Out the door on 74

[dave.woodhall]

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.

You're saying that you want him to sell up, but you also want him to throw more money away while he's doing so. That strikes me as wanting the best of both worlds. 

[cdbearsfan]

The most effective lobbyists are the quietest.

I'd have guessed "richest".

[Witton Warrior]

This club has failed in the basics

This is the absolute crux for me - looking at spend, wages, set-up it can only be the personnel involved in running the club who are to blame. I can only assume the "root and branch" investigation has to be put in place to allow the legal removal of incompetent incumbents without the fear of constructive dismissal claims.

[Jimbo]

If I were Fox, I might be thinking: 'Thank god the fans are largely apathetic, divided and bickering among themselves, otherwise they could make life really difficult for me. Now, that new car of Joleon's looks nice...''

[markavfc40]

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.

You're saying that you want him to sell up, but you also want him to throw more money away while he's doing so. That strikes me as wanting the best of both worlds. 

Dave what we are saying is that he needs to be a more motivated seller as it is clear that his heart is no longer with Aston Villa. That could though obviously take some time so in the meantime we are asking him to ensure that investment is made in the squad as quite clearly this squad will not get us promoted. Just as importantly, in fact perhaps more importantly, he has to ensure that people with the relevant expertise and experience come on to the board to allow the manager the tools to succeed. I am repeating myself here but until we get the senior positions above the manger right then we will never employ a manager who is capable of succeeding or allow him the support and means to do so.

Money alone won’t solve this. That has been shown as we have pissed a fortune up the wall. I’d hazard a guess that we have somewhere around the 10th – 14th highest wage bill in the league yet find ourselves rock bottom. The reason for that is that we have had CEO’s and others in senior positions above the manager  who don’t know their arses form their elbows and until that changes then we will continue to waste money and continue to fail to maximise our commercial income. Non TV commercial income rose by 6% in 10 years. That is absolutely shocking.

As I said before 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. I think most fans would expect that wouldn't they and would think it reasonable to ask that of the owner. If Randy is to stick around as seems likely, as given our imminent relegation and recent accounts it doesn't seem an appealing club to buy at present, then asking him to invest in the squad to ensure we get back into the Premier League at the first attempt and don’t stagnate in the Championship also seems a reasonable request and will surely assist him in selling the club further down the line.

[Mouse Potato]

I don't think that anything Mark has said is unreasonable. Whether it will have any effect is doubtful but one thing is certain, doing nothing certainly won't.

Apathy will be the death of this club.

[markavfc40]

I don't think that anything Mark has said is unreasonable. Whether it will have any effect is doubtful but one thing is certain, doing nothing certainly won't.

Apathy will be the death of this club.

Thank you mate. You know what we have doubts ourselves that this will have the positive impact that we hope it will. What is certain though is that if we don’t make ourselves heard, don’t at least try to force a message home then it will never be heard or acted upon.

I know some fans might not agree with how we are going about getting this message heard, might not agree with the open letter, some of its contents or the amount of words, but we would like to think that most agree with what we are asking.

We are a very small group of fans who are organising this and we would welcome all the support we can get. Welcome input from other supporters. We are desperate for other fans to help us hand out flyers on Sunday so if anyone wants to help in that way please PM me.

If need be we intend to continue this beyond the two further planned walkouts and want to engage with other supporters in terms of what other realistic and reasonable forms of protest could be undertaken.

We don’t want to divide supporters with this protest. We want to bring supporters together. The fan base will never 100% agree with any protest group in terms of what form of protest they want to embark on but I would like to think most fans would agree that what we are asking is reasonable and achievable. Help us get that message heard. It is just wasted energy arguing amongst ourselves and becoming distracted when our focus needs to be fully on the man ultimately responsible for this mess – Randy Lerner.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

Money alone won’t solve this. That has been shown as we have pissed a fortune up the wall. I’d hazard a guess that we have somewhere around the 10th – 14th highest wage bill in the league yet find ourselves rock bottom. The reason for that is that we have had CEO’s and others in senior positions above the manager  who don’t know their arses form their elbows and until that changes then we will continue to waste money and continue to fail to maximise our commercial income. Non TV commercial income rose by 6% in 10 years. That is absolutely shocking.

