DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Former Cleveland Browns boss Randy Lerner was never cut out for sports ownership: Tom Reed

Former Cleveland Browns boss Randy Lerner was never cut out for sports ownership: Tom Reed

By Tom Reed, Cleveland.com
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on May 18, 2016 at 7:36 PM, updated May 18, 2016 at 9:23 PM

BEREA, Ohio -- Randy Lerner should not be allowed to own anything in the sports world ever again.

Not a football team. Not a soccer club. Not a Westminster show dog.

Chances are the charitable, yet gullible, former Browns owner finally has learned his lesson after seeing a sizable chunk of his personal fortune squandered on the English soccer team he's selling.

According to The Telegraph and other media outlets, Lerner is unloading relegation-bound Aston Villa to Chinese businessman Dr. Tony Xia for a bargain price of $90-plus million. He purchased the Birmingham-based side a decade ago for a reported $95 million and assumed $24 million of debt.

Forbes estimates Lerner has lost over $400 million, pre tax, since 2006. It's an astonishing sum for a man who sold the Browns to Jimmy Haslam in 2012 for $1.05 billion.

Although he's not hurting for money, his reputation has taken a worse beating than his soccer team, one demoted to England's second-tier for the first time since 1987. Villa finished with just three wins in 38 matches -- or one for every manager who coached the team this season.

Despite his gentle nature and good intentions, Lerner ranks among the sports world's most inept owners. Problems that plagued his decade-long reign over the Browns followed him across the pond. He made some curious hires, grew more reclusive from his team's fans and lacked the acumen required to oversee a major franchise.

In Cleveland, he hired a successful coach (Mike Holmgren) to do something other than coach. At Aston Villa, over howls of fan protest in 2011, he hired manager Alex McLeish who had taken hated rival Birmingham City into relegation a season earlier.

"Worryingly, it raised the question of how much or little Lerner understood of the Villa culture," ESPN soccer analyst Ian Darke told The Plain Dealer in 2012.

After a bright start to his soccer stewardship --“ three consecutive top-six finishes in the 20-team Premier League -- he flirted with relegation over the past six seasons as the Premier League grew too rich and cutthroat for him.

The club has been for sale since 2014 and Lerner was initially seeking $295 million, according to reports. Last year, a buyer was reportedly willing to pay $220 million for a chance to own a founding Premier League member and former European Cup champion.

Lerner's decision to keep Villa another year, after coming so close to demotion in 2015, was bewildering. One theory: the league's new $12 billion television deal kicks in next season. Had the team stayed up for one more campaign it would have dramatically enhanced the resale value.

Instead, the side bottomed out and fan outrage at Villa Park multiplied by the week. Some stories surrounding the team were as incredible as the lopsided score lines.

• The club spent roughly $120,000 dollars on a logo redesign that looked virtually the same as the old one with the exception of removing the word "Prepared."

• Lerner poured $70-plus million into new signings this season only to see the club implode. Maybe, it had something to do with poor scouting.

• The Guardian reported one of Villa's scouts responsible for scouring Spain and Portugal was a journalism student. Another scout moved to Australia at a time when he was supposed to be searching the powerhouse German Bundesliga for talent.

As another season unraveled, Lerner admitted last month relegation "lies at my feet and no one else's."

Some fans will feel a sense of schadenfreude over the owner's financial downturn. But Lerner's damage at Villa goes beyond the bottom line. Browns faithful are lucky relegation is not part of American sports. Once teams go down, TV money and sponsorships begin to dry up. There's no guarantee Villa returns to the Premier League anytime soon.

In the face of fan anguish, Lerner plied them with sentimental flashbacks last month.

"Memories of Acorns on the (team jersey), and Ashley Young scoring a late winner against Everton still romantically nourish me," he said.

Pending Football Association approval, new ownership should inject hope and much-needed leadership into Villa.

It's unclear what becomes of Lerner, whose affinity for Villa was never questioned. On Wednesday night, he released a letter on the team website that oddly began with the words "Goodbye to all that ...

For the second time in four years, Lerner sounds like an owner happy to unburden himself from a responsibility too challenging. The Browns were his late father's passion, not his own.

Lerner a decent man, a giving man and a simple man -- one who had no business owning a pro sports franchise, let alone two.

Agree 100%

Some guys just aren't cut out for it.

He tried as a Browns owner, but Botch, Savage, Holmgren, ManginiKok regimes flopped.

Can't really fault him for trying. He did spend the money. He generally stood out of the way and didn't micromanage. He did seem to be a genuine fan of each team. He was just the worst at hiring people. And once it turned out the person was not cut out for the job, he'd quickly pull the plug and try out someone who was a polar opposite for the team that was already in place. It was just constant turmoil and no stability.

I...I...I'm shocked.

Did they figure that out with analytics?

All it takes is common sense to come to that conclusion. No data or formulas needed for it. That man has hurt us big time with constant bad decision making. Villa just more unneeded evidence to support that.

Randy, take your money and go sip drinks on a beach somewhere, or get into politics lol.

Assuming he did, how would anyone know how bad he would be? It's not like there are good politicians to compare against. Actually, that's probably where he does belong then.

Hehe, you've answered your own question. No good politicians, so it's an environment he'll be able to flourish in lol.

Think of the jobs he'd create!

Based on a small window, I don't see that things have changed that much.

I've always defended Randy as a guy who truly wanted to win and who truly did everything and anything he could think of to bring a winner here. But he just didn't make sound decisions. Some of which I thought were good, most I thought weren't.

But I never once thought he wanted to lose.. Never.

As for losing, his father paid what? 600 million or there about for the franchise in 1999 (or was it 1998) and Randy darn near doubled that.

Randy = good man, good heart. He also = bad sports team owner.

Thats fine many of us are the same way.

GMdawg = good man, good heart. I also = bad Doctor, cop, fireman, preacher etc, etc, etc.

Each and every one of us has our strenght's and weakness's

rockyhilldawg strengths = smart man, handsome, popular, strong, wise, very smart, sought out, fast, kind, really handsome, talented, intelligent, skilled, smooth, artistic, clever, graceful, good-looking, personable, saintly, fashionable, athletic, extremely attractive, suave, admirable, really good-looking, did I mention handsome?

weaknesses = too honest, too humble, too handsome...

You looked like Russell Brandon on that swing

Amazingly they have gotten much worse with the criminal. Can't get much worse than it is now.

Or even worse, Russell Branyan. Man, he could swing the bat ...... connecting with nothing ..... better than almost anyone.

He had a mighty swing though. lol

I am starting to type like I talk

quote by GM above:

"I am starting to type like I talk"

"Ground control to Major Tom, Ground control to Major Tom, take your protein..."

Oh hey, GM. What's cooking? Hold on I gotta an itch. Oh, that's better. Looks like a mostly cloudy day today. Lot's of Cleveland sports this weekend. Think I'll wear my blue sleeveless t-shirt today. I could go with another coffee. Yeah, French Vanilla this time. Think I'll take a walk later. What were we talkin' 'bout?

It's worse than that.

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/Aphasia/