Peter1968

Unfortunately General, with the first point, it will always be the same. Fans feel passionatly about their club, i have had my nose broken in the past to prove it!. I remmember moans and groans under Saunders...i remmember boos under Saunders. As fans and individuals, we all see things differently, and all have different ideas on how our great club should be run, and its not isolated to just us...but every club. Its simply because we love our club. It causes rows, breaks marriages and gets us into debt, but we do it, cos its in our blood. On your second point above. The reason we miss what you are saying, is proberly because we dont see it on the pitch. The holes in the squad and its lack of quality in certain areas is glaringly obvious. And its a fact not in words, but laid out in front of us :winkold: Like i said, weve heared and seen the same before under the last regime, so its doubly important that we dont again.

General, i do believe you are sincere in everything you say. However, what i witneseed out on the pitch yeaterday, tells me the reality of the above statement, because the facts were there on the pitch. Yes, weve made huge strides. But finishing sixth last season was, last season. Its here and now that matters general, and at this moment, we have not backed up that progress of last season with any substancial team strengthening. Yes, UEAFA cup football is great, but only if we remain in the compitition, and i can confidently predict that without MAJOR investment, we will be out of the compition as soon as we come up against any decent outfit. When you look at the size of squad and the lack of real quality, and you look at the way the last regime operated, you cant blame fans getting a little anxious over things, when all they hear are statements. Weve heared and seen it all before General, weve been brought up to be cynical, which makes it doubly important that our actions over the next couple of weeks match these grand words! I swear, you give us the team to challenge, and you will need to build two Villa Parks to seat us all. Do it General, and then watch the place rock.

General, Do you still maintain that we dont need the Gareth Barry Money for restrengthening? How do see us breaking into the top four without any fullbacks, and squad thats filled out with young inexperienced kids? How is it Spurs and Pompey struggle to buy Quality players? When are we going to see this investment in " world class " players we were told about, by a certain Mr Fitzgerald? Do you think we look rather silly regarding a certain statement made by the club about a certain Judas staying put? Do you think Martin is becoming a little cheesed off with things? ( Hung out to dry springs to mind)

Hello General, I dont know if anyone has pointed you in the direction of the Article that i include below, but it would be very interesting to know what your feelings are about it, since the bloke seems to saying you are telling some untruths. Well thats what the article looks like to me :shock: Is there any chance of the order of the ban for this arrogant person? All he ever seems to do, is write nonesence wit a view to show our club in a bad light. Many of us fans have had enough of his "sources". :evil: Bill Howell said I've noticed one or two internet geeks getting a little hot under the collar over my assertion that season ticket sales were "below expectation" at Villa. I'd not made a big thing of it but nevertheless I had indeed made that point. And despite the fact that the club would like you to believe that almost 25,000 have been sold for this season, I'm sticking to it. Before you lot go hopping around your bedrooms, pulling out your wireless connections and losing your Dungeons and Dragons memory sticks, I'll explain. Ask any reporter and they will tell you that the summer months between May and mid-July can be a bit of a bind. Those weekly chats with the manager have dried up, the players are on the beach and your saved quotes from the last game of the season have been dripped into the newspaper and long dried up. So where do you get your stories? I'll tell you. Players, although you have to know them well enough for them to trust you with information that cannot have come from them- if you get my drift; from agents- who will almost certainly always tell you that Villa 'ARE' interested in his player but that a bid hasn't yet been fired off; from club staff- many and varied, from other journalists who have their own links to clubs and I'm sure there should also be another category marked: "Others". My point is this: that stories can be found from a variety of sources- sometimes good and sometimes bad. Now to the season ticket story. Some weeks ago, possibly as long ago as six, I asked the club's media department if I could have the latest sale figures. Season ticket stories come out every summer on a quiet day and are a Godsend to clubs (just ask Albion, Wolves and Blues) and writers because they are always written with a positive spin but can also fill back pages. My request seemed to hit something of a brick wall at Villa though. Weeks passed. I then received an email detailing a series of emails between the press and ticket offices at Villa which indicated that they were not yet ready to release any information. There was also a reference to wanting to "hang" a particular slant on the eventual story. Anyway, it wasn't a problem. I was never that bothered about the story in the first place. I then got a second email from Villa, about three weeks ago, saying that the season ticket request of mine was being dealt with but that the news was poor at the moment so 'could I wait a few weeks for when the news would be good?' I have kept both emails. Again, I was not bothered either way and when a good source at Villa confirmed to me that sales were low I decided a few words at the bottom of a blog would suffice. So that's the history. Villa are now claiming that sales are seven per cent up on this time last year and I have no reason whatsoever to doubt them. A figure approaching 25,000 is blummin' good business by anyone's stretch of the imagination. My point is this: Villa sold over 26,000 last year. They have sold less than 25,000 now. And a couple of months ago they told us that 1,400 people were on a waiting list. So there are a missing 2,500 by my calculations. The whole issue is not worth haggling over. Villa will once again be the best supported club in the Midlands by a country mile.

