AVFC Takeover Thread, Rumours, Gossip and Hearsay...all goes here

[Trotters]

As for linked players, we MIGHT just be lucky enough to be getting a bit of a blog piece from our very own in-house scout to give you a better idea how these links come about, etc.

We'll let you know if/when it's due out but should make for an intriguing read.

[Jamie Gray]

Last 48 hours have undoubtedly been a wee bit of an anti-climax, even when it became clear that we weren't going to get the announcements we hoped for. Doesn't mean there's reason for doom & gloom. Every one of us of course wants this resolved asap but I suppose that's just not the reality of multi multi million pound business deals. It'll happen, I'm sure, we just have to be a little patient. Easier said than done I know, I for one admit I was convinced this week would be when the takeover was announced, but alas it's not to be. When you step back as a club we are still moving in a positive direction. There is money to spend, we are being linked with a much higher quality of player than recent seasons & appointments such as Butch Wilkins are superb. Plus the biggest plus of all, there is no Paul Lambert in charge of the team. Things really aren't that bad IMO, I'm still really excited for the new season.

News such as Jimbop's certainly puts football in perspective too, what hugely mixed emotions you must be feeling mate. We all love the Villa, that's why we get so passionate about them, but it's just football at the end of the day. Hope you're ok pal

The problem with a takeover happening in due course (which of course it will) - is that it doesn't help us now. Why we all want a takeover is to give us funds to steer away from the relegation zone. Personally I tale little comfort from the fact the the takeover will happen, but these things take time - that time is when the damage is being done. Doomsday scenario - A takeover when we are adrift at the bottom - or even worse in the championship, is really little help at all.

For all the links and deals in place - weve only actually shelled out on sinclair, and thats covered by player sales.

In short a takeover that happens in time, might not be good enough. And lets be honest with ourselves most of us wanted by the time the season starts.

I agree entirely that we ant this resolving ASAP, no debating that. I've just seen enough in Tim to have faith that by the time it happens we'll be quite secure

[DelboyVilla]

Last 48 hours have undoubtedly been a wee bit of an anti-climax, even when it became clear that we weren't going to get the announcements we hoped for. Doesn't mean there's reason for doom & gloom. Every one of us of course wants this resolved asap but I suppose that's just not the reality of multi multi million pound business deals. It'll happen, I'm sure, we just have to be a little patient. Easier said than done I know, I for one admit I was convinced this week would be when the takeover was announced, but alas it's not to be. When you step back as a club we are still moving in a positive direction. There is money to spend, we are being linked with a much higher quality of player than recent seasons & appointments such as Butch Wilkins are superb. Plus the biggest plus of all, there is no Paul Lambert in charge of the team. Things really aren't that bad IMO, I'm still really excited for the new season.

News such as Jimbop's certainly puts football in perspective too, what hugely mixed emotions you must be feeling mate. We all love the Villa, that's why we get so passionate about them, but it's just football at the end of the day. Hope you're ok pal

The problem with a takeover happening in due course (which of course it will) - is that it doesn't help us now. Why we all want a takeover is to give us funds to steer away from the relegation zone. Personally I tale little comfort from the fact the the takeover will happen, but these things take time - that time is when the damage is being done. Doomsday scenario - A takeover when we are adrift at the bottom - or even worse in the championship, is really little help at all.

For all the links and deals in place - weve only actually shelled out on sinclair, and thats covered by player sales.

In short a takeover that happens in time, might not be good enough. And lets be honest with ourselves most of us wanted by the time the season starts.

I'd disagree with this one Smetro without any changes in staff we shouldn't be struggling this year because as TS has shown when our players apply themselves we are not relegation fodder and should never have been. All our problems were down to poor management. This year we have TF and TS in charge ably helped out by RW (this could be the best addition of the summer whoever we sign) we have got rid of the negativity at the club bred by PF and PL. Sinclair and Richards are two quality additions and we are starting to remove the deadwood surrounding the squad and we haven't lost anyone yet who I didn't want gone.

So with the further additions of 2 or 3 real quality signings I think a comfortable mid table finish is on for the up coming season. You have to remember that Sherwood has not had this group together before without there being immense pressure on them and he can try new methods and really shape the team how he wants rather than having to decide which team will get us to safety fastest.

