brommy Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 General Krulak here" 1. carlitobriganti: I would not be telling the truth if I said that the influx of owners with billions to spend was not on my mind. Simply put, some of the new owners are extremely wealthy and that is obvious by the amount of money being paid for players...not just in the UK but in Europe as well. It is a fact of life and one that we need to live with. I have a sense that the ownership may become fleeting as the excitement of ownership wears off...this will be even more true if success does not follow the expenditure of money. But, at the end of the day, it is what it is. General Do you put Randy in this category? Is he getting frustrated with things? Do you think the General would have written this if it included Randy? I believe the General was making the point that Randy's ownership is more than a flash in a pan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Hi General, Sunday was a much better overall performance from the lads. Back to the 4-5-1 formation meant Gabby getting stuck in a bit more and causing no end of trouble for the opposing defence. I also noticed Jimmy and Ash were changing wings throughout the game, good to see! I thought all of the lads played well but would just like to give a special mention for Ciaran Clark. The young lad may feel his chances will be a bit more limited with the acquisitions of Collins and Dunne, but I for one hope to see Clark make more first team appearances over the course of the season. He looked like he was making his 100th appearance, not his first! I would also like to point out the throwing of "missiles" by the Rapid fans. One landed close to where I was sitting in the Lower North stand, just after we scored our first goal. I didn't make anything of it because it didn't appear to have hit anyone. However, if English fans had done this abroad, we would be hauled before UEFA and labelled thugs! One last point if I may! I have noticed that stewards at Villa Park only seem to want to get us to sit down when there is a small away crowd that they can control. The Fulham fans' attendance was mediocre and easy to control, hence the stewards trying to make the Villa faithful sit down a lot more throuhgout the game. But, when teams sell out the away end and stand for the whole game, the stewards don't bother with us. This is obviously because they can't control the away fans and make them sit so they decide they have no argument with our fans. This doesn't seem right to me General. I understand the health and safety issue behind this but surely the Villa fans have a right to stand if the away fans are allowed to get away with it? That's why Rapid totally outsung us last week. Because they were all stood for the entire game and yet stewards were trying to get us to sit down. This, I feel, is one of the main reasons for the poor atmosphere that we sometimes encounter at VP. It is a fact that people will sing and cheer more when they are standing at a football match. I know it's a bit of a dodgy topic because of the safety regulations that the club have to adhere to. I just think that the stewards should make sure the away fans are sitting before they try to enforce the same laws on us Villa fans! Keep up the good work General. Only 12 days to go until we get our next 3 points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. I will forward the info re. stewards to our Head of Security. it is always good to get a perspective from someone who is watching it all happen. 2. I did not mean Randy!!! My goodness, he is in this for the long run!! I hope that everyone can see that Randy is a special type of guy who appreciates the ethos and tradition and history of the Club. He is not going to turn his back on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General. A bit of an average window for me. Pleased to see a squad taking shape disappointed with the lack of a play maker for the centre. Expected us to spend more than we did if I'm honest, but I suspect it wasn't for the lack of trying. More than anything, glad we can put this behind us now and get on to the real business. Gonna be a long old slog, but it will be as emotional as ever no doubt. Up the Villa, enjoy the season Big K... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AggrievedFan Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 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. General, just to give you an update on my situation, I have tried to contact the Head of Security-John Handley all day today, but to no avail. I understand he is a very busy person but I really do not feel I am being taken seriously enough by the people I have spoken to at the club today, an example being I don't think they could quite believe YOU have communicated with a mere supporter. I was told many times to try again later, which strikes me that my predicament is simply not of huge importance. I know it is not your place, but as you have said in your last post you will be passing info onto him, I would be truly appreciative if you could ask him to contact me when he has time. For the first time in my life I am feeling greatly let down by employee's of Aston Villa and really do not feel I am being treated as a "highly valued customer" as a recent letter described me. The more time I've had to think about what happened to me on Sunday, the more I feel I have been discriminated against, with many of the people who I sit with having said the same. Not a happy Villa fan at the moment General, as you can probably tell, I know it is not your fault but hopefully it gives you an insight into the smaller things that are not all that rosey at Villa Park. Thanks again for your time, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General Do you feel that the globalisation of the Premier League serves to benefit or hinder the growth and support of football in the countries and regions where English clubs promote themselves? Should people in Thailand not be showing pride in and support for their local clubs rather than brandishing the scarves and shirts of Liverpool? I understand that football is a service-delivery product and that people have choice, but football is also about affinity, community spirit, belonging, devotion, and loyalty. Can someone 8,000 miles away honestly show any of those traits? On the back of this, how do you feel that any potential overseas marketing of Villa can truly help the club? I acknowledge the financial benefit with sales of merchandise, but maybe some of this could be ploughed back into the local community? Helping to subsidise employment at the club for local youngsters maybe? I suggest this due to come of the criticisms of agency staff above. What better for the club than for the people working there to feel some sort of affinity, for the local community to find the club giving it support and