General Krulak (part 3) - Questions

[TrentVilla]

Hi General,

I believe in the club statement following the resignation of Martin O'Neill that the desired date to have a new manager in place was Aug 22, I presume with the intention of them being in charge of the side on that date.

With today being the 17th I'm guessing that means either that man is in place or that the time scale has changed.

Are you able to give any indication when we can expect any further developments in relation to the current managers vacancy?

[deaceydeaceyaggro]

General, very disappointed to hear the big screen will not be returning to the North stand - Witton corner. This screen was enjoyed by thousands of Villa fans for years, and within a blink of an eye you've taken it down without a thought and replaced it with a type of old fashioned scoreboard that we had installed 30 years ago. General there are thousands of disappointed Villa fans who enjoyed instant replays of match action who now simply cannot see the other video screen, and to be honest it's a bit of a backward step, and I'm hoping we haven't sold it just to raise a few quid.

I implore you to reconsider and reinstall the 2nd video screen at Villa Park!!

[LoughboroughLion]

General, this is my first time in asking a question, yet I read the thread regularly and thank you for your commitment to the club. I was just curious to ask whether you think the current squad will meet the expectations of both yourself and the board this season as it is, without any new transfers (bar Stephen Ireland)?

[paulanddonya]

Gen

a) Thanks for the Healthy options eating. It was one of my points on the survey and has been looked into. Being Veggie, I never ate at Villa Park, but, with the prices also kept reasonable, I for one will be supporting this as of next week.

Re: the scoreboard thing. Presumably, this is all part of the redevelopment of the North Stand, ie: whats the point of putting one in for a season, only to take it down again, is this correct ? , if so, I am sure people can live without it for 19 games.

c) I have said for two years, Ireland at his best, is far superior to Milner at his best (although Milner is more consistent). If the new boss gets that consistency, we have just pulled off the deal of the century !

Paul

[avfcgoodie]

General, a message more for the website and IT guys, this weekly wallpaper idea is great how ever its seems very behind with the times, since Windows 7 is fast becoming the main operating system it shocks me there is no official theme yet so i can decorate my PC in the claret and blue, cheers

[fran_villa]

any word on us getting a new manager,i think its about time the club came out and said when the manager will be put in charge..

[Reality]

Hi General,

I believe in the club statement following the resignation of Martin O'Neill that the desired date to have a new manager in place was Aug 22, I presume with the intention of them being in charge of the side on that date.

With today being the 17th I'm guessing that means either that man is in place or that the time scale has changed.

Are you able to give any indication when we can expect any further developments in relation to the current managers vacancy?

Hmm, I believe he has been asked that before, and basically what he said was that the club wouldn't be rushed into making a decision. Make of that what you will.

[deeps]

Hey Gen,

Silly question but got to ask. Do you like bovril?

[bannedfromHandV]

General, very disappointed to hear the big screen will not be returning to the North stand ...

Hi General, I'm guessing you can confirm the following but I figured that taking down the big screen was in anticipation of the rebuilding of the North Stand next year?

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

Hi General with Milner gone and the way Barry left also, will the club look into contract negotations earlier?

Because transfer wise, it puts us in a bad position. If say City offered for Milner with 4 years on his contract, we could reject and the price would stay the same for 2 years anyway as long as he continued playing the same way, where as, two years on his contract, you know if you don't accept the bid, in 12 months time, his value will have gone down by 50% or around that.

Is extending contracts before 2 years left to key players such as Gabby, Youngs of this world not be an option?

[steve-67]

General,

I hope they've got it wrong but I've just read on Sky Sports News that Ashley Young, Luke Young and our skipper Stilian Petrov have all been left at home for the Europa League game and that we are to play the youngsters. What is the point in paying out our hard earned cash to Villa all season and then us not taking the Europa competition seriously? I appreciate that it's not as valuable as the Champions League but surely we should be trying as hard as we can to win the lesser competition, we were after all, happy to get to the Carling Cup final at Wembley, although that too is the lesser domestic cup. I'm pissed off to say the least that we aren't going to Rapid all guns blazing.

Steve.

[heystally!]

Hi General,

I know this question was asked a while back by another poster, but I think it must have got lost amongst the O'Neill nonsense (or I just couldn't be bothered to find the post and response ).

I've just gone onto the online store to order the new shirts, and whilst trying to get our bright new superstar Albrighton on the back of the away kit, it seems his name is not listed on the website options. When you try and type in the name and number manually, it then adds the charge on because the free name and number offer only applies to the list.

Could you pass on this information to the webstore people, so that it can be updated? I guarantee that more and more fans will be looking to get the future World Player Of The Year's name on their shirts before they are officially on sale.

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. Let me say again...We have NO timeline for bringing in a new Manager. NONE. Our intent is to bring the very best man for the job to our Club...the RIGHT person for the job. There will be no rush to judgement...and there will be thought and consultation put into the decision. All rumors to the contrary are just that...rumors.

