jasthevillan

Why buy Kamara and Gera? Both players at a Championship team.

Erm...

Giles Barnes would be awesome

Well spotted CV saw that as well but I would agree that Giles Barnes is a better prospect and the other 2 have been in the top flight and not pulled up any trees.

Happy Birthday General, from all in the Basi household, I think you birth date is probably on wikipedia.

Having said that, to what extent has support been drummed up? I'm certainly not having a go, I'm just curious. I go to uni in Nottingham just an hour and a bit away from Brum on the train and I've not seen/heard anything.

I have to say I think that's casting the net a bit wide, with the amount of students we've got in Birmingham (University of Birmingham, Aston University, UCE, probably others I'm overlooking, there's plenty of technology colleges and stuff) I think going as far as Nottingham is a bit far for now. Also I think "neutrals" won't be willing to travel that distance. I could be wrong of course, we won't know if we don't try, but I think starting closer to home has to be the priority before spreading the net wider. I wouldn't for example expect to see Villa at an event in Leeds as there's not all that many of us stupid enough to travel to Villa Park from up t'north, not students anyway, away games perhaps... I digress. Leeds don't do anything to attract fans from the student population, but they should, they have so many empty seats, I know I'd go if the tickets were cheap enough, mainly for a laugh admittedly, as would my housemate who's a Leeds fan, but no, they want to charge us over £30 a ticket, no thanks. I know Sheffield Utd did students for a fiver against us back in December, I was going to go but was too ill, a few of my mates at Sheffield uni went and had a great time, they'd go back when the offer is repeated. It's certainly something worth looking at while the ground still isn't full, but lets start at the local unis, there must be a few hundred thousand students in Birmingham, If we could get even 1% of those to a game it would noticably boost the attendance.

Not so sure about that Paddy, I went to Nottingham Trent and started the day after we lost to the shit 3-0 at the sty and without it being planned in my group of 5 that day were two other Villa fans from Lincoln and Kettering. Met alot more Villa fans while I was there from Burton and places like Mansfield.

However I agree that may be a bit far away for any real impact but we should certainly target Brum, Aston, UCE, Wolverhampton, Warwick and Coventry Universities as we are the only Premier team for a long distance.

It could be for the 'Do you know who I am fund'.

He will be getting his testimonial and I won't stand in his way but I won't be paying money to feed his ego. I would only consider going if all of it went to charity and some of my heroes played but other than Ian Taylor who played with Lee Hendrie for Villa that is an absolute legend? Southgate? Forget that!

Don't think £6m for Kamara would be good value for money he is having a good season but Zoltan Gera had a brilliant season once and now he appears to have sank without a trace.

No to the 2 bob! We need a proper preseason and MO'N needs the time to go and get the players he wants. The squad is too small for a run at it and wont be much bigger even after summer additions because of players moved on like Hendrie, Samuel, DJX2 please God! Delaney? Hughes? Angel? Taylor? Sutton?

We will be better off trying to get where we want to be in a sensible way as opposed to Newcastle who are just desperate to get as many games in as possible to fool the toon army so that they can buy more overpaid has beens.

Curtis Davies is one of the most over-rated footballers in this country, if the Baggies go up it wont be because of him but because of the likes of Kamara. For much of the season they struggled away from home and they have hardly been tight at the back.

Very special eh?

Seeing that teams wear their next seasons kit in the last game of the season it will be nice to have a retro European Cup final shirt in the last game before we celebrate the 25th anniversary. You can't say what the shirt is like without seeing it with the badge which must surely mean the badge has been finalised.

With regards forums I have been to a few now that be on Capital Gold and they can be quite interesting although all 3 had different atmospheres. The 1st one was with Graham Taylor and you just felt that he wasn't going to be there very long. The second one was with Milan Baros and Mark Delaney because DO'L was too chicken to do a forum. It wasn't really going anywhere with questions like 'what is it like to play in the World Cup?', I shook it up a bit then by asking 'How does it feel when your manager puts you down all the time?' Tom Ross jumped in to protect the lads from any retribution from the manager and then more and more questions were challenging DO'L and the atmosphere got prety heated. The best of the lot was with MO'N this season in Longbridge and there were 6000 applications, the atmosphere was electric and MO'N was clearly taken aback by the reception, if he didn't know how big this club was he did then. A clearly intelligent bloke who isn't pretentious and doesn't shy away from any questions posed to him.

Prices go down when they relegate, they just want to get more money in to buy new players.

Interesting to see what happens with Carlos Tevez!

Prices only go down if the club have no money, West Ham don't have this problem because they have a billionaire owner, not the egghead. The shit also have rich backers which is why they got such good money for Pennant, Heskey and stuck to their guns with Upson's price.

Laursen is a quality footballer, he is the same age now as McGrath was when we signed him, that alone should give him the benefit of the doubt especially the improved technology with regards to operations.

With regards players like Ashton, Reo Coker and Davies they wont come for £5m each because of what we paid for Ashley Young.

Is there any sort of timeline on this or is it dependant on how quick the fans take to the 'Randy Revolution'.

I think he is trying to remind potential investors that they may get a new stadium for free from the council to try and get the value of his shit club up. I don't think the council will go for it anyway because they keep going on about the Commonwealth Games but Manchester got it in 2002 and Glasgow will probably get it in 2014 so no chance of Brum getting it until 2022 or 2026, thats a bloody long time!

Great news about the 25th anniversary General, needless to say I'm very excited. Who is coming from Australia though? Has Peter Withe relocated after losing the Indonesia or Singapore job?

I can't wait! Hopefully Peter Withe and Jimmy Rimmer will be there too as they have been abroad a while. Last I heard Jimmy was living in British Columbia, it would be a nice touch if Randy could give him a lift on the way over from Cleveland.

