JohnCresswell

Oh, I forgot to comment on Gareth Barry being booked for Diving. If, after a reply it is proved that it was a dive, I hope Martin O'Neill punishes him for that. As captain of AVFC he is a rolemodel to the kids and young players of our own club, and to do that sort of thing is very disappointing.

I will keep that up on there, but any more 'non-questios' and they will be deleted.

By Villa889

I'm sure he's big enough to accept criticism of this summers transfer dealings.

He's not a Billionaire in English money. Even if he was, it relied on the manager to actualy spend some of it.

Hi General, Despite my pre-match thoughts, I actually enjoyed the game today, partly due to going with no expectations of achieving anything whatsoever. So nice there - it's only a pre season game but a victory against any Inter Milan team is a good one. Just thought I'd pass on my little experience with the new season ticket card. I walked into my usual door, slid the card in and out as was shown in the literature and got the dreaded red light. I think a few people outside must have had the same problem. The woman behind the counter didn't really seem to know what was going on and told me i needed to see a supervisor, who, i was reliable informed "would be wearing a coat"! So I just went into the next kiosk and tried again, and it worked perfectly. I guess I was just inserting it in wrong, but the turnstile operators in the Trinity fdidn't seem to be all clued up. And on a second point - can you explain the advatages over paper tickets this new system has?

One and a loan signing.

If this is the case will Stewards actually throw out Liverpool fans if they are in the home end - something that hasn't happened in the past.

Another question regarding the official site, Can we please ensure that it is accesible for all - ie, at the moment only people using Windows computers can access Villa World. With more and more people leaving Windows machines for Mac and Linux, to cut off this section of fans is disappointing.

In which case, if Trekka's post is correct, then please General, can you find out why Richard thought it was necessary to say these things when it isn't his domain, and politely ask him not to get fans hopes up in future, as he may need educating in the fact that Villa fans have been lied to for years and years and it's not fair to us. I'm not accusing him of lying, but making such statements when not knowing what was going to happen in the summer as indicated by the Generals post is a bit silly, and as I say unfair.

General, Is it possible to get Richard FitzGerald to come out and qualify his statement re: "Top Class Players", please. His comments are at odds with recent MON comments, where he said he was looking at simply making the squad bigger. It is vitally important that fans do not feel like they have been lied to. We have had it for many years now, and if we are now not looking to bring in 'top class' players, or MON cannot sign these players for whatever reason, then please rather than trying to keep it up, can we just have what is exactly going on. We don't need names, we don't need sums. We don't need anything like that. A poor summer, particularly after Mr Fitzgerald's comments re: Player purchases would dent a fair few people's faith (yes, not all), which would be a shame considering the amount of season tickets sold and the fan 'effort' to back the club into becoming good once more.

General, Do you have any idea of what realistic aim the manager and club has for the forthcoming season. What position are we realistically looking to achieve to fit in with the first team. I'm sure we'd all like to win the league, but realise that this will not happen.

Dan, You will find that the blue on our kit is much different. Teams like Nike have certain 'templates' - this is one of the things that happen when you join up with a major supplier like this. If you want to discuss it more, please use the kit thread. ta!

OK guys. Any further posts about the signing of players (and lack of it) will be deleted unless there is a signifcantly different question. If it's just "why haven't we signed anyone" it'll be deleted, it's been asked many times and the General has answered it. thanks

Seems to conflict with your sig, does it not? Which one is it? OR are you just PFEing?

