Randy Lerner Selling Stakes: Runners and Riders

Now the Villa faithful can stop fretting about the spectre of relegation and the Holte End's ears have stopped popping after blowing up all those balloons, fevered speculation has returned to the prospect that Randy Lerner may well be in the throes of selling the club.

Paul Lambert claims to be in dark about what's going on off the pitch. At times this season he's appeared not to have a clue what's been occurring on the pitch either, so we'll believe him if he says he's clueless.

So who might be taking over Villa? We've heard rumour and counter-rumour and reported sightings of Lesser Spotted Ellisons at Villa Park and while we can't separate fact from fiction, we can look at some of the names in the frame..

Red Bull
As recently as April, it appeared the fevered speculation suggesting Red Bull were our mystery suitors was untrue.

"Red Bull will not make any investments in English football clubs," Red Bull assistant sporting director Lisa Hohensinn confirmed.


“These were just rumours in the newspapers.”

This was great relief to those traditionalists who didn't want to sit in The Vodka End of the Red Bull Villa Stadium.

There is a however, however. We understand that bigwigs within the energy drink company are becoming increasingly frustrated with the bigwigs in Formula One and hints have been made they might pull out of that sport. Were this earth-shattering event to happen, they'd have to rethink their sporting policy so who knows?

Said Red Bull Big Chief  Dietrich Mateschitz "The question is not so much about whether it makes economic sense, but more to do with the sporting value, political influence and the like."

AEG
Not the people that made your cooker but Anschutz Entertainment Group.

As owners of some of the best known sport and entertainment venues on the planet, AEG would surely see Aston Villa as an investment they could profit from, in particular by investing heavily in and getting maximum use from a stadium that is just a stone's throw from the heart of the UK motorway network.

Anschutz already has far more than a toe in the water of the soccer world, being prime players in the formation of the MLS and having been heavily involved in many of the franchises since it's inception. Currently in control of LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamos (the latter in partnership with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions), purchasing a Premier League outfit could make strategic and financial sense.

Ray Davis - not the one out of The Kinks

Ray C Davis and Bob Simpson
Mention Texas Rangers in the villamad.co.uk office and someone will start singing Dean Friedman's closing theme to popular Birmingham based eighties drama Boon.

Apparently though, there is also a baseball team by that name currently co-owned by notoriously private individuals Ray C Davis and Bob Simpson. Not the bloke out of The Kinks and not some distant relative of Homer's

Despite stumping up in excess of half a billion dollars to purchase the Rangers in 2010, the duo chose to stay in the background in the early days with Nolan Ryan taking on the role of CEO and it was only last year that Ray Davis took the reins himself.

Anyone hoping for a more hands on chairman, sat in the Trinity Road every other week draped in a claret and blue scarf might be disappointed if Mister Davis takes over. Those thinking he'll flash the cash may be in for a rude awakening too.

“People have tried to buy championships before without success. You win with people, you build from within, and you try to keep as much payroll flexibility as you possibly can.”

Larry

Larry Ellison
If Larry Ellison was in the frame to buy Aston Villa, events at the L.A. Clippers basketball team may have thrown a spanner in the works. 

After Clippers' owner Donald Sterling was tape recorded making racist comments to his girlfriend, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday fined him $2.5 million, banned him from the league for life and said he'd seek to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. 


Previously frustrated in his previous attempts to buy a basketball team, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is teaming up with movie and music hot shot David Geffen and the icon that is Oprah Winfrey for a possible shot at the L.A. Clippers if Sterling is compelled to flog the franchise because of his racist remarks.

Geffen said, "Larry would sooner die than fail. I would sooner die than fail. Larry's a sportsman. We've talked about this for a long time. Between the three of us, we have a good shot."

Often described as the fifth richest man on the planet, Larry would no doubt have the funds to compete in both ventures, it's whether he'd have the time and the energy that we'd question.

Qatar Sports Investments (QSI)
Having already invested in Paris St Germain, there is no sign that QSI's ambition has been fulfilled and regular rumours abound concerning the takeover of clubs around Europe. PSG have spent more than hundreds of millions of euros in transfers since Qatar Sports Investments bought the club in June 2011, bringing them into conflict with UEFA's new financial fair play rules.

Cagliari have been consistently linked with a takeover from QSI since Massimo Cellino got involved with Leeds United.

Rumours of a Qatari takeover have rumbled around Villa Park for donkey's years and David Cameron's throw away comment that he'd get some of his rich Arab friends to buy the club certainly made the ears prick up, even if it was said in jest.


Other runners and riders may well be lurking in the shadows and we wait for Randy Lerner's proclamation. This might be a good week to follow Brian Doogan on Twitter if you haven't already...