Ok, there’s nothing else to talk about with regards to the Villa, so I suppose we might as well go with the latest takeover rumour that has come from Neil Moxley at the Sunday People.
I’m quite surprised by this one to be honest, as Moxley is generally a decent reporter and his piece actually suggests that the American pair of billionaires have been having discussions for weeks.
How Moxley knows this, is beyond me, unless it’s been deliberately leaked to him; something that I can’t see having come from anyone on Villa’s side of the deal.
So the only other possibility is that it’s come from someone on the buying side’s party. Something that strikes me that Randy Lerner wouldn’t particularly like, as we all know he likes to do his business privately; something I actually really like about him.
So, to say I’m cynical about the whole thing is an understatement. But let’s go with it, eh?
Joshua Harris is apparently an ex wrestler with a very decent amount of poke behind him (around $2.7 billion), who went on to found an investment company, Apollo Global Management.
He has form, in having bought out an NBA and NHL franchise, for a combined $700 mill.
David Blitzer it seems, is more a pure money person, with a background in investments at the Blackstone group. I’m not seeing any sporting background on his part, other than he was involved with Harris, with at least one of the previous mentioned franchises.
Which is the part that makes all of this story a bit dubious to me.
Is buying a Premier league club a good investment?
I’d suggest not, especially with the money that’s involved these days.
I’ve seen arguments that we might be able to at least challenge for the top four with £75 million invested in the first team.
I’d suggest that’s total pie in the sky, myself, as we’d need quality, highly paid players all over the pitch, with expensive back-up sitting on their backsides on the bench.
And we all know what many think of that when MON tried it; a total waste of money, which has put the club in the position it’s in today.
It’s not specifically an opinion I agree with.
My opinion says that if you want to really challenge, you have to waste money in this way. It’s the way it is, as much as I dislike it.
So basically we need a fairy godmother, who’s willing to seriously splash the cash.
Which is why these American money people quite frankly scare me.
Randy Lerner was a bit of a one-off, in my opinion, in that he was born into money, so never really had to make it on his own. Hence, he was probably more willing to lose some money, knowing that he’d owned a Premier league club. More of a status thing, where the money was secondary, if you like.
I don’t see Harris and Blitzer having the same mindset at all.
And it could indeed be a case of Donner und Blitzen. Or loosely translated, Thunder and Lightning.
Thanks for your comment Eric, it was really useful, I don’t think.
If you have anything better to offer, feel free to offer it, where it’ll get posted.
Hmm, I’ll bet you don’t offer any opinion whatsover. But we’ll see.
There’s nothing happening, so what else would you like me to say?
Good post Badger ignore the other comment would love to see him do a better one on a shit news week. I agree that £75m isn’t enough for top 4 I’m thinking at least £150m with a good manager might give us a fair chance but no guarantees. Not sure about the rumours they are similar to the others someone reports it and it dies a death as quickly as it started.
This is the last time I’m going to say this;
If you’re going to come on here to just slate the site and it’s owners/writers, expect your posts to be deleted, simple.
If you actually want to provide reasoned arguments against what we’re saying, that’s fair enough and they will ALWAYS be left to stand, as we don’t profess to know everything or have all the solutions.
The site aims to talk about opinions about Aston Villa and that’s all.
And you ain’t offering any pal, so either talk about the club or quite simply do one.
Well said badger
I’m not slating anybody mate, i dis-agree with certain comments that you and the other joint owner write yet offer very little reason as to why you write it. for example oohahpaulmcgrath has wrote that Vlaar is a useless lump but because Holland have kept 2 clean sheets in 3 games he comes out with the crap that they have’nt won anything yet…..I didn’t or haven’t seen him write anything about Stoke not winning anything yet the bloke was creaming in his pants last season everytime he mentioned Shawcross.
I am more than happy to input reasoned arguments into debates that warrant them but as long as you have a joint owner, who other than talking complete and utter tosh that he can never justify then i can’t see how you can expect your posters to input reasoned arguments.
Just stick to the footy side of things and there won’t be a problem.
We aren’t here to agree, but your posts must talk about the footy arguments and not just how much you think we’re a pair of wankers.
