Randy Lerner favours Aston Villa over Cleveland Browns, claims US reporter

Aug 15 2010 by Adam Aspinall, Sunday Mercury

WHILE Villa fans were left stunned by Martin O’Neill’s walkout, our cousins across the pond watched on with knowing smiles.

Long-suffering supporters of the Cleveland Browns American football team have been through similar dramas under Randy Lerner’s ownership.

Terms like ‘circus’, ‘farce’ and ‘joke’ have often been used to describe the struggling Ohio outfit.

Yet it was Randy Lerner’s skillful handling of a similar crisis to Villa’s last season which has seen the fortunes of the team begin to change.

The billionaire inherited the Cleveland Browns after his father Al Lerner died in October 2002. But he has had a somewhat frosty relationship with fans ever since.

This culminated in a dramatic intervention by Lerner last season to stop a huge fan protest before a televised clash.

His decision to appoint a new charismatic club President has been credited with reviving the Browns’ flagging fortunes.

And despite O’Neill’s shock departure, the soccer manager appeared to have been quickly forgotten during Villa’s opening day 3-0 win against West Ham yesterday as jubilant fans chanted: “There’s only one Randy Lerner!”

Cleveland sports journalist Cory Felegy has followed the trials and tribulations of the Browns for years. He spoke to the Sunday Mercury to give an insight into life under Lerner.

He explained: “The Browns had an awful start to last season, literally the worst start they have had in years, and the fans thought that he did not care about them.

“They planned a protest before a big Monday night football game but Lerner managed to put out their fire and talk them round.