deaceydeaceyaggro Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 With respect General, Barry was head and shoulders the best player at our club, and boy do we miss him. Delph may well become a fine player, but in my opinion, at the moment he isn't fit to lace his boots. They'll be many desperately disappointed Villa fans around if it turns out Delph is the short term replacement for Barry, and a lot of very annoyed fans as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. deaceydeaceyaggro: This is what makes for horse racing...for I could not disagree more. "Barry was head and shoulders the best player at our Club"...I do not agree with you. Simple as that. "Delph isn't fit to lace his boots." Again, a pretty strong statement. We have just discussed a player named Martin Laursen...I would be hard put to say that Barry was "head and shoulders" better than Laursen. I won't change your mind and you won't change mine...so let's just let it be. As an aside, Barry's heart obviously wasn't with our Club. We could not scratch his itch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc89 Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I guess Barry made his feelings known strongly within the club, fair enough I'd rather have players who are committed to our goals and ambitions anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I agree with General's comment in terms of Barry, in the 07-08 season, I thought he was by far our best player, easily. But last season, he showed up for about 50% of the matches and put in some top class and woeful displays. He's not such a loss compared to Laursen. General quick question, do you have to tell the stewards to tell us to sit down? I remember the 07-08 season, I went to various home games and stood up, atmosphere was great, at home to teams like Reading, not a word from the stewards, yet last year at the hull game we was told to "sit down and be quiet" at the back of the upper holte!? we're trying to create an atmosphere and it doesn't help when people are told to sit down, because they will, I can understand in other stands or whatever but not at the upper holte, I know all this all-seater rubbish, but in my opinion, every home game, if you want to sit down, sit in the other stands, everyone in the holte should be backing the team, standing up and vocally to make our place our fortress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidlewis Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. deaceydeaceyaggro: This is what makes for horse racing...for I could not disagree more. "Barry was head and shoulders the best player at our Club"...I do not agree with you. Simple as that. "Delph isn't fit to lace his boots." Again, a pretty strong statement. We have just discussed a player named Martin Laursen...I would be hard put to say that Barry was "head and shoulders" better than Laursen. I won't change your mind and you won't change mine...so let's just let it be. As an aside, Barry's heart obviously wasn't with our Club. We could not scratch his itch. Couldn't agree more with this statement by the General. I think the comment by deaceydeaceyaggro was made out of frustration with his thoughts on the transfer market. I do think we have strengthened the squad overall, but we do lack that bit of extra depth we need to compete even on three levels. We have younger players coming up like Delfouneso and Brannan and Lowry, but I hope these younger players do get a chance to get some time under their belt this season. If they are in the 1st team squad they shouldn't be overlooked. Perhaps I am short sighted General, but I am willing to take the flack off the fans to give Delfouneso a start against someone like Hull or Portsmouth, because it's the only way they can step up to the plate. Bringing them on 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go isn't going to instill confidence in them. In regards to the other posters comments about Barry, it's quite clear you don't recall who Martin Laursen was, or in fact that Ashley Young was our best player last year. Delph is 20 if I am correct and has 8 years on Barry, and I think Delph shows more promise now than Barry did then. Barry was a late bloomer in my opinion and I didn't really think much of him until 4 or 5 years ago. Good player, but not our "best player by miles", I don't think he has ever been that. General, from what I have read on these forums you have people who are very unhappy with the current transfer window in terms of "increasing the squad size" and you have people unhappy with the purchases made. You also have people who are happy with what business has been conducted so far. I am of the opinion the squad is stronger overall than it was last year, because the kids have improved and our midfield is stronger in depth. I do feel we are lacking another potent striker like Carew who can turn the game on it's head. Heskey is a work horse and will not score goals, but will support and create them. Gabby whilst has incredible pace, does need to rely on decent service from the midfield in order to latch onto those clever passes and long balls. Carew can score when everyone else isn't playing well, for me he is a hybrid of Heskey and Ashley Young, skill as well as power. We need another player like that as a striker or as an attacking midfielder. The only thing Martin O'Neil has done which has frustrated me immensley is not giving Reo-Coker more of a chance in Midfield. He could be a rock in a 5 man midfield much like Makelele was for Chelsea. He was West Hams youngest ever captain and he never grumbled when being played at right back on many an occasion. For me he could be our biggest asset, a work horse, willing to do what the manager says without question, but that loyalty deserves reward, I just hope Martin gives it to him this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparey16 Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 avfcPOB - not to answer for the General, but in my row in upper holte (28) it is the last row that the stewards dont tell to sit down, any furthur down and they are told to sit. Depends what row you go in to be honest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaN.I Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 General, although I do not totally agree with your judgement on Barry and the players we have to take his place I applaud you for giving YOUR honest opinion. It sometimes may not be clear to see but to be able to communicate with a director in this manner is great. Keep up the good work and say hi to Van der Vaart for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamparius Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Personally, I too believe