Dan. Please read the thread through. Or do a search. the search link is on every single page of this messageboard. that shirt picture has come from a member of villatalk, and the General has previously commented on it.

the kit

Is there not a difference between being disapointed and panicking?

back on t....you know the drill

You'll notice I've mentioned a figure of six players in the article - I feel that is the minimum of what we need following on from the sales. You will also notice that I have said that I think we will sign players, but I'm not going to apologise for feeling disappointed with being halfway through the window and no movement coming into Villa Park. What you needed to do, is actually read the article before trying to put words into people's mouths into situations that haven't actually happened. Any 'slagging' off for someone having an opinion will be banned from this website

Ramblings, thoughts and ponderings on what has (or hasn’t) happened since the finish of the 2006/07 season. We’re now in the beginning of July, and what is officially the start of the Transfer Window. A concept that since it’s introduction, I’ve nearly every single second of it. No longer can a team buy or sell depending on the situation that they find themselves in, the manager, chairman and fans now have to second guess what the forthcoming season will bring and you get stuck with the squad that you take into battle with (we keep being told that nobody signs anyone in the January window). There seems to be two rather distinct camps setting up at the moment with Villa fans. The first is beginning to panic. On the face of it, they have a good reason to do so. Out of the doors (or about to go) of Villa Park has gone Hughes, Davis, Sutton, Hendrie and Bardsley. They may not have played a massive part in the season, but four of those have all held down first team places due to the squad being down to a thin level after many, many injuries once again decimated the squad. I’m hoping that the new training ground and facilities will cut down this injury ‘hit rate’ After another anonymous season, Villa need to build - in quality and quantity, and I’m sure most would agree with me there. So I can understand frustrations and worry when people have seen every club in the Premiership, other than us and Manchester City (who can’t sign anyone yet due to the takeover process similar to what we saw last season). On the other side, there are the intensely optimistic group. I’ve seen some rather bizarre things here – including one person who honestly claimed that they thought Villa were interested in a player because they hadn’t been mentioned in the press. There is a genuine feel that no player is out of touch, that we will be signing a minimum of six players and next season will be nothing like the last three or four. And I can understand where this is coming from, even if, in all honesty, I find it harder to agree with. I can see the money is available – the chairman certainly hasn’t held back on spending so far and I can’t imagine him just stopping everything – especially without explaining the situation to the fans of the club. The atmosphere on the final home game was all down to Randy Lerner, and proof that he really meant business. The problem I have, I suppose, is that I have a foot in both camps. I have no doubt whatsoever that Aston Villa will sign players. I don’t think it’ll be the six players we need to challenge for Europe, but I have no doubt players will be signed. I also have no doubt that they will be the players which Martin O’Neill wants - however high the price. However, it may not seem it at the moment, but time is ticking away fast. In a couple of weeks time, we’ll have our new season ticket cards and in no time at all we’ll be at Villa Park for the Inter Milan game and then the first game of the season – one of the toughest that we’ll see – a home game against Liverpool. And that’s why I’m not going to apologise for beginning to get frustrated. I genuinely believe the intentions of the club to succeed on the pitch. I believe the money is there – so to not see it being spent is worse than knowing that there was no money to be spent and that there was no point in even thinking about new signings. Even the links to players seem to be sparse. We of course, have the ongoing, and to be honest, tedious Nigel Reo-Coker saga, but other than that the links seem to be the same four or five players just re-circulated. Yes, it’s more than likely just lazy journalism – but we go from the exciting links of genuine top quality players, to names such as Jason Koumas and Marlon Harewood. When Richard FitzGerald told fans we’d be signing ‘top class’ players this summer, I bet not many people immediately thought of those two. I find it hard to understand why we are selling before we buy – a policy which other clubs seem to be operating in reverse. This next season is an important one. It’s time for O’Neill to start pushing us up the table. He’s had the time and money made available to him to make it ‘his squad’. I’m not expecting immediate success, but I’m expecting progress. That’s what I want. The other things are secondary – It’s absolutely fantastic that fans are now welcomed to Villa Park, that the players now have the best facility in England to train in and have the support to succeed. But for me, I want something on the pitch to get excited about – to see Villa making genuine progress on the pitch so all that enthusiasm, that hope wasn’t misplaced. And that’s why I’m not going to apologise for being disappointed with transfer market dealings so far.