First to the £5mn. donation by Randy Lerner to the National Portrait Gallery. The cynic in me says he's looking for a knighthood or residency but the nice guy side says, he's simply a generous chap.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain. Randy Lerner has given the institution's largest single donation to date and the ground-floor galleries are being renamed the Lerner Galleries in recognition.

He has supported the gallery since 2002, when Sandy Nairne became its director.

Turning cynic mode on again, you'd think if he can throw away £5mn. on donations there must be plenty of cash available to Martin O'Neill for signings - so where are they?

Moving to Spurs very quickly and first off, well done. They may have had a horrid season, sitting where they do and losing one of the very good young managers - but they've reached a final and well, they did it with some style last night.

Sure, Arsenal put out a less than first team side but they've done that all season in this tournament. However, Spurs did play well and credit where it's due - to win it you've got to get to the final and while it's not the FA Cup - I think I'd trade finishing in a UEFA cup spot for the chance of winning it.

Comments (35)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Blitz said:

Ill give Lerner the benefit of the doubt of this overly kind gesture I seriously hope MON isnt in the mindset that clubs will just accept whatever offers may come their way on deadline day at the eleventh hour. Its quite worrying really that there seems to be loads of speculation about players leaving the Villa but only scant rumours about an influx of players in our small squad. Plus the fact that other teams in the Prem seem to be swelling their ranks on a day to day basis. Obviously MON is looking for the quality- but surely he would of, and his backroom staff, pinpointed the players he wanted to bring in months ago (when the fans and even MON himself talked of the small number of the squad) and set things in motion so that when the Window opened, new players could be brought in and have time to gel with the squad.

January 23, 2008 | url

Ivor Biggen said:

Last night Arsenal had Fabregas from 18th min. onwards,Gilberto,Gallas,Sagna,Adebayor,Eduardo,Bendtner ,Hleb, as well..all they had missing were Toure,Senderos,Eboue,Flamini (was on the bench),Clichy and Almunia..Dont do what papers do and call them Arsenals youngsters,none of the above are youth team players,majority of the Arsenal team were actually first team players.Spurs would have thrashed any Arsenal 11 last night,specially when they have been playing Arsenal off the park and not getting the result since last season...Arsenal with any 11 would have come out of the lane as the losing side last night.Athmosphere was absolutely amazing.Arsenal were burried in to the lane last night first by the players secondly by the fans.

January 23, 2008

Vija said:

I have had my doubts from the start that we didnt have big money, the money we've spent is less than most clubs in the top 10 have spent, theres more tv money now also, theres only one person to blame if we have a small squad and thats MON, he better sort himself out, 8 days to go and no sign of anyone coming in, if we dont qualify for europe after the excellent fist half of the season there will be only person to blame again, MON, and then it will serve him right!!

January 23, 2008

dazblink said:

We could have bought a right back with that 5 mil!

January 23, 2008

Chrisodon said:

Our owner is a billionaire in american terms to our's he's just a Multi millionaire, But if he wants to invest 5Mil from his own pocket so be it but we're his business he loves the club but he's not going to throw stupid money at it. Because there's the on going fee's in football so while we've got the money we're just being frugal. i have total faith in MON and lerner because look at the change from 2 seasons ago, We're a business and no one throws money into a business without getting a return which we can't offer yet.

January 23, 2008

Dizzy Mugs said:

It's not Lerner's fault we aren't spending money! Blame MON if you're going to point the finger at someone for not getting the players in. We were told a few months ago that MON was supported with lots of money from Lerner's wallet.

January 23, 2008 | url

mickey86 said:

was hoping it would be an arsenal chelsea final so the uefa cup spots will go to league positions instead. Probably be the same as o'learys first season wen we finished 6th and never qualified for europe.

January 23, 2008

Turbo21 said:

Come on, give MON a break. Lets just trust him shall we, what is the point of spending millions on players in Jan if they aren't what we want long term. Some players won't / can't move in Jan and jusy cause we want a player, doesn't mean MON does or that the player wants to play for us!!

