MikeMcKenna

I am long past wanting some multi-Billionaire owner. Over the last few months I have come to the conclusion that they are all clearings in the woods who will always be self interested and only treat AVFC as extension of their already inflated egos. I just want some who truly LOVES AVFC. In fact I find it hard to stomach the way so many fans are willing to almost sell their souls for the want of some rich owner, irrespective of their background or morals, in the quest for honours. Sadly PL clubs are nothing more than pounds of flesh to be traded between rich wan-kers. I know all the arguments etc etc - this is just how I feel. Kind of see where you are coming from. Which is why I asked before would relegation be so bad? Having experienced it several times, relegation is always "bad" in the extreme and wouldn't recommend it. I am just saddened by the fact that our survival/success/destiny will always inevitably be in hands of some wealthy individual for no other reason than their self gratification. Before anyone piles in, I see little alternative and offer no other solutions - this is reality for PL football clubs. But if we are eventually purchased by some rich oligarch, Arab or American, I am not going to jump for joy.

I am long past wanting some multi-Billionaire owner. Over the last few months I have come to the conclusion that they are all clearings in the woods who will always be self interested and only treat AVFC as an extension of their already inflated egos. I just want someone who truly LOVES AVFC. In fact I find it hard to stomach the way so many fans are willing to almost sell their souls for the want of some rich owner, irrespective of their background or morals, in the quest for honours. Sadly PL clubs are nothing more than pounds of flesh to be traded between rich wan-kers. I know all the arguments etc etc - this is just how I feel.

OK, so the fact that everything has gone over to Merrill Lynch, suggest due diligence might be being carried out. I've sold two businesses before, and when we agreed a fee for the business, a data room (basically an online portal of information) was setup for the buyer to view all documentation about the company, accounts, all contracts etc. Prior to this, they only got a copy of the headline numbers. Now I am not saying I am an ITK, but having experience of selling a couple of companies, this is the usual process. Merrill lynch would not go to the hassle of getting everything sent across unless there was a buyer - you just wouldn't waste your time. Also, club secretary is in USA 'on work commitments', but who knows! Have to respectfully disagree. Likewise I have been involved in the sale of several businesses from UK to US and IMO it is not uncommon for an organisation such as Merrill Lynch to demand all the data; lock, stock and barrel. If anything for such a purchase they would expect to have all the numbers at hand so that they are in a position to answer queries from interest parties. There may well be serious interest, but it doesn't mean that a due diligence process is in progress. Like Harry my little bit of ITK is that the AVFC financial guys are doing a lot of running around but that there is no bid as yet. However, if there are interested parties and a bid is made, as RL is the 100% shareholder there is no reason why a deal cannot be done quickly, so as it is still only early June it is far too early to start panicking. Relatively speaking an organisation such as AVFC is nowhere near as complicated as many other businesses. When Lerner put in his bid to Ellis, Petchey and the other shareholders it was a much more complex situation and iirc Lerner didn't start negotiating till late June 2006 Lerner is basically a crap businessman who has bitten off more than he can chew, is embarrassed by his poor investment and will cut his losses rather than hang on for another season.

In Times now, "Roy Keane set for role with Villa...." Apparrently according to the article "he and Lambert are friends"

absolutely spot on. I'm tying to say we settle too easily for second best and don't search for a Diego Simone of our own like we did with Saunders and Barton. Sorry TRO totally disagree. I cannot see how you can claim we settle "for second best" Martinez turned us down and Lambert was the fans choice. As regards the distant past; as much as I respect Tony Barton's memory, it is ludicrous to use him as an example, he inherited Saunders team. He will always be a legend but few will claim he was an exceptional manager. As for Saunders. He was a relatively unknown quantity. At the time of his appointment, most fans were unimpressed and he was not perceived as "the best". Sorry but your argument doesn't make sense.

There is IMHO NO imminent buyer in the frame!!!! According to those that I think have a sense of the situation "There is NO imminent buyer in the frame!!!!" It may be "fun" to speculate and spout crap about this or that billionaire or another self proclaimed ITK or even whether the latest executive fancy boll o x jet to land at BHX is carrying our salvation, but for many it ****** isn't "fun". I have read comments over the last few weeks from individuals who seem more interested in claiming the "scoop" rather than admitting they know SFA. FFS give it a rest! Our club is in the shit and it's predicament has been turned into just another ****** online game.

On the contrary, I think it is no leap at all. Time and again he has shown poor judgement in terms of his "financial and business decision" making skills. That he was Chairman of MBNA because of his families shareholdings is not evidence of his personal business acumen. He was very much a figure head and not directly involved in the strategic decisions beyond ensuring that he and other major shareholder insiders like Krulak made a killing when it was sold to Bank of America.