There’s a difference mate 🙂
lol i don’t think you’re a pair of wankers at all.
ok lets talk about the football. Can you explain how our captain plays in 3 world cup games as a centre half. He helps that team keep 2 clean sheets yet is called a useless lump?
I’m struggling to understand that one.
No, I can’t, is the simple answer 🙂
I often disagree with Oohah over defenders, as my opinion says he expects any defender to be 100% perfect and never make mistakes.
My opinion say defenders, no matter how good, all make mistakes.
Yes, I think he’s totally wrong (and he knows it), but we call it a difference of opinion.
And that’s all 🙂
Exactly badger though I don’t expect a100% perfection. I agree that all centre halves make mistakes even kompany has dropped some clangers this season but vlaar and rest of our defence make more errors than most other teams defensively. The stats back that up as well as our goals against is usually one of the worst in prem.
But you don’t seem to take into account the crap M/F in front of them mate.
And the fact that we don’t have anything approaching a decent holding Mid?
My money says if you keep being battered, you’re going to concede eventually.
We all know the majority of the side are poor, which doesn’t help in relieving pressure on the defence.
We’ve done it nearly to death tbh.
True but that still dosnt account for vlaars unforced errors when he’s not under pressure.
Well said. We had a few games where the midfield actually played well, and I remember Oohah praising Vlaar over those couple games, because for once he had help. Hell Baker would look more comfortable if he had help, as would our fullbacks if they ever got the help. Fact is despite having everyone behind the ball, they don’t actually do anything but let Vlaar and Baker/Clark with Guzan do everything, even under little pressure, they’ve been under so much pressure they can make a poor mistake, it happens.
Thanks again Andrew second time Wev agreed this is worrying lol
Just because they’ve kept 2 clean sheets that isn’t necessarily down to vlaar though granted he played well v Spain. I didn’t see today’s game so can’t judge. I am going more by his performances for us plus his obligatory 2-3 months injury every winter. The season before last he was awful he was responsible for so many conceded goals it’s untrue. Don’t believe me? I suggest you get a DVD and watch it. Yes last season he improved and I have sung his praises if you can be bothered to look through last seasons threads. But after the Chelsea game he for some reason went back to type and was bloody awful again. Ok he’s done quite wellin wc but that maybe because it’s a slower pace which suits him more. I still don t think he can cope with the pace of the prem. Let’s see how he performs in the latter stages of wc when he’s up against the better teams.
Ian could always take shit. You guys are a little more sensitive!!!
Too be fair to Badger and Oohah, if this was actually true I’d never be able to post as I disagree with them just about every time, so in all honesty they allow for many different opinions as long as you’re willing to make an argument for what you believe.
Thank you Andrew someone with a brain at last. You disagree with 90% of what I say at least but in fact most posters do. If that logic applied I’d be banning everyone. People that disagree with us and our constructive like yourself will never be banned whether me or badger agree with your views is irrelevant. The only time we get narked are when people start having a go at us and name calling for no reason. No one has ever been banned just because they don’t agree with us.
IncogAVFC has tweeted that he’ll have news regarding the takeover tonight, once he makes sure it’s all legitimate first.. fingers crossed.
Should be interesting. Btw who is incogavfc iv seen him mentioned but don’t know who he is. Is he an itk and if so is he usually right?
He’s never claimed to be ITK but he’s been spot on a few times. Tweeted about Senderos hours before anyone else, even just a few days ago he said the Keane deal fell through, and now it’s emerged that is the case. So let’s see if he can keep that up.
Fair enough be interesting thanks
He’s just tweeted all this:
Joshua Harris is interested but this has come from them contacting BOA for further information. They weren’t put off by our finances etc. 1/2
BOA communicated this to Lerner , however Lerner has not spoken to anyone … Yet.
By anyone I’m referring to the Harris consortium.
BOA told a colleague of mine today that Arison, Harris and a middle eastern contact had all been in touch regarding accounts etc.
Thanks. It’s weird all these rumours are basically all the same all american billionaires orth between $2.5-3 billion. Don’t think it really matters they all seem much if a muchness to be honest. Would much rather have a Russian or Arab but looks like Lerner is only selling to his mates in us. Just think we will end up with Lerner Mark 2 but with a tad more money and a top ten – mid table ambition I’m afraid.
