MikeMcKenna

Why do you assume that MON wanted him and tried to convince him? People are very quick to become negative - how old is the transfer window?

Agreed, I think Kewell is another "sicknote" - dont like hime at all.

Hi General Hope you and yours are well! I am not an expert on "Membership Schemes" but my understanding is that Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and other premiership clubs have paid membership schemes i.e. Platinum, Gold, Silver etc which are open to season and non season ticket holders. They offer various levels of priority for home and away tickets and bring additional rewards/benefits. I understand that the Tottenham scheme was so successful that it is now closed to new members. This link will give you an idea of how the Tottenham scheme works: http://admin.tottenhamhotspur.com/docstore/MemberTiers.pdf Essentially they are designed to allow flexibility for fans who wish to commit to various degrees. For the club they are obviously a means of raising further revenues, creating greater loyalty etc

Hi General Have just returned from a week away to find the advance notice letter about renewing season tickets and now look forward to receiving the actual renewal pack. The content of the letter/price list was concise and straightforward. Have you and Randy personally viewed this mailing? I have to say that I was amazed that whilst the envelope had an outline of the crest: 1) Neither the letter or price list had a Villa crest/badge of any description on it other than minutely in the photo of Gabby etc 2) Neither the letter or price list actually mentions our clubs name "Aston Villa Football Club" anywhere. The closest it gets is a reference to www.avfc.co.uk The only enclosure that actually has an Aston Villa crest on it is the form selling the Mastercard, which I assume was supplied by an external agency. Normally I am not a pedant, but I cannot understand why the club would go to the trouble of sending out a letter to the fans/season ticket holders of "Aston Villa" and then not bother to mention the clubs name or feature the crest. I showed the letter/price list to a business colleague and due to my Villa connction he obviously worked out who it was from but said "Have you changed your crest to a Star and why doesnt it mention Aston Villa? Given the emphasis Randy and yourself have put importance of promoting ASTON VILLA and its history, tradition etc do you agree that we should feature the clubs name and crest on all communications/marketing material? I am all for the slogan "Proud History * Bright Future" but surely anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of marketing a "brand" would ALWAYS reference the name and "logo"? "Marketing Brands" is my business and in 25 years I have never known a famous brand NOT feature its logo or name. Can you please advise whether the name Aston Villa and the Crest will be used in future letterheads and all collateral marketing material?

General Fantastic end to the season and great credit to all concerned. Randy's purchase of Aston Villa was a "gift from heaven". Randy, Yourself, Mon etc etc have been like gale of fresh air to Aston Villa. After years of decay the club is vibrantly alive again. The turnaround in our fortunes is amazing. I cannot wait for next season! On a slighly sour note like others I feel the clubs stance on the West Ham issue is wrong. If we had not had such a good run we could easily have been in Sheffield's place - I know it is hypothetical but what would the clubs reaction been then? You all strike me as highly honourable people and I cannot understand why you will not back Sheffield in this instance. West Ham have admitted to lying and deceit of the highest order and stand to gain £millions as a result. Other clubs have been treated much more harshly in the past for lesser crimes. Middlesbrough were deducted three points some time ago for failing to fulfil a fixture as 16 players were either ill or injured, a judgment that condemned them to relegation from the Premiership. Earlier this season, League Two Bury were thrown out of the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player even though it was recognised as being an oversight and quickly admitted by the club, while AFC Wimbledon were fined 18 points for signing a player without international clearance. In my humble opinion Aston Villa Football Club should be seeking to uphold the honour of the game - fans across the country are becoming increasingly disillusioned by those who are supposed to be responsible for the "beautiful game". As Aston Villa is one of the leagues founding clubs I feel we should be seeking justice for Sheffield United rather than towing the corporate line. All that said "Up The Villa"!

errrr dont wanna fight 8) but think the players we bring in will not contain the usual suspects that are bandied about so much.

Hi General Saturday was a fantastic day! On behalf of my family and I who all travelled up to brum for the weekend please thank Randy & all concerned for the whole day! They were all bowled over by the whole experience. One small gripe, can you please speak to whoever controls the music/pa - they are going over the top in my opinion. They need to let the fans create the atmosphere at the beginning of the game. As I am sure you will agree, when the fans are in full voice chanting it is better than any blaring music over a tannoy! edit: Can I suggest that the announcers would be better employed trying to encourage the fans around all of Villa Park to sing. I am sure the players would love to run onto Villa Park to the fans chanting from all corners of the ground.

Reo- Coker would be a very good signing imo. He has taken a lot of stick over the Pardew situation and not done well this season, but last season I thought he was excellent. I believe with MON's help he could be a real winner. But would surprised if there isnt plenty of competition for him - I doubt £3 mill would be enough.

When S**T goes down it should stay down - to think otherwise is disgusting and unhygienic!!!

General, I think Kerms idea above is a great one. I have to do a 360 mile round trip for each home game. Mid week matches are the worst. If I do not get out of the car park at the end of the game quickly I do not get home till 1:30 am. On Saturdays a quick exit from the car park can get me home at around 8pm but if I am delayed it can mean being as late as 9 - 9:15pm.

General you are a STAR! It is fantastic to hear such enthusiasm/ambition from a director of the club! At long last we have an owner and board of directors who understand that the objective is WINNING!

