Randy Lerner has made a rare interview for The Times and he talks about his vision for Aston Villa, a little update about interest in the club and what he will do should Aston Villa not sell by the end of the summer
“I have had interest from nearly every corner of the globe,” he said. “Germans, Italians, Americans and Chinese among others have expressed interest in and fondness for the Villa. The key of course is to try to put the club in custodial hands that can take the club forward – resources and competence and a willingness to immerse themselves in the local fabric.”“Last year at this time I had a plan A, which was to sell, and a plan B, which was to rethink the club’s business management, which led to the hiring of Tom Fox [as chief executive],” Lerner said. “This year plan A remains to find a buyer if on the cards or, plan B, find a new chairman.” – Rand Lerner
I pulled out the more interesting quotes and what Lerner said in his interview are all positive things. Firstly he is looking to sell the club and admits that the club could have been sold last summer. He also admits that he should’ve sold the club earlier to focus on his family and other business interest in the United States. But he will not sell the club to anyone, he wants to find a new owner that will put Aston Villa interest first and ensure that the club don’t suffer financial or have the same fate as Birmingham FC, Blackburn or Fulham. This is all very positive, it’s also good to hear that there is interest across the globe for Aston Villa.
Lerner will be at Wembley for the FA Cup and I think that would be a great farewell for Lerner’s period. Lerner has invested a lot of money in the hope of seeing Aston Villa play Champions League football, we were really close as well. But Martin O’Neil’s spending affected the financial balance of the club for a few years. However Villa have also made a League Cup final in 2010.
If you’re interested in reading the full article the link can be found here.
Apologises for the format, I’m not sure what went wrong. But the paragraphs aren’t showing the quotes aren’t looking the way I wanted it to look.
Nonetheless, it’s a positive interview that is worth reading.
Always knew he wanted to do best for Villa, he just didn’t know how, and now he’s figured out he can’t other than finding someone worthy of Villa so he’ll do his best to find that. Reading the article, I do wonder how long he’s giving this sell/find new chairman idea. I’d guess by August maybe? Mid-July if we win the FA Cup? Will he put in funds until he finds someone? Still the unanswered questions.
he can say what he wants . unless we get a new owner our beloved club will be run on a shoestring . now the tv money has gone up he is thinking maybe its worth staying and leeching this instead of selling. why sell for £200 m when you can stay and make a nice amount year after year and then sell for a fat profit a few years down the line. the man comes from a banking family and the one thing bankers know is how to make money . as long as we stay within budget and stay in the prem he will make money . as a long term investment its not a bad idea. sorry i have no trust in this man to do the right thing for our club he is just here for the money now.
…a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as they say…
I understand the desire of fans to see a new sugar daddy/ football genius owner come in, I understand and share the criticisms of poor managerial appointments lack of big money spending.
What I don’t understand is comments like this?
He is in it for he money, he is leeching of the club, he plans to turn villa in to a cash cow?
Our beloved club is run on shoe string?
1)Firstly, please provide any shred of evidence in any form that Lerner has made money from buying and Aston villa?
Every publicized account points in the opposite direction.
2)He will leech off the club?
Despite no history of doing this, he has put the club up for sale, publicly? Ie his plans are to sell Aston villa.
3) on a shoe string you say?
How much have we spent on average each year under Lerner?
If the sort of spending villa make is a shoe string budget, how unhappy are Everton, Southampton, Swansea right now?
How much did QPR and Hull spend this season
I think you are equating frugality and balancing books with detrimental under investment.
You are also forgetting cause and effect and the long term consequences of spending big.
Given how much we spent from 2006 to 2012 – and the debts incurred, and the level of spending required to compete with other clubs challenging near the top with their revenue streams – what would you suggest we spend and how would you suggest we pay it back?
We have had shite football decisions and reckless ineffective spending in the beginning followed by cost cutting and premier league survival
The accounts are looking healthy,
The club is still in the premiership
We have actually got a managerial appointment right for once. And the chairman is looking to step down and sell to new owners?
