MikeMcKenna

Mike, it is nowhere near the level of Halesowen - as we are interested in maintaining its future at its current level there would be no gambling or ****** about with the core finances. It has a licensed bar and previously this reputedly did quite well but I don't yet know what this represented in monetary terms.

Hi Den i get seasick easily :-) and in fairness the only way we would get involved in anything is if we could run the business/money side.

Hi mate, I didn't know that. I have only ever been interested in AVFC up till now :-) I will have a look at Bashley's story, sound like they had a great ride - thanks. FWIW the club we are looking at isn't in Dorset.

Definitely Risso but we have been around the block a bit and would only do it, if we could afford to lose it! That said, good advice. If we take it any further we will want to look also at the numbers of clubs at similar level with a similar profile. As you will appreciate the viability of a very small club depends significantly on whether it is possible to generate off field money, local sponsorship and the small band of long term supporters.

I have no idea, this came about because someone who has a very long term and close connection with the club asked if we would ever consider such an idea. He said it may become available for a number of reasons. It has a bit of history and subject to its financial situation/debts etc it might be worth saving.

it has a bit more than players girlfriends but that is good advice about seeing if firstly we like the fans and if we proceed visa versa Funny you should mention the fines, i asked today how the various league administrators make their money and someone said "player registrations, club registrations etc" and then added sarcastically FINES are a very nice earner for them!!

Thanks Trent, you never know I might be in touch. However you wouldn't need to win the lottery to buy this lot. It isn't pocket money but I wouldn't want to make it sound like we are talking huge amounts. As always with these things there may be issues we don't yet know of, but it could be a bit of an adventure.

Mike I thought that too but then reflected and think it's actually people wanting a chance to cut out all bad at the club. There is something rotten at VP and BMH. Yes Randy is a huge problem but there is also something more than that. Sherwood's losers comment was pretty close for me. There is a mentality / culture at the club we need to get rid of. It's part of me saying the whole club is in a mess. I think the comments you reference are actually about people wanting to cut out this culture from the club completely and perhaps being a little over zealous in that. Maybe I am becoming an old cynic but I still find it strange. The arguments about KMac will fade and in my opinion he will remain at the club. If he does it will be reasonable to assume that neither Lerner nor Garde thought KMac was trying to "send a message" or working against the clubs interests.

This is not much more than a flight of fancy at the moment so please bear with me. My business partner and myself are dallying with the idea of buying a football club in the very low leagues - football league but a long way down is all I can say. As we get older we have discussed that there might be something we could do beyond our business which is increasingly managed by our team. We know that there is a possibility the club may become available but as yet we haven't made any approach. At this stage for obvious reasons I cannot say which club or where they are based. In the big schemes we are not talking about a lot of money and we are under no illusions about the clubs long term prospects nor do we have any big ambitions beyond preserving a little bit of the jigsaw that makes up the history of English football. There is definitely no profit to be made and it is likely, if we proceed, that we will have to put in relatively small amounts from time to time, but not money that would damage us personally. Beyond my support and association with AVFC, Former Villa players and experience with junior football, I have never had any connection with the lower leagues so I would be interested to hear from anyone who has and in fact anyone that has an opinion. My business partner was Chairman of a junior league club for five years that fielded seven teams up to aged 18 but my sense is that a football league club, despite its lowly position is a different proposition. As I have said it is only a flight of fancy at the moment and may not go any further. If we do I will share our story later. The first thing we have to decide, before we make an approach is whether it would be ultimately an enjoyable project and more importantly if we can help the club prosper from a very low base. So I have decided to seek some opinions far and wide.

wait, he called Tactics Tim for advice?? I believe so yes, though the fact is a little spurious as I might have read it on here! He didn't and in any case the context was about playing Tottenham, so given Sherwoods previosu there it is not so incredible. He said “I could (pick his brains) but you obviously have to look at what else we have here,” he said. We also have Tony Parks here plus young coaches Ben Petty and Stuart Taylor." Parks was also at Spurs. People are just making it up as they go along to serve their conspiracy theories.

Smacks of McCarthyism on here at the moment. The vitriol towards KMac is unbelievable which makes me wonder if others have an agenda and are settling scores in some way. Nothing would surprise me!

New entrance track? Invincible by AstonVilla en Francais!

Collins and Dunne were nearly as bad as Warnock

It surprises me how little stick Sanchez gets. He is a real liability at times and often just switches off. That he does good stuff is undeniable but others have been hammered for less. I accept what another poster says that it may be our formation/tactics don't suit him, but in the PL you cannot afford to switch off in your own half.

