Aston Villa Now In American Hands!

An Ag in CO

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4:02p, 8/14/06

AG

quote:
American billionaire Randy Lerner is finally set to take control of Aston Villa after having a £62.6m bid accepted by the club's board. The news means that Doug Ellis's long and unsuccessful spell as Villa chairman has come to an end.

quote:
Lerner, 44, who is also owner of the Cleveland Browns NFL team, has promised to make Villa a major force again. "It is my belief and the basis for my bid to acquire Aston Villa that it can compete at the highest level within the Premiership and in Europe," he said. "The club has a rich history and a long tradition of passionate fan support."

Lerner is worth a reported $1.2bn - a fortune built up by his father, Al Lerner, who founded the MBNA credit card company. If his hopes are to be fulfilled, much of that money will need to be invested in the transfer market, and soon.

rileyV2.0

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5:38p, 8/14/06

He better start spending soon. The transfer window closes in less than 3 weeks and the Villians have yet to bring in any new blood. I hope Lerner and O'Neil can get on the same page for new players because its way easier to buy now than in January when you have a relegation battle ahead of you.

Dre_00

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5:39p, 8/14/06

And if I'm not mistaken, this is one American who is actually welcomed as a new owner...mainly because everyone hated Doug Ellis and he took the time to sit down with the major supporter's group and talk to them.

With him as an owner and Martin O'Neil as a manager, there is reason for optimisim for Aston Villa fans.

rileyV2.0

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2:07p, 8/15/06

Yeah, it gets pretty bad when your players sign a petition against the owner. Ellis spent a lot of years at that club and not a lot of money, should be interesting to see what happens if they can get their business sorted out in time for the season.

Dre_00

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5:31p, 8/15/06

The rumors are already starting. Supposedly, O'Neill's contract is going to be extended to 6 years now, he will have 50 million pounds in transfer money to play with, and they are going to try and grab Obafemi Martins, Stylian Petrov, William Gallas, and a few others that I can't remember.

rileyV2.0

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9:24a, 8/16/06

Looks like Lerner still has some competition over the Villa takeover with a consortium group putting together a bid about $13MM over the Lerner bid. We'll see what the board does since they said that the Lerner bid was substantial and that the offer was recommended for shareholders.