Oh we have also benefitted from massive investment off the pitch and much improved commercial performance
I understand the disappointment with the football side of things and share them
I don’t understand the doom and gloom And rhetoric about the non footballing side
A well structured argument and I’m inclined to agree for most part Colonius. I don’t think that Lerner will make a huge amount on the sale but I’m sure I read a guardian report that stated much of the money was in loans from the Lerner family and would need to be repaid. He waived the interest once but only because it would’ve resulted in us going under.
Where he has suffered, by his own admission, is his choice of ‘football’ people around him to advise. Paul Faulkner was a disaster and getting Tom fox on board was a massive step in the right direction.
We haven’t been good enough over the past four season, that’s beyond doubt but I’m very sceptical about the candidacy of the rumoured prospective new owners and as you mentioned in your post, we’ve not got to look far to see the clubs who opened the Dom Pom at their new owners, only to watch the bubbly turn sour as they have systematically destroyed the club. Randy Lerner has embraced the traditions of the club and hasn’t rebranded the stadium, tried to change our name or anything like that. There’s no guarantees that a new owner won’t do something silly.
I don’t think the phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’ could be used in any better context than those wishing a hasty exit for Mr Lerner.
since he bought us the tv money has only increased and this latest deal is huge compared to the last and if you listen to the experts the next tv deal will be for even more. so i can understand him having second thoughts about selling. who was responsible for the club going in dept to the tune it did. hmm let me think about that . the way you talk you think randy had no say on the spending or who was chosen to manage us . the mane problem was wages were allowed to go out of control but who sanctioned these deals. he bought the club for peanuts , overspent on silly transfers and silly wages and now wants to recoup every penny back threw his own mismanagement. and as Sir Earl Barrett said most of our dept is to him on which interest is being paid. i stand by what i have said .
Domingo….fully agree with you mate. Lerner as been disastrious for this club…..the sooner he leaves the better. Dont keep giving me bullshit about how he cares for the club. If he cared that much why as he put our club in danger of relegation 4 years running with ‘penny pinching’. The figures show that the Lambert net spend over 3 years was a paltry 39mil, just 13 mil more that Everton paid for Lukaku. He will just milk the TV money until he walks away with a big fat profit….and BTW, he appointed Faulkner, McLeish and Lambert……cheap, desperate appointments with the sole ambition of keeping us above 18th place. The man is a ‘penny pinching leech’. I’d take Ellis back in a heart beat. At least he didnt ruin us and had the balls to sack pathetic managers based on results and performances whilst Lerner watched the soul of our great club being ripped apart. We are ridiculed up and down the country as we move from one disaster to another. Will adequate funds be available in the summer if Lerner remains the owner?….I very much doubt it. Same next season…….Sherwood cant perform miracles with little or no backing! There is no excuse whatsoever for further pennypinching……the TV money has increased dramatically and adequate funding should be made available this summer and I am talking 40 mil plus the proceeds from the Benteke sale if it goes through!
Well said MATE & fully agreed.
Hey Langford.
lol again if he didn’t care for the club why would sign up for endless mostly unsupported fan abuse while make millions in losses year on year?
You say he doesn’t care because he didn’t invest enough into villa directly resulting in us fighting relegation.
That is child like oversimplification.
Tell QPR and Hull that they didn’t spend enough to stay up. tell Leicester newcastle they didn’t deserve to stay up as they didn’t spend as much as some clubs that went down!
For that matter Tell Bayern they didn’t spend enough to win the champions league , tell Man U they didn’t spend enough or Man city?
What is enough to stay up or win a title?
its not one factor or magic formula that makes a club successful
It is not just about spending, its when you spend .. what you spend it on and and then hope all the variables of human sport fall in your favour .. then you can start to worry about the 50% of the equation . what do you competitors spend .. when do they spend and who do they spend it on?
We were fortunate enough to have an owner who attempted to use his wealth in a brute force attack on spending to try and win or challenge towards the top. we were as unfortunate as the other 15 or so teams in the premier league and in every other league in so far as it didn’t work .. but not working is the norm ..
PSG, Man city, Man U chelsea PSG .. these are exceptions .. not the norm.
but hey .. all the above is just “penny pinching”
Lamberts net spend of 39m vs Lukaku transfer fee..
