Re: Dr. Tony Xia.

by Jim Villan Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:40 pm

Nail on head Mr N. Keep hold of best players at all costs, give them wage increases if needed, whatever it takes, and add quality. Every outfield player that we sign effectively accounts for 10% of the team, each signing needs to be planned carefully and we need to be sure that they are clearly better than what we've got and can blend together as a team. Hopefully this is the plan, next few weeks are crucial. We need a right back and a midfielder who has a proven track record of as siting goals. This to me is far more important than adding a new striker.

by **Sandie** Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:29 am

Those would be my priorities too. I don't think we need a starting striker when we have Ayew and Gestede. Lets see what the next couple of weeks brings.

by Mr Natterjack Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:57 am

I can only imagine the reason RDM said he's definitely after a striker being for one of four reasons:
1) We're resigned to losing Ayew.
2) It's a specific request from Dr. Tony (as an outside effort to get more goals, excite fans, sell more season tickets, show he means business and is willing to spend a bit).
3) The relation between our striker qualities and the goals we scored last year has been completely misunderstood by RDM (3 defensive midfielders most of the time providing no service, resulting with us being on the back foot 99% of the time.. We had a naive aim to survive in the game, not score goals- basically to either draw or lose by as few goals as possible).
4) RDM isn't happy to play a big man up front (Gestede, Kozak).. however I think this would be a mistake because time's not on our side, so we have to look at the few effective players we have in the squad and build and adapt the first 11 to suit them. Personally I think Gestede has proven that he's not just about being a big man, he's got a great shot and is surprisingly good with his feet. Reminds me of Carew. I really hope we go with Gestede, for me it would mean 20 goals. Also, any striker like Ayew would love to play off him.

by Mr Natterjack Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:18 pm

Interesting read re. Wolves and Villa takeovers from a sports business journalist in Beijing:

Chinese Investment Analysed
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/22712/10508146/chinese-investment-analysed-what-far-east-funds-mean-for-the-game

"Put it this way - my guess is that Wolves will be higher up the league table than Villa ten years from now."

If you look at all the other takeovers and new investment into clubs (Everton, Swansea), and potential takeovers (West Brom etc) it makes it even more important for us to act with real intelligence and efficiency to get things right. Also, it becomes even more vital to gain promotion ASAP, or we'll find that even the lowest Prem clubs will already be richer than us (+TV money x number of years, +Premier League/ international class squads) by the time we arrive, as the likes of Wolves gain momentum of their own.

by **Sandie** Fri Jul 22, 2016 4:20 pm

Good piece, thanks for sharing.

He doesn't seem to be hugely positive about Dr. T. But, like I've said before, I'm taking everything with a pinch of salt. Biggest club in China would be nice but I'd be sufficiently chuffed with a return to being an established PL club. Not sure how knowledgeable he is about interested parties, he mentions the three guys who have lead in speculation for takeovers at a number of clubs but in the end it's been rank outsiders like Recon and Fosun.

by **villabromsgrove** Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:58 am

Dr T is sounding more like a fan than an owner at the moment. That may not be a bad thing as long as his enthusiasm doesn't over ride common sense. I still think his twitter account is an accident waiting to happen though.

I would rather that his thoughts were channelled through the club media in order to avoid the odd 'faux pas" and the ensuing embarrassment. However that would mean that we would have to have a properly functioning media department at AVFC, which is obviously not the case at this moment in time.

It's good to at last have an enthusiastic owner though. Dr. Tony Xia. - Page 15 205019816

by **Sandie** Sat Jul 23, 2016 11:18 am

I agree with that. He's coming across very well and it's good to have someone communicating but we've already seen a couple of faux pas and I wonder what will happen if we have a slow start or disappointing trading in the rest of the window.

by **Sandie** Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:29 pm

I guess this is the start of our global plans: https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2016/07/25/aston-villa-plans-in-india

by **villabromsgrove** Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:53 pm

Sandie wrote:I guess this is the start of our global plans: https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2016/07/25/aston-villa-plans-in-india

I'm really impressed with this. It isn't a money making scheme, it's a hearts oand minds thing, with genuine benefit to young Indian footballers, and a possible long term benefit to AVFC. Well done Tony. Dr. Tony Xia. - Page 15 4288271622

by Jim Villan Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:49 pm

AHHHH great to sit down and browse TCABA after and evening of putting the kids to bed, tidying the house, feeding the chickens and putting them away for the night, Feeding rabbits a chihuahua and my heavily pregnant wife, cooked my Jamie Oliver mushroom risotto , browny points for me Very Happy

Right back to the footy this is brilliant by Tony Xia, I think that Dr Tony is demonstrating real passion energy and determination to grow the Villa brand, this bodes well for the long term for Villa, money cant buy passion and how often have we said to ourselves that we wished that we had an owner who had as much passion as the fans, We definitely have one in our Tony! Also India is a massive market that is relative untapped at the moment.

by **Sandie** Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:18 pm

I think India is actually a more sensible target market for us than China. We already have competition from other English clubs in the Chinese market, India might be less competitive. The most certain way to expand a club's brand in a market is to create a star from that country. China is difficult here due to the money in the local game and caps for domestic players in the leagues so the local players have value. In this respect India is untapped.

by **villabromsgrove** Tue Jul 26, 2016 12:06 pm

Jim Villan wrote:AHHHH great to sit down and browse TCABA after and evening of putting the kids to bed, tidying the house, feeding the chickens and putting them away for the night, Feeding rabbits a chihuahua and my heavily pregnant wife, cooked my Jamie Oliver mushroom risotto , browny points for me

Right back to the footy this is brilliant by Tony Xia, I think that Dr Tony is demonstrating real passion energy and determination to grow the Villa brand, this bodes well for the long term for Villa, money cant buy passion and how often have we said to ourselves that we wished that we had an owner who had as much passion as the fans, We definitely have one in our Tony! Also India is a massive market that is relative untapped at the moment.

I love the "Good Life" feel to your domestic description Jim. You deserve to enjoy the coming season, just for the sheer effort you've been putting in lately.

You're right about Tony. Whether he get's things right or wrong, it won't be for the want of trying. If Lerner had a fraction of Dr T's energy, commitment and innovation, Villa would be a totally different club to the faltering shambles that RDM is trying to turn round.

by Jim Villan Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:15 pm

Money is useless without passion, dedication and ambition, we don't have to worry about that now, decision making will be key to our short terms success, lets hope his first major decision in picking RDM as manager turns out to be a good one. Im not overly enamoured by the system he's played in preseason, I remain hopeful, obviously ins and outs are going t one critical until the end of the window, but the most important thing for me is that we get off to a good start which should hopefully see confidence almost the squad and the fans return. If we get off to a slow start the hangover from last season might kick in and we could find ourselves struggling to turn our fortunes around.

by **Sandie** Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:50 pm

Lerner was very enthusiastic about Villa for a time, he then cast us aside like a broken toy after a few years.

by **villabromsgrove** Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:43 pm

Sandie wrote:Lerner was very enthusiastic about Villa for a time, he then cast us aside like a broken toy after a few years.

You've hit the nail on the head. Lerner saw Villa as a toy, Dr Tony sees Villa as a job, and an opportunity.

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