General Krulak (part 3) - Questions

[Richard]

General, as a fan do you think we have as a club invested enough in the squad to achieve a top four finish?

Not pre-empting your answer but my question is not about whether or not Randy has said he will back the manager, it is just a simple do you think we have spent enough on the squad to get to where we want to be?

[vivaashleyyoung]

General,

From a Fan's perspective and a person who has probably watched nearly all our games over the last few seasons, Who would you say is a better right back....Carlos Cuellar or Luke Young?

Thanks, Keep up the good work

Upthevilla

[danceoftheshamen]

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.

Hi General!

Thanks for your swift response regarding the "Colour" idea.

I did not actually mean to change our strip at all because as you rightly state that is of course sacred & could never be changed. Well certainly not the home strip at any rate although something could possibly be done with the away strip. For example in the therapy world turquoise neutralises the subconcious effects of red so when playing at an away ground where the home team plays in red this could be used in the strip along with a claret & blue trim in some way possibly?

In the main however i was thinking of some changes in places like the home & away dressing rooms which i believe are currently done out in white. Lets suppose the home dressing room was done out in a colour which would boost confidence & energy levels for example orange & the away dressing room the opposite such as grey?

You never know it may just make a difference?

[jack_bauer87]

General, just a quick one about the impending NFL draft...I see that Tebow has visited the Browns, what a draft pick he would be for them! I know he has his critics but I really do think that Tebow could be big news in the NFL and his marketability aspect would be huge for whoever picks him. What are your views on Tebow and would you like to see him at the Browns?

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. I received a text from BA at 11:00 pm on Tuesday night that my flight on Wednesday was a "go"....so I have now returned to the Colonies and Mrs. "K" is a happy camper. Whilst in the UK, I got a lot accomplished at both Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath...and have reinforced my belief that our Club is truly moving in the right direction. We have some great people working very hard to make us a force to be reckoned with.

2. I have read a very small number of comments re. the Hull Match...that we didn't look good or that we were missing something. I really think these folks need to take a step back and really think about what has happened over the past few weeks. We have played games that we could/should/must win....and we won them. Portsmouth and Hull are the examples. They were fighting for their lives and we were fighting for Europe...we won! Everton needed to win...we needed to win...we drew. Not good but not a disaster of titanic proportions. We played a series of matches where the opposition had plenty of rest between games and we did not. Our Manager got the lads up for each game...they played hard...and they got results. I am a pretty simple guy...winning is good, drawing is not as good, losing is bad. A loss in any of those games would have been very bad. I look at these games as battles...it is not just how we fight that is important. We also face an enemy that is fighting too. The battlefield is ever changing...nice Pitch surface, bad Pitch surface. There are always outside effects that must be dealt with...in the case of football, we can talk about referees, injuries, etc. Battles are impacted by many, many, things. The key is, at the end, who wins? Who is left standing? Yes, I would love to see us play beautiful flowing football every game but, like a battle, there are opposing forces and effects that don't always allow that to happen. I think we ought to take the 3 points and be proud of the lads and of Martin and his staff....we have gone through some tough days and have more to come. One game at a time...let's beat the Blues and then take on the next challenge. By the way, from all I have heard, the away fans were magnificent!!!!!

3. Tebow: A real leader and man of character. I just don't know if the Browns will take him.

[Rodders]

Wise words General - although I think frustrations emanated re fatigue as we do have a fairly expansive squad which could have eased the pressures in the fixture heavy spell - which may ( or may not of course ) have improved our chances.

Anyway, onwards to Sunday and hopefully another 5-1!

[steve_avfc]

General

A game not to be missed Sir, our local derby demolition of Blues (Blose) on 25th. Hopefully Randy and your good self can make it.

Are you and Randy going to the Blues game on Sunday ??

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. rodders: My sense is that the squad rotation that is mentioned so often is far easier for the fans to talk about than it is to execute based upon the competition. We all have to believe that MON knows what he is doing and there is a method to his rotation. I was at Pompey and watched him make two substitutions at the right time and achieved the right results. I am more than willing to let him make those sorts of calls....it is certainly NOT something the Board or Owner should be doing.

2. steve_avfc: I will not be at the derby and I am not sure about Randy. I think we would all like to make sure that the big volcano doesn't erupt first. BELIEVE ME, both Randy and I will be glued to the telly!!

[Villarocker]

Hi General,

I like the way you say "let's just beat the Blues and take on the next challenge"

A couple of questions for you,

Would you like to have had Jimmy Milner as a serviceman under your command in the Marines? And, what rank do you think Jimmy could have made, if he was indeed a Marine?

I know those questions are hypothetical but the guy seems to be brave as a lion on the football field.

Enjoy the weekend and turn the volume up General, it's going to be loud on Sunday!

Up The Villa

[villahero]

Hi Gen

At the start of the season i asked if it would be possible in future to have the home shirt available first as people like to wear them on holiday and that the ' claret and Blue ' colors ( that spelling just for you ) are easily identifiable to 'admiring ' onlookers !!!!. Any info on what order the club intends to do for next season's releases ?