Is your car fast enough to fit 4 people … is it light enough to look blue .. how many colours can you smell? all of the above make as much sense as that comparison.
you need to compare exertions net spend with villas net spend over the same period of time using the same criteria
using the same site as I did to show villas net spend .. see below I do not vouch for the data but if you are going to do a comparison this is consistent and logical way to compare
http://www.transferleague.co.uk/everton/english-football-teams/everton-transfers
it stands at 58m in the prem league era .. vs Villas 166m
You are abosolutely right about the managerial appointments and I share that view but so does Lerner most likley ..
lets not also forget our take on the previous appointments . not many villa fans complained when we were challenging for 6th under O’neill .. when he left how many weeks was it before the banners came out for houllier to leave?
then he left the exact antithesis of holler was hired in mcleish
he was then fired on our advise after one season ..
then along comes lambert .. how many villa fans were singing his name at norwhich on the final day?
Just how in the fuck is Lerner or any football chairmen supposed to know who to appoint and what to spend to ensure success?
Lerner made mistakes .. he has openly admitted it in his interviews, he openly admits he is trying to find someone better to take over,
and he has done this while spending 100’s of millions while taking abuse from fans while standing over a huge loss to date
Thats not taking into account the respect he has shown to the clubs traditions and identity
the work with acorns, the investment in the stadium and BMH
Yueng, shinawatra, hulls chairman, fernadez of QPR, mike ashley, ffs, We could be a lot worse off and by no means is Lerner the worst
Ah the good ol days of Ellis .. how i love this argument .. does anyone remember the dismantling of a European cup winning team? just how much more did Ellis spend that Lerner has not? Who were all the successful managers that Ellis appointed and if they were so successful why aren’t they still here …? who fired them if they were that much better .. or who hired them if they were that pathetic?
He has made mistakes and he wants to leave. but as chairmen go there are worse .. and there is no magic formula to succeed short of a blind 1bn pound expenditure in the hope that the other big spenders don’t spend 1.1bn …
Hey Domingo,
I hear the fan hurt which i share but I don’t hear any solid argument to support the notion that Lerner is in this for the money and has profited from Villa and plans to use Villa as some sort of cash cow
Yes he was responsible for the spending, but can you tell me the exact formula that guarantees that you never overspend and always get the right players?
Can you also tell me what the correct wage should be paid and to whom?
The world of football wages and transfers is madness .. the two biggest factors are the sheer depth of your pockets and Luck ..
Scout all you want, players are human who may never fulfil potential, get injured or simply don’t want to play for the club.
So what is the argument here ? He is not spending enough now .. but he was spending too much before?
Or that Lerner should have only sanctioned the signing of players that are guaranteed to succeed?
He bought the club for 62m
He spent appx 350m
The net spend appx is in around 166M on transfers alone
http://www.transferleague.co.uk/aston-villa/english-football-teams/aston-villa-transfer
The loans you talk about? how much was that interest earned?
Do you honestly think that there is no opportunity cost to the money he invested in Villa?
Do you honestly think that billionaires make their money on tentative loans that can have their interest waived at any year – there are 100’s of higher yielding investments a billionaire can make – A football club is not a profitable venture
but all of that is moot, he converted those loans into equity 2013 … in Aston villa .. there is no interest now – only what the market price he can generate for selling.
Look at our accounts – look at the losses this is due to wages, running costs and investment off the pitch
I am always baffled when us Villa fans accuse Lerner of profiteering from us, when year on year there is black and white financial figures that supports the direct opposite
can you please show me in my posts were i have said he has made a profit. what im saying is with the tv deal getting bigger and bigger he sees a profit in the long run . and most of the figures you have quoted are expenses all clubs have to make but you have not brought up all the money that is incoming ie tv money , gate recipes , sponsorship deals. you have said it yourself he has spent £350m and jesus was most of that wasted on his mismanagement and bad decisions , why appoint faulkner a man who had no experience in football . randy admitted it himself he was never a villa fan he looked at a few clubs before he bought us . so why did he buy us . as an investment that got out of hand .
