View Full Version : Billionaire Lerner to take over Aston Villa
Pangloss
14 Aug 2006, 03:12 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/4789693.stm
I don't know much about Lerner, but it says he is a billionaire. Could be very interesting.
dustcowpoke
14 Aug 2006, 10:43 AM
Aston Villa ^ Going up, new good manager in Martin O'Neil, new investment with possible new good signing.
Birmingham City v Down Down Down. Manager who is clueless. Owner who claims the club is profitable after relegation but has still sold best players. :(
Ladies and Gentleman. Aston Villa have re-established themselves as king of the Midlands.
nicephoras
14 Aug 2006, 12:18 PM
By default.
lanman
14 Aug 2006, 01:51 PM
Aston Villa ^ Going up, new good manager in Martin O'Neil, new investment with possible new good signing.
He's got about 2 and a half weeks to make the signings to improve a woeful Villa side, so I wouldn't bank on a major turnaround before the turn of the year at the earliest. Even then O'Neil's reputation seems to have somehow grown with every month he has been out of work and unless his outdated tactics have developed then he's not going to be some sort of miracle worker. I would be hugely surprised if they finish above 14th.
655321
14 Aug 2006, 02:28 PM
He's got about 2 and a half weeks to make the signings to improve a woeful Villa side, so I wouldn't bank on a major turnaround before the turn of the year at the earliest.
They won't do much this season for sure, but I expect to slowly see them rise out of the pits. This is nothing but good for them and the league.
dustcowpoke
14 Aug 2006, 02:45 PM
He's got about 2 and a half weeks to make the signings to improve a woeful Villa side, so I wouldn't bank on a major turnaround before the turn of the year at the earliest. Even then O'Neil's reputation seems to have somehow grown with every month he has been out of work and unless his outdated tactics have developed then he's not going to be some sort of miracle worker. I would be hugely surprised if they finish above 14th.
It's an improvement over relegation which was where this club was heading before the takeover and before MON.
I don't see them finishing above 12th either but that's better than relegation which is where the bookies had them.
I don't really see any big signings available for them either. SWP and Gallas want out of Chelsea but is Lerner going to fork out the extra $20 million it would cost to bring them in?
Beckham is going to be a sub at Madrid, so with him looking to find an England spot he would have to come back to the Prem.
sarabella
14 Aug 2006, 06:43 PM
They won't do much this season for sure, but I expect to slowly see them rise out of the pits. This is nothing but good for them and the league.
Do you really think it's good for the league? For me, the idea of another billionaire coming in and buying everything makes me less interested in the league, but maybe I'm not understanding something about this situation.
nicephoras
14 Aug 2006, 07:25 PM
Do you really think it's good for the league? For me, the idea of another billionaire coming in and buying everything makes me less interested in the league, but maybe I'm not understanding something about this situation.
It means.......more good players who'd otherwise be playing somewhere else are playing in the league and another team is more talented.
655321
14 Aug 2006, 07:40 PM
Do you really think it's good for the league? For me, the idea of another billionaire coming in and buying everything makes me less interested in the league, but maybe I'm not understanding something about this situation.
I definitely do. I know the initial reaction to an American sports guy getting in the English game is generally negative, which I totally understand, but something like that has to happen if you ever want to see a team outside of the big four winning the league.
I don't know much about this guy, but if he owns the Browns, then he's clearly not a Jerry Jones or George Steinbrenner type of egomaniac. The Browns have a pretty rough fanbase due to the working collar city they inhabit, but it's a solid club that cherishes it's tradition and history. I'd venture to say he appreciates that aspect of English Football, as well.
dustcowpoke
14 Aug 2006, 08:16 PM
Saw on Sky Sports News that in one of the papers Lerner has given "Martin O'Neil 50 million pounds to spend on dream team".
Sounds like bull...
Prenn
15 Aug 2006, 08:56 AM
I definitely do. I know the initial reaction to an American sports guy getting in the English game is generally negative, which I totally understand, but something like that has to happen if you ever want to see a team outside of the big four winning the league.
I've not seen anyone react negatively to the prospect of Lerner taking over at Villa.
dustcowpoke
15 Aug 2006, 09:03 AM
I've not seen anyone react negatively to the prospect of Lerner taking over at Villa.
Probably because he's better than Ellis. Anyone is an improvement over Ellis.
Prenn
15 Aug 2006, 09:09 AM
Probably because he's better than Ellis. Anyone is an improvement over Ellis.
That and he's not borrowed money to slam a profitable club half a billion in debt.
dustcowpoke
15 Aug 2006, 09:14 AM
That and he's not borrowed money to slam a profitable club half a billion in debt.
Sorry I'm confused. If Man United are in that much debt how can they pay 18.6 million for Carrick? And are Man United paying their debts off?
nicephoras
15 Aug 2006, 09:22 AM
Sorry I'm confused. If Man United are in that much debt how can they pay 18.6 million for Carrick? And are Man United paying their debts off?
Do you have any student loans? If you do, have you stopped paying for food?
nicephoras
15 Aug 2006, 09:23 AM
I've not seen anyone react negatively to the prospect of Lerner taking over at Villa.
Same here. While no one I know here overly cares about Villa to begin with, the newspapers have mostly been quiet about it.
FCSF
15 Aug 2006, 06:24 PM
Villa fans seem quite pleased to have Randy Lerner as the new owner. I found a couple of them over on a Cleaveland Browns board enquiring about Lerner and introducing themselves as Villa fans:
http://thebrownsboard.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/7246085224
They compared the team to a sleeping giant. Birmingham is well populated so I could see fans getting excited and coming out to support Villa now that Ellis is gone.
Sorry I'm confused. If Man United are in that much debt how can they pay 18.6 million for Carrick? And are Man United paying their debts off?
By taking on more debt?
PsychedelicCeltic
15 Aug 2006, 06:38 PM
I've not seen anyone react negatively to the prospect of Lerner taking over at Villa.
Doug Ellis can do that.
I'm not 100% sold on him, but I doubt he's a Glazer type, but I'm not sure he's a Robert Kraft type either (man who owns the Patriots, helped bring WC 94 to the US, helped found MLS, possible Liverpool investor). He's not had much previous interest in soccer, so he's really hard to read.
655321
15 Aug 2006, 06:40 PM
Sorry I'm confused. If Man United are in that much debt how can they pay 18.6 million for Carrick? And are Man United paying their debts off?
You can still spend money when you're in debt...you just have to slowly pay it off, granted that you're willing to pay the interest. Not unlike a credit card.