

I agree with the aims and aspirations of the protest, but in respect of the letters, Dave is right.

You need your message to be succinct. You focus on the big ticket item and you hammer it home and remember that a letter is not a statement of case.

It may be worth seeing if there is a solicitor within you midst that you could chuck the next letter too to eviscerate the cliches and superfluous paragraphs.

I very much like the idea of throwing the towel in though.

Don't we charge by the word anymore? I must be older than I thought.

[trevor fisher]

the accounts are out. Appalling - £27 million loss, revenue down, staff costs up, Fox gets a big increase in wages for 2014 15

Its time to meet and plan. The era of hoping protests will by themselves work is over. There is no lack of action at the moment, the latest is the self style Protest Group, who wrote a letter to Lerner Nice Letter

What do they plan to do about his response or non response?

In the old days before Lerner, there would be a fan meeting. Why not now? A pity the AVISA independent supporters association was closed down. We had no problem calling meetings. Alas my generation is now too old, but can still support younger people

Trevor Fisher
ex Vice Chair AVISA

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

I reckon we should start more threads.

Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle
News at Ten

[Billy Walker]

I'm right behind the OTD O74 protests because they are, at least, showing Randy Lerner that the fans have had enough of the way he has run Villa up to now.  If the protests can somehow represent a line in the sand and become a huge catalyst for change and future success at Villa Park then it will all be worth it.  At the moment I don't see any mixed messages coming from OTD, everything they have published sits well with me.  Randy now needs to come out and communicate clearly with the fans.  If he is not selling, he needs to explore all avenues  that could help to re-ignite/reboot the Club.  The OTD protests give me just a little hope that we can turn a calamitous moment in the history of Villa into something positive, unique and groundbreaking.