Wow what a goal USA. Play great stuff kinsman for villa please
Did you watch us against Ghana? Scored a goal and completely sat back until got scored on, only for a great corner to a young Brooks to get the winner, and then sat back/stuck it in the corner till it was over. No thank you to Klinsmann at Villa.
Not too mention the team went defensive 2-1 up against Portugal, he put on another CB instead of having the team try to get a 3rd to put the game away and got scored on.
That’s only because they have ball away cheaply at the end. They were knieve but these are a us rag tag of players v wirld class superstars bit like us drawing with Barcelona. They played done nice one touch football as well
Portugal aren’t at all better than the US, bar Ronaldo obviously. Not near the difference. Now it’ll be like Villa facing Barca when we go against Germany.
Lamberk it is then!! To be fair they played some good football in patches and well worth a draw
Played good football, but he’s not that good of a manager. His subs do tend to be spot on at least. We should look at someone else than him though.
Whats happening at Villa is nothing short of a CRIME.. would only be forgiveable if there was a takeover imminent..
Tha fact there isn’t shows that Lerner has been a truly AWFUL owner and proved me right every step of the way.. the man does not have a scooby on how to run a football club..
These two statements are nothing but a way to CON us fans into accepting that there will be NO money available and worse then average dross signed.. at a time when the Prem is mega cash rich.. teams like Hull are going for Dawson.. West Brom signings Lescott.. we are buying truly awful players…
The final nail in our coffin will be if Vlaar leaves..
Make no mistakes with the current status quo and PL in charge we are heading for the Championship..
…. and NO it is not negativity it is REALISM.. just like before the World Cup i said we would exit at the group stages and it has sadly bared fruit..
Agree it is a con what iv been saying for ages
As for Klinsmann.. wasn’t so sure before but would welcome him if we had a takoever.. think he would do well..
That Jones we were linked to on a free.. should’ve snapped him up.. way better then anyone we have in midfield..
yet another pointless article. in other news united states are better at playing football than england are villa are no closer to a sale than before and i’ve got a seriously itchy arse good day happy bloggers of pointless villa updates
3/3 for Vlaar and co and a clean sheet. Clearly he’s still a useless lump eh!!
Means nothing they’ve won nothing yet. Btw Spain did get one goal
So Vlaar does well, means nothing because they haven’t won. Fascinating.
He hasn’t done well he’s just got away with errors in past 2 games. Tbf I didn’t see today’s game so can’t comment. It might be that he is a better player at international level than club level as the prem is too fast for him whereas the pace of international football is slower so not under as much pressure as prem. It is possible as other players are opposite ie Rooney and Gerrard both decent club players but shit when they put an England shirt on
Could be, but then again he has far better midfield’s in front of him and the his defense actually tends to listen to him at International level. An error doesn’t mean you have a bad game, hell you can make 3 errors a game for Villa and he could still be our best player that game due to how much we defend.
oh by the way, i also don’t really see the point in commenting on fictional things, unlike other sites that provide facts that are worth commenting on this site somewhat lacks in that department. Thats not slating the site, if you are happy to run a site that lives in a fantasy world then thats your choice. Maybe thats why you’ve constantly struggled to generate much interest.
From what I saw of the Holland game tonight, Vlaar made a couple of poor headers, for instance, but the they still didn’t concede, which says more about the whole defence for example, imo.
Spot on badger he made a huge error v Australia and got away with it and made a few poor decisions in that game. The point is he is more error prone than most centre halves and like you say his heading isn’t great usually goes to an opponent. He got away with it tonight and Australia as they failed to take advantage and like u say other players got him out the shit whereas with us baker and Clarke are even worse than he is.
He also made a few good tackles and positioning is decent…..Forgetting to mention that tho as it would be positive, not what this site like…..Of course unless Villa win
Oohah, confusious he say, you can fool some of the people some of the time,but not all of the people all of the time. Your roll is to get people going, and you do, this site would not be interesting without your input, don’t lose it, just keep saying Vlaar is crap, I don’t believe you.:-) 🙂
Lol just for you bill. VLAAR IS CRAP!! 🙂
I thought he’s had a good WC or am I missing something???? Whats wrong with the post nowt wrong with it imo don’t know what all the fuss is about.
oohahpaulmcgrath is just chumming the water as Johnny Vaughan would say. keep up the good work oohahpaulmcgrath as being a villa fan is pretty shit at the moment. you make this site a little less dull than the average villa site so well done to you sir. keep up the good work .