January 23, 2008

villain of the north said:

Just to point out, when randy took over the club he was worth in the region of £560m, it was quoted last year that his stock has increased by considerably a couple of hundred million more... This is not a guy who is short of cash to invest, or companies rasing cash to invest in villa. MON is reluctant to spend money on ANY player who he thinks doesn't fit into the villa cause, and you can see he runs a really tight ship as far as the mentality of player he'll hire. I think he's right to do that, but it's obviously also difficult to find a plethora of players who might be available but not for stupid money. He's already shown if there's a player he wants that he'll pay over the odds... Who knows why we haven't bought, we all would love to see big names signed, but it doesn't always guarantee success... The facts can't be ignored that our star youngsters are looking burned out already and need a rest.

January 23, 2008

Jimmy Villain said:

There was a previous post o another thread that stated that MON would not let Moore and Cahil go if he'd not got replacements lined up and I agree. One thing with Martin is that you have no idea who he;s going to sign until the unveil the playe wearing an Villa shirt, that's why the papers are left scratching their heads and making up lies. That's one thing I like about MON, he keeps tight lipped about his dealings, look at last January, he was similarly low key and bought in 3 players - mark my words we have bodies coming in, there's no way he'd waste all that hard work that has us sitting in 6th. UTV

January 23, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

Fair play to him its his money let him do what he wants with it It will be gettin a bit busy at villa in the next week because we all kno martin likes to shop late

January 23, 2008

villafandan said:

charitable donations are tax deductible, money invested into the club is not. lerner's no mug, he's not going to throw stupid money at the club and nor would i want him to. nor does MON by the look of things and that speaks volumes about the quality we now have in our board and management. i totally subscribe to the 5 year plan and i wouldn't trade instant, short-term success for a perilous, long-term balance sheet. crazy as it might sound, i would prefer we finish in a uefa cup spot than qualify for the champion's league next season. the way i see it we'd be forced to accelerate the plan and rush out to buy a bunch of champion's league quality players. MON would have to compromise on the type of player he wants to bring into the club and the harmony would be upset by high earning players coming in who really are just here to play top level european football. let's not run before we can walk. let's take our time and bring in players who share the vision and can genuinely contribute to the future of aston villa. that said, of course i'd like to see us bring in a quality right back this transfer window. but if it can't be done, well mellberg's done ok for me so far and gardner's not been too shabby either. it'll be ok.

January 23, 2008

Arrlui said:

If anyone read the original article (Damien), then you'd know that his father, recently deceased, began investments in the gallery years ago. It's a publicity stunt, grand nonetheless, but he's showing his claret and blue with the red and white. Stop whinging, he's the best chairman we could ask for. Lerner all the way. [and randy, if you're listening, buy Falcao for us ]

January 23, 2008

Holteenders in the sky said:

Fair play Randy lerner!!!! There aint many good people round any more but he is one of them

January 23, 2008

Damian said:

at Arrlui ... do you mena this one: http://ukpress.google.com/arti...lAE1Hva0DQ because that is, as far as i'm concerned, the original article or are you referring to one of the ones that came out a few hours after our one?

January 23, 2008 | url

satch said:

If you look further on the Lerner gallery front he has been doing it for years and was set up by his family as a trust in memory of his father if I read right. The price of pieces of art have risen considerably over the years snapped up as investments these days just like houses and business's. Lerner seems a nice guy to me and a good business man. He is bound to have money for villa, europe = more euros! As for players and cash well only Mr O'Neil can explain that I don't believe there is none or not enough cash available. On the plus side if we do get a europe place getting the right quality of player should be that bit easier. Anyone notice Mr S not playing in goal against Liverpool, that must have dented his ego.