Thanks General, We need PASSION, thats what I like to hear! Lets hope we dont have to wait too long!

Hi General and thanks again for the feedback. Did you get chance to read my comments about using email to make "last minute" offers to Season Ticket holders? I am sure that the new board are working on plenty of ideas but this seems a very simple marketing tactic to implement. Like many others I am sure that if I received an email 2-4 days before a game offering lower price tickets that I could persuade a few extra people to attend. Making it exclusive to Season Ticket holders also creates the perception that we are getting something extra. Up The Villa!

General, As you are no doubt aware Season Ticket holders were offered up to 6 tickets at £5 each for the Watford game - my daughter and I bought 10 tickets and a number of other Villtalk members have also used the offer. We understand that the offer was limited to 1500 and has sold out. Had the offer been promoted more widely by email to ST holders many more could have been sold. I realise that the club is probably trying all kinds of ideas, but in future do you think it would be a good idea to send "last minute" offers via email shots to Season Holders for games where a low attendance is expected?

Hi General A happy and healthy new year to you and your family! Especially your son. Like you and so many other Villa fans I was also "gutted" yesterday, it made for a miserable long journey home from London! Hopefully the team can pull off a shock win over Chelsea and give us all a great start to 2007. A possible idea for you.......... Whilst at Charlton yesterday, I noticed that there were a lot of special coaches from all over the the south east of England bringing Charlton fans in from distant towns. Obvously like these Londoners many Brummies have moved away from their home city over the years. I for example now live in Bournemouth approx 160 miles away and travel up to all the home games with my daughter and often a couple of friends - fortunately I can afford the expense but many cannot. During debates on why some people cannot attend games, it is pointed out that the cost of petrol or public transport can often exceed the price of the ticket making it cost prohibitive for many fans to go to Villa Park as often as they would like. I know some of the regional supporter clubs run transport packages, particularly from towns within a 50 mile radius of Birmingham, but would guess it becomes difficult for fans to get together in significant numbers the further they live away. If the club could develop a scheme whereby there offer a match ticket plus coach transport picking up fans from convenient centralised points in more distant regions of England where there are concentrations of Villa fans I believe it may encourage more fans to travel to home games as it would reduce te cost of transport. Maybe a survey could be sent out to fans who live in different regions asking them what they think of the idea? Maybe the idea could be promoted via the match programmes, ticket office etc etc? Happy New Year again! And as Virgil said: Forsan miseros meliora sequentur Translation: For those in misery perhaps better things will follow?

Independant during the week for me - buy the Independant and Times on Sunday

Sorry to perpetuate the OT line, but I had to laugh when a recent critique said:

Mr Ismay will be leaving Villa after Christmas i thought you might like to know. Very good news, is it by "mutual consent"?

Good Man Spizz Come on folks its got be Spizz's song................ a Song written specifically about Villa by a Villa fan!

General Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have made my year! As someone else said it brings a tear to the eye. This is amazing news and yet another illustration of the new owner and boards respect for the fans and our clubs tradition! When this news gets out to the wider fanbase it will be met with even greater admiration for what you guys are doing for our club. Thank you, thank you, thank you! AGAIN!!

TOTALLY AGREE!!! General The club should make every attempt to get Ron Saunders back to Villa Park and honour him accordingly!

Hi General Nice to hear from you again! Great news about the Holte pub - can you give us anymore details? Was also at Portsmouth - it was a great day - you should have come over to see us all! Mike

My understanding of the sale of land to the Villa Leisure Centre owners was that in the event of the club being sold prior to December 2006 (when payment was due) the deal would be null and void. If anyone has the original EGM notes they can hopefully confirm that this was a condition of the deal. Maybe the General can confirm this, but I apreciate that it may also be a commercially sensitive point and that he cannot comment.

General I dont know whether this idea is feasible but maybe it is something that you could ask the relevant people to give the once over. As you can see from these boards alone, Villa has many, many avid fans overseas or who live some distance from Birmingham and for obvious reasons cannot attend many (if any) games each year. . Would it be possible to offer these fans (or indeed anyone that wants to participate) a subscription service whereby they can receive on say a bi-monthly basis, a dvd/cd showing all of the clubs home games (and away?) for the proceeding two months? The scheme could be run along similar lines to mail order music or book clubs. Members would agree to commit to say a season and pay a periodic subscription. Mr.Ellis our Former Chairman reputedly said that the club had a worldwide database of 500,000 fans. If in reality it is 200,000 and 10% of this number subscribed to such a service, in my opinion, it could generate £1-2 million in revenue per season at substantial profit margins. Prior to Randy's takeover when this idea was floated as a way of raising funds it received a very positive reaction from many fans that I corresponded with. I may be wrong but I dont know of any other club that offers such a service. I realise that there maybe rights and licensing issues with Sky and other broadcasters but feel that this could be a moneyspinner for the club. Although I am a season ticket holder I for one would definitely join such a scheme and greatly enjoy building my "collection". From a commercial perspective it would also enable Villa to build a large continuity database of subscribers from which other profitable opportunities could arise and help promote Aston Villa as an innovative and global brand.

Thanks Pete! Like the Banana comment and after he scooped that shot in 1st half how the Villa fans sang "Are you Heskey in Disguise" As ever the fans sounded great despite not having a lot to sing about!!