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General Krulak pt 4 - Q & A (No transfer Questions)


blandy

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We have decided to start the 4th installment of General Krulak's thread.

Below is an extract from his opening post.

Please post questions and comments in here and, as before, do not post transfer questions or engage in discussion in this thread. Thank you.

For those interested in previous discussions - Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

I am General Krulak and am one of the Directors of Aston Villa Football Club...

Let me start by telling you how happy Randy, the other Directors and I am about being part of the Villa Family! Yes, we are "part" of the family...not the most important part...just a part. The history, traditions and ethos of this magnificent Institution are very precious to us...just as they are to you. You all have stuck with Villa through thick and thin and we are new to Villa Park...BUT, believe me, we want what you want and will work very hard to achieve that goal.

I am on this Site because, like Randy, I truly care about what fans say and feel. We want to do right...we are not interested in screwing it up. At the same time, we realize we can't perform miracles...we can't change things overnight. What we ask is that everyone join us in supporting the team...and keep the spirit up...

Finally, we have no egos...we don't believe we have all the answers. What we do know is that we care...and that we are part of something very special.

Semper Fidelis, General Krulak

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Hi General,

Glad to see that your thread has been re-opened.

I would like to ask you a couple of things.

1) Have you met and spoken with Gerard, and if so, what are your first impressions of him?

2) Are you a betting man? if so, I suggest you take advantage of the rather generous odds of 9 to 1 that Skybet are offering for Gerard Houllier to win a manager of the month award for any month of this, the 2010/11 season.

I hope that all goes well for Gerard and whoever else he brings in to help him manage the club. However, it would be nice for the fans if you could clear things up a little bit with regards to when Gerard is likely to start in his new role and also tell us what will happen to Kevin MacDonald when Gerard steps into the role of manager?

Hopefully you will be treated with a little more respect from now on!

Up The Villa!!

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General,

First of all thank you for your continued presence, It's still remarkable that you find the time.

Secondly, and my main reason for posting, may I say what a great idea the "Web offer" for the Bolton game is. The wide range of offers we've had already this season are really impressive and a far cry from what we would have had five years ago, so thank you and the relevant staff for doing a great job.

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Fearing you may miss this with the last thread being closed I've posted this on the start of the new thread.

What are your feelings on the following article?

Daily Mail:

Gerard Houllier's appointment as Aston Villa manager descended into farce on Friday as he admitted he has no idea when he will take charge.

The 63-year-old Frenchman was unveiled as Martin O'Neill's successor but confessed he is still to negotiate a departure date with his current employers, the French FA - and is yet to sign a contract at Villa.

Houllier compounded the sense of unease among Villa fans by revealing he has been turned down by three potential assistants.

He then scored a major PR own goal by describing his new team as belonging 'between seventh and 12th in the Premier League' - even though O'Neill took them to three successive sixth-placed finishes - adding: 'Villa is not a club on the same level as Liverpool.'

As unveilings go, it was light years away from the acclaim and excitement generated by O'Neill's arrival four years ago.

Then, 1,000 supporters had to be let into Villa Park to witness the event. On Friday, the media outnumbered interested supporters by a ratio of 30:1.

'I haven't signed a contract yet but for me it's a formality. My word is more important than what is signed,' said Houllier, who could be forced to serve three months notice with the French federation.

'I apologise. I can't get back for the Stoke game on Monday. I have meetings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The other thing is that if I don't do the three months' notice, maybe I have to go back one day and maybe spend time there...

To me, it paints a picture of dampened expectations for the fans, the press and perhaps even the wider footballing community - no assistant yet? It's all very uncertain at the moment....

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General

Pleased you are back also pleased with Gerard Houlier being appointed.

Went to villa Park Friday and met Gerard Houlier and Paul Faulkner, very pleasant people. There was (and is) a lot of positivity again at Villa. Also met Jack Woodward he said ''be optimistic and have faith''. I agree with this.

We should all get behind GH, he knows fans are important and us fans are all part of this.

Will GH be in charge with a number 2 and full staff by the time we play Wolves ?

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Hi General,

Can you confirm the current situation regarding Macca?

Was he asked by the board to put himself forward for the managers job, and what are his reasons for not taking the assistant managers role?

Does he still have an active part to play at the club?

I think hes been a great servant to us, and i think i speak for many Villa fans when i say, i think it will be a sad day if we lost his services.

Happy about Houllier, so well done on that appointment. Could you tell us whether he has to reduce the wage bill before bringing anyone in?

Thanks general.

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Welcome back General !!

I would like to firstly say that I completly understand your reasons for taking a break and believe this was the right thing to do .

Great choice in my opinion to appoint Houllier, I think this will turn out to be an inspired choice in the coming years.

I would just like to ask you if the club will be employing any new scouts?

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I was wondering which one was likely to happen first General;

1) Houllier will be OFFICIALLY signed up as manager

or

2) Villa fans will be able to wear this seasons replica top

It's all a little corner shop now.... where have I heard that before?!.....

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General Krulak here:

1. I understand that there are Fans who are upset that GH will not be on the sidelines for the upcoming game. The key point to understand is that it is NOT because he does not want to be on the sidelines, it is because he has obligations that he feels he must fulfill. I respect him for that!! It is a long season and he will be here...I am not worried. Again, I respect a man who meets his obligations...that is the way I was raised.