assistance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villabromsgrove Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General, the transfer window closed over three hours ago and still the official site hasn't given us an update on the Richard Dunne signing situation. It would be nice to hear the current situation from our own club rather than pick up speculation second and third hand. It is for information like this that people like me subscribe to AVFC TV and yet once again the OS seems to consider that fans don't need to know. It's disappointing after an exciting day watching the drama unfold. On a happier note I am very pleased with the results of Mons hard work during the transfer window. Imo we are considerably stronger all round as a team and yet we still have space to develop our very good young players like Albrighton and Clark. Here's to an exciting season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanveer1968 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General In know that we are only just starting the season but the home attendances so far have been very disappointing. This could be due to the feel good factor being eroded and some fans feelings that we have stopped progressing and disappointment with the club not signing the payers they hoped for. Are you and the club concerned about the attendances and are you disappointed with the outcome of the transfer window as a fan and as a director Personally as a fan I had hoped for more particularly a midfield play maker, however, I will put aside my disappointment and frustration and fully support the the team and the club. We do have some great players and hope that we can give performances of the level of the Liverpool match, we have competition for every position and hopefully the players will find that extra ability in the fight for maintaining a place in the team. I hope the club can soon progress to a level of signing world class players, I would be pleased to know your opinion on how soon you think we will be in a position to be serious suitors of world class players. UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerbob Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General I must agree with villabromsgrove that it is rather a let down that the official Villa site cannot keep us informed of the Dunne situation and have to depend on Sky news. I feel again that Mon has let us down with his signings and can't see a natural replacement for Barry. I shall continue to watch the Villa as I have for 50+ years. PS I don't have the blind fath some have in this manager but I do feel the work undertaken by Randy has been positive but he should look to give some thought to getting a Direstor of football to sort out this transfer farce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Hello General I know this has been raised before, but in the light of 'Aggreived fan's experiences regarding getting in trouble for standing I'd like to raise the standing issue again. I Watched the Champions League Qualifiying round from loads of other Countrys last week and practically all the fans at every ground were stood up. Look at the Ashes, look at Golf, look at Glastonbury!!! I come to Villa on the Thursday, wanting to play my part in creating a good atmosphere, and we get an on-screen warning!! to remain seated AT ALL TIMES (even worse than before). You are all puttting a huge effort into this Club but personally the increasingly authoritarian regime (from the City Council I know, not the clubs fault) regarding standing is making me consider whether to bother at home - away, we do it all the time !! Whilst I am aware of the Safety in Sports Grounds requirements, and their origins, can I ask what representations the club is making, or considering, to the law makers and enforcers to move towards allowing standing as long as one is at ones seat ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General, Please wish all our new signings and the rest of team well for the remainder of the season. I think Martin has built a good squad with opportunities to develop a few of our younger talents still available. People will moan about not replacing Barry, but who's to say we needed to or wanted to? Maybe this is a new direction, on paper it certainly looks like a new Villa and the depth is so much better compared to the last two seasons. From three years ago to now, I would suggest that we can continue to look forward with optimism. Thanks and up the Villa Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted September 1, 2009 Moderator Share Posted September 1, 2009 Hi General, I just wanted to ask when if at all we are going to see any improvement in the official site? I appriciate it was given a bit of a face lift a year or so ago but in terms of the content it is really lacking. Throughout the summer the content has been poor, often lacking in substance and frequently behind other news out lets. For instance after our game away in Vienna there was no match report and no reaction from anyone at the club for hours after the game. Yet interviews (both video and text) appeared on countless other sites that evening. Meanwhile today we have been left totally in the dark over the the attempts to sign Dunne by the official site instead having to get our news from other sources. I appriciate the official site can't speculate the way other news agencies do but when it comes to hard and fast news or reaction to events time and again the site is behind the times. It appears almost as if those who update it knock off at 5.00pm anf so anything that happens after that can wait which is a poor state of affairs. We've been told many times the site will improve so I'm curious to know when this will happen because when you compare it to the Manchester City site for instance we are miles behind them. The official site should be the first port of call for fans for news and in turn help sell the brand and in turn tickets and merchandise but how does the club expect this to happen when the primary reason for people to visit the site, news, is poorly presented and behind other outlets when surely we should be ahead of the rest when it comes to the words of club employees? So many aspects of the club have improved over the last 3 years and I appriciate not everything can be done at once surely its about time the official site started to more accurately reflect the forward direction of the club? I can't speak for others but despite being on line virtually all day 5 days a week I visit the official site perhaps twice a week, surely that is an opportunity missed by the club. As far as I'm aware we don't even make our site available in other languages which again surely is something we need to be doing in the modern global game? Thanks for your continued time and patience on this thread. Regards TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuse Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. I will forward the info re. stewards to our Head of Security. it is always good to get a perspective from someone who is watching it all happen. 