January 23, 2008

andy5759 said:

It's good to see the spirit of philanthropy is not dead. Many towns in England used to boast a Carnegie library. These were donated to the people by a wealthy American, then mostly sold by local authorities to bolster their funds. Well done Mr. Lerner and thankyou. I hope the director and trustees can be trusted with your largesse. Well done Spuds, lotsa silent Gonners (sic) at work today. The tension is building, only a few days left before we learn who MON has got for us!!

January 23, 2008

Raja said:

now how many clubs can say that their chairman has donated that amount of money to charity, although i would like to see some of that money well spent on players!!!

January 23, 2008

villa 82 said:

If Rangers want Moore why dont we offer him and a bit of cash for Hutton who is a right back. I havent seen him play but he is highly rated.

January 23, 2008

Villain of the North said:

Satch, carson didn't play because he's still on loan and not allowed to play against his home team... no other reason.

January 23, 2008

pazzler said:

good idea, but i reckon that hutton is holdin out for a bigger move. he turned spurs down, and apparently manure r sniffin around him. tossers. im hopin for atleast 3 players comin in by the end of the month. its gone beyond frustration waitin for a hint of news.

January 23, 2008

taglor said:

Is there a website that tracks all of the transfer rumours from newspapers and shows how many of them were lies? I'd love to email that to the papers and ask how they claim exclusive when they quote every player in the world. Also how come on the villa teletext there are still adverts for premium rate numbers saying who we are signing? I mean with the internet now which idiots would pay to hear made up news

January 23, 2008

the_flabster said:

Honestly I know its nice of him to give £5Mn to this gallery but I cant help but think that he should have donated it to a gallery in Birmingham. He owns the biggest club in the city and the midlands and should be supporting our region rather than donating it to one of the hundreds of Galleries (sp) in London that always get the backing. Im sick of London always getting everything and things like this dont help. Everytime someone wants to make a donation its to somewhere in London. The national stadium should have been built in the Midlands because, as the name suggests its in the middle of the country so easier for everyone to get to, but no they waste money building it in London. Im fed up of it tbh even if it makes perfect sense to build something somewhere else they will fight for it to be in London because it is our capital. Look at other countries they have more than one major city and all have good stuff in them. Its time England became more even with the distribution of events. Its only the casts offs that ever make it to "lesser" citys. Also im angry that Spurs may take our UEFA cup football from us. But thats life.

January 23, 2008

stevievillaa said:

its great 2 c lerner givin money 2 charity, not every penny he has must go 2 aston villa player fund..although im disappointed not to c new faces in already im happy that we havent done a man city r west ham nd just splashed cash lik no ones business,can only imagine there debt/losses at end of year..we r in great position on nd off the pitch so keep faith in da lerner&o neill team as we look alot better than we did durin ellis&o leary era... can c few sigings this wk cos we all know mon likes 2 keep things late

January 23, 2008

Leroy said:

Taglor- http://www.footballtransferlea...club=Aston Villa. Go to the home page it gives you a % of rumours correct/incorrect. Its ridiculous.

January 24, 2008

Leroy said:

We all know that MON is

January 24, 2008

Leroy said:

We all know that MON is willing to pay over the top prices for players who he deems a good fit for the club. Also he always leaves it till the last minute, so its not panic stations just yet. The most alarming thing is that it seems that we are linked with dozens of strikers (which i believe we do need) but there is not nearly as much speculation about aour gaping hole at RB. Is it possible MON wants to keep Mellberg till the summer and will play him at rightback for the remainder of the season, knowing that Bosingwas contract will have run down another 6 months, this may scare porto into letting him leave for a much smaller fee than the 20mil slapped on him previously. MON likes to get his man and his interest in Bosingwa has been there for some now. Just a thought....

January 24, 2008

AK28 said:

The thing about Bosingwa is that he now has Utd and Chelsea sniffing around him as well so i can't see us getting him now. We missed the boat here during the summer. He looks like another Evra but on the right side of defence. Did anyone see smug Doug Ellis on Sky Sports News this morning? Apparently he turned down a higher bid from Hicks for Villa.

