A lot of talk revolving around Randy Lerner has dominated AVL recently, and since I don’t follow other blogs most likely them too. We have been treating him like good ol’ Dad. We don’t really know what is going on in his head – we can only guess – and we don’t really know what is in store for Villa. We extrapolate into the future on past performances, and we’re like teenagers in that sense.

After all, Dad/Randy is an idiot who won’t spend any money on me. Now, we didn’t earn it or inherit it, and that’s irrelevant, nor is it any of our business to delve into Lerner’s personal life or his desires. Villa isn’t ours to lay claim to. It isn’t ours to make demands of. It isn’t ours to make plans with. We can though, make wishes just like Christmas. Just like when you sat on Santa’s knee. Just don’t expect all the toys you want – you’ll only be disappointed.

Lerner is no different than you or me. He bought a new toy, with the old difference being that he didn’t get a Playstation, he got a football team. All excited, he spent money on it, and just like you and I, he spent frivolously. He started off with a manager he didn’t hire in charge, and ended up losing an ocean of money with little to show for it – sixth place was great, but there was no staying power. Instead, the money came to a halt, and the spoilt one left in a huff leaving a big mess behind. I suppose the manager could have been canned earlier, but when a man has stars in his eyes, appearances can be deceiving.

A decision to keep the team was made, and a more pragmatic approach was taken. We all whined and moaned because good ol’ Randy wasn’t going toe to toe with the biggest oil field in the world, despite the fact that only one of the Premier League’s oligarchs was in place when he took over.

Who in a million years would have thought that a couple of billion dollars wasn’t enough to run a top six team? Not you or I at the time, and not Lerner.

God, life is tough, but a path of shedding and buying frugally with an eye for raw talent was taken. Now tell me, who amongst you have made plans and purchases that have been 100% perfect? Thought so, me neither.

The Premier League is shifting its priorities club by club daily. Who can guess and make the right decisions all the time? No one can. You have to pick a path, system, ideology, players, coaches, and manager and stick with it. Like it or lump it, you have to ride your decision devoid of emotion all the way. No turning back, focussed on what you perceive as the true path to football heaven.

Spending and investing on what is your gut feeling or the feeling of the people you hire – big nuts are needed here. Just because a man has a few billion, it doesn’t mean hundreds of millions are chump change as I pointed out several months ago.

As fans of Villa or any team for that matter, we have 20/20 hindsight, but we don’t have any significant investment whatsoever other than history, feeling part of a clan, territorial claim, or a supposed relationship with the team because we met a player. Sure, we support the team, but we’re not really the ones supporting it financially, not in the grand scheme of things anyway.

But we do feel entitled to give advice, even though financially we have given comparatively little. Yes, some of us go to games and, yes, those tickets cost money, but they are payment for entertainment, not investment in a business, nor purchases of stocks or shares.

Don’t get me wrong, Lerner has made mistakes but then so has everyone in the game. Whether we are looking at the history of Sir Alex Ferguson, Sheikh Mansour, or Roman Abramovich, nobody has been perfect. What Lerner didn’t and doesn’t have was the willingness to spend the money to bury all mistakes and file them under “oops, what was I thinking?”. In reality, can we blame him? He’s already burned several hundred million, so I can’t imagine him walking away just yet.

It’s been brought up plenty of times that Villa have had bad times. Actually a lot of bad times. It’s a pity nothing could have been made of the few highlights of the near past, whether it meant building on the European Cup win in 1982, the league win in 1981, or being runners up in the inaugural Premier League season. Anyway, what could have happened is irrelevant to us now – we only have what has happened, and that past is unchangeable.

Instead of progress, we slid backwards and got relegated a few short years after being kings of Europe. Since then, we’ve been up and down like a yo-yo, never quite sticking in any particular place.

So what should we do? Blame Doug Ellis, blame Jo Venglos, or blame whoever you like. Nigel Reo Coker is my favourite, no, Darren Bent, oh hell, I blame all of them.

Lerner is the latest scapegoat. Events have cropped up in the past due to greed, stupidity, or a combination of both leaving Villa looking like a shell of whatever it is they have built up over the past 30 years – it seems that Villa built for a short, hard burst for the top several times, but ended up with no staying power.

I’m guessing that Lerner, Paul Lambert, and Paul Faulkner are either loathed or tolerated with a smattering of liking thrown in. They’ve picked a course, they do trust each other, and they have each others backs. They don’t feel threatened and are staying the course, though the problem is their course may not be exactly what we want.

The first year was hair raising and we stayed up. This year is better so far, but I acknowledge the season ain’t over till the fat lady sings. Sure, there are lots of things that can be improved, and lots to fear in this league. Shed a tear for Fulham or Crystal Palace if you like. Why? Their plan seems trashed before we are even half way into the season.

Not Villa though, everything is slowly working out, albeit in a rather ugly way most of the time. Villa aren’t going to self combust tomorrow, nor are they going to sink like a rock – they are going to be a good football team. They might give the top six a run at some point, but then again, maybe not.

This time round, money won’t be the factor for if Villa run with the big dogs, and splurges of cash won’t be how the club manages to hold on to a good league placement.

Instead, scouting, taking a chance, and nurturing raw talent will be the way Villa challenge for the top. It may work, or it many not, but you had better get used to it. Financially, we aren’t in the same ball park so there is no other way. We really do have to get used to it.

Don’t for a minute think I am backing Lerner 100%. I do think his change in direction is the right one. Perhaps its because American and Canadian sports teams build with youth and raw talent, depending on trades or buying to a lesser degree. If it works there, can’t it work here? After all, team sports are team sports – find good people, keep good people, succeed.

Getting back to the money, I do think he was amiss with the drastic cuts, and he got it wrong hiring Alex McLeish. I also think he should have backed Lambert more last January, but he didn’t.

I think he was unlucky with Gerard Houllier due to health, but he should have foreseen that. To a degree I think he is lucky to be in the Premier League, and I’m happy they are. He rolled the dice big, and won, even if it may not feel like it.

Had I been in his shoes, I wouldn’t have been so bold. May ignorance is bliss after all?

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