Thankyou Domingo I do my best glad to be appreciated makes a change 🙂
I think you’ll find Andrew was agreeing with me, not you!
Roll on some news to comment on.
A mate told me Mellberg could come to the club as a possible player/coach. I think it’d be a great idea personally, we’ve missed the plot with Baker as he seems to have raw ability and has never had a coach to nurture it, Mellberg could.
Also Prandelli’s resigns from Italy, Villa fan. With Villa up in the air, possible? Be a great move too be honest, doubt it though.
You live in cloud cuckoo land mate!
Never once said I believe them, did I? Oi…
Badger wanted news to comment on, I brought up 2 different subjects.
Sender-dross has been dropped. Now there’s a shock. He played so well the other night. The way he went to volley that clearence and totally miss it was world class. Still there’s always Joke Cole to look forward to!!!
Lol agree disaster d ross is complete and utter shite. What is it with us and shite centre halves ffs. I like joe cole and would like him to do well and will probably be ok in flashes here and there but best days well behind him. Wev taken over as the retirement home for prem league dross the players the MLS don’t even want ffs!!
heard from very reliable source that Clarke is on the brink of signing for Blackpool. I can’t reveal the source but lets just say it’s come from an ex player who was huge in the 90s……I’m guessing he’s lost weight since then as apparently he’s not as big now-a-days.
Naming rights to Villa Park are being put forward as a benefit to buying Villa …
Thoughts?
The oracle has spoken
About time you understood that. 😉
No problem if we get a great winning team from it and compete for top honours. But if not forget it
it took me quite some time to realise that the key to the new interest in Arsenal and Man City was the naming rights to the new stadia. A couple of upstart airlines hoping to cash in on direct long haul with a change planes in the desert alternative. They have to base their appeal on price and superior service but they desperately needed to get a constant name-check on the airlines themselves. Job done.
Thinking of what American business is in a similar position, the nearest I came up with was a cruise line company. Hence the Carnival Owner’s interest makes sense. What do Donner and Blitzen sell?
I have to disagree with Badger it is not like changing the club name or the team colours. Those really do untold damage. However I agree it did not do the Ship of Fools any good when they tried changing St James’ Park. Perhaps the key is to build a new stadium with a new name.
I like Villa Park, but the surrounding area has changed for the worse. It might have been different if the immigrants had come from a football loving culture. They didn’t. So I would not be averse to seeing Villa move to a new Stadium in Brum where the locals are more interested in football.
Bollocks to naming rights.
It’s akin to changing our name.
And as for getting a great team and competing, I don’t see it’s done Newcastle many favours?
They can’t legally change our name at the moment, or City would’ve had their name changed already.
True, but they’re not getting a possible new owner.
Not too mention it’ll help with FFP (i know people think it’s a joke, but currently it’s not) and would give us a reasonable sponsorship. I’m not 100% for it, but I can see why a new owner would prefer it.
Fair point though I think ffp will not exist soon as city’s lawyers will tie them in knots for years. The penalty is only a huge fine and Europe dosnt apply to us anyway
Yes but 1-2 big transfer windows and we’re back in the European hunt. Parma already got rejected because of a few taxes not paid on a couple players they own, which their owner is now selling the club because he disagrees and they still told him no. That could happen to Villa.
How can we get rejected when city have broke the rules and are still in it?
It largely depends, there’s a few different consequences. Huge money fees all the way down to European ban. They weren’t allowed a license over their back payments so it’s a bit different, but it’s possible depending on how bad we are.
Exactly and of owners are that wealthy a 50m fine will mean fuck all plus we’d tie them in legal paperwork for years. This ffp is unfair it was bought in to stop clubs like us buying our way into the sky four. However initially that is the only way we can compete so basically it comes under an intent to create and maintain the current monopoly which is anti competitive. Remember we actually were one of the few teams not to agree to it either.