January 24, 2008

villa 82 said:

It does'nt look like anything will happen on the transfer front today, nothing will happen tomorow because they will be preparing for the game, sat is the game and nothing ever happens on sunday so it looks like if anything is going to happen it will be verrrry close to the deadline which is worrying.This time last year and during the summer we were heavily linked to players, this year the rumours are speculation at best which is bad because i think we need 2-3 players to really push on. A right back and right/left winger are surely going to arive arnt they?

January 24, 2008

Gareth.W said:

I want Villa to sign players as much as any fan but I dont think we should panic....West Ham have signed anyone with a pulse and they are still below us. It is about getting the right blend of players and signing people who will make the squad better. This is a difficult thing to do in the january window!! Lets not be like Newcastle fans either and get carried away - MON is doing a great job and we are seeing better performances than we have for years now. It will still take a couple more seasons for us to really challnege near the top.....It took spurs a few years of chipping away at it, and whilst they haven't had the best season, they will be right bck in it next year. Success doesnt happen overnight (unless your Chelsea) and it took ferguson years to get it right at Man U.

January 24, 2008

brett said:

ive just seen doug's interview saying that he got offered £20mil more by hicks but knew he'd put his debt into the club, fair play to deadly, he ran us into the ground but at least we've always been financially sound, can you imagine some of the previous managers with randy cash?

January 24, 2008

Betting Villain said:

I agree with Ivor Biggen's (nice name) comment at the top. Arsene Wenger is such a sore loser, Tottenham blew a good Arsenal side off the park on Tuesday and he couldn't even admit they were the better side - they only won because he had a 'weakened team out'. Certainly not the reaction you would have if you didn't even want to get to the final anyway. I wonder why he had players like Fabregas on the bench - surely to bring them on in case they were losing? Their players may be young but the majority have played in the first team this season and if Wenger has his sights on the title, he has to be putting out players who are doing the job right? I don't know, maybe I'm missing something. Even if it is only the Carling Cup, it's still silverware. Arsenal and Man United think they are too big for it. Fair enough they may want to rest their players in the earlier rounds, but in the semi-final second leg could Wenger not have put out a full strength side, won the match and then been in the final (if he seriously believes the team he put out was that bad). What difference is two matches going to make? Oh and Lerner.. what a nice guy!

January 24, 2008 | url

AV33 said:

A little off topic here but there have been no new threads today as yet. Just been doing a little maths regarding the current squad situation and didn't like what i discovered. Before the January window opened, we had a full squad of 26 players. Southampton then took O'Halloran on loan, Steiber has gone to Yeovil for a while and Port Vale have taken Herd and Michaelsson in similar fashion. All players unlikely to figure much i know, but cover all the same. We could also now feasibly lose Luke Moore to Rangers, Olly Mellberg to Juventus, Sorenson to QPR and Cahill to Nose, all on permanent deals. This would leave a full squad of 18 players to battle out the end of the season. Two of these (Carson and Davies)are only on loan at Villa, Salifou has played just one minute of Premiership football and two of them have rarely featured if at all this season (Berger and Osbourne). Gardner would be the only person capable (albeit not very well) to play at right back and any injury at all would create massive problems due to inadequate cover. Surely MON will not let this happen. I don't want to be all doom and gloom but does anyone else agree that this doesn't look at all good. We should really be pushing on now, we have a great chance of a Euro place it we keep it up. I'd hate us to fall away now. Signings please MON and quick !!! UP THE VILLA

January 24, 2008

stevievillaa said:

i agree,we aint buyin the players we need like a right back,right midfielder r a left sided 1 nd switch young nd we need another striker badly... keep losing players nd we wont make top 8 let alone europe.surely mon has something happening between the scenes

January 24, 2008

Arrlui said:

Dead on AV33. We need Falcao!

January 25, 2008

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

Add Comment