Browns Owner Buys Villa

Nishlord · Post by **Nishlord** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:23 pm

Aston Villa.

Unlike Malcolm Glazier, however, the locals will probably welcome this Yank with flowers and chocolates.

Nishlord · Post by **Nishlord** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:52 pm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 48,00.html

But all is not lost. During the close season, something important happened, something that might — just might — result in the curse of uncompetitiveness being lifted. I refer, rather startlingly, to Mr Randy Lerner’s soon-to-be-finalised purchase of one of that most comatose of giants, Aston Villa. Incidentally, didn’t Robin Asquith once star in a 1970s driving instructor romp called “Confessions Of A Randy Lerner”? In any event, the arrival of Mr L and his fistful of dollars means that the takeover of Manchester United by the Glazer family was no fluke, no one-off. The enormous magnet attracting the Yanks to our shores is not enthusiasm for the game itself, but rather for the huge wad of Sky cash with which it’s soon to be festooned.

Football in Britain has not yet reached its economic zenith. The hobbity Glazers know this, Randy L knows this and, presumably, more of their ilk know this and will follow in their wake. We are undergoing a seismic change in club ownership. At the turn of the millennium, no Premiership clubs were owned by foreigners. Now, 20 per cent of them (United, Villa, Chelsea and Portsmouth) are. The trend will continue.

And if the Yanks take over, they will not tolerate a league in which the outcome is known in advance. This isn’t because they’re such great sportsmen but because, in the end, the TV moguls will cough up more for a sport that’s truly competitive. Much, much more. The next Sky deal in Britain is huge, sure, but it is a spit in the Atlantic compared with the money being poured into the NFL, from where Glazer and Lerner have emerged.

And the reason the telly people are so keen is that, at the start of every year, most of the NFL’s 34 teams genuinely believe that have a chance to win the Super Bowl. That hope is not idle. In the 40 years since the Super Bowl was inaugurated, 18 clubs have won it, including the Glazers’ Tampa Bay Buccaneers three years ago.

Much has been written about the beneficial effect of the American football draft (in which each year the worst team gets the choice of the best young talent), but the real reason for all this equality is that all the vast wealth the sport generates is shared out equally among the clubs. The TV moolah, the sponsorship dough, even the cabbage from the sales of shirts — all evenly distributed. It makes it much more difficult for any team to dominate the league, but in the end it ensures that the sport is ever more popular and, let’s be frank, ever more filthily rich.

Of course, no one in the Barclays Premiership is going to countenance such bolshevism. Equal shares? People buying Liverpool shirts actually putting money into the coffers of Everton? The remotest possibility of a change in the established order? Nay, nay and thrice nay will be the agonised cry of the barrow boys and bean-counters who own and run our clubs at the moment.

But soon they may be in a small minority, overwhelmed by more Americans keen not on short-term success but on long-term riches. Then the opening week of the new season will be something for all fans to welcome.

Degenerate · Post by **Degenerate** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:28 pm

2nd on the table right now. Should have three wins but they gave that opener away at Arsenal.

Nish, give me a breakdown on Villa fans. I hear they are whiny and perpetually pessimistic, and since I'm a Browns fan, that is right in my wheelhouse.

War Gareth Barry

BSmack · Post by **BSmack** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:00 am

Nishlord wrote:And the reason the telly people are so keen is that, at the start of every year, most of the NFL’s 34 teams genuinely believe that have a chance to win the Super Bowl.

Did LA get their two expansion teams? Or does this guy not even know enough to look at a fucking NFL schedule to determine how many teams are in the league.

BTW: I'm pretty sure that fans of the Browns, Lions, Packers, Saints, Texans, 49ers, Cardinals, Titans, Jets, and Redskins knew better than to dream of a playoff bid, much less a Super Bowl title. The real reason the NFL works so well on TV is because the outcomes of individual games are still in the balance well into the last 15 minutes of any given game, even if one team is up by as many as 2 scores.

The phantorino · Post by **The phantorino** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:32 pm

Degenerate wrote:2nd on the table right now. Should have three wins but they gave that opener away at Arsenal.

Nish, give me a breakdown on Villa fans. I hear they are whiny and perpetually pessimistic, and since I'm a Browns fan, that is right in my wheelhouse.

War Gareth Barry

I grew up close to that city, and they ARE whiny and pessimistic, but for good reason. imagine having one owner that everyone despises, and the only 3 seasons he isn't in complete conttrol you win it all (and the European Cup, but that's out of this post). They ahve been a middling team in the top flight for over 20 years, and need to upgrade now. Big Stadium, Good fans that stick by them, and an average team.