Bernstein and King Resign from the Board

[gpbarr]

I feel like the fans should occupy the pitch on Saturday and hold up the game.

And get us points deducted next season? I'd rather we didn't

I'm all for it. A bIt of direct action. It's bound to happen in some form or another. I'd got for a pitch invasion at Arsenal. Get it abandoned.

Sarcastic or are you being serious?

Serious.

Just to rub salt in the wound, add a pitch invasion / protest to the debacle. Whatever is happening at our club, I hope our supporters don't denegrate themselves by attempting such a stupid, pointless, and self defeating act. Our owners and administrators look like clowns and are the butt of much embarassment - lets hope Villa fans have a shred of integrity left.

Exactly. It's a fucking stupid suggestion.

This is exactly what we should be doing.En masse and peacefully.

Be as peaceful as you like. You'll still end up on the end of a police caution and a banning order.

Like it did when w got on the pitch after Albion game last year?

Which was a great success - it was embarassing, cost the club money, made the fans look like idiots (they were), and ended up putting the club in more ridicule. The banning orders and arrests will follow
 

[aj2k77]

I think all this just proves what a dangerous bastard Randy Lerner is and he should be nowhere near our football club.
Fair play to Bernstein and King resigning, making their letters public in an attempt to rid the club of the poison that is Lerner. Sadly nothing will change till he's gone. Let's hope these are his death throes.

He shouldn't be allowed near any sporting institution. He has no respect for the jobs he takes on. Treats them like a new fad, grows bored, moves on, let's old hobby equipment rot.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Pat Murphy just said we've dispensed with Merrill Lynch and Lerner would now happily take 75m for the club....so half of the perceived amount he wanted.

Does anybody seriously think that somebody would offer £75m for us in our current state. A Championship club with players unfit for purpose no manager, no board, no managerial heirarchy close to anarchy in the changing rooms with the fans as discontent with the club as its possible to be.

No businessman is going to offer anywhere near that.

Exactly. Anyone with half a business brain would wait for us to reach absolute rock bottom and another relegation before buying us for peanuts

[Jimbo]

There's no need to invade the pitch to disrupt a match and make a point. Think about it.

[CJ]

Has there been an official statement? Sorry, just catching up....

Just a short statement on Pravda

[Risso]

I don't want to sound ageist but do we really want a couple of 70 year olds making some fundamental decisions about the future of the club? They should have been non exec directors if any thing at all in the first place. I trust Bevington and Sir Brian. The news about sale is very hopeful as well.

What a load of rubbish, what has their age got to do with anything?

In any case, what happened to:

David Bernstein is an excellent appointment. We have a proper heavy weight football board now. Next fix the team.

OK you have caught me with my pants down. I just thought we need not despair couple of departures as there are plenty of other excellent candidates around. What's important is we find a new owners.

Not to worry, reading back I appreciate you are trying to maintain a very British stiff upper lip!

[DB]

Has there been an official statement? Sorry, just catching up....

Ah yes, just seen it. I'll be quiet now.

[clash city rocker]

Well the time to worry is when we are taken over by venture capitalists.

[brian green]

You are quite right TV that Lerner and Aston Villa FC will be required reading at the LSE in years to come.

What is so intriguing is that if asset strippers had bought the club off Doug Ellis we would probably be in better shape than we are today. Lerner has behaved like a man desperate to ruin himself.  Like a boy scout cutting off his own testicles so he can join the girl guides.

[dicedlam]

Only catching up now.

Can we finally please park for once and for all the notion that Lerner is some sort of benevolent character who is either unlucky or badly advised. He is the root cause of the demise of a footballing institution.

He's poison.

He is but at least he has seemingly reduced the asking price which is one of the things I've demanded for the last few weeks of him, it's something.

Surely they'll be a taker at 75m. We're at one of our lowest ebbs so surely a good opportunity for someone?

You'd hope so.  It's a gamble though, even at a cut price.  If the outgoings can be brought into line with the reduced income, then promotion as in the case of clubs like Leicester will see a big windfall for owners, providing that they don't then blow it all on wages.

Brian's right though, Lerner is effectively skint.  Obviously not skint as in rummaging down the back of the settee for change to pay the milkman, but his divorce, the financial crisis and Villa have taken every last bit of free cash he has, and now he's in the unenviable position of his investment being worth a third or less of what he's put in, but to get it back to being what he needs it to be worth, he'd need to spend cash he hasn't got.  A bit like our league form, a vicious spiral which we show no signs of getting out of.

We are fucked.

Lerner can't be that skint. He sold the Cleveland Browns for $1 billion.

[Zouch Villa]

Wow, just when I thought this season couldn't get any worse, back comes Lerner with another massive kick in the swingers.

 I doubt I have anything further to add to the many valid worries raised previously on this thread, but I dread to think of the kind of vultures that might be tempted out by such a slash to the asking price.

[Chico Hamilton III]

I feel like the fans should occupy the pitch on Saturday and hold up the game.

And get us points deducted next season? I'd rather we didn't

I'm all for it. A bIt of direct action. It's bound to happen in some form or another. I'd got for a pitch invasion at Arsenal. Get it abandoned.

Sarcastic or are you being serious?

Serious.

Just to rub salt in the wound, add a pitch invasion / protest to the debacle. Whatever is happening at our club, I hope our supporters don't denegrate themselves by attempting such a stupid, pointless, and self defeating act. Our owners and administrators look like clowns and are the butt of much embarassment - lets hope Villa fans have a shred of integrity left.

Exactly. It's a fucking stupid suggestion.

This is exactly what we should be doing.En masse and peacefully.

Be as peaceful as you like. You'll still end up on the end of a police caution and a banning order.

Like it did when w got on the pitch after Albion game last year?

Which was a great success - it was embarassing, cost the club money, made the fans look like idiots (they were), and ended up putting the club in more ridicule. The banning orders and arrests will follow
 

I'm still waiting. I think I might have got away with it. What convinced me was when I asked a steward to take a photo of me and (name removed to protect pat McMahon) and he duly obliged.

[in exile]

I feel like the fans should occupy the pitch on Saturday and hold up the game.

And get us points deducted next season? I'd rather we didn't

I'm all for it. A bIt of direct action. It's bound to happen in some form or another. I'd got for a pitch invasion at Arsenal. Get it abandoned.

Sarcastic or are you being serious?

Serious.

Just to rub salt in the wound, add a pitch invasion / protest to the debacle. Whatever is happening at our club, I hope our supporters don't denegrate themselves by attempting such a stupid, pointless, and self defeating act. Our owners and administrators look like clowns and are the butt of much embarassment - lets hope Villa fans have a shred of integrity left.

Exactly. It's a fucking stupid suggestion.

This is exactly what we should be doing.En masse and peacefully.

Running onto another clubs pitch is not peaceful, it's idiotic.

Let him do it, he deserves everything he gets

[AlexAlexCropley]

Jeez, some pious outrage on here tonight

[gpbarr]

You are quite right TV that Lerner and Aston Villa FC will be required reading at the LSE in years to come.

What is so intriguing is that if asset strippers had bought the club off Doug Ellis we would probably be in better shape than we are today. Lerner has behaved like a man desperate to ruin himself.  Like a boy scout cutting off his own testicles so he can join the girl guides.

Or a management case study at HBS - Villa and Leicester - & about how one got it right and one got it all terribly wrong.