Let's see how things pan out just because we are not like the plop panic signing because the pressure to succeed is huge. I was never expecting a Man City type new owner and I wish Lerner was just a little more open with us regarding what's happening but it is what it is and so long as Sherwood is given some funds I am confident that we won't be wasting money on a large quantity of players and we will see a few quality additions instead.

[smetro]

Last 48 hours have undoubtedly been a wee bit of an anti-climax, even when it became clear that we weren't going to get the announcements we hoped for. Doesn't mean there's reason for doom & gloom. Every one of us of course wants this resolved asap but I suppose that's just not the reality of multi multi million pound business deals. It'll happen, I'm sure, we just have to be a little patient. Easier said than done I know, I for one admit I was convinced this week would be when the takeover was announced, but alas it's not to be. When you step back as a club we are still moving in a positive direction. There is money to spend, we are being linked with a much higher quality of player than recent seasons & appointments such as Butch Wilkins are superb. Plus the biggest plus of all, there is no Paul Lambert in charge of the team. Things really aren't that bad IMO, I'm still really excited for the new season.

News such as Jimbop's certainly puts football in perspective too, what hugely mixed emotions you must be feeling mate. We all love the Villa, that's why we get so passionate about them, but it's just football at the end of the day. Hope you're ok pal

The problem with a takeover happening in due course (which of course it will) - is that it doesn't help us now. Why we all want a takeover is to give us funds to steer away from the relegation zone. Personally I tale little comfort from the fact the the takeover will happen, but these things take time - that time is when the damage is being done. Doomsday scenario - A takeover when we are adrift at the bottom - or even worse in the championship, is really little help at all.

For all the links and deals in place - weve only actually shelled out on sinclair, and thats covered by player sales.

In short a takeover that happens in time, might not be good enough. And lets be honest with ourselves most of us wanted by the time the season starts.

I'd disagree with this one Smetro without any changes in staff we shouldn't be struggling this year because as TS has shown when our players apply themselves we are not relegation fodder and should never have been. All our problems were down to poor management. This year we have TF and TS in charge ably helped out by RW (this could be the best addition of the summer whoever we sign) we have got rid of the negativity at the club bred by PF and PL. Sinclair and Richards are two quality additions and we are starting to remove the deadwood surrounding the squad and we haven't lost anyone yet who I didn't want gone.

So with the further additions of 2 or 3 real quality signings I think a comfortable mid table finish is on for the up coming season. You have to remember that Sherwood has not had this group together before without there being immense pressure on them and he can try new methods and really shape the team how he wants rather than having to decide which team will get us to safety fastest.

Let's see how things pan out just because we are not like the plop panic signing because the pressure to succeed is huge. I was never expecting a Man City type new owner and I wish Lerner was just a little more open with us regarding what's happening but it is what it is and so long as Sherwood is given some funds I am confident that we won't be wasting money on a large quantity of players and we will see a few quality additions instead.

I will politley disagree. Im not sold on TS - and the current squad looks well short IMO. - But perhpa thats for another thread. (or even a new one .....)

[B62 Villa]

The squad fly to Portugal today with CB amongst them, it must be unsettling for TS though because he can't really plan for the future with him or set up his tactics around him, because it's likely he will leave later in the transfer window especially now Sterling is forcing liverpools hand. Without CB we have no-one who will score regularly, Kosak, Gabby and a couple of youngsters aren't going to cut it in this league. Even if CB does stay we need a Charlie Austin type, so we should be going all out to address our poor goal difference at both ends. I haven't seen enough from this squad/manager to show me we will be anything more than relegation candidates yet again, a view that is backed up by all the bookies. There is still time to sort it out but we have to work harder to attract players, even our latest signings agent has said we are a small team and his client can use us to progress onto bigger and better things, describing the league like the NBA of European football, ie great wages even at the bottom clubs

[ViewFromT2]

I'd disagree with this one Smetro without any changes in staff we shouldn't be struggling this year because as TS has shown when our players apply themselves we are not relegation fodder and should never have been. All our problems were down to poor management. This year we have TF and TS in charge ably helped out by RW (this could be the best addition of the summer whoever we sign) we have got rid of the negativity at the club bred by PF and PL. Sinclair and Richards are two quality additions and we are starting to remove the deadwood surrounding the squad and we haven't lost anyone yet who I didn't want gone.