2. I did not mean Randy!!! My goodness, he is in this for the long run!! I hope that everyone can see that Randy is a special type of guy who appreciates the ethos and tradition and history of the Club. He is not going to turn his back on that. Thanks for the reply General and good to hear. Randy has again supported Mon in the window and I am looking forward to our new, improved squad, staying the course this season. Please pass on my thanks to Randy and tell Mon that the silent majority are behind him and the team 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 General, speaking from a fan's point of view, where do you expect the current Villa team to finish this season? As a fan of Villa, I hope and pray that we can break into the top four. But, the realist in me thinks that we will finish in 7th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heystally! Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Hi General, So another summer transfer window comes to an end, and as usual there are those who think we've made some solid purchases, those who feel we could have got better players, and those who are disappointed Ronaldo went to Madrid instead of here! I think I am somewhat between the first two. I believe MON has done a terrific job in bolstering our squad this window. Looking at squad depth, we haven't been this strong under MON full stop. At least two players per position is a scenario every manager wants, so injuries should not hit us as hard this year. And some of his signings have been very shrewd - Downing has proven his quality at both Premiership and National level, Delph looks like he'll be a real prospect for the future, and Beye has shown that he can offer a very solid option in place of Luke Young. However, I like many are still cautious about the replacement of Barry and Laursen. I have to agree that Laursen was more key to our fortunes than Barry - had Barry been forced to retire and missed the second half of the season, I think we would have got on a lot better than losing Martin. But nonetheless, it seems we have actually strengthened in Barry's position more than Laursen's! No offence to Richard Dunne and James Collins but I don't believe they are capable of living up to the high standards that Laursen set. Obviously this is difficult, but I was sure MON would succeed, and I feel he has fallen short. However, I'm not willing to write us off based on this window. We have taken six points out of nine, beating Liverpool and Fulham in the process, who finished 2nd and 7th respectively last season. Anyone who doesn't believe that is impressive is kidding themselves. But now it's time to build on that, and have a consistently good season, no fading away at the end of the day. I know Aston Villa are capable of success, and I sincerely hope that the current squad and the new lads coming in can all contribute to this. So ultimately, I'd like to pass on my thanks to Randy for once again backing MON in the transfer market (who said he was restricting MON's spending, eh? Third highest spenders?), and also to MON for building a squad of solid players rather than just a mish-mash of stars. Best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlitobrigante Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 A great transfer window General. well done to all behind the scenes. Despite the down turn, yet again we see significant investment in the squad, with some very shrewd moves. I think we have a much stronger squad than last year. And that is some achievement considering the players we have lost through no fault of our own. Great work. Now lets see what this season brings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 General Krulak here: 1. I will forward the info re. stewards to our Head of Security. it is always good to get a perspective from someone who is watching it all happen. 2. I did not mean Randy!!! My goodness, he is in this for the long run!! I hope that everyone can see that Randy is a special type of guy who appreciates the ethos and tradition and history of the Club. He is not going to turn his back on that. Thanks for the reply General and good to hear. Randy has again supported Mon in the window and I am looking forward to our new, improved squad, staying the course this season. Please pass on my thanks to Randy and tell Mon that the silent majority are behind him and the team 100% Seconded. Twas not so long ago that a man so memorable that I cannot remember his name, promised that if he took over our great club he would invest £20million a year. There was great excitement from many people at this, many of whom now complain that we don't spend £1billion on Johnny Bigspuds. You can't win! Thanks again and please pass on my thanks to Randy, he is different class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiganvillain Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 I'm happy to vote the Fuse , Bully motion into law Ignore the doom mongers sir the vast majority support what Randy is doing fully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born-Not-Made Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Hi General, Just wanted to ask you to extend our thanks to Randy for putting faith in our (fantastic) manager by backing him in the transfer market once again. We're becoming more and more competitive year on year and that's thanks in no small part to Randy for his investment. And I'd also like you to pass on our thanks for the continued work on our beloved ground. Villa Park is a special place and I was, if I'm honest, somewhat sceptical of the sort of improvements Randy may make to our beautiful stadium. He (and his team no doubt) are doing an excellent job of updating the facilities and the overall feel of the place without jeopardising the traditional ethos the ground has. It is no coincidence that every new signing in The Lerner Era has praised the ground and the training facilities. Here's to a great season. And with refernce to the other big spenders - In the words of James Marshall Hendrix - "And so castles made of sand... fall in the sea... eventually" Semper Fidelis UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefordvillan Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 General. Congratulations to MON and all those working on transfers behind the scenes on them. It has been a really beneficial window in terms of the first XI and the squad. I for one am very happy with the players that we have signed and am extremely excited about the season ahed! MON and Randy (who has once again backed us finacially) have my full backing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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