These type of comments really do make my blood boil. Did Lerner choose the policy of buying younger inexperienced players? No he didn't because the Chief Executive has already stated that Lambert was given a budget and it was up to him how he spent that. He has brought in the region of 18 players the majority of whom being a miss rather than a hit. Did Lerner have any tactical input into choosing how we played over the past two seasons? I don't think Lambert would have stayed if that was the case so the answer to that question would also be no. Was it Lerner's idea to form the Bomb Squad thereby devaluing every player within it? Lerner wanted the outlay on wages to come down but did he advocate a no returns policy on those players? Certainly not. If reports are correct then Lerner has told Lambert to start using members of the Bomb Squad which Lambert has previously bombed out. Now we can blame Lerner for wanting out and not investing but should Lerner be blamed for not trying to use some of those players in the first place when budget constraints were tough? Lambert has got it so badly wrong in his two years here that he become nothing more than the puppet for the puppet master while awaiting his pay off and having to endure the ultimate embarrassment of his failed plan being ripped to pieces while also having one of those members of the bomb squad as a coach. Lerner must however take some of the blame for the choice of manager and in Lambert he has made the worst choice of all whose transfer policy, tactical awareness and choice of coaching staff has been the catalyst for this awful mess. The reality is that we do not know the answer to many of your questions, but it could as easily be argued that the "bomb squad", cheap young players etc were a direct result of Lerner's mismanagement of the club and and that there is another version of the possible truth: Lambert joins Villa on the understanding that he has a limited transfer budget and has to proportionately reduce the wage bill. He actually had no choice but to buy lots of lower priced players as the existing squad was a mess for many reasons. Lerner wanted the high wage earners off the books and as many clubs have done in the past these players were "encouraged" to leave by either loaning them out or dropping them from the squad and effectively putting them up for sale. Unfortunately for Lambert and Lerner nobody else wanted them (which speaks volumes) and their contracts meant there was sod all the club could do about it. Players such as Bent and Warnock had reputedly caused a lot of problems behind the scenes and Lambert rightly or wrongly felt they would hinder rather than help. I accept that it is extremely difficult to defend Lambert's tactics at times, but he had very little to work with and there have been glimpses that had he had more experience and quality in squad it may have all been very different. As you claim Lambert was only the puppet and Lerner was the puppet master! So ultimately he is responsible. Lerner imposed an austerity drive that went badly wrong and despite everything I would give Lambert another chance IF any new owner is prepared to invest. IF not it doesn't matter who the new manager is and I doubt many would risk their career as Lambert has done on a club that is not ambitious.

Levy employed Redknapp. And Levy isn't 'smart' Not footbal-smart, anyway. This is very true and he is much over rated. Villa's salvation is not in finding another Levy or even a DOF, but having an owner who is prepared to invest in both the right players, coaches, coaching network and team management. You can have the best CEO in the world and it will no difference if the squad are not good enough through lack of investment. If anything Levy is evidence of CEO who had plenty of money and spent it badly. Wenger has plenty of critics, but he has consistently through CL qualification proven that it is all about the team management, players and good investment. They may not have won the PL for years, but I would give my right arm for their record.

Such a waste of time comparing Ellis v Lerner. Ultimately both were ****** useless, in different ways, and unfortunately unless the next owner is prepared to invest they will be no different. After all the **** about some of the richest people in the world buying us, it is now becoming apparrent that there is no Knight in shining armour on route to save AVFC. The last two owners have basically balls up our great club and it is very difficult to see how we are going to avoid another season just fighting for survival. Ellis sold a club on it's knees to Lerner who in turn in just 8 years has brought us to our knees again!

Along with ignoring that other people fly in for business which has nothing to do with Villa.Exactly. Peoples desperation for there to be a mystery buyer is embarassing at times. I hope we find a buyer but seriously believing we have a buyer coz an american plane is in birmingham is lunatic material Who's believing it? Who is categorically saying Bob Rich 100% IS the buyer? It's just theories, speculation and guessing. If you don't like it then don't read it. How does someone know if they "don't like it" if they haven't read it? Unfortunately this thread is just filled with many people writing boring crap for the sake of it.

Agreed, what will be, will be! Apart from being up for sale and that PL is here for now, all this is pointless speculation. Unlike in 2006 where various bidders were talking to the fans behind the scenes, now we are all on the sidelines and very much in the dark.