You state in your previous post and in your latest one that he intends to profit with the new deal!
what are you basing that on?
his ownership to date shows him make in a loss and is still under a loss!
so he has no form for trying to make a profit
he has also put the club up for sale how is that a plan to take profit over the next few years?
every club wastes money .. and wastes more
some clubs have spent much less and been far more successful
the point being is he has made mistakes just like the rest of clubs not in the top 4 or with trophies and yet still like some of those that have managed to win things .. they have just been able to waste more! and keep on spending
An investment that got out hand? show me the the club where the owner has bought them and turned a steady profit or return on investment!
bar man U who is that?
why do people think a football club is a venture to make money .. 99% of the time they lose millions upon millions do you not think a banking family would know this before they bought?
do you think they would sanction that kind of spending if they were purely in it for profit?
My interpretation of Lerner’s comments was that he has had “offers” for the club from people he doesn’t want to sell to. When Lerner bought the club, he did it with his own money, and invested more to try to build a successful club. Most prospective buyers are likely to be interested in making some money, rather than in any love for the club. They will probably need to borrow the money to buy it. That’s very likely to be the kind of owner we don’t want.
‘Over simplification’…..no, fact YES. Appointing good managers coupled with adequate funding does NOT result in 4 dire years and the threat of relegation playing absolute shite football = FACT. Moreover, if thats not a fact then he failed miserably again by not sacking them…but why would he whilst he can spend a paltry sum and finish higher than 18th and then rake in the TV money at the end of every season…..which he will no doubt continue to do IMO.
Fuck off Lerner, the Villa is OURS…Just fuck off!
ok rafa langford!
fact: appointing good managers does not result in dire 4 years and relegation ..
very much a simplification .. in other words don’t make mistakes appointing managers
iIf it was so simple to hire the right managers why are there not 20 premier league winners every season? if you think hiring the right manager is a straight forward and easy thing to do.
then it is a fact: you are oversimplifying
Do you think the best managers are all waiting around to manager Villa?
he still got it wrong .. but he did so trying to better the club .. I will share your view of his failings but .. where we differ is your interpretation of his motives or how bad he stacks up against other owner/ chairman
he lacked the football knowhow .. not the intent, desire, motive
and he wasn’t the worst chairmen if you look at everything that he has done for villa.
no argument from me that he failed to take Villa forward.
the point is he didn’t do it for profits –
he did get some things right, and he is not the worst chairman we could have had.
you realise the alternative to Lerner was Gillet and hicks? thats who the other serious bid was!
and yet again .. you say he rakes in the money .. but for the love of fuck can you read the accounts?
we have made loss after loss!
where is has made these mystical profits everyone keeps alluding to!
Fuck off Lerner? .. fuck off reason and reality more like
Colonius….I will make this even simpler for you…..try and keep up 🙂
4 seasons of shit football and the risk of relegation…..and the reasons for this are!
1. Appoint shit CEO coupled with shit managers. Dont sack them no matter how bad things get until things get really desperate. (i.e. When it looks look that we will finally get relegated, never mind lads, we got away with it 3 times and I am still pocketing the TV money)!
2. Inadequately fund shit managers who play shit football with shit players and get shit results!
And the common denominator is??……answers on a postcard to Colonius
It really is as simple as that…..or do you prefer to blame the tealady?
Which bit is difficult for you to understand?
Fuck off Lerner, the Villa is OURS
dont confuse being lapped with me trying to keep up with you Langford
To repeat myself, again, I share your opinion that Lerner has not advanced us, we are not better off football wise or trophy wise than when he took over (here is hoping we can add the fa cup mind, regardless of ownership)
what I am saying is ..if he has failed to win us trophies .. then he is no worse than the other 15 or so clubs to do so and he is still better than those that have been relegated or financially ruined now facing oblivion in the lower leagues. blackburn, blackpool, QPR etc or even that are the biggest joke of the premier league in terms of ownership – Newcastle
So no i don’t blame the tea lady or your mum or captain kirk for our failures as a club the last 4 seasons. I hold Lerner responsible but also, the managers he hired and the players and coaching staff too. I also hold us the fans responsible for our part in it too. I still cringe when i think of the Houllier out banners after 2 months. Of how bad Lambert turned out to be yet how loudly Villa fans – hard core away match attending Villa fans sang his name on the final day of the season against Norwich
but I will implore you to pull out the calculator if the numbers are still causing you problems
I am going to use some of those pesky numbers again now so settle in and scroll down slowly.
