Modric THFC
Jimmy McCormick
They went down because Lerner hadn't a fudging clue about football.
So much so he decided Arsenal, a club that has been treading water for over a decade, was one to get advice from.
Wenger pretty much appointed Garde.
The players were bought by two guys Tom Fox and Hendrik Almstadt who worked at Arsenal, not at player recruitment though because Wenger controls everything at that club.
Article from December explaining the mess
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-future-of-Randy-Lerners-struggling-club.html
Arsenal influence at Aston Villa could shape future of Randy Lerner's struggling club
By Sam Wallace 2:03PM GMT 12 Dec 2015 Follow
Watching their team lose so often this season must be a sobering experience for the executives at Aston Villa but even if they do falter again at home to Arsenal on Sunday, at least those in charge of the ailing West Midlands giant can consider themselves among friends.
Of all the masterplans devised at Villa under the current ownership of Randolph D. Lerner, none have embraced the expertise of a rival Premier League club quite like the current one does with Arsenal. When Tim Sherwood’s time ran out in October, the club’s hierarchy turned to Arsene Wenger for advice and he recommended his former player Remi Garde, now in the home dug-out, with a record so far of two points from four games.
Now the godfather of Premier League managers, the endorsement of Wenger, as was once the case with Sir Alex Ferguson, holds great sway in the less-experienced boardrooms of the Premier League. There are few less experienced than Villa’s where the two most influential individuals at the club are both from Arsenal, the chief executive Tom Fox, and his sporting director Hendrik Almstadt, who have precious little background in English football between them.
Fox is the former chief commercial officer at Arsenal, previously in senior posts at Gatorade, Pepsi and the NBA. As for Almstadt, the details are vague beyond the four years that Villa say the 40-year-old German worked in Arsenal’s football department where the official line is that he focused on scouting, data analysis, budgeting and contracts across the club. That is understood to be the total of his football experience, having previously been Arsenal’s head of business development.
An American commercial executive, alongside a novice German recruitment man with four years’ experience, overseeing the delicate act of keeping last season’s 17th placed team in the Premier League with a French manager untested in English football. Even Wenger might raise a quizzical eyebrow. Given how much Lerner has to lose with relegation it is an extraordinary gamble.
Who is Almstadt and what does he do? His affiliation with Arsenal is such that he has an apartment in the Highbury Square redevelopment of the stadium but during his time at the London club he was a very private figure who is remembered for being a fitness fanatic. He was regarded as bright, but there were doubts over how his skills might be applied to football recruitment and no great effort was made by Wenger to keep him at the club.
Yet the future of Villa’s 28-year stay in the top-flight of English football is in the hands of Fox and Almstadt, who have the closest relationship with Lerner. That relationship means Almstadt is the senior man ahead of Paddy Riley, director of scouting and recruitment, who occupies much the same territory. Long-serving staff at the club were surprised when Riley returned to Villa from Liverpool last season having previously worked there in a more junior analyst role.
Villa’s summer transfer policy could best be described as brave: focussing on potential like Adama Traore, 19, from Barcelona B, remarkably the club’s top earner on £70,000-a-week who has so far made just one start in the Capital One Cup. Those who have seen him at close quarters concede that Adama has talent but he is essentially a development player and would be regarded as such at any other Premier League club.
Of the new signings last summer, only Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott and Rudi Gestede were recommended by former manager Sherwood, the only three he had watched in person before they joined the club. Lerner turned off the tap after the signing of Traore in mid-August and his then-manager was left to work with the squad in place following the departures of Christian Benteke, Fabian Delph and the loanee Tom Cleverley.
Fox and Almstadt have devised the transfer policy and they have appointed a manager who is prepared to buy into their approach: the question now is whether any of this will actually work. Villa have six points from 15 games and to have any prospect of survival they will have to buy well in the January transfer window.
The expectation is that once again, the Arsenal alumni will lean on Wenger for advice and possibly even players. In the summer, Almstadt was keen on taking Calum Chambers, Tomas Rosicky and Joel Campbell from Wenger’s squad. After his breakthrough performances this season, not least in the 3-0 win over Olympiakos in Athens, Campbell is most likely out of reach. Rosicky had knee surgery in August and has not played all season. Chambers might potentially be available on loan.
Otherwise, Villa, as their manager Garde admitted on Thursday, will be looking at the former Arsenal, Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole, aged 34 and hardly in keeping with the brave new world envisaged in the summer. Cole could have been signed in the summer but the policy of youth dictated Villa buy Jordan Amavi, a bright young prospect who is out until the end of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.
Having Arsenal on their professional CVs has been very good for Fox and Almstadt, and the free rein given to them by Lerner, who has effectively trusted them with the future of his club, is an opportunity the like of which many in the English game could scarcely dream. Perhaps today at Villa Park will be lift-off, but you would not bet against the Villa two once again seeking out Wenger for advice over the next few weeks, as they try to rescue a desperate situation.