So with the further additions of 2 or 3 real quality signings I think a comfortable mid table finish is on for the up coming season. You have to remember that Sherwood has not had this group together before without there being immense pressure on them and he can try new methods and really shape the team how he wants rather than having to decide which team will get us to safety fastest.

Let's see how things pan out just because we are not like the plop panic signing because the pressure to succeed is huge. I was never expecting a Man City type new owner and I wish Lerner was just a little more open with us regarding what's happening but it is what it is and so long as Sherwood is given some funds I am confident that we won't be wasting money on a large quantity of players and we will see a few quality additions instead.

Great post DelBoy...

Would it really be the end of the world if Lerner didn't sell, but Tom Fox had convinced him he wouldn't need to spend mega bucks to get us back up the table?
Let's suppose he agrees to put in £40-£50m to fix the damage of the last 4 years. £40m on top of what we already have catapults us into mid table, no prob.
I think £25-£30m per season after that is more than enough to keep moving us forward. At the same time bring through 1/2 players each season and hopefully they make the grade.

If Lerner remains as owner, the very minimum we should be looking at is competing with Southampton and Swansea. Those two clubs are the blueprint for us. Fox and Wijeratna will boost the revenue streams of the club, no doubt about it.

This is the first time since Lerner bought us that he has put a proper management structure in place at the club. In some respects, he's be a bloody idiot to sell up now....a little bit more cash now, not the £200m he gave the idiot when he first came in....just enough to get a Gueye, an Amavi, a Townsend...players of that ilk in all positions. A couple more years of gradual improvement in playing staff, coupled with rapid commercial growth and prize money gleaned from our improved league finishes and we could be challenging for europe and reaching cup finals regularly again.
The club would then be worth a lot more than £150m!!!!

[GodzoneVilla]

The squad fly to Portugal today with CB amongst them, it must be unsettling for TS though because he can't really plan for the future with him or set up his tactics around him, because it's likely he will leave later in the transfer window especially now Sterling is forcing liverpools hand. Without CB we have no-one who will score regularly, Kosak, Gabby and a couple of youngsters aren't going to cut it in this league. Even if CB does stay we need a Charlie Austin type, so we should be going all out to address our poor goal difference at both ends. I haven't seen enough from this squad/manager to show me we will be anything more than relegation candidates yet again, a view that is backed up by all the bookies. There is still time to sort it out but we have to work harder to attract players, even our latest signings agent has said we are a small team and his client can use us to progress onto bigger and better things, describing the league like the NBA of European football, ie great wages even at the bottom clubs

This pretty much sums up my feelings - while I like TS and I like RW - I am yet to see anything that fills me with joy in TF (granted a lot of his work is behind the scenes). Also lets bear in mind we hardly flew up the table under TS did we? Given resources I think he could do a good job. Unfortunately at the minute getting rid of the losers mentality involves shipping out players. I am sure I remember TS saying that he wanted transfer dealings done early, yet here we are with one free signing and a player signed after an agreement from the previous regime.

I have seen nothing at all this this off season to fill me with anything other than mild dissapointment. Yes RW is a great appointment, however pretty sure plenty of us said "Keano will be a great assistant" - 2015 is just deja vu of 2014 so far for me, with a more personable manager.

[smetro]

I'd disagree with this one Smetro without any changes in staff we shouldn't be struggling this year because as TS has shown when our players apply themselves we are not relegation fodder and should never have been. All our problems were down to poor management. This year we have TF and TS in charge ably helped out by RW (this could be the best addition of the summer whoever we sign) we have got rid of the negativity at the club bred by PF and PL. Sinclair and Richards are two quality additions and we are starting to remove the deadwood surrounding the squad and we haven't lost anyone yet who I didn't want gone.

So with the further additions of 2 or 3 real quality signings I think a comfortable mid table finish is on for the up coming season. You have to remember that Sherwood has not had this group together before without there being immense pressure on them and he can try new methods and really shape the team how he wants rather than having to decide which team will get us to safety fastest.