I give up trying find where or how you arrived at the millions Lerner has pocketed during the last 3 seasons – Badger believes the numbers have been twisted but if we are not willing to believe the official accounts or even assume the transfer fees and wages that we hear off are all made up or inflated -But even as a skeptic myself I put more faith in that then a theory or opinion that would mask millions in profit and replace it with 150m plus losses.
I have heard of enron etc .. but if they are hiding profits of that scale and fabrication losses of that scale then every other football club is at the same game .. some how the financial world and revenue systems are being cheated out of millions by the same people you claim are incapable of hiring a manager or knowing what good football looks like.
Lerner bought the club in 2006 thats 9 seasons! you see what i did there? I used maths
you state we had 4 shit seasons and Lerner is entirely to blame for that and he as a result is an awful chairman ..
so what about the other 5 seasons in charge? what about the 6th place finishes the European qualification etc ?
if he is entirely to blame for the failure of the last 4 seasons should he receive all the credit for any success in the other 5 seasons he was in charge?
IF as you speculate, we will be run on a shoe string budget during the new tv deal days to come, just, so he can pocket millions … then in the same vein of speculation. IF we win the FA Cup, will he not entirely deserve the credit in that black and white over simplified way you like look at things, as much as he deserves the blame over the last few years?
Have a childish pop at me in response I deserve it now after sinking to your level,You can have the last word on this debate between us.
Colonius81 i asked ” can you please show me in my posts were i have said he has made a profit ”
your reply ” You state in your previous post and in your latest one that he intends to profit with the new deal! ”
intends yes not that he has made a profit .
lol stop trying to put words in my mouth. and putting the club up for sale means nothing unless you go threw and sell. i stand by what i have said with the new and future tv deals he sees profit. i believe he bought villa as a vanity project his dad owned the browns and he randy was never into american football but went to a few football matches in england while studying at university and like it. so he bought himself a football club. if he sells at the end of the season for £200m that has been reported my thoughts on him will probably change but with these new tv deals if i was him i wouldn’t sell now.
Colonius81 you sure your not randy . i want you out mr lerner lol.
any chance of a few cup final tickets while your at it 🙂
tickets in the post domingo once the G5 touches down back in the US.
I am getting waylaid here with a million additional thoughts as i respond to both you and Langford.
my underlying theme is this, he didn’t succeed with villa but we are not worse off where we started. our tradition and image are intact, we have played shite football before under different owners and unfortunately we did so for multiple seasons under lerner. I think we are partially to blame for that mind in so far as we were so quick to reject houllier who did get us playing decent football in the end, that Lerner possibly felt well i am fucked no matter who I pick, why don’t i pick a manager that will grind us through the season so I can cut back on the spending. I don’t want it to happen again but all in all I feel there were worse chairmen,
take your pick from the last decade alone.
The argument that he will (not has already, as you right pointed out) profit will be something that he has not done before, which means its speculation. I prefer to wait and see before I assume the worst of him, you feel this is odds on what he will do based the riches on offer.
we both speculate really. whatever .. the club is for sale, and if its not, then we have at the very least an exciting manager(not proven yet but exciting none the less) and what appears to be a shrewd CEO to manage things in his stead.
‘We are no worse off’…..erm……4 relegation battles on the bounce. I have been a supporter since 1960 and I cant remember 4 worse consecutive seasons and that includes the 3rd division dayx.
Colonius….stop over complicating everything…..the table does not lie. I rarely, and I mean rarely agree with oohah but he is absolutely spot on when he says ‘Lerner is content to finish anywhere in the table apart from the bottom 3 whilst spending the bare minimum to achieve that objective’ . Will that change if Lerner remains at the helm?……I hope so, or my patience will have finally run out!
threw lol meant through
Luongo and Gladwin have just about signed for QPR.
agreed, I think midfield wise we aren’t that bad definitely numbers wise, quality wise well not the worst really.
