Randy Lerner threw the first punch but AV06 are about to counter for control of Aston Villa

I read something today which started me thinking about why I support Aston Villa which got me to thinking about the AV06 consortium.

Bill Howell is quoting an unnamed source of the AV06 consortium as saying "Our aim is to strengthen the team and to utilise the club's many assets wherever possible.

"We have money for transfers, up to ?30million in the August window if we can get the deal done quickly enough and we are confident we can.

"But we are more than prepared to step aside if Mr Lerner can match our ?30million transfer budget inside the next 17 days."

"We are certainly not looking to spoil their deal just for the sake of it but we have concerns about their immediate intentions.

"We are solely interested in strengthening the team and two players now could make all the difference. As regards Lerner, so many questions remain unanswered."

It didn't all make sense; why would they walk away if Mr Lerner spent ?30mn. on transfers when it would be technically impossible for him to do so as he won't gain control until September?

If rumours are to be believed a deal is in place for Martin O'Neill to sign a lengthy extension to his contract should Mr Lerner gain control of Aston Villa. This to me suggests that they've sat down and discussed taking Aston Villa forward.

Have the AV06 consortium spoken to Mr O'Neill? I'll ask next time I speak to Mr Padfield but it's important for me, as a supporter, to believe that whoever gains control is doing it for football reasons and everything we know about both parties right now is pure speculation; how do we know who is best for Aston Villa?

I've spoken to Mr Padfield today and he can confirm that AV06 are 'keen to outbid Mr Lerner' and he's pretty sure that Mr Lerner 'hasn't budgeted for any transfers'. If that's the case I wouldn't be surprised as by the time he would gain control of the club the transfer window will be closed.

That's not a negative remark against Mr Padfield as he also confirmed they wouldn't be able to spend until January, but that also leaves plenty of time for Mr Lerner to put together a transfer budget for Mr O'Neill in January.

Mr Padfield has spoken to a couple of Aston Villa fans, who will remain nameless as I don't think they've told anyone of their conversation, but I will say one thing and that is he was confident of his position and his wish to take Aston Villa forward.

He also confirmed that the fans would have a voice if he gained control and he knew we've never had that under Mr Ellis; so he's saying the right things and from what I understood things could happen very soon.

The question is, would AV06 be better for Aston Villa than Mr Lerner and the answer, I'm afraid to say is, none of us will ever know because only one of them will gain control and that will come down to who wants it the most.

Also, with a bit of luck that should be the best outcome for Aston Villa, or atleast we all hope it will be!