General Krulak (part 3) - Questions

[danceoftheshamen]

Hi General! I would like to second the above post regarding the treatment of Andreas Weimann & also Brad Guzan who had at least one object thrown at him & was also sprayed with some kind of liquid by the disgraceful Vienna fans according to the commentator on ITV4.. The referee was handed the offending object (a lighter) so would be well aware of these incidents surely? Also it was clear that the Vienna team went straight for Weimann & took him out so maybe this should also be mentioned?

Thanks.. Oh & i also posted regarding our overseas profile building a few pages back which you have not mentioned? Just wondered how active we are as a club with regards to this matter?

Thanks again!

[Shortie]

General, Sir. After watching the game tonight I have to say the so called Vienna "fans" were an absolute disgrace with the throwing of missiles and water directed at our players. Hopefully this matter will be reported officially to uefa?

Per Ardua Ad Astra

[dudevillaisnice]

^^ I agree with all those, I hope Villa puts a complaint in as that could've potentionally been dangerous.

[Tubby]

Fully agree also. Fans actions such as these shouldn't be tolerated in such a high profile tournament and I hope some action will be taken. We wouldn't afford their team the same treatment at Villa Park so it would be good to make an example of this.

[Maradona10]

We should make a complaint General, as when the 'ENGLISH' do anything, a dossier is prepared and its read by Platini the following day. They should not be allowed into VP.

[kidlewis]

Hello General,

There has been ongoing discussion about what we think as a club Villa could do to improve revenue.

One thing I posted which seemed to get a really positive feedback was this

Villa should do more competitions with prizes which wouldn't actually cost the club much.

Example being a £1 text to villa for an entry to visit BMH and be shown around and watch the villa train for a day, few autographs bit of a chat and a shirt signed by the players.

they would rake that in if they did that once a month.

I am sure the network or setup take 20-30p, but 70p times 10k people and you have £7k right there, every month. it's easily £70k a year for a prize that costs pretty much nothing to the club.

We already have a texting system in place, because I get texts from Villa all the time about tickets and up and coming matches and merchandise offerings.

I am not sure whether this service could be utilised for competitions but I think it could be not just a good earner for the club (and help bring in some significant revenue) but also offer fans something of a unique experience.

1. [*:5f7664292e]text competition for the opportunity to visit the training ground, be guided round the facilities, watch a training session and have photos and signatures and a chat with a couple of the players. You could even offer a signed shirt at the end of the day.
   
   This might require some security and the cost of a shirt and a couple of players time after the training session but I think in terms of prize cost it wouldn't be too much would it?
   
   If they weren't allowed to watch a training session, perhaps there could be something else they could do? perhaps have a meal with the players if they have food before/after training?
   
   [*:5f7664292e]Text competition during half time where on the screen (and read out over PA system by the dude on the pitch) a simple question with 3 answers, a winner chosen at random would get a signed villa shirt and perhaps a villa voucher for £100 to spend on merchandise, tickets, or anything else villa related.
   
   This monetary voucher isn't just straight cash and keeps the money in the club anyway, whether it be the person spending under the £100, or that person might put that towards a half/full season ticket? in which case the club would actually gain from this competition rather than giving something away.
   
   [*:5f7664292e]text competition which goes on throughout the season to win one of the FIAT vehicles. This would be an ongoing competition and the winner is announced on the final home game of the season. Between Fiat and Villa there could be a dedicated landing page on the site, branded with FIAT showing details of the competition and prizes. Each month there would be a simple question to answer about villa (when was the club founded, who scored the winner in '82 etc). the winners would be selected from the people who got every question right.
   
   that person would then receive the prize on the final day of the season. Fiat 500 something like that.

Now, I know that seems like a large prize, but years ago warwickshrie cricket club offered people the opportunity to hit a single stump from 100 yards, if they did it, they won a car (was when Peugot had the contract with them) on the stop and £50k. Now back then warwickshrie was a big club but had nowhere near the revenue Villa does or any football club. If they can offer a prize like that, I am sure something similar could be done with Fiat.

Not only that, text competitions weren't around then, and to cover the cost of a fiat 500 Blackjack (12,415 OTR) you wouldn't need many more than 10k entrants to cover the prize anyway.

Obviously we'd need to try and collate some information on how many subscribers to the villa text there are and market things that way initially (as these people already use the texting service), use the website to promote it and also local newspapers would probably run it as well.

Would like to know your thoughts on this General and if anyone else has any thoughts on this idea that would be good. A few people already really like the idea but you need more than a few to gauge whether people would actually enter the competitions to try and meet players, win a car affiliated with the club, win a signed shirt etc.

[AVFCChis]

Hello General.

Can you enlighten us as to what the ref said to Kevin MacDonald at the rapid game?

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. I think I have answered this question many times but....there is NO deadline on bringing in a Manager. We want to get the "right" person...not "a" person by a certain time.

2. The squad at Rapid Vienna: First off, some of our lads have nagging injuries that we felt needed to be addressed early on vice waiting for them to become serious later in the season. Secondly, the manager felt he knew the lads well enough to believe that they could produce the result needed. Third, he believed that this was the right thing to do at this point in time. I believe he will be proven to be right. Finally, Ashley Young is not for sale.

3. I have no comment on the Blackpool Chairman...I don't know the man and really can't read his mind on the factors leading to his departure.

4. Overseas profile...yes, we are very interested in enhancing our profile overseas. We are in continual talks with Nike to do just that. We have made some pretty big strides in that area. At the same time, I think we all know that success on the Pitch is the best way to enhance the Club around the world.