Barry was by far our best player and there is a huge Barry shaped hole in our midfield at the moment BUT Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 The General's certainly right about Laursen, he was immense and a legend. I reckon that the General wouldn't have minded taking a person like Laursen into Vietnam or Iraq with him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejoker Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. deaceydeaceyaggro: This is what makes for horse racing...for I could not disagree more. "Barry was head and shoulders the best player at our Club"...I do not agree with you. Simple as that. "Delph isn't fit to lace his boots." Again, a pretty strong statement. We have just discussed a player named Martin Laursen...I would be hard put to say that Barry was "head and shoulders" better than Laursen. I won't change your mind and you won't change mine...so let's just let it be. As an aside, Barry's heart obviously wasn't with our Club. We could not scratch his itch. Which begs the question - why were we so keen to keep him at the club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. kidlewis: A very thoughtful post...thank you. You laid out your feelings and concerns and have caused me to pause and give a hard think. My sense is that you and I agree on more points than we disagree...and many of your comments resonated with me as a Fan. 2. Not much more I can say about Barry. My biggest point was my disagreement with the comment that Barry was head and shoulders above anyone else on the team. I just cannot, for the life of me, buy that comment. Why were we so keen to keep him at the Club?? Not sure we were. We were keen to get the right price for him. Again, as a Fan and not a Director, I sure don't want players who don't want to play for our Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigsy Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Hi General, Just got back from the game - a good professional performance I thought and great goal from Gabby. One gripe though if I may! Me and 2 mates went to go into the Holte Suite before the game (we were running late) and didn't get there till 2.30pm and it was full so couldn't get in - fair enough. The steward suggested we try the David Tagert Suite in the Doug Ellis Stand so we popped down there and got in, at about 2.35pm. First time I've been in there (and will probably be the last I'm sad to say). Went to the queue at the bar and got served 45 MINUTES later after getting in, and it wasn't even busy! Only I would guess 15 people in front of us but there was just ONE person serving drinks and very slowly. They said there was a problem with the pumps (fair enough) and things were slow but people were amazed by the lack of people behind the bar. Not the bartenders fault but surely whoever does the planning. Surely matchday you have at least 5-6 people serving - it's not a massive bar and to just have one is a joke. Understandably people were getting frustrated and had no choice but to get double/triple rounds at a time because there was no way once you'd been served you were getting another one. At the end of the day it must have cost the club a few bob and frustrated the hell out of everyone. 4-5 more people (maybe ten quid an hr) wont break the bank and all we want is efficient service! Rant over, thanks and as said at the start a great result - bring on the Bloose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salsa Party Animal Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Good performance and result tonight. Fulham didn't give us any trouble despite passing the ball a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chads Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Hi General, Good, solid and professional performance today and 3 wins in 6 days hsould keep the doom merchants quiet for a bit! The reason for my post is that I sat in the North Stand Lower near the Rapid fans on Thursday night, and was a couple of inches away from being blinded by a coin that was thrown in our direction as we left the ground via the exit in the corner. Can I ask if there is anything that can be done to identify the Austrian fan who threw this coin via CCTV? The club went to great lengths to find the guy who threw a coin at Redknapp last year and in my opinion this is just as bad - I was very lucky not to have been hit. I was impressed with their fans and I was thinking how brilliant their support had been until it flew past my eye and dented one of the seats behind me. This idiot should be hunted down just as much as any other coin thrower, whether it 'hit the target' or not. Bear in mind they should have been celebrating. Needle in a haystack I know but can anything be done? Thanks for your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AggrievedFan Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Dear General, may I first state that I have been an admirer of Villa Talk and the direct communication that it gives you to us fans for many months, although I never felt the need to post anything as my questions usually get asked by others and answered by yourself in due course. However, I am sad and dissapointed that my first contact with you is a result of a negative issue regarding the staff at Villa Park. I am a 20 year-old season ticket holder in the upper Holte, block k3, row 19 and today I was "ejected from the ground for standing up and failing to comply with the stewards", also having my season ticket taken off me for my troubles! I want to make it clear that I completely understand the rules and regulations of a sporting stadium such as Villa Park, yet today I genuinely believe I have been mistreated and discriminated against. The issue I have is that when the steward asked a group of us to sit down (thousands at the back of the Holte), I was one of the only few who actually did sit down! Yet just before half-time he asked me to come with him, where I was told they had video evidence of me continually standing (which I would LOVE to see). Other fans around me that I do not know tried to tell the steward that I was indeed sitting down, however he seemed to be hell bent on ruining my day, week and possibly even longterm experience of going to Villa Park. Throughout my whole lifetime going down the Villa, I may have come away upset or dissapointed but never have I felt so empty and disgusted with the service as I did today. I sat down outside the ground for a long time trying to work out what I had actaully done wrong, coming to the conclusion that spending all my student loan and any money I had earnt on the club I love obviously doesn't give me the right to support them INSIDE the ground. I took a note of the stewards