Maybe so but I doubt that he sees it as a win/win at all. If he is half the manager they claim he will desperate to make his mark. Villa could be his step up into the big time. Screw us up and he has little prospect of gaining a bigger job in the PL. However if he pulls it off and turns into a more progressive and successful club, the big boys may come knocking eventually.

Welcome Remi, he has a hell of job to do! In some areas we have choices such as midfield but working out the right combination that represents our best starting line up will be easier said than done. All of our midfielders to a lesser or greater degree have issues. Some are inconsistent, error prone, ineffective or simply not good enough at times such as; Westwood, Bacuna, Sanchez, Sinclair and Grealish. Others show great or some promise but are constantly in and out of the team such as Gana, Vertout. And our best midfielder Gill is often sidelined or introduced too late. Amongst this lot there must a playmaker somewhere. Gill seems to be the man but he can't do it alone and current Grealish has great potential but badly misses the likes of a Delph. Despite some terrible performances by the likes of Clarke and Lescott, considering the fact that we are bottom of the table, our defence overall has been better than other areas. We rarely get slaughtered any more but the likes of Richardson, Lescott and Clarke are clearly not PL standard. Hutton is solid on the right and although Amavi shows real promise, is great going forward, he needs to learn to defend and stop making errors. I believe that Richards and possibly Okore are our best current CB pairing but don't know Okore's fitness. The GK issue clearly needs resolving. Our ultimate problem is up front. Gabby other that as a late impact sub, is now finished as a starting PL striker. He cannot lead the line. Gestede will have his moments but he is not a PL quality striker. As for Ayew, I am not certain whether he is a striker or Attacking midfielder but he has shown real potential if we can work out the rest. Kozak - I have forgotten what he looks like - is he fit? But that is it. Probably the worst strikeforce options in the country, hence the main reason we are bottom. I don't think Remi Garde can save us without acquiring at least a striker and maybe a CB in January but by then it may be too late.

The article also states they may be back. I really hope not. Looking at there site, one of their partners Marc Mayor is a debt specialist: "Marc positioned bfinance as an innovative intermediary, creating new debt and investment vehicles. Marc built up bfinance in the UK, France, Germany, and the Nordics, resulting in a strongly profitable business with significant competitive advantage. "It (IM1872) is now believed to be seeking fresh funding in the hope of reviving its bid for Villa, which was put up for sale by Mr Lerner in May last year when the American tycoon announced he felt he could no longer do the job. Since then, Mr Lerner claims to have had interest from around the globe including from German, Italian, American and Chinese investors." My sense is that Lerner is now panicking that if we are relegated he will have to take a big hit or be prepared to wait another 3-4 years to sell.

I cannot see any mention of it here but according to an article in the Times this evening, Lerner has had a pop at Sherwood. If the interpretation is true correct obviously things must have been pretty bad. It's unheard of for Lerner to hang his dirty washing on the line. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/article4602728.ece Tim Sherwood blasted as Remi Garde arrives Randy Lerner levelled a thinly veiled dig at Tim Sherwood last night after the Aston Villa owner appointed Rémi Garde as manager on a three-and-a-half-year contract thought to be worth £2 million a season. Sherwood was understood to have been unhappy at some of the 13 signings made by the club’s transfer committee in the summer. He was thought to have wanted more proven top-flight players after the loss of Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph, who joined Liverpool and Manchester City, respectively. Lerner rejected that assessment and suggested that Sherwood was not capable of developing the players. “We recruited aggressively this past summer, and it is our responsibility to now harvest this talent rather than buckle under pressure and criticism — we are better than that,” he said. “Nobody at Villa can deny that we are way behind.” Sherwood had discussions about potential targets to strengthen the squad and had the final say on a player presented to him by the club’s head of recruitment. He did not veto any player, as he was entitled to do, although it was clear that he wanted Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend, the wingers, from Tottenham Hotspur, and Esteban Cambiasso, the midfielder, who had left Leicester City. Lerner said Garde, his sixth manager in just over five years, had already shown greater vision. “Rémi came with ideas, honesty, humour and a steely sense of what it will take for Aston Villa to be what it is meant to be — hard working, tireless, creative and unwilling to concede,” the owner said. Garde, the former Arsenal defender, has no experience of managing in England and has been out of the game for more than a year. He achieved success on a tight budget at Lyons, leading the club to finish fourth, third and fifth between 2011 and 2014 in Ligue 1. He also won the French Cup in 2012 and reached the Europa League quarter-finals. He stepped down in June 2014, saying he needed a break. Tom Fox, the Villa chief executive, said Garde related better to the club’s strategy than Sherwood. “Finding a manager who shares and believes in our vision, and has the ability to bring it to life through performances, is essential,” he said. “We are confident that Rémi is the manager who can deliver the best from the current squad and help set the club up for future success.” Garde was Arsène Wenger’s first signing at Arsenal and received his backing to take the Villa job. The 49-year-old Frenchman was at White Hart Lane last night to watch his players. “Obviously we have a difficult task in front of us, but I’m looking forward to the challenge with the support of everyone who loves Aston Villa,” he said.