“We modern human beings are looking at life, trying to make some sense of it; observing a 'reality' that often seems to be unfolding in a foreign tongue--only we've all been issued the wrong librettos. For a text, we're given the Bible. Or the Talmud or the Koran. We're given Time magazine, and Reader's Digest, daily papers, and the six o'clock news; we're given schoolbooks, sitcoms, and revisionist histories; we're given psychological counseling, cults, workshops, advertisements, sales pitches, and authoritative pronouncements by pundits, sold-out scientists, political activists, and heads of state. Unfortunately, none of these translations bears more than a faint resemblance to what is transpiring in the true theater of existence, and most of them are dangerously misleading. We're attempting to comprehend the spiraling intricacies of a magnificently complex tragicomedy with librettos that describe the barrom melodramas or kindergarten skits. And when's the last time you heard anybody bitch about it to the management?” ― Tom Robbins, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

Despite all the piss-takes, I wish someone at some Premier League club would have a go at a fans takeover. IMHO it isn't as far fetched as it seems. There would be a lot of goodwill and financial support from many quarters but it would take some very brave individuals to stick their heads above the parapet to lead any campaign! Football fans like the working class that most belong to, are too often quick to turn on their own. I remember the idea being floated during Ellis's time and it wouldn't have been impossible, but rather than listen many fans simply took the piss.

"Realistically" it makes no sense for Ellison or any other billionaire to buy AVFC or the vast majority of European football clubs. It has nothing to do with "realism". It is all about kudos, ego, biggest bollox etc etc etc A bit like most discussions on VT ;-)

A more organic growth was my point. But that's just the perfect way for me. I suppose there's many who just want it now. The MTV generation. Oaks, I think many, many of us would like to achieve success through organic growth and in many ways despise the way money has come to dominate the game. However, IMHO it is no longer possible to do it organically in what is supposed to be the most competitive league in the world. Like F1, premiership football is a big, big money sport and if an owner is ambitious and seeks success they have to invest if they don't they are just making up the numbers. For me it isn't about wanting it now, it is about being able to compete.

Naz, I cannot speak for others but I never "hated" him and up till before O'Neill's departure he was making all the right noises and had done some fantastic things for the club - that will be very much his legacy. But the appointment of McLeish who had just managed to get sha relegated was stupid beyond belief and felt like a direct snub to many fans. The subsequent farcical debates with Krulak made things worse and from that point on everything began to unravel. IF he had either directly or via Faulkner laid his cards on the table and explained what the new plan was a lot might have been more sympathetic - but we were either told nothing or fed more BS about "the project"

Lambert gets absolutely hammered, yet Lerner gets the thanks for pulling the plug on investment and putting us through three terrible years!

There may well be , but why "must" there "be parties involved" - when Ellis appointed Rothschilds they knew of interest but didn't have offers on the table and surely these guys are serving the same role?

Surely they would have cancelled it earlier if it was nothing. Seems strange to cancel it the same day Lerner releases his statement. Unlikely that the events management would cancel it earlier, as they didn't know about Lerner's announcement till today

It wasn't long. But I beleive the other consortuims didn't have the finance in place - so although you say there were a number of interested parties - they was really only Lerner with any clout. I fully expect the consortuims to start circling in the next few days - problem with them is they don't have the money - I think a couple of rival consortuims merged in the end.... Nicholas Padfield - Led a consorstuim (not credible Imo) last time. On the contrary, It was actually quite a long time. Ellis effectively put the business up for sale in May 2006 when he said: "..... if the right people come in and really want to take the club forward then I'll treat it very seriously." The first registered interest by other parties iirc was June 2006, Lerner didn't come into the frame till mid-late June/early July and only reached agreement with Ellis on 14th August. So it didn't happen very quickly at all. Not saying it won't this time and in theory it should be simpler as Lerner holds all the shares whereas back then Ellis only controlled around 40% (?)

A buyer is only a "buyer" when they have bought.

Probably find a better manager at a bazaar I find it bizarre that we should go to a bazaar seeing as we have spent the last two years buying in the bargain basement :-)

Agree! Actually I feel more sorry for shareholders of MBNA who were allegedly stitched up by certain individuals in positions of power at MBNA prior to it being sold the Bank of America. The little known scandal back in 2005-2007 led to Krulak, Lerner and others being charged with insider dealings. I don't know what the outcome was.

Yes, next person or group would suggest there is not yet a buyer. But, being optimistic, it might indicate that there are several persons or groups interested. Thinking about it, you are right it could mean that an individual or a "group" are interested but it was interesting that he made the point. It may be good if there is more that one bidder.