Depends as PSG are in an even worse position than City as Fifa have claimed their sponsorship deal is garbage and worth far too much, so in essence they themselves lowered it, so PSG could be screwed.
Plus few owners are going to be willing to pay a 50m fine, which I’d hate any Aston Villa owner to have to do to please a few.
Well like i say if it means obscene amounts of money spent fair enough if not they can stuff it.
We’re not gonna spend obscene amounts of money, nor should we, that would be ridiculous. We have to be financially stable, which City are planning on doing with a new stadium, 80k seats. We’re not gonna be able to be financially stable spending obscene amounts of money which would be as I said, ridiculous anyways.
It’s called speculating to accumulate Andrew. For the first few years we have to spend big or what’s the point. Once we get a better team we can easily extend stadium to another 15-20k which we would fill if successful. Once we start becoming a big player and have the nuts and boots in place then fair enough it will be about spending £30-50m a year to keep the squad fresh. Also we will get bigger money if we are in CL plus we can do a city and get one of their companies to sponser us for a stupid amount
30-50m a year after that? You realize few clubs, even top clubs, spend that much a year to keep the squad fresh, right? Well net spend anyways. That is however not happening with any possible owner.
Utd are about to sign shaw for 30 odd mill what u talking about Willis!!
I said few, no? United are gonna need to spend 150m to get back to their old ways, but the thing is, is they’ve been doing it for 20 years and have the financial backing to do it, even with rich owners we don’t. They can spend 150m no problem because their revenue is massive compared to ours.
Mate claims Incog claimed Harris and Blitzer have made their interest formal, and we won’t be bidding for anymore players. He claims that Incog says he got it from AVFC themselves.
I’ve been guessing on what the 2nd part could mean.
1. New owner, no new players.
2. No more players under Lerner, IE: Freebies
Hoping for the latter myself if this is true.
I’m not sure about these 2 I’m underwhelmed tbh they have had some success in past but arnt they responsible for recent unwanted records to. Yes we will have more money than under Lerner but like badger says we will probably end up selling our sole just to finish in top ten. Not good enough IMO
We’ll do better than top 10 under them. I kinda figure that being successful, they surround themselves with intelligent people, and I have little doubt they’ll do that at Villa as well. I do think it’ll take a little while before it really kicks in if they buy us, but I do think they’ll get more football related people at Villa Park than Faulkner for Lerner.
Possibly but unless were chsllanging for top 4 a to is pointless imo
We’re not gonna automatically challenge for a top 4, and I think we’re gonna have to get over that. Mid-table/top 10 is about what you need to realize is going to happen this season under new ownership, especially if Lambert stays.
Ok so if that’s case we may as well all hold back for 5 years until we have a team that can challenge top 4. Finishing mid table for the next few years is pointless for me really can’t be arsed. Il save my money until we get up there again. If that makes me fickle then I don’t give a shite a team like us Shoukd not be playing mid table football for next 5 years or might as well support stoke ffs
We’re not a team that “deserves” to be up there simply because of the name. We have to earn it like all other 19 teams every season.
But we arnt on a level playing field anymore so we have to spend big to compete
That’s true, but the way it’s going, no one coming in is going to spend big.
It’s not just spending big though, you need intelligence as a manager. We don’t have that.
International Football. At first glance you could say it must be better than Club Football, because the National team manager has a wider choice of players. However the evidence of my own eyes – I have watched all the world cup games so far – is that this isn’t so. This is a much better world cup than the South Africa event, but there is some really crap defending going on. Champions League football is much better. Having said that the world cup goalkeepers themselves have exceeded my expectations. The defending by outfield players has been poor, even allowing for the fact that one side has often had to risk everything to get a goal because the match score would lead to elimination, so the whole team has charged forward and been nailed on the break.
Coming to Vlaar for a moment – I think he has played at exactly the same standard he reaches for Villa. With Holland though he has a better three colleagues in the back four and a better game reading keeper behind him. AND most importantly he has a far more potent attack and midfield ahead of him. How good is Vlaar? The acid test will come if Holland encounter Germany or Colombia, then we will see.
Agree Oll let’s see what he’s like when they play a decent team. Yes Spain are decent but a shadow of there former selves.