So much so he decided Arsenal, a club that has been treading water for over a decade, was one to get advice from.
Wenger pretty much appointed Garde.
The players were bought by two guys Tom Fox and Hendrik Almstadt who worked at Arsenal, not at player recruitment though because Wenger controls everything at that club.
Article from December explaining the mess
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-future-of-Randy-Lerners-struggling-club.html
Arsenal influence at Aston Villa could shape future of Randy Lerner's struggling club
By Sam Wallace 2:03PM GMT 12 Dec 2015 Follow
Watching their team lose so often this season must be a sobering experience for the executives at Aston Villa but even if they do falter again at home to Arsenal on Sunday, at least those in charge of the ailing West Midlands giant can consider themselves among friends.
Of all the masterplans devised at Villa under the current ownership of Randolph D. Lerner, none have embraced the expertise of a rival Premier League club quite like the current one does with Arsenal. When Tim Sherwood’s time ran out in October, the club’s hierarchy turned to Arsene Wenger for advice and he recommended his former player Remi Garde, now in the home dug-out, with a record so far of two points from four games.
Now the godfather of Premier League managers, the endorsement of Wenger, as was once the case with Sir Alex Ferguson, holds great sway in the less-experienced boardrooms of the Premier League. There are few less experienced than Villa’s where the two most influential individuals at the club are both from Arsenal, the chief executive Tom Fox, and his sporting director Hendrik Almstadt, who have precious little background in English football between them.
Fox is the former chief commercial officer at Arsenal, previously in senior posts at Gatorade, Pepsi and the NBA. As for Almstadt, the details are vague beyond the four years that Villa say the 40-year-old German worked in Arsenal’s football department where the official line is that he focused on scouting, data analysis, budgeting and contracts across the club. That is understood to be the total of his football experience, having previously been Arsenal’s head of business development.
An American commercial executive, alongside a novice German recruitment man with four years’ experience, overseeing the delicate act of keeping last season’s 17th placed team in the Premier League with a French manager untested in English football. Even Wenger might raise a quizzical eyebrow. Given how much Lerner has to lose with relegation it is an extraordinary gamble.
Who is Almstadt and what does he do? His affiliation with Arsenal is such that he has an apartment in the Highbury Square redevelopment of the stadium but during his time at the London club he was a very private figure who is remembered for being a fitness fanatic. He was regarded as bright, but there were doubts over how his skills might be applied to football recruitment and no great effort was made by Wenger to keep him at the club.
Yet the future of Villa’s 28-year stay in the top-flight of English football is in the hands of Fox and Almstadt, who have the closest relationship with Lerner. That relationship means Almstadt is the senior man ahead of Paddy Riley, director of scouting and recruitment, who occupies much the same territory. Long-serving staff at the club were surprised when Riley returned to Villa from Liverpool last season having previously worked there in a more junior analyst role.
Villa’s summer transfer policy could best be described as brave: focussing on potential like Adama Traore, 19, from Barcelona B, remarkably the club’s top earner on £70,000-a-week who has so far made just one start in the Capital One Cup. Those who have seen him at close quarters concede that Adama has talent but he is essentially a development player and would be regarded as such at any other Premier League club.
Of the new signings last summer, only Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott and Rudi Gestede were recommended by former manager Sherwood, the only three he had watched in person before they joined the club. Lerner turned off the tap after the signing of Traore in mid-August and his then-manager was left to work with the squad in place following the departures of Christian Benteke, Fabian Delph and the loanee Tom Cleverley.
Fox and Almstadt have devised the transfer policy and they have appointed a manager who is prepared to buy into their approach: the question now is whether any of this will actually work. Villa have six points from 15 games and to have any prospect of survival they will have to buy well in the January transfer window.
The expectation is that once again, the Arsenal alumni will lean on Wenger for advice and possibly even players. In the summer, Almstadt was keen on taking Calum Chambers, Tomas Rosicky and Joel Campbell from Wenger’s squad. After his breakthrough performances this season, not least in the 3-0 win over Olympiakos in Athens, Campbell is most likely out of reach. Rosicky had knee surgery in August and has not played all season. Chambers might potentially be available on loan.
Otherwise, Villa, as their manager Garde admitted on Thursday, will be looking at the former Arsenal, Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole, aged 34 and hardly in keeping with the brave new world envisaged in the summer. Cole could have been signed in the summer but the policy of youth dictated Villa buy Jordan Amavi, a bright young prospect who is out until the end of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.
Having Arsenal on their professional CVs has been very good for Fox and Almstadt, and the free rein given to them by Lerner, who has effectively trusted them with the future of his club, is an opportunity the like of which many in the English game could scarcely dream. Perhaps today at Villa Park will be lift-off, but you would not bet against the Villa two once again seeking out Wenger for advice over the next few weeks, as they try to rescue a desperate situation.
