Out the door on 74

[AVH87]

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

On the accounts, agreed on the loss it's bad news and a lot worse than I think most of us hoped. However, turnover has remained pretty much static (£115m v £116m last year), and Fox didn't have an increase in wages, that was his wage from his first employment commencing November 2014.

[NeilH]

Trevor, you and I go back to AVISA days, but let’s be frank here, we may have been organized but we didn’t really have a coherent strategy back then, just enthusiasm. I simply fail to see how any fan group can exercise any leverage on a man who has clearly expressed his desire to leave and who has put our club in de facto hibernation until he can find the required buyer that will enable to walk away with minimal losses. Fan ownership is a pipe dream and protests such as the ’74 one, are one off release valves that achieve little in the long term.

As I recall, it was hard enough galvanizing support back in the AVISA days, with most telling us they just went to the match and weren’t interested in the politics; I suspect it’s even worse now. Not trying to be uber-pessimistic, but I don’t see any groundswell of support for protesting, fan forums or anything else; it’s just apathy.

[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. 

Then I'll agree with this.

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

I didn't mention or condone violence.

[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.

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

potato- potarto.
What they have done and continue to do to the once mighty Aston Villa is  moronic.

[tomd2103]

Did not join in the protest during the Everton game, but will be joining in this one.  As a fan, I think it's currently the only way I can show my dislike of what is going on and with the game on TV I'm hoping there will be more publicity.  I'm hoping we create a really good atmosphere for 74 minutes before making our point.   

[in exile]

Did not join in the protest during the Everton game, but will be joining in this one.  As a fan, I think it's currently the only way I can show my dislike of what is going on and with the game on TV I'm hoping there will be more publicity.  I'm hoping we create a really good atmosphere for 74 minutes before making our point.   

If you are talking about Spurs at home this Sunday, it's not on TV

[Chris Harte]

You didn 't have to put in anything that hasn't been said hundreds of times already.

And this is the language of the playground.

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.

You're dealing with multi-national billionaire businessmen here. Saying  "That isn't a threat it's a promise" might get you likes on Facebook but it won't get you taken very seriously in the boardroom. 

Out of interest, how would you have worded that part of this "open letter" to get it taken seriously in the boardroom?

[dave.woodhall]

You didn 't have to put in anything that hasn't been said hundreds of times already.

And this is the language of the playground.

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.

You're dealing with multi-national billionaire businessmen here. Saying  "That isn't a threat it's a promise" might get you likes on Facebook but it won't get you taken very seriously in the boardroom. 

Out of interest, how would you have worded that part of this "open letter" to get it taken seriously in the boardroom?

I wouldn't have written an open letter in the first place.

[Chris Harte]

You didn 't have to put in anything that hasn't been said hundreds of times already.

And this is the language of the playground.

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.

You're dealing with multi-national billionaire businessmen here. Saying  "That isn't a threat it's a promise" might get you likes on Facebook but it won't get you taken very seriously in the boardroom. 

Out of interest, how would you have worded that part of this "open letter" to get it taken seriously in the boardroom?

I wouldn't have written an open letter in the first place.

Okay, so how about in a private letter?

[dave.woodhall]

You didn 't have to put in anything that hasn't been said hundreds of times already.

And this is the language of the playground.

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.

You're dealing with multi-national billionaire businessmen here. Saying  "That isn't a threat it's a promise" might get you likes on Facebook but it won't get you taken very seriously in the boardroom. 

Out of interest, how would you have worded that part of this "open letter" to get it taken seriously in the boardroom?

I wouldn't have written an open letter in the first place.

Okay, so how about in a private letter?

I wouldn't have written one of them either. I'd have issued a statement about a quarter the size of the letter they wrote, making one request rather than three or four and certainly not ending with any threats.

[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.

I didn't mention or condone violence.

Totally agree - indeed you didn't - it was just the line "All protests are valid in my view" that I wanted to qualify for the avoidance of doubt.

[Chris Harte]

Okay, so how about in a private letter?

I wouldn't have written one of them either. I'd have issued a statement about a quarter the size of the letter they wrote, making one request rather than three or four and certainly not ending with any threats.

While I think the letter is overly wordy, I think the requests (I counted three) were fair enough. I also think them saying that they won't just go away, perhaps in not so many words, was fair enough.

It's all about opinions.

[Ads]

The most effective lobbyists are the quietest.

[dave.woodhall]

Okay, so how about in a private letter?

I wouldn't have written one of them either. I'd have issued a statement about a quarter the size of the letter they wrote, making one request rather than three or four and certainly not ending with any threats.

While I think the letter is overly wordy, I think the requests (I counted three) were fair enough. I also think them saying that they won't just go away, perhaps in not so many words, was fair enough.

It's all about opinions.

The problem is not looking like you're sending a wish list. For example, "We want you to go...we want you to spend money" comes across as hopelessly naive. I think getting a statement of intent would have been a good first step. 

[markavfc40]

The problem is not looking like you're sending a wish list. For example, "We want you to go...we want you to spend money" comes across as hopelessly naive. I think getting a statement of intent would have been a good first step. 

Wish list? We aren't asking for the earth here Dave. Wanting people on the board who know what they are doing, wanting the club to be run by people who can ensure that you finish in a position in the league somewhere with in the region of what you are spending on wages relative to other clubs,  wanting those running the club to have at least got close to maximising commercial income at a time the Prem league is booming, these kind of things shouldn't have to be on a wish list. They should simply be expected.

This club has failed in the basics and it is so frustrating. If we had people in the senior positions above the manager with the proven nous and experience who knew what was required to allow a manager to succeed then we could well have employed a manager who was capable of realising the clubs potential or at the very least kept us competitive.

As has been shown today lack of money hasn't been the biggest issue at this club. It may be an issue in terms of us finishing in the top 8 over the last handful of years but we have spent enough, certainly on wages, to have been competitive in this league and to be able to compete for a 10th - 14th place finish. The fact that we have failed is that we have not had the right people in place to oversee the spending and those same people have failed to employ the right manager to spend it or have forced that manager to adopt a policy in terms of incoming players of quantity over quality.

The reasons we are protesting, the requests that we want actioned with in the open letter, aren't unreasonable requests or a wish list, we simply want a club that is doing the basics right and is employing the right people with the required levels of expertise to ensure that happens. If Randy can't do that as he has continually shown then he needs to do all he can to get out and let somebody who can take over.