Thanks for the quick update General, hope you enjoy/enjoyed your discussions with Sir Dennis Mortimer, a previous General of Aston Villa, a midfield General. Went to a signing of the book 'The Road to Rotterdam' and he was signing with Gary Shaw and Tony Morley as well as the author, Rob Bishop. Sir Dennis was still the leader and when signing my European Cup shirt 'instructed me to 'hold it tight' so that he could sign it properly, a born leader.

General Krulak here:

1. Again, times/dates/locations of US Tour are not solidified as yet. We need to go where we can have the greatest impact and where we can find the teams to play. This is a coordinated effort and Bob Kain is using many of his contacts to make this happen.

2. We have just contacted the Staffordshire Regiment and told them that Aston Villa would welcome, for free, all members of the Battalion currently serving in Basra, Iraq to a game at Villa Park next season. The Battalion does not return until the summer. This is one indication of Randy's desire to serve the community.

3. I will be speaking with Dennis Mortimer tomorrow re. the 25th Anniversay Celebration. Do not worry, we will do this right!! We are well on the way to planning this celebration...it will be a great series of events...not just one. As soon as we nail down the Plans we will make them public...to include the media. BUT, we need to finalize the plans.

I'm sure it will be excellent, what with Bob Kain's contacts and know how.

I like the idea of inviting the Staffs Regiment, it is a chance for us to give something tangible back, how many servicemen are in the regiment?

Sir Dennis must be delighted that he is finally receiving the kind of respect that he deserves, I know that for many of us it was embarassing to hear talk of our hero not being truly welcome.

Whilst we are all thinking about anniversaries can I remind you General of the 50th anniversary of the 1957 FA Cup win being this year too, we shouln't neglect them either.

General Krulak here:

1. I just got off the phone with Randy...literally! I took the time to read him some of the very kind posts that just came on the site...and he was very touched. He asked me to pass on to the folks on Villa Talk that he appreciates their comments and good wishes. He fully understands that there may well be rough days ahead...that we are not where we want to be...but he does appreciate the fan support for MON, the Team and him.

2. As soon as we get the dates and locations for the Summer Tour, I will get the info to you...and then strategize about possible group movement, etc. I fully understand the funding issues and perhaps we can get a group price...if we can have enough people who want to go. Knowing Randy, he will attempt to make the fans who actually come over to support the Team very much a part of some of the activities...practices, etc.

3. Nike's distribution system will be very helpful and key to our marketing strategy. They are real pros and I am sure that we will see some innovative actions being taken.

I'm sure that thousands of us will appear in the stands at Home Depot Centre or whereever we go. Would be great for us to get some close contact with the players and staff, it crates a closer bond between fans and staff. I fully intend to get as many as possible of my ex pat relations out there to come to watch with me on the West Coast (if we have a game there that is).

What do you think of the link up between the Colorado Rapids and Arsenal? Ithink it is quite a good complimentary relationship, do you think Randy would consider taking on a MLS club himself? This could be boom time for the sport in the US, it's now or never really in my opinion.

General Krulak here:

1. Yes, we will be going on a pre-season tour in the US. Details, dates, locations, etc. are currently being worked out. Whe the dates and locations are nailed down, we will immediately make them available to our fans.

2. Yes, Villa Village is going to be totally re-done. It is part of our plan and will make our "shop" world class. We will be selling both Villa and Browns merchandise. You would be surprised at the number of Villa shirts that are "popping up" in Cleveland and other locations around the USA.

3. As I have mentioned before, we know we have a LOOONG way to go with our web site...bear with us.

Fantastic news General with regards the tour, hopefully we will be playing in California when I am out there, I may have to make excuses with my family to create a delay so I can ensure I am out there for it.

Excellent news about the shop being redone, the current one reminds me of an American fast food outlet, something like Wendys.

I remember you saying that we were working on the current City Centre store/new store too, now that we are with Nike will they have a more influential role in this and will they have a full range of products similar to that of Nike Town which closed in the Bullring recently. In fact I think that the site there would be perfect for a Villa shop, on two floors so plenty of space, a prime location with plenty of footfall and surronded by the right sort of neighbours such as Massimo Dutti and Selfridges, giving a real sense of quality. Lets face it if there is one thing that the name Aston Villa is, it's quality.

Bang on that is Juju!

Question for the General, Do you think you could twist Randy's arm and get him to do the lap of honour that is tradition at the end of the season, the fans would really love to show our appreciation for the work that he and the rest of the team off the field have conducted.

Another question, was Bob Kain the driving force behind the Nike deal and what is he working on now with his vast array of contacts in the business?

This isn't a suggestion, merely a question:

What about Jonathan Woodgate?

I know he is injury-proned, but what if assured he would not stay that way?

Worth a shot?

Well you cant do that and I'm guessing that you didn't see him get done for England yesterday.He ain't been all that this seaon for me. A good player but not worth the fee and he is certainly not worth the wages.

Or even a game against LA Galaxy or another team in CA in late July?

General, I read somewhere that the Browns are more or less named after Jim Brown so on that alone he has got to have been pretty special, is there any truth to the story? I agree with you that Big John Carew is a beast, but would you fight him?

I guess at Villa the equivalent would be the likes of Archie Hunter, Joe Bache, Harry Hampton, Frank Barson or Billy Walker.

And then the prick said '****' on BBC1, clearing in the woods!

fine 7m

but i to be honest dont get your hopes up

i hate to be pessimistic but i dont think WE will sigh him

We just bought Ashley Young for up to £9.65m, Bale is younger and a hotter property and better clubs in for him, he is off somewhere for £10m+ probably Man U because of his respect for Ryan Giggs in particular.