ellis out?!? o'neill in?!?

[andy villa]

This is from Jon Fear, leader of the Shareholders Association and VFC spokesman...

What a bugger, I thought I would squeeze in with this exclusive!

Martin O'Neil will come to Villa, but only if Doug Ellis steps aside for a consortium led by Michael Neville.

This is one of the bids, yes folks, you wait 22 years for a bid then 2 (or even 3) come at the same time, that has been in the pipeline and the positive thing with this group is that they have kept contact with some fan representatives and will be looking to unite the fans and club once again.

The exclusive has however, gone to Oliver Holt at The Mirror, (sod me for being all good and not exploding it onto the web last night!)

Michael Neville, who failed with an approach backed by the Comers last year, has kept on chipping away trying to broker the right backers for the club. Although he has faced criticism from frustrated fans - which is only understandable - he has it seems now got the finances in place and a bid is due in.

Good news? Well, it gets better because Neville has an undertaking from Martin O'Neil that he will be our next manager if the consortium succeeds.


It will be interesting to see, once the bid is lodged, what the reaction of Doug Ellis will be. The bid, and I'm led to believe several possible others, will be at the asking price, so Doug can't turn it down on the grounds that they undervalue the club, so just how can he reject it whilst being under the serious pressure he is? Maybe, and I don't know if this is just wishful thinking, but maybe maybe maybe, that is why he is out of the country, out of the way while the deals are done? Doesn't sound like the Ellis of old, but now we are talking about an old Ellis.


It appears that Ellis would remain, no matter which bid is successful, as a President figure, which I don't think many people would object to greatly, as long as he has no position on the board of Aston Villa! It makes sense to offer him this sweetener, although I hope no group will keep the Witton Lane stand named after Doug, that would be far less sweet!

Lets hope which ever bid is successful, if indeed any of them are, it ends up for the good of Aston Villa, not just the good of Doug Ellis. This club is massive, as the national press have been saying all week, and with the right injection of capital for player purchases, on top of our great youth players, add in a top manager and hey presto, you have a full Villa Park and a ticket office needing to take on extra staff to cope with the increased sales of season tickets.

There might be more to follow this afternoon......... no guarantees, but watch this space....

on top of this, i have been in contact with a guy who has been pretty much advising of events before they happen recently...

he is a long term villa fan and quite wealthy.. he has been involved in pointing different people interested in the villa in the right direction and towards each other, etc etc...

some avenues have had dead ends, but he has plugged on and has plans in case none of the bids are successful...

but the most important thing is that yesterday, he was like a kid in a candy store, expecting something to happen over the next week...

whether ellis accepts the deals on offer, is another matter entirely though...

but either way, the fans and more likely the media, are going to be baying for blood if the old man ****s this up...

if this above happens, then villa fans all across the world can start looking forward to a prosperous future...

its going to be an interesting week...

[andy villa]

Originally Posted by bbc.co.uk

Michael Neville has revealed that he is renewing his bid to buy Aston Villa.
Lifelong Villa fan Neville was part of a consortium interested in taking over at the club last season after chairman Doug Ellis put the club up for sale.

That bid collapsed, but he is convinced he has new unnamed parties willing to support any takeover bid.

"I have accelerated my efforts to make a bid for Aston Villa. I believe I have backers but cannot reveal any more," Neville told the Sunday Mercury.

"The timescale is short. If anything is going to happen, it would have to happen soon."

Chairman Ellis is due to return from holiday next week with Villa fans calling for him to quit after more than two decades in charge.

It would be fantastic to have Martin O'Neill at Villa

Michael Neville

Neville added: "Villa fans must be fed up with hearing my name associated with a takeover - but if I can't make it work this time, then I can't make it work at all.

"This is an exciting prospect, the result of a year's work for me, and I say that I have the best interests of Aston Villa at heart."

Neville also threw his support behind Martin O'Neill in replacing David O'Leary as manager.

O'Neill has been linked with a move to Villa Park since O'Leary and Villa parted company last week.

And Neville said: "As for Martin O'Neill, it would be fantastic to have him. Any club that has him on board would be very fortunate. He is top of the tree."