The Lerner years

[Nev]

Phil Mepham? Who he?

Wasn’t he a local news reported beforehand?

ITV Central sports editor I think although I may have inadvertently promoted him.

I was being facetious in all honesty. I recall him being appointed as our press officer and then vanishing from the face of the earth prompting the "who he?" thing that might have cropped up on here at the time.

[dave.woodhall]

Great read. Interesting that Lerner was only 44 when he became a billionaire from his fathers inheritance.
At the time i remember being full of optimism as Ellis was no longer going to be holding us back.
I wonder what would have been if Randy Lerner hadn't got a divorce.

I don't think - at least I was told by someone close to the scene- that the financial implications of the divorce affected him much. What did for him was the effect on his son and his new, Anglophobic, woman.

[PeterWithe]

One for the financial bods, if his family money was held in a trust, is his financial exposure from the divorce in any way protected?

[LeeB]

One for the financial bods, if his family money was held in a trust, is his financial exposure from the divorce in any way protected?

Asking for a friend?

[Risso]

One for the financial bods, if his family money was held in a trust, is his financial exposure from the divorce in any way protected?

To a certain extent yes. He was obviously entitled to his share of the money from the trust, and as his wife, she'd have been entitled to her share of that. Normally when it comes to people like that, they just thrash out a compromise. I don't think it was the divorce that did for him by itself, but it was one of a combination of things that didn't help, like the financial crisis.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

At the end of the Ellis era there was a story in the press that there had been a delegation or a letter of dissatisfaction signed by players sent to Ellis. Rumours were swirling about, Ellis instigated an investigation to get to the bottom of it. Thomas Sorenson was supposed to be a ringleader and issued a denial of any involvement. O'Leary who was probably behind stories was happy to go along with the rumours and essentially throw Sorenson under the bus.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/5188862.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/5196872.stm

[VillaTim]

There would almost certainly have been a pre-nup in place.

[Chico Hamilton III]

That first game under Lerner and O’Neill at the brand new Emirates stadium ( Mellberg scoring the first ever league goal at the stadium?) was a truly great day out. Mad to think of the “USA, USA” chants that were coming from the Villa fans.  Seems naive now but we were all desperate to move forward after years of treading water under Ellis.

 It’s the bitter experience of the Lerner years that has made me ultra cautious of all subsequent owners/CEO/Heads of Operations that have run our club since then.

[Mister E]

Thanks for the reminders of a long-distant time, Dave. I remember the Ellis-Out marches, the fans discontent and the immediate infusion of optimism as the O'Neill - Lerner 'project' revealed itself. I was at the Emirates on the opening day and the vibes were totally buzzing.
Now, the optimism is flowing again, and I sense that there is more substance to our belief that we are heading in the right direction: then, it was relief at Ellis's departure; now, we have a whole infrastructure aimed at success.

[Rigadon]

At the start of his custodianship, everything felt so optimistic and new.  The way it ended up, everything felt negative and old.  The bits in between were really good, if not genuinely great. 

[London Villan]

For the money he spent and the teams we had we should have won something. The two Wembely trips in 2010 would have been the best bet but the wheels were coming of by then...

[PeterWithe]

One for the financial bods, if his family money was held in a trust, is his financial exposure from the divorce in any way protected?

Asking for a friend?

She tells me 'Money isn't required for a rich life'. So she's spent it all.

[Monty]

Great read. Interesting that Lerner was only 44 when he became a billionaire from his fathers inheritance.
At the time i remember being full of optimism as Ellis was no longer going to be holding us back.
I wonder what would have been if Randy Lerner hadn't got a divorce.

I don't think - at least I was told by someone close to the scene- that the financial implications of the divorce affected him much. What did for him was the effect on his son and his new, Anglophobic, woman.

I don't think I know the story of the new squeeze being an England hater?

[Sexual Ealing]

Great read. Interesting that Lerner was only 44 when he became a billionaire from his fathers inheritance.
At the time i remember being full of optimism as Ellis was no longer going to be holding us back.
I wonder what would have been if Randy Lerner hadn't got a divorce.

I don't think - at least I was told by someone close to the scene- that the financial implications of the divorce affected him much. What did for him was the effect on his son and his new, Anglophobic, woman.

I don't think I know the story of the new squeeze being an England hater?

I've just been to Wickes. I don't blame her.

[eamonn]

This seems too recent in the past to revisit and too long ago to worry about. It was just another mediocre, false dawn.