With Gardner coming back I hope he finally gets a chance in an attacking team that gives him a free enough role to get forward and shoot from distance
Thats Sanchez, westwood, gardner,Herd, Cleverley? Sinclair, nzogbia, bacuna, grealish, delph, Gil, – in a 3 or 4 player midfield
probably fine, the way we play,
Where as our early season defending was actually really decent with Vlaar & senderos flanked by Hutton and cissoko not so sure our defenders are good enough for the high line or one on ones – dealing with space as we attack.
and obviously if Benteke goes, We will buy to replace him but we won’t replace him,
we will take a chance on an up and comer or buy of a lesser pedigree.
I would be open to the likes of Austin,
defence and attack depending on exits is where I think we need to spend
I think forget midfielders concentrate on the defense,I don’t believe we were ever interested in these players probably had a look at them & thought naaaahh.
Two Fullbacks and a CB if Senderos goes is what we need defensively. Still need at least an AM or a winger, depending on how Sherwood feels like playing. CM currently? Nah. Maybe 1 if we can find someone actually better than ours.
Or Randy wouldnt come up with the readies 🙂
Colonius, I quite admire your defence of Randy Lerner, fwiw.
But you really shouldn’t take accounts as gospel. They can be twisted to suit, as long as they add up overall, over a period that doesn’t have to be a year and there’s nothing illegal in doing so.
I believe the figures have been twisted, but you’ll no doubt disagree.
It doesn’t matter, as what Randy really wants will be demonstrated this summer, in how much money he spends if he’s still the owner (which I fully expect him to be).
We have at least an extra £30 mill in the pot, on top of what we were spending prior to the new deal.
If we say we were averaging £15 mill a season over the last few seasons (and that’s peanuts, when you consider we paid £9 mill for players donkey’s years ago, when money coming in was way less) it’s easy to see where Langford’s £40 mill comes from.
So Lerner could probably allow an all in spend of say, £70 mill without even putting his hand in his pocket, if Benteke is sold.
Will Lerner spend that? Not a hope in hell.
We’ll be lucky if half that figure gets spent, even if Benteke is sold at £30 mill.
So where will the rest be going?
I personally think one of the reasons Sherwood got the job was because he so strongly espouses up and coming British kids.
That’s all admirable stuff, but it’s also convenient in that it’s cheap, which I believe was the main priority.
And we’ve seen where cheap gets you.
If Lerner can’t get away from this thinking, the sooner he’s gone, the better for me.
Even a syndicate that’s only in it for the money would realise that you need to speculate, purely just so the crowds don’t plummet, as they have over the last few years.
As for your argument about the massive investment off the pitch, I’m afraid I’m not seeing how the club benefits from it.
You could shut the academy down tomorrow and apart from a couple of players (Cahill and Grealish maybe, over how long?), I doubt anyone would notice.
It might bring in a couple of million, but that’s about it. It contributes very little in the scheme of things, imo.
While I’ve always disagreed with you on Lerner, you’re right about the academy. On the field it’s done well for us, a fair few players have come through the academy playing for us now. However off the pitch it’s kind of useless. Bar Cahill we don’t get fees for them. Johnson went for 50k, Crowley got more than that for only because of his age and compensation. Off the pitch it’s kind of useless to us when producing players and selling them on. Maybe Weimann will change that once we sell him. But other than that… I mean.
You’re fully entitled to disagree over Lerner, Andrew.
It’s healthy, for one thing.
A question for you;
We were apparently breaking even last year, or thereabouts.
Assuming we spend similar money to last year, we should show a profit of around £30 mill.
Do you believe the accounts will show that next season ?
Why wouldn’t they show that? are you stating Villa hide revenue from hmrc?
What would be the point to showing inflated losses? especially if Villa is up for sale?
why would they should vastly improved financial reports with reduced losses year on year?
I know you don’t believe in the numbers Villa post, and I would understand that skepticism more readily in the face of FFP regulations .. but if the likes of PSG and Man city can’t hide it with the best accounts/legal teams in the world. I highly doubt Villa could get away with it.
Of course I do, of course depending on wage changes and such which people largely over look when arguing finances, because they seem to only think transfer fees go into it. Wages of everyone from directors, and such go into the accounts. Insinuating Villa are hiding funds? I think that’s an insult to Lerner and how he runs things. I’ve seen nothing to show me that Lerner’s cooking the books or hiding anything in the accounts.
it only really takes one wonder kid from the academy to fund it for a decade really.