Let's see how things pan out just because we are not like the plop panic signing because the pressure to succeed is huge. I was never expecting a Man City type new owner and I wish Lerner was just a little more open with us regarding what's happening but it is what it is and so long as Sherwood is given some funds I am confident that we won't be wasting money on a large quantity of players and we will see a few quality additions instead.

Great post DelBoy...

Would it really be the end of the world In Lerner didn't sell, but Tom Fox had convinced him he wouldn't need to spend mega bucks to get us back up the table?
Let's suppose he agrees to put in £40-£50m to fix the damage of the last 4 years. £40m on top of what we already have catapults us into mid table, no prob.
I think £25-£30m per season after that is more than enough to keep moving us forward. At the same time bring through 1/2 players each season and hopefully they make the grade.

If Lerner remains as owner, the very minimum we should be looking at is competing with Southampton and Swansea. Those two clubs are the blueprint for us. Fox and Wijeratna will boost the revenue streams of the club, no doubt about it.

This is the first time since Lerner bought us that he has put a proper management structure in place at the club. In some respects, he's be a bloody idiot to sell up now....a little bit more cash now, not the £200m he gave the idiot when he first came in....just enough to get a Gueye, an Amavi, a Townsend...players of that ilk in all positions. A couple more years of gradual improvement in playing staff, coupled with rapid commercial growth and prize money gleaned from our improved league finishes and we could be challenging for europe and reaching cup finals regularly again.
The club would then be worth a lot more than £150m!!!!

If (and thats the key word here) - Lerner frees up the funds you suggest - that would a step in the right direction (quite a big one) - But like the takeover, it hasn't happened yet.
I know I am in a minority on this one - but Im not seeing what everyone else is in Tom Fox - perhaps his work will bear fruit in due course. But as someone previously posted - this summer so far is shapping up pretty much like the last one.

[B62 Villa]

Mark Bunn has signed for Villa on a free and will go on tour to Portugal. Not really the type of signing I'd expect to make if a takeover was close, this smacks of more austerity on the wage Bill. He is obviously Givens replacement on less wages, but isn't as good and won't push Guzan ( who is dodgy ) for his spot. It's a bit of a step down from Begovic and Heaton.This doesn't seem like the kind of signing we would make if we're about to get an influx of new money, from an owner wanting to put his own stamp on the club and take us forward.

[B62 Villa]

I can't see RL pumping £40/£50m in, even if we sell CB the evidence of the recent past shows not all the money will go to the manager, especially when you take out the initial £7m +'the 15% Genk receive + Randies cut of the profit. Without a takeover we are aiming for survival, we can't realistically catch the likes of Swansea, Saints, West Ham, Palace etc in mid table or above , we are in the third tier of the league, and only severe investment will move us forwards, because make no mistake this squad is bang average and 17th was about right last year. The likes of Newcastle will also be a different proposition with a new gaffer and a bit more stability/investment

[ViewFromT2]

Mark Bunn has signed for Villa on a free and will go on tour to Portugal. Not really the type of signing I'd expect to make if a takeover was close, this smacks of more austerity on the wage Bill. He is obviously Givens replacement on less wages, but isn't as good and won't push Guzan ( who is dodgy ) for his spot. It's a bit of a step down from Begovic and Heaton.This doesn't  seem like the kind of signing we would make if we're about to get an influx of new money, from an owner wanting to put his own stamp on the club and take us forward.

We've reduced the wage bill by £50k per week approximately. Tony Parkes knows Bunn well, and we wouldn't of brought him in if Parkes thought he was crap!
He looks a fine shot stopper, may not be a top drawer keeper but I will be far happier to see him start in goal if Guzan is out...than Jed Steer!!
Good business by villa, regardless of takeover/no takeover.
Liverpool signed Bogdan as back up keeper...and they've got plenty of money to spend!

