Lerner takes blame as Okore refuses to play
ASTON VILLA’S position as the laughing stock of the Barclays Premier League was further confirmed yesterday as stay-away owner Randy Lerner bizarrely took the blame for relegation while defender Jores Okore was effectively accused of going on strike.
American Lerner issued a stream-of-consciousness statement via the club’s website in which he described the memory of an Ashley Young goal in 2008 and the decision to give free shirt sponsorship to the Acorns charity as ‘romantically nourishing’.
There was nothing romantic about the revelation a few hours later that Okore had refused to be part of the squad for the huge match against Bournemouth when he discovered he would be on the bench. Okore has since been ordered to train with the Under 21s. Jack Grealish, Joleon Lescott, Gabby Agbonlahor and now Okore have all grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons and managers Tim Sherwood and Remi Garde have been sacked. This week new board members Mervyn King and David Bernstein quit, claiming they could not implement change because of Lerner. Yesterday Lerner sent a message to supporters in which he stated: ‘This relegation lies at my feet and no one else’s.’
Villa have hired a troubleshooter to oversee a redundancy that will see around 500 people lose their jobs — with 60 expected to go at their Bodymoor Heath training complex.