In life there are always the trips we wish we could take, the movies we wanted to see before they left the theater, and books we haven’t gotten around to reading yet. My amazon.com wish list is embarrassingly long with books I mean to read but have not found the time for. Fourteenth on my list is Lords of the Realm by John Heylar, a history of Major League Baseball through the prism of the tumultuous relations between players and owners.
“Lords of the realm” refers to the owners of the clubs. Owners in other sports in America have governed their teams and leagues in a similar way, which stands in stark contrast to the British tradition of publicly traded clubs where fans had real input into the running of the club. The advent of the Premier League and Champions League and the gobs of money that have flowed into English football have turned it into the business that American sport has always been.
On this side of the pond we don’t have fan protests. Teams in America were organized as businesses with owners trying to make money from day one, as opposed to clubs organized around churches that slowly evolved into million- and billion-pound businesses over a period of years and decades. With the notable exception of the Green Bay Packers, teams in the U.S. are and have always been privately owned. So while owners have primarily been concerned with making money, they also have always run their businesses the way they saw fit. More often than not disaffected fans in the States will react with cynicism and resignation, as opposed to outrage, because at the end of the day the owner can and will do whatever he wants.
Aston Villa supporters can protest the manager, as is their right in a free and open society, but in the end the owner will do what he wants. The various protestations in Manchester, green and gold scarves, establishment of the protest club FC United of Manchester, and the Red Knights group all amounted to nothing. The numerous protests against Hicks and Gillette in Liverpool did not lead them to selling the club. They only sold after exhausting every conceivable legal remedy to try and hold onto the club.
If Alex McLeish is sacked it will be because Randy Lerner does not want him to manage his club anymore. That’s it. I am sure he and the club pay attention to public opinion insofar as to make sure public sentiment is not a detriment to business. A couple hundred people outside the park with placards more than likely isn’t going to convince a billionaire to fire the man he pays millions of pounds to run his multimillion-pound business.
Reading the tea leaves it does appear that the manager has the confidence of the owner. During a slow news week, McLeish’s trip with his staff to Cleveland to meet with the Browns staff is making headlines. While there are not likely many tactical similarities between Association and American football, the manager will likely meet with the owner to go over summer plans. For better or worse, unless the club slides further down the table and is in real trouble of going down, this manager will likely be given time and money to make the changes he wants before next season.
I am not trying to discourage the efforts of Villa Fans United or anyone else who is protesting the manager. I admire the passion of any fan who feels that strongly about their club. Who am I to say that you won’t enroll thousands of people and get Lerner’s attention? Just know what you are up against.
The Author