2. Randy went to Italy for a short vacation with his family...NOT to talk to Managers. Again, another rumor.

3. steve_afvc: Something definitely seems wrong here. Please contact Nicky Keye at Ticketing and tell her I asked you to call. Describe the situation and lets see what he has to say.

4. delph is coming along fine...the fitness facility at Bodymoor Heath is truly invaluable.

5. We are consistently looking at player contracts and attempting to extend contracts when and where it makes sense. The idea that somehow the Club just lets contracts run out is nonsense. Please remember, it takes two to tango.

6. I don't think I am in a position to comment on whether the current squad, bar any transfers, will meet our expectations...I do not have a crystal ball. I do think we have a strong squad that. if consistent, will be VERY competitive.

[Hereford-Villan]

General i was under the impression that Randy wanted a new Manager in before the Newcastle game?

Will any more players be sanctioned to come into the club or leave while a new manager is sought?

[markavfc40]

General,

As we only have a caretaker manager in place who decided to sign Stephen Ireland?

[LeafyVilla]

General, may I start off by thanking what Randy & yourself have done

at the club in the last few years, the way the club has been run has never been better that's clear to see in my eyes because my other sporting passion is Ice Hockey and my team there (Toronto Maple Leafs) has been run so badly over the years they are paying a heavy price now for bad management from boardroom level, so it's good to have nice competent people running the club, anyway onto the point of why I'm posting which is team selection for tonights game against Rapid Vienna, what is worrying / annoying me us the fact that once again we are treating this competition as a joke in that we are leaving first team players in Young x 2 and Petrov at home and coupled with injuries will be playing a vastly weakened team against opposition that knocked a virtually full strength Villa team out last season, as with two seasons ago when MON mucked around with team selection ensuring an early exit from the competition, so the questions I have to ask you are, 1: has Ashley Young been left at home so we don't cuptie him from European competition amid his transfer rumours because afterall it us only the 2nd game of the season, and 2: why do we after spending 9 months of hard work trying to get European football do we season after season seem to disrespect the Europa League by fielding weakened teams, General I thank you in advance for your reply and keep up the good work....UTV

[wiggyrichard]

Good morning General!

I am thinking of buying a new car in the very near future and i would appreciate it if the persons who brokered the deal to take James Milner to Man City and bring Stephen Ireland the other way along with a small fortune of cash, would be kind enough to accompany me to the garage and agree the deal on my behalf as i would like a new Porsche 911 Turbo but im not prepared to pay over £15,000.

I would really appreciate it if you could assist me on this matter.

Best regards,

Rich (Wiggy)

[AVFCChis]

Hello General

What are your feeling on the story of Karl Oyston stepping down as Chairman of Blackpool because of his disillusionment with players salaries, agents fees and the way business in conducted in general, and accepted by other clubs, in the Premier League? Do you, Randy and Paul sympathise with him?

While I'll admit to not having any in-depth knowledge of the situation in Blackpool, on the face of it I think it's a sad day when a Chairman that has achieved the near impossible feels lost in the Premier League.

We are obviously in a different financial league to Blackpool, It must dishearten you when you see comments on here suggesting Randy is broke, or that he should sell up because he is not pumping £50 mil of his families money into the club every transfer window. But in Oyston case the pressure seems to have came from within the football club.

I've always been against the idea of wage caps as I wouldn't like the idea of someone telling me how much I could earn. You also have to take into consideration the argument that other football associations would have to operate under a similar system for it to be a level playing field in the European competitions.

However, the more I think about it, the more I'm coming around to the idea. Firstly, what players earn is obscene and in some cases going above what some clubs could afford if they were run as a business. Secondly, it may well make Man U, Chealsea and Man C (albeit not in the CL yet) less competitive in Europe... but so the #@%$ what! Spurs are competing with the exact same teams while operating with self imposed salary restrictions, as would the likes of Everton, us and probably 98% of Europe's top flight domestic teams. I do not hear any sympathy for Spurs in the media, but imagine the field day they would have if their darling 'big 4' had restrictions imposed.

Sure, if the top 2/3 English teams are less successful in the CL it may have a detrimental effect on the PL, and ultimately us, but as the Milner situation has highlighted, not having a wage cap can penalise clubs like us too.

I applaud the stand that Villa seemingly took with MON over a the wage to turnover ratio... but is it time to take this fight further?

I wont even start on the topic of agents as I really don't want to start questioning the small amount of money I personally put into football in the form season ticket and merchandising... players I can just about stomach, but bottom feeders like agents...

[rjw63]

General

I hope Villa are going to make a complaint after tonights disgraceful treatment of Andreas Weimann, who was sprayed with what looked like beer or water by Rapid fans as he was being stretchered off after injuring his ankle.

This was scumbag behaviour by the Austrian supporters and I hope you put in an official complaint

*Comments edited to appease certain posters*

[jonno_2004]

I agree with Rob here, General. Feral people.