General Krulak (part 3) - Questions

[deaceydeaceyaggro]

General, can we have a quick return of the video screen to the North Stand please!!

[dudley_villa]

Put another £4-5million on milners tag or sue the shite out of city, its less than ideal infact its suicidal to help strengthen a rival

Chelsea-Man utd are not rivals so if he has to be sold to balance the books offer him to them!

NEVER EVER EVER SELL TO LIVERPOOL, SPURS, MAN CITY!!!!!!!!! Just look at sir alex's strategy and where its got man utd...

I would even even add arsenal to that list so milk the savage bastards for everything they got sir!..

PS...

Great quote from randy...

A so-called caretaker manager went on for the Villa to win the European Cup!..

Give the man the job is all you need to do...

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. What are our goals? They have not changed since we arrived...to play consistent, exciting, winning, football...to get to Europe...to win the Premiership...to win Europe!! What else would you expect as goals? Anyone who aims low will hit low.

2. As I have said before, I will not be commenting on Managers, names of potentials, etc. Obviously we will be looking at folks very closely...both near and far. We will chose the one who we feel is "right" for the Club. We will not be rushed to make the choice.

3. I think the Fans at the game deserve a HUGE pat on the back for the support they gave the Club. The Fans could have been very disappointed coming into the game but they, instead, were as fired up as the team. Well done...and MOST appreciated.

4. Just one word about James Milner. I think the lad is a pro!!! When told he was going to play, he went out and gave it his all. He could have been injured or any number of things could have happened. Nothing mattered but playing in the game for the Villa...he gave it his all. I am proud that the fans recognized his efforts.

5. Randy is well aware of the history of the Club. Sometimes I think that there are fans out on the site that actually believe that Randy knows nothing about football (US and UK), and does nothing to continue his education. Believe me, Randy reads and he listens and he asks questions and he consults. Much of the time he spends in the UK is spent meeting with people, asking questions and learning. Give him some credit...he is not a mushroom sitting in the dark.

6. I have been told that the big screen will not be going back up.

7. Nike is like any other business...they stock their shelves with what sells. The more exposure the Club gets, the more exposure our kit will get. AT THE SAME TIME, Nike has the responsibility to make sure that our kit is available world-wide and to provide them when asked. It may take some time to get to where we are in every store.

[nepal_villan]

General Krulak here:

1. What are our goals?...to play consistent, exciting, winning, football...

Thank you

Anyone who aims low will hit low.

Except for Carew yesterday

[deeps]

General Krulak here:

7. Nike is like any other business...they stock their shelves with what sells. The more exposure the Club gets, the more exposure our kit will get. AT THE SAME TIME, Nike has the responsibility to make sure that our kit is available world-wide and to provide them when asked. It may take some time to get to where we are in every store.

cheers gen

[granville]

6. I have been told that the big screen will not be going back up.

Tell whoever told you this nonsense that they're an idiot and they're fired.

We need a screen Gen. If not that same one then a new one (similar to the new score board) that scrolls through stats or something.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease.

[AstonMartin82]

Give him some credit...he is not a mushroom sitting in the dark.

It is not often something makes me laugh out loud, but this did!

I'm going to remember that one and see if I can use it myself in my office at least twice this week.

[Razor]

Maradonna please General!!!

Lets make our club glamorous for the first time.

[TrentVilla]

Hi General,

Is it correct that Mr Lerner left the UK for Milan after the game on Saturday? If so can I ask if the trip is a Villa related trip an anything to do with our current vacancy.

[UTVPK]

Hi General,

As a new member on here, please let me say thanks for your direct communication with us, its a nice touch.

I write regarding James Milner, as I am sure most of fans have been thinking the last few days " will he stay now?". Has the stance changed regarding this situation since the game, or basically, is his mind made up?

I know it is a difficult question to answer, but knowing we have tried tooth and nail and he wants to go, makes it an easier pill to swallow.

I couldnt help that think MON coming out with his comments about milly, opened a can of worms, when possibly, things were still under consideration.

I for one hope he stays, i fully admire him for his actions and performance yesterday, surely the captain armband awaits!

Thanks General, I would really appreciate a reply.

Up the Villa!

[jack_bauer87]

General, what is your opinion of Gary Cooke?

[kidlewis]

General Krulak here:

4. Just one word about James Milner. I think the lad is a pro!!! When told he was going to play, he went out and gave it his all. He could have been injured or any number of things could have happened. Nothing mattered but playing in the game for the Villa...he gave it his all. I am proud that the fans recognized his efforts.

In regards to the Milner situation, is it his desire to leave?

I thought he definitely wanted to go himself, but after seeing his reaction on saturday i'm not so sure he does.

did we offer him an improved contract?

don't you think going forward we need to perhaps reduce our overall wage bill whilst offering our better players....a better deal?

can we never ever ever ever ever, sell another one of our players to Manchester City ever again?

[heystally!]

Hi General,

I just wanted to post a quote from "Randy's" interview with the Mail on Sunday, which is on the newspaper's website:

Lerner said last night: ‘Big, bad Manchester City came along and asked for Milner and we said, “No, he is not for sale”. And under the rules you have to respect that. And Manchester City respected that for two whole days. And then they violated the rules and came in for him again.’