[Gordonsleftboot]

Mark Bunn has signed for Villa on a free and will go on tour to Portugal. Not really the type of signing I'd expect to make if a takeover was close, this smacks of more austerity on the wage Bill. He is obviously Givens replacement on less wages, but isn't as good and won't push Guzan ( who is dodgy ) for his spot. It's a bit of a step down from Begovic and Heaton.This doesn't  seem like the kind of signing we would make if we're about to get an influx of new money, from an owner wanting to put his own stamp on the club and take us forward.

Sorry, I think you're missing a point. Bunn is clearly a back up and he used to be a good keeper. No idea what happened over the past couple of years but Tony Parkes does and he has clearly agreed to this move. Bunn for Given makes sense to me - Given was not that safe anymore and Bunn I assume is much cheaper! Any squad needs stars and 'ordinary' players who do the graft. Not all great signings cost mega bucks. Its how the squad gells that's important. One of the signings that made the European Cup team what it was was Des Bremner - £200,000 from memory. Welcome Mark Bunn - and good luck!

[B62 Villa]

I've no problem with given leaving a freeing up wages, but after the keepers originally linked this is a huge disappointment, Begovic with Guzan backing him up rather than having 3 keepers on the books, none of which fill me with confidence as a No1.

[Gordonsleftboot]

Does anyone else remember a quote from somethere that Randy had promised TS £30m plus half of any fees earned this Summer?

[GodzoneVilla]

Nothing wrong with Bunn's signing in isolation if it's part of a bigger picture. Unfortunately we have been down this road before.

Tbh I expected more of Ian Taylor (not Collymore) Surely he would realise tweeting the things he did would get people's hopes up. For a club that has put it's fans through hell for the last 4 years, a respected ex pro should say stuff about exciting times ahead. It just makes people thing something's happening.

At least he should have the decency to qualify his statements - does he not have aspirations to be some sort of ambassador the club.

[Jamie Gray]

Bunn hasn't been signed to challenge whoever the starting keepers are, he's making up the numbers & will know that. He's an Andy Marshall type signing, nothing to fret about

[B62 Villa]

I hope he proves me wrong I really do, but we need an influx of players that will improve the starting 11, not more padding out. Guzan isn't good enough to be our No1 GK, and now when he has his wobble we only have two keepers that couldn't make it into the Norwich side, to challenge/push him. If Lambert would have done this we would all be screaming blue murder especially with the Canary connections. If we would have bought John Ruddy, no probs but that's just my opinion and I'm no GK

[Jamie Gray]

Bunn is clearly in to make up the numbers & he'll know this, no way is he here to challenge the 1st team keepers. He's an Andy Marshall type, no need to over analyse & panic

[Dions_Bald_Head]

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

:shock:

[Jamie Gray]

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

:shock:

Sorry, there's a glitch in the Matrix!! Can't fricking see how to delete them, bloody iPhones!!

[Jamie Gray]

I hope he proves me wrong I really do, but we need an influx of players that will improve the starting 11, not more padding out. Guzan isn't good enough to be our  No1 GK, and now when he has his wobble we only have two keepers that couldn't make it into the Norwich side, to challenge/push him. If Lambert would have done this we would all be screaming blue murder especially with the Canary connections. If we would have bought John Ruddy, no probs but that's just my opinion and I'm no GK

Players aren't signed in any sort of order of preference, you identify what u want & the simplest deals get done quickest. Simple as that, this is no way reflection at all of our transfer priorities or targets

[kimbo]

I was hitting a point of real negativity earlier this week thinking if nothing comes out of this meeting then it's likely we'll be stuck with Lerner for the forseable future.

However, having thought more on GM's post a few pages (or more?) back about the hold up possibly being more about the buyer's timing than any stuffing about from Lerner, I'm a little more optimistic.

This premise makes a lot more sense than any other - including "No Takeover" - as there are simply too many people with too many connections saying that things are about to change.

So who is out there that is (or has been) shuffling their position and/or finances? Arison and the selling off of the shares in his company? The Knight fella rumoured a few pages back who is repositioning himself within Nike? Who else?

Maybe there's a buyer who is handling a conflict-of-interest situation as they already own another club or other interests that would conflict with owning a premier league team? Or a conflict with our major sponsors?

And, once that's sorted, it's full steam ahead.

If that's the situation, then it would mean that the terms of the takeover have been agreed in principal, a pre-contract in place authorising the spending of money on players and the changes in staff contracts at Villa Park.