Its difficult General to answer fully, since we all want to hear different things. Raeding your answer above, just confirms my opinions. Its not easy, it does take time, and patiance is a virtue. I tend to think that some of the comments immeadiatly after the take over were misjudged. All they did was raise expectations to such an height, it was impossible to lower them. I feel, and youve angrilly refuted the "PR" angle tonight, that if we were more open about our goals ( tell em how it is!), i think we would all agree. Chelsea have spent, and continue to do soi, millions ion belonging in the top four. They have a rich benefactor, so why not?. But the point is, they are not us. We are historicly and by fan-base, THE bigger club. The area in which they belong has more compitition. We , on the other hand have a rich area in which to exspand ( The Midlands). And i know its something as a club, that you and everybody at the club are doing their danmed hardest to exploit. But there is no way we are going to outspend Chelsea. Would you then agree that the best policy, is to invest slowly. Acheive year on growth, and wait...untill the stability is there, to invest the money to break into the four? Im a patiant guy General, Honestly Oh....i apologise for the spelling and the grammer. I have fat fingers, and they get fatter after a few beers, sorry general :winkold:

Cheers General. Reading through the above shows that you are genuine in what you say, and i certainly would not discribe it as PR. Yes it is a competitve league, and with the level i hope we are aiming at, then the players we want to attract have more suiters and contracts do tend to drag on. Just how important is success in these two games in attracting those sort of players?. Do you think the big four are so out of touch now, that the major investment needed to break into that club is to risky, and that a period of steady growrth and stability is needed, before we even try to do that? I mean, theres no point putting the club at risk financialy on the hope that it works out. I think you will find, that most of the undercurrent of disgruntlement comes in the fact that we have said what our goal is, but our actions in trying to achieve that dont seem to match....people are nervy, they feel we have been here before. Expectations for this season are high, as they should be for a club of our stature. But sometimes, expectations can have a negative side to them, since you will always be falling below those expectations. Sounds weird, but not to weird i hope, General!

General, a simple Football question. Is there any reason why our club is going into two of its most important matches for years with NO recognised Right-back, No cover at Leftback, Only one Goalkeeper, No cover fpr Laursen, and only one right Winger/midfield player? If Laursen, Gardner or Bourma get injured tonight, what happens? Our proud badge carries the word prepared, why are we not prepared?. And if we fail, who will carry the can? In two years, we have acquired the smallest squad in living history. We cant even call it a squad, cos we cant fill out a bench tonight!. Tell me General, in your honest humble opinion, can you see us challenging for a top four place THIS season, since it is one of our stated aims, with the players we now have at our disposal? Would you have ordered your Marines into battle without the right backing and support? Same thing General PS. If you cant answer the above, which im sure you will :winkold: , Hows about getting Martin to?

General, there is a small selection of fans that have the beleif that Martin needs to sell Gareth to raise funds. :? Looking at the quotes by a rather treacherous former Captain in todays papers, are the minority correct in their assumption, and is Gareth Barry a liar? :shock: Also, what effect does this have on our ability in convincing potential recruits to the club, of our ambition? :oops: And lastly, will we have a signing this week? :winkold:

Hi General, Not going back on the tapping up saga, but could we please sell him soon!!!! Everything about the club seems to have been side tracked by this whole affair. No player is bigger than the club, but all this Liverpool/Barry thing is, in my opinion, starting to distract from our team rebuilding program. Point is, hes our player...we have two years on his contract, if we dont get a reasonable offer, then he stays a Villa player. And all this rubbish his agent is saying, means noithing. No decent offer has materealised, so thats it! I really think we need closure on this. And perhaps a time limit should be in place...whereby, if we have not recieved a decent enough offer, then Barry is told he is stopping. We owe him nothing, he owes us the earth...we made him!!! Also.... Royal Marines or Marine Corps, whos the daddy?

Fair play General. Im not here to knock the way you and Randy run the club, or the way you see things should be done. Quite frankly, i could not be more happy with that. So i will not pursue this anymore 8) And your right, I'm fairly sick of the media as well. Especially some dude named Howell, whom you may have heared of.