Grealish could be that but too early to tell yet.
Gary gardner make or break season has come at last, I am confident he will deliver in a sherwood team if he stays fit,
as for the investment not showing? oh thats harsh not on the field, but weren’t parts of the stadium upgraded/ facelifted?
Does that not attract fans to come back or players to to sign?
does it not attract neutral events or games to be played there meaning revenue generation?
You don’t think the training facilities help develop players and attract senior and potential youth players as well help to keep players?
what about acorns investments?
The other thing is the marketing and merchandising in Asia, we apparently have a bit of a following now in the likes of Hong kong and guangzhou
thats a market that needs to be
That all adds up but Its possibly hard to put a value on it,
Colonius, from memory, the Academy costs £1.5M a year to run.
We haven’t produced a wonder kid in a decade and when we came close we gave him away, because he couldn’t get a start at the time.
In fairness, Grealish could be the one if he keeps progressing, but we need more than one in a decade and we’ll probably sell him anyway instead of him being part of a production line.
If our Academy is as good as it’s rated (no 1 last season, according to poxy KPIs), we ought to be knocking out a £10M kid every season.
Southampton seem to be able to do it?
Come on… Grealish isn’t going to leave, he’s too die hard of a Villa fan too.
We don’t give our kids any chance, only Houllier ever did, and now Sherwood. We could have produced a youngster every season if we had a manager who cared about youth.
Who’s been good enough, but has been held back?
I’m struggling to think of anyone at the club, Benteke and Delph apart, who’s worth £10M, let alone younger players.
As for Grealish, I’m really not so sure he’s as loyal as you suggest.
That sort of loyalty to one club is rare now.
Stevie G only stayed at Pool when Chelsea came in for him because some scouse gangster threatened to blow his legs off if he left. Allegedly.
As IV always said benteke has buy out clause and he’s off http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32925671
Was more tongue in cheek but unlike Southampton, we’ve never had a manager willing to give players a chance at a young age. So I couldn’t tell you who.
Agbonlahor, just to name one at Villa. I’ve never seen a youngster like Grealish get so excited about being at Villa and then up and wanna leave, I honestly don’t think we have any worries about keeping him.
Hahahaha Oohah when in the hell did you ever say he had a buyout clause?
Said it when he signed extension just put new post up
Don’t quite believe that but hey ho, not going back that far to look so I’ll take your word for it. It’s not done and dusted he’ll go. Can very well reject moves to leave if he wants.
Craig Gardner has played in the PL for many seasons, Steven Davies played for Glasgow Rangers, and now Southampton, Luke Moore played for Swansea, and now he plays in the MLS, of course Gary Cahill plays for Chelsea, Mark Albrighton plays for Leicester…
Sid Cowans, Gary Shaw, Nigel Spink all came through the youth ranks at Villa and won the European Cup.
Not sure why we feel that the academy doesn’t produce.
It usually produces for other teams not us.
Lerners a fucking tight fisted miser,I wish he’d leave the fucking sports industry alone he’s a fucking omen to whatever he touches.I’ll be glad when he does actually FUCK OFF.
Tbh I think we’re the jacksyist team in the premier at present how we’ve flirted with relegation for so long.
Sport Witness claims Genk have a 15% sell on clause for Benteke. That would be awful and means Villa will be asking huge money if true.
Price him out the market I say fuck this player power bollox I love clubs that stand their ground.
Interesting thing is, Benteke’s never said he wanted to leave, even his agent hasn’t said he’s looking to leave. Last time his agent’s talked, Benteke was staying.
hmm interesting assertion from the Guardian http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11636921/Christian-Benteke-has-32.5-million-buy-out-clause-as-Aston-Villa-fear-Liverpool-will-trigger-release.html
Sherwood’s confirmed there’s a buyout clause in Benteke’s contract after all. Media’s making up the figure of 32.5m. Sherwood basically said he doesn’t know how much it is claiming it’s probably 100m, either that or he obviously isn’t stupid enough to just announce it.
boom both posted that at exactly 10.53!
Haha. Kristof Terreu, all knowing of things Belgian, claims the buyout clause is 32.5m. So that probably is correct.