5. I have no idea what the ref and KM were talking about. Fan conduct is always something that the Club worries about.

[andycv]

General - there appears to be some confusion about the wages issue the club is facing.

Some think the fact that wages were over 75% of turnover is an issue, meaning that we didn't meet a requirement from UEFA on financial fair play, and that we had to shift players to reduce the bill.

Others of us thought that it was an issue about tying up wages in players who weren't playing: that if new players were to come in then this weight would need to be taken off the bill.

Could you explain the situation for us?

Thanks

Andy

[steve-67]

General, on point 2 of your latest post. You were right and I was wrong. I want the club to take every competition seriously and the lads did the club proud. Well done to them, especially in that hostile environment. Hopefully we can finish the job at VP next week.

[Pricey_1984]

Hi general,

first of all i want to say how proud i am of the lads that Kev Mac took to vienna and produced a battling performance the futures definately bright.

Secondly am i right in thinking our deal with nike ends this season? if so are we looking on extending it beyond this season?

UTV!!!!

[steve_avfc]

General

In relation to my disabled ticketing issue, after speaking to Nicky Keye's staff and meeting Sheila Maybury, everything is now sorted to for my wife to attend games with disabled concessions.

Thank you very much indeed for your help Sir, it is much appreciated.

However would I have been entitled to a partial refund due to the ticket error for the West Ham game and when you said that "something definitely seems wrong'' (as mentioned in the previously) ? What is your opinion Sir ?

Thanks again

Steve

[stourportvillain]

Dear sir

Just a quick moan

My daughter tried to pre order a new home shirt with albrighton on and only to be told a max of 9 letterers for free printing

Well if it wasn't bad enough the kit being late just trying to please the fans with the logistical nightmare of some American firm that cant even deliver the kit on time

And don't tell me Nike are the top of the tree in business,

If they can't deliver don't use them

Rant over

[Pilchard]

General,

If ever there was any doubt that you needed to appoint a manager NOW, today's game gave you this. Martin O'Neill has a habit of leaving football clubs in a mess, and whilst you may very point towards a win against West Ham (who also lost again yesterday), to lose a game like we did today is unacceptable. It's unacceptable if it's Chelsea, but a team that's just been promoted?

If we aren't going to spend money on the team, it needs to be spent on the management.

A pathetic performance, made worse by a poor team selection, tactics and substitutions (but hey, at least we got some subs, eh?).

Surely this shows that without doubt, the current club strategy of resting players for the UEFA Cup games is one that simply does not work. Let's hope we don't go on a run similar to when we did it last time.

[markavfc40]

I hope to god you are watching this shite General and are as disgusted as I am. 6-0 against a newly promoted side is arguably the worst result in the clubs history, certainly during my time as a supporter which is 32 years.

Two weeks since our exceptional manager decided the goal posts had moved too far and called it a day and we still have a 50 year old coach in charge with absolutely no managerial experience.

Any reason why a top manager hasn't been appointed in two weeks? and mark my words General it will take a top manager not a Bob bloody Bradley to replace Martin O'Neill.

Randy, you and the rest of the board really need to get your fingers out as this just isn't good enough for what had become a top 6 Premiership side. I also hope whoever gets the job is appointed in time to sign the players we so obviously need just to stand still.

[sam_k_17]

disgusted.. time to spend money on a good manager get rid of the old shit players we have and buy some new ones for god sake

[Brumstopdogs]

McDonald was proven as way out of his depth today. Poor team selection, poor substitutes, little heart and little organisation.

The worst and most gutless Villa performance I have ever seen.

About time we use that £18m to get a striker who can get a shot on target in 90 minutes don't you think?

[ferguson1]

General,

Today, we were out-run, outfought and outplayed by a Newcastle team who showed real hunger and desire to get something out of the game. It's just a diabolically poor performance from the team as a whole… and totally unacceptable!

It's so disappointing when you see what appears to be a lack of effort and what bothers me most is that most of them are quite experienced players. We can accept a defeat to anyone as we have no divine right to win any game, but the real worry for me was the style of our defeat today, as we put up virtually no resistance during the match and seemed doomed to defeat from the first goal to the last.

As you can see from the comments already posted, we as fans care and are not happy - Please could you ensure that our comments and concerns are shown to the players and let’s then see if they care?

[deeps]

Gen

I fully respect the work Randy, yourself and others have done at Villa and no I am not a chairman of a football club. However, the board needs to move quick. IMO we played a poor West Ham team last week and the result showed that. Today we was exposed for what we are. A team with out a clue unless there is great tactical direction. I worry of where the team is at the moment. I sense a struggle of staying in the league (some might say that is far fetched but we lost by 6 against a poor team).

Gen, WE NEED TO INVEST MONEY IN TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP players. A striker is needed asap.

Also the board needs to act on getting in a manger asap. A TOP manager. Not a Bob Bradley, he is not that man imo. JOL or Jürgen Klinsmann seem a shout.

The club needs to react asap. Otherwise we will fall. And then the last 4 years were just a waste.

[hobbo]

General,

Time to appointment a proper manager and invest some proper funds to get a proper team - don't you agree?

Kevin seems a good man and should be allowed to go back and do what he's obviously good at doing - coaching. If he was managerial calibre he'd have been a manager by now.

Let's not have the usual vague response - let's have some action before our season ends before it's even started.

That was humiliating.