chelmsley_villan Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hi General, This is just a question about away games and buying tickets. I was a season ticket holder last season and travelled to 8 away games, which under the current rules of buying tickets would mean i would be one of the first people to buy away tickets when they became available. However i moved up north to university in September and so could not renew my season ticket this season. The issue i have is that even though i have been to 8 away games last season, i can not buy tickets untill they have gone onto supporters with away booking history, which most of the time is very rarely as we have such great away support. People that maybe are just season ticket holders but have never been to an away game can get tickets before me. I was just enquiring as to why it can not be Season Card Holders or Supporters that have attended 8 or more away games etc. for every game (As i know they do for some), this does then not alienate people that travel to many away games but are just not a season ticket holder because of where they live for example and gives them a chance to get to games like Arsenal/Man Utd away, where currently can onoy go to games that will not sell out like mid week games I would be very grateful if you could give me Aston Villa's view on this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hi General, every Villa fan around the world will be very very sad to have heard within two days of the passing of two Villa greats, Johnny Dixon and Vic Crowe. these two players for older supporters hold very cherished memories and it can be argued that Vic helped to save the club the best thing we can do to cherish their memories is to acheive something this season they should provide great inspiration for the current sqaud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hi General, I hope yourself and your family are all enjoying better times. I wanted to comment on the "lucky" tag the press is labelling us with. A few weeks ago I was questioning how much longer our "luck" would last before it ran out. Then I got slated by a few guy's on another forum. I told myself to try and start watching villa with a more open point of view and I have to say that your comment about working harder making you luckier seems to be true in respect of Villa's performances. A lot of guy's were moaning about Man Utd being lucky to get a winner in the 94th minute at Bolton last week but how many teams would have settled for the point in the 94th minute away from home? Most I guess but not Man Utd and that's why they are at the top and so successful. Now, it seems, Villa are beginning to show that will and determination to go and win matches and not just settle for a point. If we continue with that mentality then we can achieve anything and I really believe that we will win something this season. With my new viewpoint, I watched the game against Sunderland and thought we were actually unlucky! Their goal was offside, Cisse should have got a red card, not yellow, for a two-footed tackle on one of our player's. Milner only scored with his arm because he was fouled. Had the referee done his job correctly, he would have sent off their defender and awarded us a penalty. That would have put us in the possible position of being 1-0 up against 9 men! We might have gone on to win by 3 or 4 and further improve our goal difference. We make our own "luck" and I truly hope it continues for as long as possible as this season is making Villa fans nervous again, but this time for all the right reasons! I want to finish by saying that I am happy that we have signed Heskey as I think he will help the team enormously. He may not be a 20 goal a season man but at least he will hold the ball up and bring the other's around him into the game more. Up The Villa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. Please know that we are very much aware of some of the difficulties with the Official Web Site...and the issue of online ticketing. We are striving to make the sort of fixes that will make the entire site more responsive and easier to negotiate. Interestingly, this issue has been at the forefront of some of our internal management efforts and we still have not got it where we want it. What is important for you, the Fans, is that we KNOW we have a problem. 2. The HOK report is in and we are studying it closely. The Board will make its recommendations to Randy and he will have the final say. Once decisions have been made, I can assure you that the Fans will be informed. We learned a big lesson from the experience of the recent renovation to the Trinity Road stand. 3. MON is tightlipped about transfers for obvious reasons. The last thing we want to do is telegraph who we are looking at. 4. We do not consider the matchday cover "dull"...in fact, we think it is very "traditional" for the Villa. 5. I do not think there will be AVTV coverage of reserves in the immediate future. 6. Obviously the final decision re. sale or purchase of players must rest with Randy BUT...the relationship between Randy and MON is such that they are on the same sheet of music and in synch with what needs to be done. Randy understands that MON knows what he (the Club/Squad) needs, who can play our "style" of football and who is available. He has Randy's total confidence and has certainly proved that such confidence is well placed. Trust in MON!! 7. I was not at the inaguration but watched it closely. I was a happy man. 8. The Club is terribly saddened by the loss of two great former Villa players. We will always contact the family before taking any action. At the end of the day, the Club will have a "Hall of Heroes" in our museum to honour such great legends of our Club. 9. Fozz82. Write or call Lee Preece and tell him what you are trying to do. 10. chelmsley_villan: Call Nicky Keye at Ticketing and she will give you the "Club's view." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gort Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I hope the club do the right thing regarding the ticket prices for the Doncaster game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulanddonya Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Gen Wasn't a good game yesterday, but the fact is, you can't play well every week, and we are still in the cup , and should win the replay, so could have been a lot worse. On going to Sunderland last week , I was very impressed by the bronze statue outside the ground of Bobby Stokoe (FA Cup winning manager) in his famous pose with his Pork Pie hat running on the pitch. I know statues were mentioned of McGregor, Mortimer, Dixon etc.. when you first came to the club but we have heard nothing since. Is there any news. For me, I really think a statue of Mortimer with the cup in the corner of the front garden of the Holte pub (where the two roads meet) would be the perfect entrance to Villa Park. Just think of the away fans (esp. the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea) looking at it in envy as they walk past. God knows how much it would cost - prob. between 50k-100k - two weeks wages to a player - surely we can manage it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Hi Gen, What are your thoughts on the game yesterday? Hopefully the prices are reasonable for the replay but we all trust the staff behind the scenes in attaining the low prices we have seen for other games. kind regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moneill Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Hello General A friend works for a Organisation that looks after disabled kids. A company they deal with has said if they can collect the same wieght as a new state of the art wheel chair in plastic bottle tops. Then they can have the wheel chair for free. I am not sure of the weight required but am sure it is quite heavy. I just had a thought that as you are forced to take the tops of bottles on match days that it might be possible to help them out by having a seprate bin for the tops. I am sure that given the amount sold in one match that you could help them achieve there target in maybe one or two games. If this is something that could be done i will pm you more detail. Many thank Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 2. The HOK report is in and we are studying it closely. The Board will make its recommendations to Randy and he will have the final say. Once decisions have been made, I can assure you that the Fans will be informed. We learned a big lesson from the experience of the recent renovation to the Trinity Road stand. General, what exactly did you learn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heystally! Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Hi General, If we do manage to get past Doncaster in the FA Cup replay like we should, how do you feel about the draw against either Liverpool or Everton? Are you of the school that believe you have to play the best to win trophies so get them out of the way, or would you have preferred an easier run to Wembley if we make it that far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DalianDaley Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Hello General, On the HOK report, do they themselves project future attendances and then make their suggestions or does the Board tell them what attendances they expect and then they work around that? If its the latter, what are the chances of you telling us the rough size of the stadium when expansion is finished? 45-50? 50-60? 60+? Also, do you think there would be any interest from documentary makers following the build, ie Extreme Engineering type programs that show on Discovery type channels? Keep up the good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc_villa1972 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 General, Anything you can do to help "influence" when the next round of the cup will take place - should we see off Donny Rovers in the replay ? I am sure many of us are going to have a problem if it is the Saturday afternoon (3pm) / evening match (5pm) as it is Valentines day. It is a difficult decision to be made - divorce or the villa........ know any good solicitors. hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. Ticket Price for "Donny": We have agreed on the following pricing...5 pounds for youth, 15 pounds for adults. As you all know, this cannot be a decision made strictly by our Club...it must be an agreed price by both Clubs. As for kickoff time, we really do not have much "inflience" on the time of the match. 2. The only statue that is currently being looked at is the McGregor statue. 3. I find it very difficult to comment on FA Games because of the problem of evaluating the opposition. As an example, the team we played were a solid squad that played a very passion-filled game. To beat a Premiership Club like Villa would literally make their season. This is not to say that we don't address the game with passion but, simply put, the Donny's were playing for their season. We had chances...they had chances. Anything can happen in a game like that. The FA Cup is a great tourney because of the "Cinderella Stories" that can happen. NOTHING can be taken for granted...as Portsmouth will tell us. 4. monell: Great idea. 5. bully: The "mistake" we made in the Trinity Road move is that we did not involve the Fans in the actual move of seating. By not doing so, we failed to tap into a reservoir of good ideas that would have made the move more palatable. This became readily apparent by the feedback on the multiple websites I visit and in the face-to-face that Paul Faulkner, Nicky Keye and I had with Fans that were involved in the move. I am not above admitting when I make a mistake...that was one of them. 6. DalianDaley: We tried to be as "non-directive" as possible with HOK...and their mandate was not just to look at the stadium itself but the entire Villa Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen_Evans Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 General Krulak here: 2. The HOK report is in and we are