General. Whats your view on the news that Man united have decided to report Real Madrid for allegedly tapping up Ronaldo, after Madrid siad that the player wants to jion them? Sounds kind of familiar dont you think? Does this make us more Proffesional than them, and if so, will you be advising the Glaziers that its best to act the way we are in these matters? Sorry to rake up old ground, but this is a question that is annoying a majority of supporters. And it wont go away. I admire the principles General, and in a sense, i know where your coming from. But what exactly makes it ok for manure to do something about one of their players being tapped up, and not us? Also, on a differnet matter. Have you took time to read Platinis comments regarding foriegn ownership of premier clubs by Americans?. He more or less, says that you are only in it to make money, and its a bad thing!. He conveniantly forgets the Thais, Russians and Icelandics that have bought premier clubs. So do you agree with me, that this is another example of the french...well, being the French. ( Bigoted, General )

General, What a fantastic gesture concerning acorns. In an era when football is tarnished with greed and self interest, its refreshing that we have a club that not only cares about issues, but actually means it. On that, i have not had the time to read all the posts on here, so forgive me if im going over old ground, would you consider (with Nike ) giving a percentage of shirt sales, to acorns? Im sure i speak for thousands of fans, that it would be brilliant knowing that a percentage of what each of us was paying for a shirt, was going to Acorns. Hell, i would even hazard a guess that it would increase shirt sales!. Or how about aranging a one off superstar game at Villa Park, in aid of Acorns? Whatever your answer is to the above, you made me feel really proud of my club today, and for that..a big thankyou.

Apologies General, for my earlier post. i need to lay off the beer, it kind of distorts things, turning me into a silly old prat. Apologies to everyone else too. Thank you. Please could everyone take heed of what has been said by Gen. K - he's not going to post anymore on Gareth Barry questions right now. Also, please keep the thread to stuff for the General, not discussions between posters. Thanks. Blandy

General... Rules are rules, and Liverpool are breaking them. Whatever goes on behind the scenes is fine. But in Public, they are making our club look like Mugs. You say we have to act like a big club. Big Clubs do not take the nonsence Liverpool are dishing out. Small clubs do, they just roll over and allow their better players to be sold, and im afraid, the latter looks the case here. This is in Danger of underminng all the progress Martin has made. By not standing up for ourselves, we are leaving ourselves open. We are indicating to all and sundry that we are a selling club. What stops Wengar tapping up Young?. Rules are Rules general, they are in blatently breaking them. Fans are not happy about this, so its not a good idea PR wise, to ignore them! Do something!!!!!

Thanks for the answer regarding TV. And yes, like anything, you have to sort out priorities first. On another note, and i dont want to put you in position here General..but its something that i, and a lot of fans want answering, if possible. Through statements made to the media, and on the clubs website by Benitez, its blatently obvious that a campaign has been in place to unsettle a contracted player of another club, which is against FA rules. A lot of us feel, that if we had reported Liverpool, then this Barry transfer saga may not of reached the situation it has now. Could you explain the reasoning to why, they were not reported. Especially when its the clubs stated intention of wanting to keep hold of the player?

General, are there any future plans for launching the clubs own TV channel?. As youve proberly noticed, the top 4 clubs do have their own. I reckon it would be an ideal medium in making the club a world wide brand. It would also bring with it, the promise of further commercial revenue. If there are plans to go down this route, how far advanced are they, and what timescale are we looking at?

Hi General.. Now that Cunnah has resigned, i would like to let you know that luckily, i am available for the Job! The only reward i ask, is a yacht in the Bahamas, and a severance clause that will see me comfortable, once youve sacked me! For that, i will endeavour to point out likely transfer targets for MoN, and guide the club into the promised land ( champions league - not Israel ). Whad ya say!!

No vacation plans general? Does this mean that you can see yourself being very busy over the summer, with a bagfull of talent arriving at Villa Park!! Ive jsut come back off Holiday myself, and have not had time to say thankyou on behalf of my daughter, who had an absolutely brilliant day meeting Gabby and the players. Whom were very friendly and welcoming to her! The smile on her face when she recieved the card was also immense!. So much so, shes still going on about it every minute, every hour, and every day, that we are thinking of buying some ear muffs lol. Please thank the players and staff for me. And its great that our club is in the hands of such caring owners. Thankyou General.

General... I am aware of the pride that Randy has for this great club of ours. Its traditions both off and on the football pitch make it a unique club, and one of the few with heritage. Afterall, it was this clubs founding father William Macgregor who gave the world Football, and since the leagues creation, it has kept growing, being one of the few things on this planet, that unites everyone globally. ( I can name a few other things that do the same, but i am aware that Children may be reading this,so i will refrain ) With this in mind, im finding it hard to believe that this great club of ours has ( according to Scudamore ) has agreed to go along with this hairbrain scheme :shock: . Our club, as one of the founding lights of the global game, should be the ONE club that should stand up to the breach, and honour the traditions of its great father, William Macgregor, and put a stop to this.... Beleive me when i say this general, but this whole thing is fundimentally wrong, and is bigger than any club loyalty. This will rebound badly. Im now hearing the "reduced ticket prices for fans" line... :roll: Well if Scudamore and the clubs involved with this think thats all that the Fans in this country care about, you are not only insulting our intelligeance, but are actually belittling us... I, and everyone of us that follow the traditions of AVFC, implore you to kick this scheme into touch... BTW General, did martin bid for James Milner? :winkold: