WANTED & UNWANTED » bit different, there was history,

Randy Lerner has sold Aston Villa to the Recon Group, owned by Chinese businessman Dr Tony Jiantong Xia. The deal is for 100 per cent ownership and will go through subject to approval by the Premier League and Football League.It is understood that the new regime has spoken to Roberto Di Matteos representatives as their preferred choice as head coach. Sky sources report the former Chelsea manager, who has been out of work since resigning from Bundesliga side Schalke 12 months ago, is due to begin talks imminently over a three-year deal. Randy Lerner has sold Aston Villa to the Recon Group It is estimated that Dr Xia will pay between £60m and £70m for the club which New York-based investor Lerner bought 10 years ago and has been trying to sell since 2014. Villa were relegated to the Championship this season Recon Group is Dr Xias privately owned holding company that owns the controlling interest in five publicly-listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges and many other private companies employing 35,000 people in 75 countries. Season review Stats, quotes and expert opinion on Villas 2015/16 campaign In a farewell statement on the Aston Villa website, Lerner said: Tonys excitement to develop Villa Park shone through. I remain convinced that this is a crucial part of the clubs future as it provides a critical, long-term second source of revenue and therefore sustainability for the club from which squad-funding can potentially come.It is with that that I want to say thank you, and to wish Tony every success going forward.Aston Villa were relegated to the Sky Bet Championship after finishing bottom of the Premier League this season. 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MINSK, Belarus -- Less than three years ago, Alexander Skshinetskys soccer career seemed over.The former under-21 international found himself unemployed after his career stalled, and was working on construction sites when an offer came. Would he consider joining an amateur team that had been playing seven-a-side soccer but now wanted to go pro, founded by a small group of fans staking thousands of dollars of their own money to build a club from scratch?Two seasons and two promotions later, the 26-year-old midfielder is a key player in one of European soccers most unlikely success stories. In only its third professional season, Krumkachy Minsk is playing top-flight soccer, beating established names and challenging the economic orthodoxy in one of Europes most closed-off countries.Krumkachy -- Ravens in Belarusian -- has soared into the countrys top league with a shoestring budget but an enthusiastic and growing fan base of hipsters, families and others turned off by the stagnation of soccer in the ex-Soviet nation. Before a recent run of losses, it was even challenging for Europa League qualification.The secret has been finding talented players on the verge of leaving the game, or even those who have already quit, people who have been underestimated and put down, in the words of co-founder Denis Shunto, who set up Krumkachy with friends in 2011. We get those guys and we can really make them into a team.After starting out in recreational competitions, Shunto and his friends decided to aim higher. Belarusian soccer has a three-tier league system packed with clubs backed by various government agencies and state-run factories in the countrys Soviet-style economy, a set-up which prefers predictability over ambition and can give rise to conflicts of interest. With a spot open in the third tier, but without a state patron, Krumkachy scraped together a few thousand dollars to apply. Each subsequent step up the pyramid brought predictions of imminent financial collapse.Everyone said we wouldnt have the money, we couldnt take part, said Skshinetsky, the midfielder. We played for free in the second division, and in the first division it wasnt much. Maybe $100 for a win in the first division and salaries maybe $150 (a month).On a freezing Friday night in Minsk, the crowd was small and the game scrappy. Goalkeeping errors helped to hand Krumkachy a 2-1 win which all but ensured the clubs top-flight survival for 2017 in the Belarusian leagues calendar-year system. Financial survival is always a trickier question.Weve got the smallest budget (in the league) and were still putting money in ourselves, said Shunto, who wonders if the approach of going without government funding may be too romantic.ddddddddddddAt Fridays game, commercial tie-ups were prominent and Krumkachys shirts were covered in a myriad of small logos from various businesses which have chipped in as sponsors, while opposition Granit Mikashevichi bore only the logo of its backer, a state-run quarry. Consumerism may be the norm in most European leagues, but in Belarus state-dominated economy, its the mark of the plucky underdog.After ending a nine-game wait for victory, the players came over to celebrate with the sparse crowd. An hour later, the reserve players were still sharing the field with fans and their children having a kickabout.Its an atmosphere like home, very warm. Its been helping the guys not to give up, said Vasily Khomutovsky, one of Krumkachys two co-coaches.At a recent away game, a woman with two children who went there, with two small kids 7 and 10 years old, she made each player a little souvenir by hand and signed it, something different for each player, Khomutovsky said.Theres a family atmosphere within the club, too, with Shuntos brother serving as a backup goalkeeper and Skshinetskys wife in charge of fitness training.Vladimir Harlach, one of the teams supporters, said Krumkachy reminds him of AFC Wimbledon, the English club founded by fans after owners relocated its previous incarnation to another town, and which has since shot up several divisions.Thats a bit different, there was history, Harlach said. Here, its from scratch. History is being written in front of our eyes. You could compare it to other countries 100 years ago, when (soccer) was all being created.Krumkachys average home attendance of about 1,500 is tiny by European standards, but enough to put it comfortably above all but the biggest clubs in Belarus, as well as higher than that of FC Minsk, the city government-run club whose stadium Krumkachy is using.Some at the club wonder whether European qualification might be possible next year, another improbable step up, but the top spot in Belarus appears far out of reach. Able to outspend rivals with cash from occasional Champions League appearances, BATE Borisov has just sewn up its 11th straight title.Khomutovsky welcomes the comparison to Leicester, a team which was promoted to top division in England, survived one season, then won a wildly unlikely title the following year.I hope next year, Khomutovsky said, we do what we can to become the Belarusian Leicester. ' ' '