2. I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to KM. At a very difficult time and in a very difficult situation, he selflessly manned the ramparts and did a fine job. There is NO ONE at the Club who doesn't have huge respect for the man...from Randy and the Board down to the people serving food at Bodymoor Heath...we all respect him. We absolutely want him to continue to be part of the Club and we believe he will. He is a very good man.

3. steve_afvc: You are absolutely right. GH is a good man who is personable, knowledgeable, dedicated, understands the ethos and traditions of our Club, wants us to succeed and is dedicated to seeing us succeed. Again, he realizes that he is not a miracle worker but he does sincerely believe that if we all pull together, we can be hugely successful. I am very happy with his arrival and look to a bright future.

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General

You said yourself tin this thread that, as a former Marine and fan, you valued loyalty in any appointment we made (to which it can be infered that you would prefer a man that was available as opposed to a man who drop everything for a bigger pay packet) and would not feel comfortable with a man appointed who was to have dropped his former employers at the drop of a hat.

Given that our eventual manager is someone who was, quite obviously, and still is, in employment, what is your feeling on that?

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General Krulak here:

3. steve_afvc: You are absolutely right. GH is a good man who is personable, knowledgeable, dedicated, understands the ethos and traditions of our Club, wants us to succeed and is dedicated to seeing us succeed. Again, he realizes that he is not a miracle worker but he does sincerely believe that if we all pull together, we can be hugely successful. I am very happy with his arrival and look to a bright future.

General

Thank you Sir, based on what you wrote above, you also were absolutely right when you previously said that our club want the ''right person for the job''.

We got him.

I felt and could see so much positve optimism from GH and PF on Friday. Now we can ALL work towards our bright fututre.

It is ultimately down to players on the pitch to perform well along with our manager playing his part but us fans play an important part in supporting players to perform well also showing our support to our manager (and to our board on here).

I was right to have faith, trust and patience in our board making the right decision in appointing our new manager and I still have have faith in our board and manager to aim higher with all of us to get trophies and top four. We done it before, we'll do it again.

I say 'our' because like GH said ''we are all in this together''.

Thank you so much to all concerned. Keep up the good work.

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Hi General

Three years ago you said this:

At the end of the day we had to make a decision....go with Nike and accept the delay or ramain with Hummel for another year. We felt that in the long run, going with Nike was the best thing for the Club. Yes, we will lose some money over the year but we felt that the quality and the brand (Nike) were "worth" more to the Club and Fans than the lost revenue for the year.

Two years you said:

Regarding the shirts: If you recall, we were late last year because we did not close the Nike deal until very late in the game. We were late this year because we had purposely not made a decision on the sponsor...and because we could not say anything until the end of contract with 32Red.com.

Do you still feel that having Nike producing our kits is "worth more" to the club, and given that in four years we've been late bringing out the kits almost every single year, would it be a good idea (as well as fairer to the fans) to go back to a two season life for the kits?

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Hi General

I know you felt disappointed with some of the fans reactions at hearing Houllier would become manager and as I am sure you are aware there was an article on Sky Sports.

If you check the poll on the Houllier thread you will see that almost 90% of fans are happy with the appointment and the image portrayed in the media of our fans isn't always a true reflection of how the majority feel.

Are you able to tell us how many candidates were interviewed to be the ner manager?

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Gen

I for one am very happy at the appointment, isaid in July, Jol, Ranieri or Houllier for me - I got what I want. (I stick stick by my Curbieshley rant though. I was very unhappy about that).

Two questions.

We all know about the French commitment, and Gerard saying he hopes to be in the dugout against Bolton, but perhaps Blackburn.

Can I ask, does that mean is he not at the club until this time. Or, is he there for day to day training, running the club, seeingthe players etc., but just has to go back to France on certain days ? - no one seems to know.

2.

All the way through this, it has been mentioned by Gerard and Phil Thompson that (and I am sorry, I can't think of his name) the french coach that he worked with at Liverpool was part of the team. But this hasn't been announced anywhere. Is he ?, will he be ?

Anyway, good news, I won't say I told you so with MON, but I did, didn't I.

I said the other day, to me , we are going back to the Graham Taylor way of thinking - you eat, bleed, sleep, think and crap Aston Villa - and if you don't - go and play for another club.

And I like that !

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General,

Like others on here, I think it's a disgrace that the kit won't be out until November. Now I know it's not the club's fault, but for the club to make out they are doing us a favour by reducing it from £50(!) to £45, is insensitive and disrespectful to the fans.

As it stands, the shirt will be current for 6 months!

Will the club have a backbone and go back to Nike and demand we keep the kit for 2011/2012 season, or will we just roll over and accept this rubbish?

Many thanks!

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General,

I believe this Nike Farce is a load of crap.

This is the 2nd time that this has happened to us under Nike, personally, now I will NOT be purchasing a shirt as I usually do, as

1. It's a waste of money for half a season and;

2. Nike are taking the piss.

What I would like to ask, is when does the contract with Nike run out, and, when it does, will you be telling them where to shove it?

I don't see other clubs who's kits are made by Nike not getting their kits until bloody November!

I personally believe that there should now be a deal, buy the home shirt and get the away free, or reduce the price further... Whoopee, we get our kit 4 months (!) later than any other bloody club, and yet we get a massive 5 bloody quid off them??? And a name and number, which was already promised.

Sorry, but I believe this is a load of bollocks, and I don't really like to say all of this lot to you personally, but there is noone else from the club that I could vent my frustrations at.

Nice job in appointing Houllier though, is there any indication as to when exactly he'll be free from the FFF to manage us yet?

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