Villa Takeover Story No 3233

Well, after a quiet week or two, the Sunday Papers have once again returned to the proposed Villa takeover. According to today's reports not only is the takeover still very much on, but the man heading it is promising 'No consortium I have ever fronted has been involved in asset stripping and I'm not about to start now.'

Comer Homes have been looking into the possibility of putting in an official bid for Aston Villa for some weeks, and they haven't always enjoyed the best of press in relation to some of their dealings. In fact some papers have printed expose type reports saying they would be looking to asset strip the land that Villa own in and around Aston. However the Comer brothers' representative, Michael Neville, who is heading the consortium and is a life long Villa fan has come out fighting.

Ellis said this week that he would look to sell but only to the right people.

Neville has been quoted in the press today as saying: 'No consortium I have ever fronted has been involved in asset stripping and I'm not about to start now. As someone who grew up living near the club, I would not move in to Aston Villa and allow that. I have seen Mr Ellis' comments and I can tell him that won't be happening if the deal goes through.'

Reports also suggest the group still hope to complete the takeover before the winter transfer window, although as they have apparently not had face to face talks with Ellis and the board yet, I find that slightly hard to believe. As for asset stripping, surely the land was bought to be developed and to generate money for the club? The current board have had a few planning applications turned down, if they had succeeded in 'exploiting' these assets, would they be seen as asset strippers as well? No, didn't think so. The only way to make money out of Villa is to attempt to restore it to the big club it once was.

Whether that will be done by the Comers, rumoured consortiums from American, Russian, Japan or a group from the planet Zarg remains to be seen, one thing that is clear that after 23 years at the helm, we have an 81 year old chairman in very poor health who hasn't pushed this club forward from where he picked up - ie European Champions.