Then it'll come down to a question of how long would it take to sort out the situation that's stopping them from being the official owners. Another week? A month? Who knows? But if the above IS the case, then we've nothing to stress about as we have new owners in all but name and they're funding our survival/mid-table push....maybe an upper-mid-table push if transfer dealings start getting interesting!

Good points Trotters - however I have bolded this section - All we have links to players - one 9 million bid that is apparently being held up by work permit issues - which makes no sense as the lad is a regular international who has been playing france for a good few years.  Other signings are Sinclair (already agreed) - Richards (free) and Bunn? (free)

I would be a lot happier living with this situation if we were actually spending any money. I guess once I see Gueye and others in a villa shirt I might feel a little more optimistic. For me it's all starting to sound like more spin - all be it from a much more organised team of Fox and Sherwood, rather than the mumblings of Lambert and Faulkner.

It does make sense I'm afraid GV. It's all down to percentage of international games, he hasn't played 75%. Shouldn't be an issue, but that's why it's happened this way.

[kimbo]

Mark Bunn has signed for Villa on a free and will go on tour to Portugal. Not really the type of signing I'd expect to make if a takeover was close, this smacks of more austerity on the wage Bill. He is obviously Givens replacement on less wages, but isn't as good and won't push Guzan ( who is dodgy ) for his spot. It's a bit of a step down from Begovic and Heaton.This doesn't  seem like the kind of signing we would make if we're about to get an influx of new money, from an owner wanting to put his own stamp on the club and take us forward.

Seen much of Mark Bunn have you?

I mean, with respect mate, I know nothing about him, are you telling me you do? I've never been a big fan of Given other than that he seems to be universally liked by people in the game. I was disappointed when we signed him, especially on the length of contract and high wages, and he's clearly past his best - and to be frank, genuine world class shot-stopping aside, I was never that impressed with 'his best' anyway. Mark Bunn may be awful, or he may be a perfectly adequate replacement, or he may be surprisingly good. 

I have no idea, but it's disappointing to see (and this just isn't you, I'm just picking on you because your post is there, sorry :) ) that some of our fans are using a cheap back-up goalkeeper as a reason for doom and gloom.

My opinion of Given is pretty low so I'm not all that worried about replacing him, I'd still imagine a new first choice will probably come in and Guzan will be off. I don't know that of course, I'm just surmising. But this is just a cheap transfer that happened and was needed (on the basis of wages alone I would guess it's a good move) so I honestly don't think people need to use poor Mark Bunn as the barometer for the rest of the summer!

[ViewFromT2]

Nothing wrong with Bunn's signing in isolation if it's part of a bigger picture. Unfortunately we have been down this road before.

Tbh I expected more of Ian Taylor (not Collymore) Surely he would realise tweeting the things he did would get people's hopes up. For a club that has put it's fans through hell for the last 4 years, a respected ex pro should say stuff about exciting times ahead. It just makes people thing something's happening.

At least he should have the decency to qualify his statements - does he not have aspirations to be some sort of ambassador the club.

I have to take issue here. Only people that seriously want to read something into everything, could possibly of taken Ian Taylor's tweet to mean anything significant. I know this has been thrashed out already...but it needs saying again in my opinion.

This is the tweet I believe everyone is referring to:

"This is a big big summer for us..... #AVFC #comingsandgoings"

I think people have thrown way too much weight at this to justify their own imaginations!
For me, this is simply him saying it's a big summer in terms of transfer dealings. Meaning that if we get it wrong, we are in big trouble. I would say it's a pretty innocent tweet and I imagine Tayls would be a little surprised by the reaction it has gotten!
I can't be arsed to go back a year....but I wouldn't mind betting he will have posted something similar last summer!

As for the Collymore tweet....how anyone can read that as transfer related is beyond me, but there you go!!

[kimbo]

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

Got a Groundhog Day thing going on on this page...

:shock:

Sorry, there's a glitch in the Matrix!! Can't fricking see how to delete them, bloody iPhones!!

I've cleaned it up for you mate 

I've cleaned it up for you mate

I've cleaned it up for you mate

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