General Krulak (part 3) - Questions

[villa4europe]

General, when we make it there again is there something the club can do over sitting / standing, I didnt want to sit, the 16 holte enders I was with didnt want to sit, the hundred odd behind us didnt want to stand sing clap or anything ruined the experience for me, maybe suggest areas, like on the website say block p where I was is for sit down fans, behind the goal was buzzing I was gutted

[ramshackler]

very proud, but obviously disappointed. at the end of the day i thought the players worked their socks off adn were beaten by a side that is the best in england and possibly europe. Man united turned on the style and played very well. We matched them for large periods and just lacked that cutting edge. But hell we are heading in the right direction, one more player, a clever attacking 'link man' and i can see us consistently challenging these teams regularly.

Thanks to yourself and Randy, the club is in great condition, and i was so proud of the villa fans yesterday, didnt see one jot of trouble, great banter before and after the match, and myself and a group of over a hundred villa fans were singing all the way back to the tube. defeat didnt dampen our optimism for the future, its a disappointment, but we will be back soon, HOPEFULLY IN MAY!!! UP THE VILLA!

[The_Lions_Roar]

General, please can you pass on my thanks to Mon and the team. I had a great weekend (except for the result) and i am extremely proud of them all, the fact that when the game had finished we were still singing shows this. We will be back in may!

[dean_allen]

General, travelled back today after staying the night in London. Iam still wearing my Club Colours with pride. I am a very proud Villa fan today after that performance yesterday, and the supporters and players were outstanding!!

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. OutbyEaster? and all others: Such great postsd....and echo how I feel and I wasn't even there. What I can tell you is that listening on the telly, the Villa voices COMPLETELY drowned out those of ManU. The effort of our lads was evident and consistent. We played a good team and we ended up on the short end of the score...but ManU sure as hell knew they were in a game and needed EVERYTHING they had (plus a wee bit of help???!!!?) to win it. We will be back!!!!

[justjustin]

General Krulak here:

1. OutbyEaster? and all others: Such great postsd....and echo how I feel and I wasn't even there. What I can tell you is that listening on the telly, the Villa voices COMPLETELY drowned out those of ManU. The effort of our lads was evident and consistent. We played a good team and we ended up on the short end of the score...but ManU sure as hell knew they were in a game and needed EVERYTHING they had (plus a wee bit of help???!!!?) to win it. We will be back!!!!

well said general maybe we should consider paying out for one those little men in black :winkold:

[villan_1]

General,

Just a message about the ‘official train travel’ which was a complete joke, as the train was delayed ruining any pre match enjoyment. We were constantly lied to about the train being delayed. The Thomas Cook Reps refused to come up to the platform and provide us with any information so we were left standing in the cold wondering whether we would be going to Wembley. Hopefully you as a club can make sure Thomas Cook pays every fan that got the train a full refund and compensation. As we were treated disgracefully, by the time we should have been at Wembley (12.20) we were at Coventry. This ruined any pre match enjoyment as we didn’t arrive until 2.10. The fact that we paid £78 for two tickets to arrive so late and also sit in a carriage( with no heating and also on the journey back (which was also delayed) some people had to stand as people without tickets had got on is shocking compared to the prices offered by other companies. The Aston Villa staff that got the train were just as frustrated and angry as every other fan. Hopefully you can follow this up and help the 600 fans who had to put up with a major delay, lack of information, standing in the cold at Witton knowing everyone else was at Wembley long before us. There is no blame on the club here but Thomas Cook/the train company should take responsibility for what went on.

Thanks

[Raver50032]

Villan_1 - I cannot speak on behalf of Thomas Cook, or Aston Villa - but as someone who works on the inside (not connected to the train operator either), I can confirm to you why your train was late.

The coaching stock to form your train ran from London up to Witton - however it started late from it's depot due to mechanical problems. It was further delayed at Bletchley due to a locomotive fault (loco kept switching itself to 'idle') and there were also signalling problems near Milton Keynes too. At Birmingham International, the loco was in trouble again.

Sorry you had a rough time. I understand your train arrived at Wembley Stadium station just after 2pm, so it wasn't a disaster. And, your return train arrived back at Witton just 2 minutes late. At least you saw the game - some people outside the ground begging for tickets totally missed out.

The delay I am sure is regrettable - you still had a day out.

[starsailor9774]

General,

I for one wasn't pleased with the teams overall performance in the Final, but that's water under the bridge now and hopefully we can learn from the experience and be stronger for it.

However one thing has been annoying me all day and i need your goodself to even up the score so to speak. Since the loss i have been inundated with calls and texts from Small Heath fans mocking our great team. I'm nlt sure how they manage to text with cloven hooves but they do. So to cut to the chase, before we play them at Villa Park this season could you arrange with the powers that be to replay video on the screens and audio on the speaker system of the 5 - 1 win. Maybe even another flag day, make them

see what a real team is all about.

[paulanddonya]

Gen

Just want to say one thing.

Look at the Wembley thread on the matchday day.

40,000 Villa fans sad and disappointed - and what is the over-riding thought.

