Fans Worried Over Villa Future

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I was at the AGM and managed to get a picture of the 4 VFC members walking out.
http://www.importimagesnewyork.com/catalog/images/detail/544.jpg

[gav]

Tony how is saying a 81 yo is not fit for the job agist, he isn't, no 81 would be.

F'ing ell, that statement, by it's globally sweeping presumption, IS ageist.

how can it be ageist Mac, retirement age is 65, every company I have worked for enforces the rule and why ?

because you need to renew your staff at that age people get less involved, less interested and more boring.

I asked for examples and was brought one name I had not heard off but just like you wouldn't want a 20 year old running Villa you also wouldn't want a 81 year old (for obviously different reasnons before anyone becomes smart arse !!)

Don't Asda or someone employ lots of people past retirement age and haven't we got a bit of a pensions crisis going on? How old are some of those people in the house of Lords, which is quite an important role. The age thing is just a personal issue.

That's a ridiculous statement.  You can't equate an old person working in checkout at Asda, or someone sitting pretty in the House of Lords with Doug and his role at Villa.  

It is not Doug's age that is the problem, but his business ideals and values.  The advent of the Premiership (whether its been good for football or not) saw the global push of English clubs to the fore.  Villa have failed shockingly at exploiting this and the blame should lie at the feet of teh Chairman because he runs Villa with an iron grip.  He hasn't made conditions at Villa conducive for new innovative merchandising ideas - instead he appoints yes men.  THis has led to us having a poor international image and little support, despite consistent finishes in the top half of the table.

[Laughing Gravity]

When John Gregory joined Derby he said he was now happy working for a board that let him manage without interference.

If anyone tells me that over the years Doug has resisted offering his footballing expertise to his managers on team matters then I will say they are deluded.

"For Doug Ellis, by Doug Ellis, on behalf of Doug Ellis".

[Laughing Gravity]

It is not Doug's age that is the problem,

Correct. His problem is that he is a self-serving egotistical arse.

[gav]

People saying that Doug doesn't interfere in team selection are like people who believe OJ Simpson didn't kill his wife.  Sometimes you don't need irrefutible proof to know how someone works/thinks.  

DOug's problem at the Villa has been that he simply can't see anyother way of doing things than his way.  Its left us short of ideas in a business and commercial sense.  Its not that he's deliberately holding us back, nor is he the evil old man some people make him out to be, he is however too stubborn and entrenched in his own mind-set to be a good chairman in the Premier League era of football.

[gav]

It is not Doug's age that is the problem,

Correct. His problem is that he is a self-serving egotistical arse.

Doug is a self-serving, self-promoting egotistical man.  He does run Villa so that he can stay at the helm.  He'd love us to be top of the league because it would reflect well on him.  However, he doesn't want to take on board people or ideas that conflict with his own set in stone business beliefs - beliefs that don't really work well in the current corporate style of football.

[Chris Smith]

There is an issue with Doug's age. To put it bluntly a man of 81 is more likely to die suddenly than a man of 50 and there is no evidence of a proper succession plan being in place should this happen.

[themossman]

The other problem with doug (and I know this is based around a horrible marketing driven idea of football but you'd be naive to think it isn't significant) is that he's terrible for our brand value. Which affects turnover and our ability to attract players. With him pulling all the strings, and insisting that he remaing in the spotlight all the time, our image has become synonymous with an ancient, ill, tightwad. If he was content to sit in the background and let dol be the figurehead (as is the case at most clubs) then I suspect we would have far fewer problems attracting big signings. As he's not capable of doing that, even in his current state, we need someone/s who will.

[Laughing Gravity]

If he was content to sit in the background and let dol be the figurehead

Chelsea excepted, I have little or no idea who the Chairman/CEO is of any other football team. But I know nearly everyone knows Doug is Chairman of Aston Villa.

[Mac]

Not thinking to hard then?

Shepherd, Kenright, Glazer.  These names not ring a bell?

[dave.woodhall]

People saying that Doug doesn't interfere in team selection are like people who believe OJ Simpson didn't kill his wife.  Sometimes you don't need irrefutible proof to know how someone works/thinks.  

My irrefutable proof is interviews with each manager, all of whom said that Doug didn't interfere in team selection. What's yours?

[themossman]

Not thinking to hard then?

Shepherd, Kenright, Glazer.  These names not ring a bell?

Add in lowe and gold and take away the ones whose names we only know
because they took over in controversial circumstances or are billionaires and what links them? All wankers who have their own egotistical agenda for getting their name in the press. The best chairmen are the ones who put up the money and delegate the decision making to experts and because of this you rarely hear about them. If doug was a genuine football expert i wouldn't mind him poking around in the workings of the club. But he's not, which is painfully obvious to everyone but him.

[Laughing Gravity]

What manager is going to admit to being weak?

John Gregory said Doug interferred.

Do you honestly believe Doug resisted this temptation?

[peter w]

I think this is one of those urban myths that grows and grows. Yeah, no doubt Doug wants to stick his oar in when it comes to buying and selling players more than he should. IMO. But no manager would allow any chairman to interfere in picking the team. Its how Doug has not allowed them to take Villa to the next level that irks them all. No manager in my recollection has been told that player A must play rather than player B.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

People saying that Doug doesn't interfere in team selection are like people who believe OJ Simpson didn't kill his wife.  Sometimes you don't need irrefutible proof to know how someone works/thinks.  

My irrefutable proof is interviews with each manager, all of whom said that Doug didn't interfere in team selection. What's yours?

Whatever the pros and many, many cons of Herbert's leadership, I flatly refuse to believe that he dictated team selection to previous managers.
That is just wild and uninformed speculation.