Randy Lerner to take control of Villa

As a Browns fan I hope it dosnt effect the Brownies. For a positive I hope this attracts more football fans in Cleveland especially if they get an MLS team.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hli ... l+of+Villa

 

Considering I was thinking about Villa getting relegated just two weeks ago, things have changed for the better with this club in a hurry. First Martin O'Neill takes over as manager and Villa is bought out by Deadly Doug Ellis, the cheapest owner in the Premiership. I am not saying Villa will contend for Europe, but with the changes made, I think this team will now survive the drop.

 

I wonder how angry the UK fans of teams like Man U and Aston Villa get when an American buys their team? I think remember reading the Man U fans were pissed (angry, not drunk ). How about the Villa fans?

Personally, if a British owner bought one of my beloved teams, it wouldn't bother me unless he did a poor job.

 

As a Bengal fan, I guess Villa is another team that I will be rooting against no matter who they play.

Now the big question, now that another American has bought an EPL team, what are the chances of moving it to the USA, or a USA team being part of the EPL. Remember the MLB, used to be played only in the USA, too. In this day and age England isn't really that far away, and sponors like Bud etc. money really talks big time.....

 

I don't think it will be the same as the Man. Utd. takeover. The main difference is that Man. U. didn't need to be bought. Financially it was one of the top clubs in the world and the club management was stable. Glazer only wanted it to make a profit for himself, and given his past as Bucs owner fans feared ticket price increases and no transfer market money.

Villa is a different story. The fans wanted Ellis out no matter how. Lerner is promising to give O'Neill plenty of transfer market money. I also just noticed that O'Neill is expected to extend his contract if Lerner takes over.

I think Villa fans may welcome the Lerner takeover.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 790913.stm

 

http://www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/
and
Vitalfootball: Villa forum

 

I would be shocked if an EPL team moved over here. Baseball does play overseas, but only in exhibition games in Japan and a couple of regular season games in Puerto Rico, which is obviously much closer than England. The travel would simply be too much--can you imagine the toll it would take on the players during a 38-plus-game season? Not to mention the fact we can't get MLS games anywhere near sellouts (or 3/4 full, for that matter). It just doesn't make sense to move a team here.

 

A Premiership team will never have a home in America. Logistically it just does not make any sense at all with the kinds of schedules teams play each season.

 

The travel time from NYC to LA is around 5 hours or so, and from what I could find out, the travel time from NYC to London is around 6 1/2 hours or so, so the travel time to me at least, is nothing to be worried about. The NFL does it all the time with teams traveling from one coast to the other to play games. Scheduling can be arranged to limit the hardship, and if there were a EPL team in say the Carolinas or Florida the weather wouldn't hurt either. If the EPL came to the USA they would sell out with no problem for the 20 or so home games each year. It isn't the "game" that is keeping the crowds down in "Football" in the USA, but the quality of the teams that are playing it. Get an EPL club to come, finance it properly, and the crowds will come. Money talks in sports, the owners understand it, the players understand it, and so do the sponsors, it only the fans who fail to realize this........You say it will never happen, but what if you asked the question in the 50's or 60's about an American owning a EPL team, what kind of answer would you have gotten then? My guess, it will never happen......

Not trying to make waves, just my thoughts.......

 

Never say never as never is a long time. I can't see it happening any time soon for sure. FIFA would throw a fit, they don't even want the Old Firm to join the EPL and they are a lot closer than NYC. Still if you told people in Toronto and Montreal 30 years ago that a team in Carolina and another in Tampa Bay would win the Stanley Cup one day you would have received jeers and laughs. The world rapidly changes so nothing is ever out of the question.

 

Stranger things have happened but I'd be surprised if an EPL team moved to the US. With all the traditions and heritage of English clubs, a move to the US would meet with heavy opposition. I think we would sooner see an SPL team like Celtic move into the EPL rather than an EPL team move to the US.

 

Villa fans seem to be estatic about the takeover, which at first was surprising to me because of the unknown of an American taking over an English football club.

 

If you supported a club owned by Doug Ellis, you would be jumping for joy the minute someone else took over. Talk about a cheapskate, this guy is the definition of the word. He was bad news for Villa.

 

Well, the deal STILL isnt done... some consortium is dealing through the press, evidently... but the mood on the above MB is that they have looked at and listened to Lerner and want him, esp after seeing what he did with the Browns.

Imagine a bunch of English footy fans shouting 'USA, USA'
http://www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=4035&start=1

 

But for an OWNER?!!!!
I still recall Glazier...

 

And I am still amazed... Hahnemann is a good guy, and all.. but he WASNT that great an MLS keeper.

 

Randy Lerner has gained a majority shareholding in Aston Villa. The London Stock Exchange announced on Friday that Lerner has secured 59.69% of Villa shares.