"Randy and the Gen deserve a trophy"

Speaks a million words that does - and you will get it - hopefully very very soon.

I was proud again on Sunday, and without this becoming a brown nosing love in - it's really down to your team that did it.

Here's to May !

UTV

Paul

[bubbadog]

Hi General,

I must echo the points made above re. the "official train travel".

I know that we made it vto Wembley in time for the match, but a day out like this is not ALL about the match, it's about the experience and to me that experience was meeting friends as pre-arranged witb a view to having some lunch together and going to see the Bobby Moore statue, etc. All of this was missed out on because of the inefficencies of AVFC's selected partner, namely Thomas Cook. What was equally galling was the fact that we paid well "over the odds" for these tickets and expected something just a little bit special, what we actually received was quite shabby, uncaring treatment which, it has to be said, took the shine off what could have been a tremendous experience (yes, I know Dowd didn't help either)

Not sure what can be done but I think that the Villa do have some sort of obligation to "take up the fight" on behalf of the 600 loyal Villians.

We deserved better!!!! hell, we paid for better!!!!

[Hanky]

General,

Can't tell you enough how great it was to see us in a final after 10 long years on Sunday despite us not winning the trophy. Down to all the teamwork (on and off the field) that we have come so far. I'll echo Paulanddonya's words and say hopefully we can get through in the FA Cup and have another stab at it.

[Jas]

General,

I've never actually sent you a message before because I've never felt the need to voice any concern.

However, I was on the official train service on Sunday (Thomas Cook) and I have to say if we get to Wembley again, I won't be going through the club whatsoever.

Having got up from Manchester at 6.45am to travel down to the Midlands for a train that was due to arrive at 9am, I'm disgusted at the fact that it didn't show up until 12pm. We got to Wembley at approximately 2:10pm, leaving no time to actually have a look around the surrounding area/stadium - one of which we haven't ever visited.

Now I don't blame you personally, these things happen, but we should surely be compensated with something - and I'm not talking about the free cup of tea that was offered on board (of which I didn't take up).

I'm a 23 year old adult, but there were people who were in their 60's boarding that train and they were made to stand in the cold and rain. A pub was opened for an hour or so but we were asked to leave because the train was arriving at 10.10am - it showed up at 12pm. I had a woman of whom I didn't know in tears next to me, and all round it just wasn't a pleasant experience.

To top things off, I didn't get a seat on the return journey because people took it amongst themselves to get on a train that didn't belong to them. Now I know you can't help that, but when I asked one of the conductors on the train to carry out a ticket search I was simply ignored. I paid nearly £40 for that ticket and was delayed by nearly 3 hours and didn't get a seat on the journey home.

I'm sorry, but the performance of the club train, the club staff, and Thomas Cook itself was as much a farce as Phil Dowd's performance.

I don't expect you to do anything, because we've paid our money, we don't have a leg to stand on. I am looking into the possibility of taking this further though, especially for those elderly people I had to witness struggle in the damp and cold. I'm not fighting this for myself, I'm fighting it for them too.

It was a disgrace.

Kind regards,

Jas

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. Train Service: I was made aware of this disaster on Sunday by a fan who called me! Don't ask me how he got my number????!! I immediately called the Club and indicated that there was trouble on the train...both arriving and, more importantly, on the trip back. The Club immediately contact Thomas Cook who were unaware of the problem at that time....but subsequently got back to us and stated that it was, in fact, a disaster. They are holding an investigation right now as to what happened...it appears that they only had two people overseeing the entire train. AVFC stewards literally had to step in to make things a bit better. We hear you...we know it was bad and we are going to get to the bottom of it.

2. starsailor9774: I am sorry you were disappointed in the team's performance. I would respectfully have to disagree with you. I confess that it might not have been the very best we have played but it was not something I found disappointing. Of course I wasn't there...I watched on the telly. What I can say is that we were not dominated, we had times when we were totally in control...and they did likewise. I felt it was a good game....I just didn't like the result.

[sellyoakvilla]

General,

I wasn't on the train but if that was to happen with a normal service train from say Birmingham to London that was over 2 hours late you would be able to claim a full refund successfully. I hope something can be sorted out for those who travelled on the train as I would be fuming myself - it wasn't even a reasonable price at £39 considering London Midland were running a direct train including price from all local Birmingham stations on the cross city line for £14 return...

Hope you are well General.

[kingphil]

1. Train Service: I was made aware of this disaster on Sunday by a fan who called me! Don't ask me how he got my number????!!

General,

Forgive me for quoting you above, but surely you should be allowed some privacy. Having to deal with fans phoning you on your private phone line is a little too much. You already go above and beyond for the club, and only hope this does not occur again.

[OutByEaster?]

Happy Birthday General, have a good un!

[steve_avfc]

General

Happy birthday, wishing you health & happiness. You share the same birthday as my step daughter, her birthday is also March 4th.

Up the Villa.

[billy_loes]

General - Happy Birthday, all the best and have a great day.

[kidlewis]

Happy Birthday General