Where did you get this from? It is quite incredible that people make up this crap. KMac was on a hiding to nothing tonight. If he had nicked a point in the 2nd many would have been singing his praises. He was asked to do a job against the odds, he isn't a good manager but who else was going to do It? Sid Cowans wouldn't have taken it on for any money. Maybe someone on VT could have done it - obviously plenty think they know better. For someone to claim he doesn't have the best interests of the club at heart and would effectively throw a game to make a point is an absolute joke.

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Frankly had he brought in Allardyce i would have questioned his judgement. We were a club going nowhere in the long term. Allardyce may have provided a quick fix but even that wasn't guaranteed as the 6-2 slaughter of S'Land yesterday suggests and we would have still have been "going nowhere" in my opinion. All the hype about Garde may be bollox but if he is as good as the likes of Wenger and Houllier believe, he could be the difference between AVFC being constantly fighting relegation or finally rising from the ashes and making progress I am very excited by our future with Garde arriving. I would not have been had Fox signed Allardyce. Fox seems to be trying to break the cycle of decline and time will now tell whether he can do it.

Off the field - absolutely. Explain ? Better structure and less dependent on the current manager, (expected) better financial results, better sponsor contracts, more decisive actions when it comes to getting rid of managers, signs of improving PR - from disastrous 19th century level to early 50s level. Well I still think he should acted quicker re Lambert and Sherwood. I thought our sponsorship deal was only comparable to what went before Better financial results - I would say thats almost totally down to the TV money PR - subjective - he hasn't said much since his false narrative fiasco With regard to Lambert it's very possible that there was a transitional phase where Lerner was still backing him and that it was Fox who persuaded him that he had to go. As regards Sherwood - it was 9 games in after the guy had been credited with saving us - can't see how he could have acted much quicker and even then he was obviously talking to Garde hence the speed of that deal. No idea how much the sponsorship will be worth, has it been announced? The results from his tenure have not yet been published What "false narrative fiasco"? Show me any club that publicly debates what they are going to do when they have problems with the manager. I agree that AVFC have been poor overall on the PR side for years, but I don't think that can be at Fox's door. If Garde succeeds in saving us and then starts to turn the club around it will be down to a large extent to Fox. If he doesn't, Fox will have failed and probably pay the price as Faulkner did.

Reference Almstadt, if he was good enough for Wenger, he is hopefully good enough for us and decided he wanted a step up. I know quite a few ex footballers who could pick their noses better than pick talented players. There is so much crap on here at times about "football knowledge". What does it mean exactly? The idea that Fox would purposely jeopardise his own job by employing "his pal" is rubbish. According to the BBC about Almstadt: "The 40-year-old previously worked at Arsenal with manager Arsene Wenger on areas including scouting, contracts, data analytics and the club's academy." We are a club that hasn't been run professionally for decades and we need more "experts" and to take a more technical approach. The game is increasingly scientific and less about gut "football" instincts. Sherwood had "football knowledge" but picked Gestede and Lescott. As regards Fox, I think he could be very good and is a professional CEO. He would have been doing very well at Arsenal and taking the Villa job was a big career risk. He acted quickly when it was obviously going tits up with Sherwood who I believe wasn't his first choice. I think he tried to get Garde back in January but Garde had given his word to his family to take a year off. Comments by Houllier suggest he has been talking to Garde for some time about Villa. Of course Fox and others may be very wrong about Garde and end up getting slaughtered for it, but sticking my neck I think it could be the best managerial appointment Villa have made for over 30 years. This is definitely a risky appointment but if it pays off we may end singing Fox's praises as well. After all it probably came about because of his "old pal" Arsene Wenger :-)

The obsession some have with slagging Westwood is boring. He isn't a great player, I accept that, but he isn't the reason we are playing so poorly at the moment. Tonight players such as Grealish and Sanchez were shocking, but the usual suspects focus on Westwood.

Huge task for Garde if he joins us. No idea where the goals are going to come from!