MikeMcKenna

In the not to distant future, many of the Leavers will be able get jobs; gutting chickens, picking vegetables and shoveling shit... Good luck with that!

IMO Veretout is actually class player, who was rarely ever able to show it in a shit side. I predict he will be excellent in the Champs if we can bring in more quality.

Renewed my seats two weeks ago

Don't think the article says much that is new. Other than claiming Lerner still owns Cleveland Browns!?! Poor research by the journo! Lerner’s big score if Villa are promoted http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/lerners-big-score-if-villa-are-promoted-pv6wqlhll Randy Lerner, the American sports tycoon who is selling Aston Villa to one of China’s richest men, is in line for a payout worth tens of millions should the club bounce back to the Premier League. The deal is already shrouded in controversy due to how little is known about the buyer of the club, which has just been relegated to the Football League. Tony Xia is facing allegations that he has overstated the size of his Recon Group empire and exaggerated his academic record to claim a doctorate, something he denies. Sources close to Mr Xia say both allegations are entirely due to media mis-reporting and culture clashes. “He was taken surprise by real journalists,” said one football source. “Once they get him in front of people, he will be fine.” The takeover has been badged as a £65 million deal for Villa — once one of the top teams in Britain with a proud, if fading, history. The Times has learnt that the real price is £75 million, including debt, with further tens of millions to go to Mr Lerner — a 54 year old with a fortune of more than $1 billion who owns the Cleveland Browns, an American football club — assuming that Villa win promotion back to the Premier League. Mr Xia is in the unusual position of facing dual investigations into whether he is a fit and proper person to own a UK football club. The Premier League, in which Villa owns a “golden share” until it is formally relegated at the League’s annual meeting next month, is investigating alongside The Football League, which Villa will play in next year. This is the only time a big money takeover of a Premier League club has occurred while it was known that the team would be relegated, according to football fans in the City of London. “They were down when they signed the deal,” said one expert. Reports have suggested that Mr Xia’s conglomerate controls just one listed company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange — not five, as Aston Villa claimed. Sources say that Mr Xia controls the other four indirectly and is in the process of buying out the other parties involved. While the Premier League would not comment on its investigations into Mr Xia, football sources say they expect the deal to be nodded through within two to three weeks, a relatively speedy process that suggests few problems are expected. Mr Xia, a former student at Harvard University between 2001 and 2002 is said to have done an exchange at Oxford University where he visited one football match – to see Aston Villa. Sources say the Premier League has changed its approach to dealing with takeovers, delaying the start of its due diligence procedures. It is said to have grown tired of investigating the money men behind deals that never go through, and has not asked clubs to wait until takeovers are much closer before they begin their inquiries. “For every football deal that completes, there are 20 that don’t,” said one source.

Touche! But he is a bit of a one off though!

Probably do or at least their PR agent does, but would they tell the press that they will be buying a $3.5 billion business in X months?

You may well be right but "Billionaires" by the very nature of their wealth are rarely susceptible to media attention. They just get on with it.

Dave, If the story about £52 mill up front is correct, my recall was obviously wrong but imho somethings about this seem all wrong. Have you ever known someone go to so much trouble to persuade the press that he has the money and outline a deal in such detail? All he has to do is persuade the PL and League to pass the "fit and proper" tests. I cannot think of any other billionaire in the past who would show the Daily Mail a bank certificate and it feels like a parallel PR exercise. True "Billionaires" or indeed "Millionaires" do not need to prove themselves to the press and if anything the rich Chinese I have met avoid them like the plague and keep out of the spotlight as they are wary of upsetting the Communist party or bringing the country into disrepute. Dr Xia stated in the DM article that he "would rather keep a low profile". Employing Samuelson and meeting a DM journalist at his Beijing home suggest otherwise and almost as if he is trying to hard. Why did he need to bolster his perceived wealth by saying " that within months he will complete a $3.5bn takeover of a US logistics firm" My business concerns are nowhere near this scale but I have known plenty of very wealthy individuals over the years but have never known one or indeed a company who would show their hand like this. As for your question "Could you tell me, for example, the most prudent way to take money out of China?" I can only assume this is where Samuelson comes in somehow However the "cash" is probably not in China but possibly held in an escrow account somewhere in Europe. I doubt that Hollis would have only accepted a bank certificate from a Chinese bank as evidence but nothing would surprise me. If the guy has the money, is going to invest and helps Villa return the the PL, great, but I have never been one for believing all the initial spin and IMO questioning some of the detail and those involved is entirely reasonable. If anything accepting stuff on face value is not. As the saying goes "All that glitters is not gold" At the end of the day the fans have no influence and I only want what is best for the club. Whether Dr Xia takes over or not I will be at VP as usual next season.

If he passes the " fit and proper tests" it is obviously a done deal. From that point on the new owner will obviously be judged on his actions and whether the club makes progress. I support the club not those that own it. Given his past, if Samuelson is confirmed as a board member/chairman, I will still be wary of his intentions till proved otherwise.

