Tony's Tweets

[Clampy]

so he was at it then, in a sense, as he was the club's only shareholder?

He didn't take any of it out, if that's what you mean.

I will criticise Lerner for many, many things, and we will probably regret his ownership of the club for years to come, but one thing that you absolutely cannot accuse him of is using the club for personal enrichment.  Rarely has one man spent so much money, so very badly.  From memory, he took £7m out in the first year, but that came back in about 30 times over.  It's is fair to say that the Lerner family trust took one hell of a battering from Randy's time with us, as did the club of course.  A spectacular disaster all round.

Indeed. My favourite quote is that it would have been cheaper for him to hand over a £20 note to everyone who came through the turnstiles at every game played at Villa Park during his ownership.

Out of interest, how much did Randy's ownership cost him?

The exact figure varies according to who you talk to, but something approaching £200 million is generally reckoned to be not far off.

"A fool and his money......."

At least he put it into our club, even if it didnt work out.

"Didn't work out"!?

He took us out of The PL, after breaking nearly every unwanted record in Villa's near 150 year history!

I know he's not Doug Ellis, but do me a favour.

Of course it wasn't great but it' s done. He was very naive in running a football club. I don't hold a grudge though, it's happened..

[Richard E]

It's just ticked into September. We're writing off a lot of sides aren't we, including us it seems.

And on another thread, Glen Whelan. The lack of patience is staggering.

Yes, I think Whelan has generally done OK so far. I'm not sure what people were expecting, he was never going to be Iniesta.

[Damo70]

It's just ticked into September. We're writing off a lot of sides aren't we, including us it seems.

And on another thread, Glen Whelan. The lack of patience is staggering.

Years of relegation struggles, relegation, failure to bounce straight back up, poor managerial appointments, poor signings, best players leaving, poor attitude and discipline, musical chairs at senior employee level and an up an down start to this season unfortunately mean that patience is in very short supply.

Yes, I think Whelan has generally done OK so far. I'm not sure what people were expecting, he was never going to be Iniesta.

[paul_e]

and yet again it's not about being impatient, how patient should we be with a 33 year old who we got in purely to get us promotion this season?  If he was 21-22 and was here with half an eye on building a squad for the premier league then it would be different but what is the point of gonig for experienced players if wehave to wait months for that experience to show, and by that time we're out of the running for the automatic spots.

If you want patience then you build something, if you make short-term signings, with a short-term manager and a short-term playing style then people have every right to be annoyed if it's not working.

[lovejoy]

Iniestas legs have got a little slower probably last season at Barca. I bet if we signed him we'd moan.

[Clampy]

and yet again it's not about being impatient, how patient should we be with a 33 year old who we got in purely to get us promotion this season?

More patient than 5 games is my answer.

[Clampy]

Sir Graham brought in the likes of Steve Sims and Mark Lillis to help us get back up. They came in to do a job just like Bruce hopes Whelan will.

[Sexual Ealing]

Sir Graham got us up in the first season.

[tomd2103]

It's just ticked into September. We're writing off a lot of sides aren't we, including us it seems.

And on another thread, Glen Whelan. The lack of patience is staggering.

Yes, I think Whelan has generally done OK so far. I'm not sure what people were expecting, he was never going to be Iniesta.

Whelan will be fine if used in the right role.  Playing him in a midfield two and expecting him to cover a lot of the pitch is not the right role.

[Clampy]

Sir Graham got us up in the first season.

He had a full season. He didn't takeover a team in October with one win in it's first eleven.

[Clampy]

It's just ticked into September. We're writing off a lot of sides aren't we, including us it seems.

And on another thread, Glen Whelan. The lack of patience is staggering.

Yes, I think Whelan has generally done OK so far. I'm not sure what people were expecting, he was never going to be Iniesta.

Whelan will be fine if used in the right role.  Playing him in a midfield two and expecting him to cover a lot of the pitch is not the right role.

He does generally play behind Hourihane and Onomah. I don't think he's ever played in a midfield two really.

[saunders_heroes]

so he was at it then, in a sense, as he was the club's only shareholder?

He didn't take any of it out, if that's what you mean.

I will criticise Lerner for many, many things, and we will probably regret his ownership of the club for years to come, but one thing that you absolutely cannot accuse him of is using the club for personal enrichment.  Rarely has one man spent so much money, so very badly.  From memory, he took £7m out in the first year, but that came back in about 30 times over.  It's is fair to say that the Lerner family trust took one hell of a battering from Randy's time with us, as did the club of course.  A spectacular disaster all round.

Indeed. My favourite quote is that it would have been cheaper for him to hand over a £20 note to everyone who came through the turnstiles at every game played at Villa Park during his ownership.

Out of interest, how much did Randy's ownership cost him?

The exact figure varies according to who you talk to, but something approaching £200 million is generally reckoned to be not far off.

"A fool and his money......."

At least he put it into our club, even if it didnt work out.

"Didn't work out"!?

He took us out of The PL, after breaking nearly every unwanted record in Villa's near 150 year history!

I know he's not Doug Ellis, but do me a favour.

Of course it wasn't great but it' s done. He was very naive in running a football club. I don't hold a grudge though, it's happened..

Blimey, I'd love to know what would have to happen to our club for you to hold a grudge if what Lerner did to us didn't even register.

[Sexual Ealing]

Sir Graham got us up in the first season.

He had a full season. He didn't takeover a team in October with one win in it's first eleven.

That's true. Perhaps he'd only have got us into the top six in those circumstances. I doubt we'd have finished in the bottom half of division two.

[Clampy]

Sir Graham got us up in the first season.

He had a full season. He didn't takeover a team in October with one win in it's first eleven.

That's true. Perhaps he'd only have got us into the top six in those circumstances. I doubt we'd have finished in the bottom half of division two.

We'll never know we?

[saunders_heroes]

Sir Graham got us up in the first season.

He had a full season. He didn't takeover a team in October with one win in it's first eleven.

That's true. Perhaps he'd only have got us into the top six in those circumstances. I doubt we'd have finished in the bottom half of division two.

Well first off I think Taylor was a far better manager than Bruce and secondly the club (in '87) wasn't in as big a mess as we were this time last year.