studying it closely. The Board will make its recommendations to Randy and he will have the final say. Once decisions have been made, I can assure you that the Fans will be informed. We learned a big lesson from the experience of the recent renovation to the Trinity Road stand. Glad you were able to confirm that the HOK report is in, General. I am excited to know what Randy makes of it and what his plans are. I think most of us realise we will need to be very patient and that he will want to go for the best long-term strategy rather than a quick fix. The Holte pub, the mosaics, the stained glass windows, the Trinity renovation....these all serve to convince me that whatever he does will be class and something we can be proud of. You're probably aware that many of us will be eager to know in due course what plans, if any, Randy has for the external part of the Trinity. Randy has righted many wrongs and I know that he will have been inspired by the greatness of what Frederick Rinder built in the 1920s - the old Trinity Road Stand. If ever a building defined a football club, the old Trinity was it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishCockney Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Evening General Sir I see another promotion is afoot with free flags for the CSKA game. Excellent initiative again by the way. Could you have a word with Randy for me and tell him I'd rather have his scarf if thats ok by him. At £50 a throw I'm struggling to justify a purchase to Her Indoors! Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidplatt7 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 hi general this is the first of many posts i hope to make on this site,just thought id comment oh what a great job i think everyone is doin at aston villa football club it really makes me proud to support such a great club.im a 23 yr old lad whos always been jealous of other clubs success since ive been alive and for the first time im really getting excited about where the club is going. with us having the acorns charity on our shirts and a squad built up of young english players it really makes me proud to be a fan.I think that people do need 2 have a reality check tho cos if we do come 4th this year it will be such a big achievement but with all the talk of us getting the 4th spot and how much media coverage we have been getting i feel that most people will feel let down if we dont get 4th spot,i for one still think it will be a extremely successful season if we get the 5th spot meaning we have progressed each year martin urself and randy have been here.sorry 2 go on a bit i just wanted 2 get across how well i think u are all doin and keep up the good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 5. bully: The "mistake" we made in the Trinity Road move is that we did not involve the Fans in the actual move of seating. By not doing so, we failed to tap into a reservoir of good ideas that would have made the move more palatable. This became readily apparent by the feedback on the multiple websites I visit and in the face-to-face that Paul Faulkner, Nicky Keye and I had with Fans that were involved in the move. I am not above admitting when I make a mistake...that was one of them. Thanks for clarifying that General. One more quick question. I see Bob Kain has left his position with the Browns, will this have any effect on his role on the Villa board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Dear General, I must offer you my own thanks for the subject of this thread in the off topic section. I am very glad with President Obama's executive orders regarding the Guantanamo Bay detention centre; the 'enhanced interrogation techniques' that Cheney et al. tried to excuse and justify and the other 'ghost' prisons across the globe. I really hope that this now signals a return to American foreign policy being conducted from a position of moral strength and the rule of law (I will obviously wait for all of the appropriate action to be taken in relation to these exec orders) and I must commend you for any and all input into this process for which you have been responsible. I suppose it is not enough that you are involved in the detail of returning our club to its former prosperity but, in your spare time, are trying to do the same for your country and, by that, the world. Thank you for your efforts on all fronts, Darren. UTV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 General, I have been following the recent management hirings made by Randy for the Browns. I must say that it is great to hear both Eric Mangini and George Kokinis talking so positively about the influence of Randy in exactly the same way we hear from Villa staff over here. It was a shame to hear that a selection of fans were disgruntled by Randy's leadership, but I realise that the fact the Browns organisation has been in the doldrums for so long would have instigated this. As is an example of our own great club that has been sleeping (or should that be lying in wait?) for so long, that Randy's leadership can turn it all around and I'm sure the majority of the Browns fans realise that. Mangini will be a great coach and Kokinis' player selection is arguably up there with the best in the league, and I have no doubt that the pair will prove a great success at the helm of the Browns. Here's to the 2009 season and hopefully some post season football in 2010 Please pass on my congratulations to Randy for achieving a great management team and wish him and all the Browns well for 2009. Cheers Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gort Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Not sure who's idea the flags was but can i just say personally i hate it. It is very small-time, plastic and tacky and says so much about football these days. Whatever happened to standing up and singing to create an atmosphere? If we need little plastic flags to create an atmosphere god help us regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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