Lerner made it clear that he does not intend to make a formal complaint to the Football Association about City’s alleged conduct. Neither is he particularly keen to smooth the path for the £25million deal to be finalised.

He added: ‘Who knows if Milner is going to go? Kevin [MacDonald] just came up to me and said, “Ask for more money”.’

The link to the article is here.

I just wanted to know whether these are the words of Randy himself. Later in the article, the "journalist" in question actually quotes Randy, but in truth, looking at the Sky Sports website, it was actually the words of Stiliyan Petrov.

I just wanted this clarified, as it is not like Aston Villa, judging by the last four years, to hang our dirty laundry in public. We have not made comments about the approach of other teams before, no matter how dishonest they have been, and it does not seem like something Randy would say.

Thanks very much.

[Tubby]

4. Just one word about James Milner. I think the lad is a pro!!! When told he was going to play, he went out and gave it his all. He could have been injured or any number of things could have happened. Nothing mattered but playing in the game for the Villa...he gave it his all. I am proud that the fans recognized his efforts.

Why don't we keep him then? A player this reliable does not come along too often so why sell him to a rival of all teams? Stephen Ireland is not James Milner.

[Brumstopdogs]

Hi General

In terms of offering players new contracts and/or reviewing contract extensions please can you confirm whose responsibility at the club that is?

A number of our rivals have signed important youngsters and key first team players on long term deals to maximise their re-sale value. How do we control this?

Thanks for your efforts and good luck with the manager search.

Cheers UTV

[briny_ear]

General

That was an excellent performance yesterday - just what we needed after a pretty miserable week!

I have been a big admirer of Kevin MacDonald's work with the reserves, so it didn't surprise me that he handled the challenge of managing the first team so well, and that he gave some of our younger players a chance to shine. It also looked as of the players were enjoying themselves a lot.

All very encouraging.

I don't know if you spotted this question I asked a couple of days ago, part of which was:

it seems that Villa employ many more staff than Tottenham overall - around 445 compared with their 286, a difference of 159.

That seems a massive difference for two organisations running essentially the same sort of business. I wondered if anyone is looking at this alongside the player wages issue. Obviously player wages are the most significant part of the wages bill but, if we have to make cuts, it would be good to know the support and backroom functions are being slimmed down as far as possible as well, before the axe falls on the playing staff.

I don't think you have commented on that, although I did notice you said in reply to another question:

The issue we are concerned about is the wage of players to revenue...We know exactly what our staffing numbers are and they are not a concern.

Would that imply that you are not looking to bear down on admin/backup staffing costs as much as possible as part of the work to tackle the wages to revenue issue?

[villabromsgrove]

General, one last post before I go to bed after a very enjoyable weekend. The match was full of entertaining football and Villa Park seemed like a weight had been lifted off it's shoulders. Do you and Randy feel a lightness in your step as well General? Here's to a happy and successful future for all of us.

[Villarocker]

Hi General,

It is with regret that I have to spoil the celebratory mood with a complaint about the North Stand Lower.

As you know, I am a season ticket holder and attend the games with 3 members of my family. We sit in block R1 of the North Stand Lower. Last season we were sat where there was a leak in the roof, so we re-located a few rows further back to where we would be under cover. When we arrived at our seats on Saturday we were surprised to see that there was a massive gap in the roof, probably due to the removal of the big screen, and all of the seats in the area seemed to be exposed to the rain that was pouring in. Obviously, if this had been mentioned prior to the start of the season we would have re-located to an alternative area that was under cover. I braved the downpour in the second half but the other 3 went, with a lot of other fans, to watch the game on the screen in the concourse, which surely isn't right when they have paid an extra £50 for their tickets?

The concourse is another area for complaint. It has been widened but there is no longer a betting office for those who choose to have a bet on the match. Also, the queue for the food/drink seemed worse than ever and I was told that it was because the food stand at the other end of the stand had been closed. If this is true, you are going to lose a lot of revenue because people won't get served or simply won't bother trying to buy anything because of the number of people who will be ahead of them waiting to be served.

Is the club planning to address the situation with the roof anytime soon or is it going to be left like that until the re-build on the stand is completed? If so, is there anything we can do to move to an alternative seat where we won't get soaked everytime it rains without having to pay a re-location fee?

I know that a lot of guys around us had also moved to avoid getting wet and they too were not happy folks on Saturday, although the performance from the lads was great.

Up The Villa and keep up the good work General.

[TOTTI-THE-GOD]

General i have a complaint , The North Stand Lower i know its been refurbished and all that but it seems there is now only one way of the ground causing a hell of a cue to get out of the ground at full time and also i dont know what they've done to the floor but it was like an ice ring on saturday , literaly waiting for some poor person to fall flat on there arse .

Externally the refurb looks great something the north stand lower had been needing , but internally i felt it was an accident waiting to happen . Sorry if i am sounding a miserable bugger for a Monday morning .

[Morales]

General, in regards to not putting the big screen up. It's the only way the holte end can see a reply of what happens, it's part of the match day experience and it would be a pity if it didn't go back up.

On a side note, MON was a very popular manager at Villa, but to a man, I think all the Villa fans have supported yours and RL stance on the matter, which I hope you remember, when all our moaning on this board gets you down on ocassion, we do appreciate what you are doing at Villa, even though it sometime seem like we don't.