General Krulak (part 3) - Questions

[sparey16]

Seem to have missed my post general

-General, bit of a rant about the holte pub here. Got the game at about half 6 last night and fancied a pint. Didnt really feel like going into one the surrounding pubs (we had to in the end) so tried our luck in the Holte Pub, which was open to all season ticket holders. Got there as about 7 people walked out, yet were then told it was full. Clearly if it was full before the people came out, it was operating over capacity and therefore a health and safety issue...

[Dodgyknees]

3. I spent 3 hours with Randy on Wednesday and time with MON last night at the reserve game. Both are focused on the next 5 games. The rumors that have been flying about are just that...rumors. Both men know where they want to take the Club and are dedicated to reaching the goal. Both specifically mentioned the Fans and how much they appreciate the support they have been given. They also both recognize that the season has been one of tremendous highs and disappointing lows...but both both feel that we are making sure progress. If we were to do a highlight film on this season, starting with the Peace Cup, two Wembley appearances, some great wins over the "top 4", some remarkable come back wins, etc....we'd have a great film. MON is totally focused on the Villa and on getting victories in the upcoming games. His energy level is high and his motivation very strong. At this important point in time, I think we all need to continue to support Randy and MON as we go through the next few weeks as they will be critical to us.

Totally agree.

Another question, I was in a newsagents today, saw magazines for West Ham, Tottenham amongst others, its the sort of thing I would love to buy, a Villa one. What are the chances?

I'm not talking about a match/shoot/young person type, more like an extended match programme, covering Villa inside and out.

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. sparey 16: I have passed your post on to the Hospitality folks and indicated that it appears that we are missing something here...that we need to keep a better count of the numbers.

2. maradona10: OK, you are asking MY opinion...NOT as a Director but as a Fan. First and foremost, I have only seen the lads play, in person, this one time. All the other times have been on the telly in the US and in some pretty big games. I saw some huge wins against top sides and I saw some draws and losses against teams I felt we should have handled. I match THIS season against the others since our arrival and I have to say I feel good about it. I think that our Manager has done a fine job in bringing the Club along from the place it was when he was hired until today. I think he has brought some very talented players to the Club and, equally important, has concentrated on developing others. I think this is a part of MON that is sometimes missed by the Fans...he develops young players very well. ALL of this has gone into my thinking re. this season...AND, the season is not over. Do I wish that some games would have ended differently? ABSOLUTELY! Do I think we have made progress? ABSOLUTELY! Again, I think it is very important that we let the next 5 games take place before we put an exclamation point our our side. A real positive of this side is their guts and determination!! They play hard all the time. 4 years ago, we would have lost that Everton game but this year we played hard and NEVER gave up! ALL credit to the players BUT....the Manager also deserves credit in this area too. He obviously has them motivated to give their all.

[harris21]

Well said General... I think it has been a good season (so far)... if you would have said we would go to Wembley twice in one season and still be fighting for 4th in mid April I would have bitten your hand off. But I do think that the summer is MON's most crtical of all... a few top class players should take us to the next level, if not then we will be at risk of falling behind the other possible CL teams.

Went to the Semi-Final and (dispite the result) was totaly superb! Lets hope there is more trips to Wembely in the very near future and we win!! I'm just praying we get that extra quality in to push on!

Villa Till I Die!

[Maradona10]

Top post General, Its the way I see it too!

[Liono]

General, Below is part of an article from the News Of The World newspaper.

The cutbacks have already been felt in administrative areas as the club have let staff go in the catering, merchandising, legal and human resources departments.

Link to article

Is what they are reporting there true?

Thanks.

[Midnite]

General,

just seconding 1968's opinion, MON is the MAN!! most important signing of the summer is keeping him on! Great man, great manager. All the people that hammer him will be sorry if he ever left. The fact that we're up there contesting with the top four and reaching the later stages of the cups is amazing. We are a big club with a legacy but we can't compete with the likes of chelsea and man city with money.

I'm proud of the season, i love coming to villa park. As long as it's great entertainment and i continue to enjoy the games that's what matters. We can not be expected to win every single game in the league, it's just not possible. Even the likes of arsenal haven't won anything for years now. We got further than them in the cups.

This season HAS been a huge success. Those who think not i feel suffer with delusions of grandeur! We fought (and still are) for 4th place, we probably wont get it this season but at least we have been yet again!!

If we have hit this glass ceiling that the media go on about then is it really that bad if the ceiling is fighting around for 4th place?? Chelsea have an ageing squad, who know's what state Man United will be in when fergie goes so our time might come, just not this season.

Thanks again general for keeping a great club just that.... GREAT! I love the fact you're on here, responding to our comments, giving the feedback to the club. I know we're in stable, good hands with the likes of randy and MON.

Long may it continue!!

[dogbonus]

So, did you get home or get a ticket for the pompey game?

If you saw it, what did you think?

there are a few on here unhappy we made hard work of getting the winner.

Me, I thought we did ok, could have scored more and am happy with the result.

It's results that count!

[sellyoakvilla]

Hi General

Do you know what the extent of Fabian Delph's injury is? It sounds like a bad one. Hope he recovers soon.

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1....and I mean STILL here! I purchased a pair of new trousers and two shirts...I may be here for the duration.

2. liono: That ENTIRE article is absolutely rubbish. Seriously, it is SO inaccurate that I don't even know where to start. The comments about the "letting of staff go" thru to the comments about MON and Randy are just ludicrous. I seriously don't know how these things get dreamed up. The author of this article NEVER spoke to MON, Randy or the Club. Bottom Line: "Interlocking bands of grazing boshido."