Cheers

[steve_avfc]

General

Thanks for reply.

I really hope we win sunday. I remember one of your classic posts (re carling cup), partly quoted below,

If I were talking to the team, I would simply say that "Destiny and your talent have brought you to this moment in time. What happens tomorrow rests in your minds and in your hearts. You all are in good condition, you have trained hard, you have the support of the most rabid fan base in the Premiership, and You know you can beat them if you play your hearts out. They put on their boots just like you do...they get tired like you do...they are not supermen....they are footballers like you. Destiny is ready to grasp...go out and grasp it. Do me one favor...leave every bit of effort you have out on the Pitch. Leave your guts out there...play like madmen...!!!!!"

General, this can be applied to the blues game sunday because we are better than them and I really hope our players are really fired up and ready to win. Also as even further motivation, it would be good if our players were told this quote above.

We are right behind our team, MON and JR. Our big Villa family will pull together to win.

We will also be loud and will cheer on you behalf because we are proud of you and we respect you Sir.

Thank you General

My blood is claret and blue - Up the Villa

[steve_avfc]

General

I meant to say; We will also be loud and will cheer on YOUR behalf . . .

[Shortie]

Hello General, Sir. My 1st post to you so I would like to express my thanks to what you and the "team" have done for this club over the past few years. Now on to my main point.

I am currently a member of the UK Armed Forces, serving in the RAF. As you can appreiciate it is very difficult for members of the Forces to be "in the right place" Because of this factor I find it very difficult to get to Villa Park as often as I would like and therefore was unable to secure a ticket for either Wembley showpiece this season. Is there any way that members of our Armed Forces could have some chance of getting hold of Wembley tickets without having a booking history?

Many Thanks in advance,

Shortie.

Per Ardua ad Astra.

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. villarocker: I would have LOVED to have had James Milner in my command! His heart is that of a lion, his engine never stops and he is a leader by example. He would have been a General and I would probably have worked for him!!!

2. villahero: My sense is that the new kit will not be out in the time frame that you desire. There are just too many "unknowns" right now to predict that it would be out early.

3. steve_avfc: We need every fan we can get cheering hard for the game. I know I am surely going to miss being there. I think it will be an extremely hard fought game....from start to finish. The Blues will want to beat us badly...and visa versa. At the end of a very tough struggle against a team who will give it their all, I think the Villa wins, 3-1.

4. Shortie: First and foremost, thank you for your selfless service to your Country and to the Royal Air Force. You raise a very valid issue and one that we are currently wrestling with. I am not sure what the final decision will be but we do recognize the problem.

[Villarocker]

Hi General,

Thanks for your reply to my questions regarding Jimmy Milner. I had the feeling you would say something along those lines but to say you would probably have worked under his command is big praise for the man indeed. I hope Jimmy leads us to a big win over the local "enemy" tomorrow! :winkold:

Can I just second what Shortie said. I think it would be great if the men and women of the armed forces were able to purchase tickets for big games, without having to meet certain requirements, whilst they are in service. Like Shortie says, they are often moved around and find it difficult to get to games via usual regulations, being a STH or having been to "x" amount of game etc. It's a small gesture from our club for a very big service that these brave folks give to all of us. I would be surprised if people moaned about this as it is such a special circumstance and one that many of us wouldn't want to have to experience ourselves.

Keep up the good work General and enjoy the game tomorrow. I have a feeling it's going to be a glorious day for AVFC

[steve_avfc]

General

I agree with you entirely that we all need to sing, chant and cheer our lads on loud and proud for all of us to get that win, we can do it Sir. We need to outsing the away fans all throughout the game. My voice is in fine tune and ready. I hope all our Villa family will make Villa Park will be the loudest it has been since our 5 - 1 derby demolition.

We will be loud for you and all of us, thinking of you watching on telly in the good land of the USA.

[Gingerlad]

HI General

Just more proof today that we're improving.

Good work

UTV

[sellyoakvilla]

General

We're the pride of Birmingham, we shall not be moved

[justjustin]

General, MON Randy and yourself have woken a sleeping giant these last few seasons lets keep it going I genuinely believe were on the verge of acheiving somthing special UTV

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. Obviously both Randy and I are over the moon with the result!! Equally, we are over the moon with the performance of our lads in the past week. We have played 3 games...one against a team fighting relegation and the other against a team that would just love to beat us...and we came away with 9 points. We are now on 64 points with 2 more games to play. Not bad. I have read on some sites that some fans are upset about the play of the game...not "pretty" or that we were "lucky." I have a hard time understanding those types of comments...especially playing the Blues...and after the number of games we have played in the past week. I watched the Everton --Fulham game and it wasn't too pretty either. Everton won on a penalty kick with 6 seconds left (not sure it was a penalty) that came immediately after a throw-in to Everton that was definitely not off a Fulham player...a very bad call. Simply put, Everton won! 3 points! I doubt if there were many Everton fans claiming that their lads played poorly and only won on luck. I am very proud of our lads and of what they have accomplished this week.