Purely my opinion but it all seems so half cocked. Having said the above, I haven't yet seen any grounds for the league to deny other than possibly proof of funds. We have to assume that Hollis has this but according to one article, payment is being made in stages. I thought I read something about an initial payment of £40 million up front. If Tony Xia is a Billionaire or has access to Billions why the need for staged payment? I may be totally wrong but Tony Xia seems like a front man, with a weak back story, but I don't think for the Chinese government. In an interview he said something about not expecting so much publicity and I think he is surprised at the digging that has been done into his background. Over the years I have visited China many times on business and they are always very discreet and definitely like to keep a low profile. Somethings just don't add up. That Samuelson is involved is my main worry.

Obviously it is all opinion but I don't get think this is the case. The Chinese government for all their faults would be wary of involving someone like Samuelson given his reputation in the past particularly with Russia Oligarchs, money laundering investigations etc etc He is not very low profile. The Chinese like to keep things very discreet and this all seems to amateur for them to be involved. I just don't understand why there are so many inconsistencies. If Villa did due diligence many of these things could have been picked up easily. There in nothing in the Telegraph or FT articles that wasn't in the public domain. The deal may well go through as at the moment there is doesn't seem to be any 'fit and proper' grounds for denial but I will still be wary.

嗅觉是很主观的东西

No more moves. It is simply my opinion.

IMHO this deal is not going to happen.

The involvement of this guy Samuelson makes this whole deal stink IMO

AML searches for Chinese citizens are relatively meaningless.

I have had a lot of dealings with China and it is wrong to assume that "the Chinese government" is a single unified body. Whoever Dr.Tony Xia claims to be, his source of wealth, connections etc may not be as straightforward as many assume. Since the initial euphoria I have become more concerned by the day.

Is this a young Tony Xia

I welcome the new owner but until now couldn't understand the big Everton connection with Wyness and the rumoured signing RDM. However If it is "Chris" Samuelson that is the new CFO he tried to take over Everton in 2004 and has been involved in other football deals (possibly shady(, so it all adds up. Google him for other stories but here is one from 2012: Given some on the past stories about him should we be concerned? http://toffeeweb.com/season/11-12/news/20308.html Seven years after the proposed Fortress Sports Fund investment in Everton fell through, its proprietor, Chris Samuelson, is on the verge of brokering the takeover of an English club... ironically on behalf of Anton Zingarovich, another supposed investor in the Club trumpeted by Bill Kenwright but whose interest was denied almost as quickly as it had apparently developed. Samuelson facilitated Thames Sports Investment's 51% takeover of Reading FC on behalf of Zingarovich, the wealthy son of Russian paper magnate Boris, which is expected to be concluded shortly after Sir John Madejski agreed the sale this past weekend. The Geneva-based financier looked all set to purchase a 29.9% stake in Everton in December 2004 via the Brunei-based FSF, with Bill Kenwright promising at one point that the funds would be "in the club's bank account within 48 hours". The transaction was never completed, however, and, despite being pressed on the matter, no official explanation was ever provided by the Everton hierarchy. Former Communications Director, Ian Ross, is reputed to have admitted to a shareholder at an Annual General Meeting a couple of years ago, however, that the FSF had been a "means to an end" to force then director, Paul Gregg, off the Goodison Board. Whatever the reason, Samuelson was not prepared to provide it when asked today about his failed investment in Everton. "There was a very good reason why we withdrew from the transaction with Everton," Samuelson says. "I'm not going to go into it here. It's confidential between me and Bill Kenwright."

I don't give a damn about his nationality. I just hope that he is ambitious, prepared to invest and much more intelligent that then previous owner. The next few days/weeks/months will undoubtedly give us a good insight into how far he wants to take AVFC. To be the Chief Executive of a major Chinese corporation at such an early age plus ex Harvard and MIT tells us he is a very bright guy.

快樂天 Happy Days!

Sometimes we wonder if we don't know why we're living. We came to be, so we are. Everyone tells us We can be whatever we want. We wish they wouldn't because we want to be everything. But sometimes we feel that we are not supposed to be anything, there is no destiny, no will, no fate. And sometimes we wonder if we will be happy tomorrow. Everyone else has callings, dreams and goals. We think sometimes we were called to live in the moment, although so many times We are living for our future. And we want to get on with life but we don't like doing nothing either. We think it would be good if we were a philosophers or maybe mathematicians or even if we hated football because we could think about the things worth thinking about We could feel as if there is a point in trying to figure things out. But then we remember that we are waiting for our future. We'll probably die first. Not from an accident and not from suicide and not from poisoning and not from starvation and not from heart failure. But from boredom. Or more likely from contracting a rare disease caused by checking Villatalk every hour! Sometimes we feel like we are just waiting..... Waiting for a new Villa owner! :-) Based on a poem called 'Waiting for Godot'

Di Matteo would be good for me. To be odds on favourite 'out of the blue' - the bookies must have been given the nod by someone who knows him or via AVFC. IF he is the pick of a new owner/consortium things should now move quickly. Alternatively could it be a temporary role?

FWIW I was told on Saturday by a former player that he in turn had been told by a very senior member of the coaching staff that a group consisting of Irish & American businessmen visited the club last week. They were said to be part of either a Hedge Fund or Private Equity firm. Given the name of the "very senior member of the coaching staff" I would say this is kosher ITK. But for obvious reasons I don't want to name that person publicly.

Sorry again. I am now worried that I actually do have dementia! :-)