3. Portsmouth Match: A great win!! There was no doubt that we were the best side on the Pitch. At the same time, you have to take your hat off to James in the goal. The score could have been 4-1 but for some of his saves. I was sitting next to the England manager and I am sure he saw what we all saw...a fine job of keeping. At the same time, he must have seen another James on the Pitch...James Milner!! Our lad was superb! He has an engine that just won't stop...he played an immense role in the victory. I was glad to see the "Fonz" get his first PL goal...a very happy lad!

4. I tried to get to the car park to thank the fans for their great support!! The Pompey fans were very loud but....when we needed it, our Fans were magnificent!! Seriously, those 1400 Fans sounded like 41,000!!! Well done!!

[rjw63]

"Interlocking bands of grazing boshido."

Great quote....no idea what it means :-)

[Maradona10]

You've got to stay for the Blues game General?

[Stephen_Evans]

I wouldn't ask you to comment on that silly rumour, but please could you tell us Randy's policy towards the issue of the basic kit template. I have to say, his record so far has been excellent....

Hi General,

Fair enough if you missed this, as you have dozens of posts to sift though on the various sites you're involved in. I'm asking this question because it's normally this time of year I start to get worried about kit designs involving aquarmarine stripes on pink shirts etc etc... I would love to hear that Randy will stand by claret-body-blue-sleeves, even though inevitably the actual design of the shirt (ie collar, extent of sleeves, etc etc) must vary from year to year (though many think it should be from two year period to two year period!)

Thanks very much.

[jonno_2004]

General, first time posting on here to you and may I say thank you for the great work the 'team' - both on the pitch and behind the scenes are doing for Villa, and for making yourself available for queries/comments/advice.

May I ask for you to pass on my support to Fabian Delph in which must be a terrible time for the young lad and I, like many Villa fans, am truly gutted at this injury and hope he makes a swift recovery.

[PompeyVillan]

I echo what Jonno has said, I'm gutted to hear that he's out for so long. Terrible injury for a young player. Send him my best wishes.

[OutByEaster?]

General Krulak here:

1....and I mean STILL here! I purchased a pair of new trousers and two shirts...I may be here for the duration.

First they wouldn't let you come, now they won't let you leave!

[Mr_Dogg]

Please pass on my best wishes to Delph for his recovery.

[danceoftheshamen]

Hi General,

I have what is probably a quite unusual question/idea for you regarding colour & it's usage at Villa Park especially on match days.

For many years a family member of mine has been a fully trained Colour Therapist & during that time i have often asked whether there would be any advantage/disadvantage to be gained/given on a match day which could help in any way my beloved Aston Villa gain any sort of help re their performance.

As we all know the dividing line between winning & losing is wafer thin & the difference between a confident team & one which lacks that confidence is significant for example.

So where does colour fit into this you may well ask!?

Well colour actually changes attitude, positivity, energy levels, fear & most other human emotions/feelings. There is much evidence of this too...

A few years ago there was an infamous story which came about when Man Utd decided to wear a grey away strip.. Well every single time they wore it they lost.. sometimes pretty badly & indeed the players said it felt like they just had no energy & they actually blamed the kit which was never worn again & the problem immediately disappeared.

Well the colour Grey in the therapy world would fit into this event perfectly as it is the colour for "Neutral" & would indeed have the effect of draining (Or neutralising) everything.... Energy, positivity etc etc..

Also the strongest colour is red. This is very interesting as if you look at world football most of the successfull teams wear ... red!

Manchester United... Red

Liverpool ....Red

Arsenal...Red

Bayern Munich... Red

Ac Milan... Red/Black

etc etc..

The reason for this could be 2 fold.

1. If you wear red it invigorates you, boosts you energy level & confidence & also makes you feel more aggressive.. All very good attributes needed to win a football match.

2. If you are playing a team who wear red it would subconciously make you feel inferior & dominated & also sap your belief & confidence!

SO IS IT ANY WONDER THE MOST SUCCESSFULL TEAMS WEAR RED?!!

In fact England wore thier red strip when they won the World Cup in 1966!!

Obviously it guarantees nothing but i think history shows there is an apparent "tipping of the scales" towards teams in red!

Of course Villa play in Claret & blue & that could never change, well at home at least.

So how might this be used to Villa's advantage?

Well General i would not put the answers on a public site as the only team i would want to benefit would of course be Villa Lol.. But i do think there are a some very interesting possibilities which may be of interest?

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. I will ensure that Delph knows that the fans are behind him at this tough point in his life. Rest assured that we are going to be getting him the VERY BEST medical attention we can get him!!

2. dancdoftheshamen: Thank you for the very interesting post. As I think about it, you probably have a very good point. Our issue, of course, is that we are claret and blue...through and through. We have won with those colours over a long period of time. Even our away kit has normally contained these "sacred colours" and I am not sure whether we might cause some unintended consequences if we played in a red kit. One of the things that sets us apart from many Clubs is we are traditional and do have a wonderful ethos. We would need to be careful not to unbalance our "universe."

3. stephen_evans: Hopefull my answer above helps with your question. Randy will want to keep our traditional kit in mind for every new change that might take place.

4. As an aside, "interlocking bands...." is a term used by the military to describe the final protective fires of a defensive position. At the end of the day, you want to set up your machine guns to provide "interlocking bands of grazing fire" to prevent the enemy from overrunning your position. My use of "interlocking bands of grazing boshido" was meant to describe an article that was absolutely filled with BS.

[Little8Rioch]

General

fantastic expression - I will be using "interlocking bands of grazing boshido" from now on. Will probably try it on the wife first!!!