number which I can disclose to you in a pm, but he would not tell me his name for obvious reasons. I don't know if contacting you is the correct way to go about resolving the issue, however I hope you understand my frustration and dissapointment at not only missing out on the Fulham game, but also having my hard earned season ticket taken off me for no good reason? If there is also any other fans who saw the "incident" occur not long before half time in K3, I would be truely grateful if you could confound my recollection. Many thanks yet again for your communication towards the fans and I very much look forward to hearing from you, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imavillan Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 General, about yesterdays game ......me and mrs imavillan are season ticket holders in the trinity road upper.........and the good lady mrs imavillan went to the ladies to ''powder her nose'' ...............and as any good lady (or bloke) does washes her hands afterwards ;-).....but....only to find that the water is so hot she cannot keep her hands there because they will be scalded........... the water is too hot......now its bad enough to have to watch what we did on saturday ......but to have to put up with the good lady complaining about the hot water as well.....double whammy.....general this is a health and safety issue....you have the power....please sort it out........ General Krulak here: 3. imavillan: Please apologize to your wife for me. I will attempt to sort this out this week. Please give me feed back after the next game to see if it got sorted. General, some feedback. There are now signs warning people that the water is hot, but it is still very very hot and you cant keep your hands under there too long becuase of this. At least this is an improvement warning people but the temperature needs to be lowered a little. We went into the Holte Suite before todays game and we were both impressed with the smart makeover. Its a big improvement, brighter and more comfortable. I must also say that the quality of the food on offer is excellant. Compliments to the catering staff. Many thanks for being available to ''talk'' to to help sort out these issues. Will you and Randy be going to the Temple Of Doom in a couple of weeks? :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundeevilla Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 General, Please thank Martin and the players for the effort and application they've shown in the last three games. We had a difficult start to the season what with one thing and another, but it looks like they've worked hard to turn things around. Hopefully another successful season lies ahead. UTV! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldenballs Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 To be honest General, personally I find your comments re. Barry a bit disrespectful. He was a fantastic player for us for over 10 years, long before you were associated with Aston Villa. Did you watch a lot of Aston Villa, and Gareth Barry from 1997-2006? Genuine question. I appreciate you're only giving your honest opinion, but to say: "Let's face it...he could take a penalty kick and could do a good job of distributing the ball but he was not a in the category of a superstar and certainly not a Laursen." is a bit out of order, and not something someone in your position should be saying. Laursen played almost 100 games for us, Gareth played almost 450. He could do a lot more than just take a penalty and distribute the ball, and he was one of our most consistent players for over 10 years, albeit not a superstar. I agree that he's not irreplaceable though, and I also agree that replacing Laursen will be a lot harder than replacing Barry. I also agree that if a player doesn't want to be here, then sell, I've got no problems with that. But I don't think we should be "Forgetting Barry", no matter who we sign. He deserves a bit more respect than that, in my opinion. Some Villa fans seem a bit bitter that he left, and I hope you're not just saying what you think they want to hear by playing down Barry's ability and contribution to Villa? Apart from that, keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparey16 Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 general, are the club still i contact with Martin Laursen. If so i would like to ask if he could be thanked on behalf of the holte end today for waving/jeering the crowd on as we chanted his name. Great win today btw, good goal by Gabby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carew_villa Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 To be honest General, personally I find your comments re. Barry a bit disrespectful. He was a fantastic player for us for over 10 years, long before you were associated with Aston Villa. Did you watch a lot of Aston Villa, and Gareth Barry from 1997-2006? Genuine question. I appreciate you're only giving your honest opinion, but to say: "Let's face it...he could take a penalty kick and could do a good job of distributing the ball but he was not a in the category of a superstar and certainly not a Laursen." is a bit out of order, and not something someone in your position should be saying. Laursen played almost 100 games for us, Gareth played almost 450. He could do a lot more than just take a penalty and distribute the ball, and he was one of our most consistent players for over 10 years, albeit not a superstar. I agree that he's not irreplaceable though, and I also agree that replacing Laursen will be a lot harder than replacing Barry. I also agree that if a player doesn't want to be here, then sell, I've got no problems with that. But I don't think we should be "Forgetting Barry", no matter who we sign. He deserves a bit more respect than that, in my opinion. Some Villa fans seem a bit bitter that he left, and I hope you're not just saying what you think they want to hear by playing down Barry's ability and contribution to Villa? Apart from that, keep up the good work. It's just the Generals opinion and he was basically saying that Barry can be replaced and was nothing special like Laursen was. What is the point in making out that barry can't be replaced and was some sort of world beater? Barry's best years at Villa were when the General was involved with Villa and Barry was consideribly worse before so your comment about the General not watching Villa before is totally incorrect. I never rated barry that much and I think in the 100 games laursen played for Villa, he made for of an impact than in the 450+ games Barry played for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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