Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Rigadon]

From algy in the ground redevelopment thread:

This doesn't offer a huge amount new, but might be of interest:
https://archive.ph/vqGVG

Interview with Chris Heck in The Times.

An article that’s about as patronising as it gets.  I hope
Leon Bailey really can keep us in the top flight. 

[olaftab]

Thought it was interesting that they want to make the tunnel more intimidating for opposition players. It is all a bit too nice atm.

That must be why we've lost so many home matches this season...

Haha...was about to say exactly the same before I saw Risso's post.
It's all a load of bollocks. What intimidates opposition more than most things is quality players  sent out by a great tactician putting in the required effort, backed up by noisy fans. Rest  is just fluff.

[TopDeck113]

Was Ellis a "hard-nosed businessmen" or someone who was at the vanguard of new opportunities and then decided to live off the good living that provided rather than pushing on?   I think there's an argument that he did that both in the travel business and also when the Premier League riches came along.   

[pablo_picasso]

He's taking a cold-eyed unsentimental approach to his job, which is to drive up revenue from every potential source.

Remember that Deadly Doug got a lot of flak during his time in charge (some deserved, some less so) because he was a fairly hard-nosed businessman who kept an eye on the pennies. But in retrospect there's a recognition of the positive changes and improvements he brought about during his times at B6 6HE - remember where we were and what Villa Park was like when he took over in 1968?

I remember what we were like when he took over in 1982 and I remember how that "hard-nosed businessman" failed to take advantage of every opportunity that came our way from then on.

This is my overriding memory of Ellis too.

I don't see Heck taking the profits home in a personal capacity, like Ellis did, but I do see him with a small time short term "it'll do" mentality like Ellis had...

[olaftab]

Never mind Heck the hack is a twat.

Walking me down the players’ tunnel, he almost visibly cringes at the “friendly” feel of the corridor — which does somewhat resemble a council-run leisure centre.

[London Villan]

Time will obviously tell - but we've either pulled our horns in regarding spending and need to be more self-sufficient or we are pausing the plans because they are't big enough and long term (10 years) we are looking at a new stadium.

Based on the approach so far my guess would be option b.

[Risso]

Was Ellis a "hard-nosed businessmen" or someone who was at the vanguard of new opportunities and then decided to live off the good living that provided rather than pushing on?   I think there's an argument that he did that both in the travel business and also when the Premier League riches came along.   

Prior to the Premier League, top flight clubs were mostly owned by millionaire provincial UK businessmen. Ellis at Villa (travel agent), Swales at Man City (radio and hi fi), The Moores at Liverpool (pools, home shopping) etc. These old school type owners quickly got left behind, both in terms of finance and also business acumen. Our problem was that Doug held on too long, and then sold out to somebody with limited cash and even more limited football acumen, just as clubs started to get taken over by international billionaires and even whole states.

[pablo_picasso]

Never mind Heck the hack is a twat.

Walking me down the players’ tunnel, he almost visibly cringes at the “friendly” feel of the corridor — which does somewhat resemble a council-run leisure centre.

He is a Chelsea fan. Enough said...

[N'ZMAV]

heck of a tit

[dave.woodhall]

Was Ellis a "hard-nosed businessmen" or someone who was at the vanguard of new opportunities and then decided to live off the good living that provided rather than pushing on?   I think there's an argument that he did that both in the travel business and also when the Premier League riches came along.   

Without wishing to spend even more time going over old ground, that was pretty much the problem. Some clubs saw the opportunities the Premier League could provide and exploited them. Ellis just saw the cake getting bigger and was content to keep our share of it.

[PeterWithesShin]

No thanks.

He says that Villa, in the midst of a purple patch on the pitch, is filming its season behind the scenes in the hope of selling it on as a documentary series.

[N'ZMAV]

FFS, no thanks from me too.

[paul_e]

Why not? If it earns us a few million extra what's the problem with it?

[pablo_picasso]

Could you imagine it if we won the title, had that documentary purchased & then had it voiced over by Sir David Attenborough or Morgan Freeman? 😂

[Beard82]

I dont want a behind the scenes bollocks.

Could they just make it so we could, you know, buy beers at half time.