Lerner Succeeding In EPL Where Other American Owners Have Not

Lerner Being Credited For Much Of Aston Villa's Turnaround

EPL club Aston Villa is in contention to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League, and Owner Randy Lerner is "being credited with much of the turnaround," according to Kabir Chibber of the N.Y. TIMES. Lerner, who also owns the Browns, bought Villa in '06, and unlike other American owners in the EPL, he has "avoided protests and boycotts by reaching out to the fans." A January headline in London's Daily Mail newspaper called Lerner the "right sort of American" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/15). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Tim Marchman noted three of the five top teams in the EPL are owned by Americans. Manchester United, owned by Buccaneers Owner Malcolm Glazer, and Liverpool FC, co-owned by Stars and MLB Rangers Owner Tom Hicks and Canadiens Owner George Gillett, are first and second in the league standings, respectively. Marchman wrote the American owners, including Lerner, have "done well by their clubs." In Glazer's four seasons with ManU, the team has earned 77% of all possible points, a 13% improvement over the preceding four seasons, while Aston Villa is 24% better under Lerner's ownership. During Hicks and Gillett's tenure, Liverpool is showing a 3% improvement (WSJ.com, 3/15).

SETTLING THE SCORE: In Manchester, Duncan Castles reported EPL club West Ham United hopes that "settling their long running legal dispute" with English Football League Championship club Sheffield United over the '06 transfer of F Carlos Tevez will "facilitate the sale of the club to new investors." West Ham has received "definite interest from an English-led group planning to spend" US$142.2M on the club. West Ham said that they "do not expect the club to change hands until the summer" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 3/15).