An open letter to Randy Lerner

Dear Mr.Lerner.

I almost feel ashamed to start my correspondence not with "I hope this letter finds you well" but rather "I hope this letter finds you in deep despair".

Because that is how we are all feeling as fans now. And, assuming you still are in any way bothered with this club, I certainly hope that you DO share the utter despair that each and every Villa fan is now feeling.

Maybe now you're understanding the sense of dread and frustration that the rest of us have been carrying for some considerable time. Maybe now you're starting to understand the terrible terrible mistakes that you've made. And maybe now you're starting to regret ever hearing the name Aston Villa.

Because we're certainly regretting you did, as well.

Under your guardianship, this club has been consistently mismanaged; from allowing Martin O'Neil to dictate the set-up of senior club officials and how your money should be spent (or, rather, considerably overspent) to the appointment of managers and coaches that in no way, shape or form fit with the history, traditions and ambition that this great club should have, through to your deplorable austerity measures that haven't so much "corrected" the financial imbalance of the club as suffocated it completely and utterly.

And let's not kid ourselves; this club is dead and drifting into that sea of once-great football clubs like a proud Viking warrior drifting to Valhalla aboard a flame-engulfed boat.

The difference is that there is no pride for us in watching this. There is only a feeling of gut-wrenching emptiness.

You have sat by and backed a manager who sucked any kind of enthusiasm out of this club, who seemingly managed to devolve a group of reasonably talented footballers into negative, aimless, clueless amateurs. And when opportunities presented themselves to part company with this manager, you failed to make the tough decision. You failed in your duty to recognise the utter incompetence of Paul Lambert despite his ongoing setting of unwanted and shameful records. I don't know whether to describe the act of giving him an extended contract as cowardly, naive or just plain mentally unstable.

I cannot assign any blame to the new manager; by the time you finally did what needed to be done it was far far too late. Tim Sherwood has inherited a side that isn't anywhere close to being a top-flight football team. Because to be a team in the English Premier League, you have to combine skill with athleticism; vision with power; determination with passion.

But at the moment, this Villa side cannot even complete the most basic tenants of football: pass, cross, shoot.

That is a result of not having the right coaching, the right management, the right encouragement. And not having it for such a long long time.

And the blame for that lies squarely on YOUR shoulders, sir.

I was going to finish my letter to you stating that I hope you find a buyer for this club soon so we can start searching, once again, for that bright future you promised. But I don't think it matters much now. I fear you are a day late and a dollar short.

And for that, we will all suffer.

Thanks a lot.

Troy.

I've got nothing to add to that. Well said Troy.

Yep.

very well said. stick a stamp on it

Can't disagree with a word of that. What utter depression and desperation. Well said though, you articulated what many are thinking. About time HE got a bit of flak.

If that useless prick of an owner has any remorse for how things have turned out he'll bankroll us in the championship & make sure we keep some/add some players to get us back up. 
He won't though bacause as previously said he's a PRICK!!!