Terreur*
That’s a major concern 🙁
If Benteke does go, who are we going to get to replace him, even if we spend all the fee?
And please don’t suggest another couple of up and coming strikers.
We won’t get that lucky again for a good while and just for once, I want a like for like type replacement, not someone cheap and up and coming.
Someone who can can score similar to Benteke.
Jeez, it would seem our run of poor luck and judgement will come to bite us again.
Given the extra money in the game now, that £32.5M (if true) will look stupidly cheap if Benteke keeps performing for say, Chelsea or Arsenal.
Austin, Ba, Okazaki, Adriano, Eminike, Gignac, Alan, Roux, Gyan, Slimani. Just names off the top of my head, replacing Benteke will obviously be ridiculously hard, but any two of those would be very good in replacing him.
Any two still won’t be as good as Benteke on his own, imo.
I’ve always said Benteke will be a worldy, but this is just such a bad time for him to go as he’s our talisman.
With Pool, Man U, Arse and probably Chelsea interested, I struggle to see how we’ll keep him now 🙁
Let’s hope he’s sensible and listens to Sherwood, who’s apparently asking for one more year.
I see Man U are faves to sign some winger from Benfica.
Maybe the man to provide the ammo for Benteke?
I hope he stays at least one more season.
Pool I don’t think have a chance. United, Chelsea and Arsenal probably do. I hope he stays 1 more season, which gives him 1 year left and I don’t think it’d be stupid of Villa to then demand the buyout fee or at least 28-30m or let him go for free.
Any two of those will be though. Because relying on 1 player to score every game isn’t going to work for us anymore, especially if we want top 10. We need at least 1 striker if Benteke stays, let alone 2 if he goes. We can’t replace Benteke, there isn’t one player that can do it right now unless Sherwood finds an absolute gem that we can attract. It’s the way it is now.
“It’s not the right time for us to do them deals,” said Sherwood who appeared to indicate that Villa were in the market for more experienced players.
“I think it is a good move for both of them because it will give them the opportunity to play regularly.
“I know them very well because I spent a lot of time watching Swindon.
“It will be a chance for them to get promoted with QPR.”
On Gladwin and Luongo. And they were just two on an incredibly long list.
“said Sherwood who appeared to indicate that Villa were in the market for more experienced players.”
Good.
It means we might spend some realistic money.
Sadly, it’s beginning to look like it might be the Benteke proceeds 🙁
Or money Sherwood was promised, and then Benteke’s fee if he goes? Which seems more likely as Sherwood seems convinced Benteke’s staying and he knows he has money to spend this summer. Plus Benteke won’t be the only player sold.
In which case, I’ll go back to my earlier comment.
If we sell Benteke, there is no way we’ll spend the Benteke money and a decent wedge on top.
No way, imo.
£30M in Lerner’s sky rocket, you watch.
Disagree, I think with the books being far better and the possibility of still getting rid of deadwood, we’ll see more than 30m spent.
we can guess what we like but under lerners time at villa the fans are last to know,
does anyone think that sherwood took the villa job without knowing transfer kitty for summer sale or no sale,just cause a buyout clause doesn t mean we have to sell benteke,
and as some remarked earlier lerner is a curse on sports club run them in to ground villa should be a good deal for buyer one big club in city of what 4 million under mon we regularly got 40 thousand our average is down 5/6 thousand by 19 ,only live 11 matches down from about 20 more money lost ,lerner can make accounts look what ever he wants he bought from deadly for a song 60 odd million and instead getting football wisemen into run put in clowns
JVillan,
For clarity, if there is a buyout clause and the price is met, we do have to sell, as we’ll be in breach of contract if we refuse to let him go.
If that were to happen, his contract would be declared void and he’d walk for nothing.
There is its 32.5m http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/28/aston-villa-tim-sherwood-benteke-liverpool
badger
aresnal met suarez buyout clause
But Pool must have already had another offer matching the buyout price on the table.
Or at least received one shortly afterwards (it’s not obligatory to sell the second a club offers enough, (probably “reasonable period of time” or similar)).
If a club meets the buyout price, they’re obliged to sell.
But if more than one club meets the price, the club can decide who they sell to.