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Aston Villa fans have been given fresh hope a takeover of the club IS now a priority.

Jonathan Fear, editor of the Vital Villa forum, said chairman Steve Hollis made the assurance during the inaugural meeting of the Aston Villa Fans Consultation Group.

Three groups

"There has been talk of a takeover for some time," Fear said. "That was speculation, but this looks like fact now.

"They have a window of opportunity to get a deal through, but have not said how long they will wait until they get a manager in place.

"Without going into details, he (Hollis) said there were discussions taking place and that the appointment of a new manager would come after the takeover was sorted.

"The club have been in talks with investors from the UK, America and the Far East.

"They want to get new owners in before a new manager is appointed so that the new people can bring in their own manager if they want.

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Communication

Fear also said the positive actions of Hollis gave cause for optimism that communication between the club and supporters would finally improve.

"The new chairman is trying to better manage the communication," he said.

"He's new in and is making the right moves to consult fans.

"Communication has been a gripe of fans for a while - when we have had communication it has been condescending.

"It's very obvious the main focus for any fan is seeing the team winning.

"We can't dictate who the new manager will be, but hopefully with a winning team we can get the points about the rest of it across."

Feedback

Fear also said the Group would ensure dialogue between fans and the club was "more structured".

"The club say it's fan led so we can set the agenda," he added.

"It is just how much feedback we can give. I'm not sure as obviously the main focus is now on the ownership, who the manager will be and the events on the pitch.

"But if we can help bridge the huge disconnect between the club and the fans then that would be good.

"Over the years a lot of own goals could have been prevented.

"There are some points that are not important to them, but are important to fans, like the design of the new badge.

"They did consult fans via a website questionnaire but went ahead with it without properly consulting the fans."

10 items

Ten items were presented for discussion at the Group's first meeting.

These included the search for new directors following the resignation of David Bernstein and Mervyn King as well as ticketing and pricing.

"It is not thought that more drastic cutting of prices is possible," Fear wrote on the Vital Villa forum.

"Villa Park has 40% concessionary ticket sales and as a result the average ticket sale is much below the ticket price."