The new Aston Villa chairman Tony Xia clearly has a big personality and enormous ambition.
Tony Xia and the Recon Group acquired Aston Villa from Randy Lerner for a reported £76 million on June 14th 2016. Almost exactly one month later, Xia joined Twitter.
Ever since, the larger-than-life chairman has been remarkably open and candid on social media, giving both hints and updates regarding transfers as well as a revealing insight into his ambition for the club.
There has been perhaps no greater example of that than last night, when the Chinese businessman made a bold prediction regarding Villa and the Champions League followed by one chairman quoting another, as the Aston Villa chairman quoted the former chairman of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong.
Xia is expecting to see Villa in the Champions League before too long
Xia’s bold prediction regarding his recently-acquired club came after one supporter suggested that in five years time, the Villa chairman would be watching his own team in the Champions League draw.
Given the Villans’ current position bang in the middle of the Sky Bet Championship table, that might have seemed like quite lofty expectations, but not for Xia, who replied saying, “No, we don’t need that many years!”.
Aston Villa have never qualified for the Champions League in its current form, although they did win the European Cup back in 1982. Villa’s last taste of European football came in 2010, when they were knocked out of UEFA Cup qualifying by Rapid Wien.
From that ambitious claim to quoting China’s former autocratic leader commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, it was an unusual day on Twitter for Xia.
“We must have faith in the masses and we must have faith in the Party. These are two cardinal principles. If we doubt these principles, we shall accomplish nothing,” was the Mao quote tweeted by Xia.
The founding father of the People’s Republic of China was discussing the matter of agricultural co-operation in 1955 when he made the quote, but Xia was discussing Aston Villa’s possible targets, adding his own input stating, “Truly fans’ viewpoints are even better than scouting reports!”
There was a mixed response from Aston Villa fans, as is so often the case when Xia takes to Twitter.
Some have praised his ambition, honesty and transparency, whilst others have labelled him deluded for his Champions League comments and also criticised him for quoting Mao, who some consider a dictator comparable to Stalin or Hitler due largely to the estimated 40 to 70 million deaths in China as a result of starvation, forced labour and executions under his rule.
The Aston Villa chairman returned to Twitter seven hours later to iron out any Mao-related criticism, adding “My family suffered from the culture revolution era. Nothing with political issues but the quotation about masses.”
Aston Villa owner Dr Tony Xia
The success of Xia’s tenure as Aston Villa chairman remains to be seen. He has certainly backed Roberto Di Matteo in the transfer market this summer, with more signings said to be on their way.
Villa currently find themselves 12th in the Championship in the very early stages of the season, having won once, lost once and drawn twice.
Xia’s Champions League claims may seem outlandish, but the Leicester City owners were laughed at back in 2014 when they said the club would make the top five in three years. The Foxes incredible achievements last season make it difficult to mock lofty ambition anymore.
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