Ginge

We need some action now and we need a manager, the silence coming out of Villa park is deafening.

FINALLY people are seeing the massive problems at boardroom level, general is your job to come on here and butter everyone up so everybody feels too scared to bad mouth the chairman?? Not Randys style to speak out you keep telling us so can you tell us who is going to speak out?

You said last weeks result was sending out a message, presumabley you meant to MON so who did todays result send a message to?? if the finances are there why did MON walk out with immediate effect I take him to be a professional man and one of the best managers we have ever had so why had he not been able to buy anybody. We are looking like a club in trouble with no clear leader.

Was MON leaving anything to do with a new manager coming to the training ground from the states??

A professional man like MON doesnt make a decision like this hastily , until the facts emerge rumours are always going to emerge, my opinion is that we will never get the true facts as to why he has left but no players in at this stage of a transfer window is not a good sign. I think your response was very carefully thought out General. Well done.

Hey General!

Firstly, a massive, huge and exuberant happy new year to yourself and your family! I hope 2010 is one of full health, many smiles and utter villa / cleveland brown success!

Secondly, I went to the Liverpool game in the snow and rain, and at half time, unsurprisingly, was desperate for a hot bovril / hot chocolate or anything to warm me up!

Given the high attendance, "reputable" opponents and cold weather, I assumed the kiosks would be fully staffed to serve the masses with warm foodage!

Wrong.

I was sat in K4 Upper Holte, and there were 4 people at the kiosk, serving at an estimate 300 waiting punters. There must be a better way of doing things than this. There have been untold improvments in everything Villa since Randy became our saviour, however the pre-game and half time service has not improved, and must surely be costing the club money in lost revenue? I would have bought 3 coffees given the opportunity!

Just a small gripe given the obvious leaps and bounds of improvements made, but thought i would pass on my experience anyway.

Up the Villa General, and here's to you getting over to VP as soon as possible.

Don Simon

I would suggest you contact Alison Plant as nobody on this forum or others ever respond to the problems faced on the concourses this is not a gripe at the General in any way as he has much more important things to deal with but I know Alison is in charge of this area.

Disapointed all round with today, just got back after being on a high this morning and now feel gutted.

Coldbathkid and Sparey16 both of you should get in touch with

[edit]Lancsvillan who can help you getting in touch with the right people at the club, staff members names removed to stop him being deluged as that person has other priorities[edit]

Sorry didnt mean to answer for the General but sure he would say the same about Lee Preece anyway!!

Sellyoakvilla Lee Preece is a good bet to contact at Villa, he has been there years and really is one of the good ones left from the old days, always willing to help and not just under this regime but from the past as well. Sure he will help in any way he can.

sorry to answer for the general but yes no alcohol is a UEFA rule, always has been.

Excellent result, great start to the season, whats not to be happy about?

General, Im sure this match was a good warm up for the season for catering/tannoy issues and indeed any other problems around the ground. Im sure now they will be able to address where problems lie and iron them out before we officially kick off the season.

(Tannoy was worse than ever though general!)

In regard to somebody saying that Randy etc are looking after the "prawn sandwich brigade" can i say that i have friends who still work at the club and from what they say the exact opposite is true. Randy and co are ,from what im led to believe, very much into the normal average fan who sits up the Holte every game.

Sorry to point it out but it is John Greenfield who manages the shop not Greenwood.

I think im right in saying that the ground can not open until all stewards are in place, not wanting to answer for the General but i think his answer will be the same.

Corporate hospitality people have a tour in the morning of a match hence it not being available for the public.

The ground can not open until all stewards are in place and it is safe to open the gates. If stewards are not in there designated area until 1.40 then thats when the ground will open up, i believe i am right in this dont want to speak for the General but im sure he will say the same thing.

The General has said that Alison Plant is aware of catering problems, probably take a fair few matches to get staff trained up and up to scratch i would imagine and this must be low on the Generals to do list in all honesty.

They removed the one from the shop as i discovered last year when i turned up at the ground with no cash on me. I had to walk all the way to a dodgy little shop past the Aston social to get cash. The girl in the shop told me it kept breaking down and wasnt practical to have on site??

Yesterday was my first match this season and i personally never ate or drank at the ground so cant comment on qualiy or service etc but i do think £3.50 is expensive for a pie. IF me my dad and my brother all ate at the ground were talking £10.50 before we even buy a beer?

General please see the other post where i said that first matches always throw up problems that need ironing out, i was not saying at all that there is no improvement just that as fans this season we are all expecting too much. Rome wasnt built in a day as they say.

It needs to be noted that none of these issues are new to any of us just that we all expected that by the start of this new season with new management, new board etc that they would already have been resolved. Maybe the expectations we now have are too high and things have been talked up too much on sites like this?

To be fair the first match always throws up problems that need ironing out, the problems seem massive on here as the expectation of us as fans has changed with a new board arriving and with promises of improvements etc we expect them over night. Maybe if things havent improved by next match we will have more cause for concern, personally i wasnt at the game Saturday so can only comment on what has been reported on here. Building bigger concourses is not the answer to any problems mentioned on here though.

Perhaps bringing in an outside auditing company to try and implement new

strategies is whats needed? Rather than relying on VP management who obviously

dont seem to be able to handle the issue they are facing currently?

Thanks

The club did bring in consultants for several areas of the ground, cost a fortune and only changed things for the worse. Getting rid of the staff with experience is not always a good thing as i have been saying for well over a year now. Zero complaints is what Villa told me they strive to achieve seems like its failing miserably and they are only a game in.

Have to say tho it wont stop me buying the kit cos its still looks class

And therein lies the entire reason the General still posts, good PR increases sales ,except for on the pitch?.

GK is nothing to do with "on the pitch". That's MO'N as has been explained many times. Blandy