From Totalsportek (sorry about the formatting)

http://www.totalsportek.com/money/english-premier-league-wage-bills-club-by-club/

Premier League Clubs Wage Bill For 2015-16 Season
NO#   CLUB   2013-14    2014-15    2015-16
3   Chelsea   £190m   £192.7m   £215.6m
1   Manchester United   £187m   £215.8m   £203 m
2   Manchester City   £216m   £205m   £193.8m
4   Arsenal   £166.4m   £180.4m   £192m
5   Liverpool   £140m   £144m   £152m
6   Tottenham    £112m   £100.4m   £110.5m
7   Newcastle United   £68m   £78.3m   £75.8m
8   Everton    £66m   £69.3m   £74.7m
9   Stoke City   £55m   £60.6m   £72.3m
10   Sunderland    £55m   £69.5m   £71m
11   West Ham United   £60m   £63.9m   £69.5m
12   Aston Villa    £74m   £69.3m   £65.1m
13   West Bromwich    £49m   £65.4m   £68.5m
14   Southampton    £47m   £55.2m   £59.5m
15   Swansea City   £55m   £48.1m   £51m
16   Crystal Palace        £45.7m   £54.3m
17   Leicester City        £36.6m   £48.2m
18   Norwich City         £37m
19   Watford         £29m
20   Bournemouth         £25m

[markavfc40]

Money alone won’t solve this. That has been shown as we have pissed a fortune up the wall. I’d hazard a guess that we have somewhere around the 10th – 14th highest wage bill in the league yet find ourselves rock bottom. The reason for that is that we have had CEO’s and others in senior positions above the manager  who don’t know their arses form their elbows and until that changes then we will continue to waste money and continue to fail to maximise our commercial income. Non TV commercial income rose by 6% in 10 years. That is absolutely shocking.

From Totalsportek (sorry about the formatting)

http://www.totalsportek.com/money/english-premier-league-wage-bills-club-by-club/

Thanks mate. I don't know how accurate those figures are given they were way out with our 2014/15 figures but I would not be surprised if our wage bill was around the 12th highest in the league.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

In light of the new appointments, is this to be called off now?

[The Left Side]

According to Tom Ross it has been.

[Witton Warrior]

In light of the new appointments, is this to be called off now?

But we still get to abuse the owner and TF etc right?
If not what's the point in going  ;-)

[Ads]

The most effective lobbyists are the quietest.

I'd have guessed "richest".

Possibly. Either way it's a transaction, so you need to offer something in exchange, whatever that currency you're offering is; money, power, influence.

[markavfc40]

As one of those involved in this group and the decision to postpone for anyone interested let me give you an update.

This campaign hopes to achieve three things. Firstly asking Randy Lerner to release a public statement stating he was once again a motivated seller and would price the club accordingly to achieve a sale.

Secondly whilst a buyer was found commit to providing the necessary financial support to ensure we can win football matches. For me that always meant ensuring we could build a squad to to get promoted next season.

Thirdly that people with the correct expertise and a proven track record are brought into the club to provide the tools for the manager to succeed.

I am not stating that it was down to this protest group but yesterday with the announcement of Little and Bernstein a third of those actions were met. For me the last one represented a lot more than that though as the biggest issue for us over the last few years hasn't been spending money it has been putting money into the hands of the wrong people. I'd imagine we have a wage bill in the top 12 in the league yet sit rock bottom. Money is being wasted and that is down to a continued failure to have the relevant knowledge on the board and until we rectified that we would always fail to employ a manager who could bring us relative success or allow him the tools/support to do so.

Lerner, as shown by the accounts, is still putting money into the club and he will need to commit to do that over the summer. Just as money without expertise wasn't enough, expertise without investment also won't work they have to go hand in hand.

With regard to a sale I think due to the accounts, the imminent relegation, the club is clearly a tougher sell at the moment and I think it unlikely it will be sold any time soon which made it even more important that the expertise was brought on to the board. Lerner still needs to become a more motivated seller and needs to state that though and give it the best chance possible of being sold to the right people who can provide it with a brighter future.

Some supporters are disappointed in the decision of the protest group to postpone this walkout and we are getting plenty of flak which comes with the territory I guess but it was one made as a collective that we felt was the right one. It may not be. We are adamant though that this is just a postponement and the club now need to act further otherwise we will continue to walk against Chelsea.

For too long there has been a divide at this football club between the club and the fans due to a lack of trust and belief that those at the club know what they are doing That needs to be rectified and it needs to be a relationship built on trust and belief that the club has people on board who can deliver. By playing fair now we have shown we will support good decisions and we have left the ball in the clubs court. We have stated this is only a step in the right direction though so we will pause, but this isn't enough and requires other positive action is taken over the next couple of weeks otherwise we will walk against Chelsea. We have made that clear.

[Clampy]

A  couple of questions Mark.

1. How much do you think is a reasonable price for the club?

2. Is the proposed walk out against Chelsea a threat or a promise?