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

[nr11]

Hi General,

Hope you are well. Long time lurker, occasional poster, continued thanks for your presence here, and taking the time to do what no other club offical in the premiership bothers to, you need to not underestimate how appreciative we, the fans are of that.

With ref to last night General, its simply not acceptable...The performance was a disgrace, and the managers continuing love in with Liverpool is appalling, Other posters have laid the details out so no need for me to repeat them, merely to echo the prevailing sentiments out there.

The love in with the reds has been constant since his arrival, but what really concerns me is the state of affairs on the pitch...last seasons top notch defence has been turned into a mocked shadow of itself, and please dont give me the injuries excuse, its last seasons starting back 4, whats been done to them?

We are now in the relegation dog fight, and no team is too good to go down, especially us. Last on Radio 5 the co commentator stated "every time would love to play Villa right now, becuase theyre all over the place and dont how to defend" Say what you like about MoN, but no one ever said that about one of his teams.

Houllier always smacked of a emergency, best available appointment, and while I appreciate Randy shows loyalty to his appointees, surely the board need to take a view on Houllier's performance before the transfer window opens?

Its not all about injuries General, its not about us not seeing what Randy has done for the club, its not about the fans being disloyal or not supporting the club...I've supported Villa for 35 of my 45 years, this is about someone having the courage to admit a mistake has been made and taking swift and decisive action to correct that.

Thank you for indulging my ramble, and for spending your time with us.

[Villa5shitty1-down-u-go]

Gen you say urself & Randy love the Villa .... time to prove this and sack GH ASAP. is conments after the game are a joke, the swearing between warnock and the staff joke , the waving to the kop & not us joke, GH = JOKE, This is a David Oleary all over again .... we need rid before GH waste money on some overrate france players (Cisse).

the fans are the life of villa

and the fans have spoken - will we be heard????

[Junxs]

Dear General.

Gerard Houlliers behaviour last night was a disgrace.

[R.I.C.O.]

General,

I will no longer come and watch this team with Houllier in charge, that's it I'm done. After his comments last night, he sounds as if he cares more about Liverpool than us. So you could say you are starting to lose the fans over this.

You've made a bad, bad decision appointing this turd.

[micflair]

General

GH's comments and lack of a simple thankyou to us freezing cold away fans was a total disgrace. We paid good money to stand in the cold and watch that junk, and we still outsung the `famous kop'. We didn't even get a thank you, instead we got some ridiculous comment about `preffering to lose' to liverpool and he thanked the home fans. HOW ABOUT THE AWAY FANS FREEZING IN MINUS 4 DEGREES SINGING AWAY UNTILL THE LAST MINUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time for Randy to accept he has made a mistake and get rid of this frog.

[webby1982]

Morning General,

I've had 10 hours or so to reflect on last night, so this is no knee jerk reaction. While I would have preferred Jol or Koeman when MON left (which I felt was 2 years to late), I was a supporter of the appointment of GH, in particular that we would be likely to open the world up to some potential signings at reasonable cost to the club.

However having been a season ticket holder for nearly 40 years, I can clearly see the signs that the appointment is wrong in regard to it appears that the dressing room has been lost, the clear lack of leadership, reminds me of the dark days under Turner, McNeill, Taylor (2nd time round) and O'Leary. The gutless performances of the senior players, in leading the youngsters through these games as been nothing short of a disgrace. I feel for these kids, as they have been the one's trying to hold us together.

Then there is the utter contempt of the manager to MY club ASTON VILLA, I have watched this on telly / heard on radio this morning

1. A fellow poster noted that GH didn't sign an autograph at the Arsenal game, your reply was maybe occupied with something else. Yet at Anfield, he signs a Liverpool fan(s) programme or whatever it was.

2. The touching of the This is Anfield sign.. reserved for only for Liverpool players staff.. not ASTON VILLA manager

3. His waving to the KOP... we were in the opposite direction, thats right ASTON VILLA fans were at the other end and nothing from him.

4. I'd rather loose 3-0 to Liverpool because I like Liverpool... No you'd rather not loose full stop. What message does that send out

Is this the action of a leader when in your own words " we must all pull together"? I think not.

I'm sorry general, today is now Aston Villa's pivotal day of the season. We are now at a more dangerous point than we were 5 days before the season started. The fans have turned against him now, ask Mr Ellis what its like to face angry fans of your club. As far as I'm concerned he has shown no respect to the club and it will now only be a matter of time before the fans get him out. The problem being is that this may be too late and we'll be in the championship. I would deem his actions as a serious breech of conduct and ask that he resigns or is sacked today

[Maradona10]

General,

I'd still like to echo my concerns at how manager who is doing a remarkable job spent most of his time waving at the KOP instead of his own fans and seeing what was going on the pitch.

Love his statement at the end at 2-0 the game was over, considering a few weeks ago we blew a 2-0 lead with 10mins to go so how does that work. Please if you or Randy have any love for this club, he has to go. I know your offsite for a few days in board meetings but i hope this is the main discussion point how AVFC fans were disrespected by their OWN Manager.

[Demitri_C]

general

with all due respect last night was an absolute disgrace. ive seen more fight from my four month nephew.

general answer me this please, we have we let curtis davies gone on loan for this length of time. we clearly need him back and it seems the club refuse to play him because he will get a new contract if he plays another 1 or 2 games. surely with the level of defending from our two cbs we will get relegated and lose 40m or so, so why not just play curtis davies as in the long run it would save the club money if we can keep clean sheets and can finish up higher up in the league?

im not saying curtis davies is the difference from 18th and 6th but at least it will be competition for collins and dunne so thy cant continue to defend as abysmally as they have

[Jon]

But for his conduct this evening alone, GH has sealed his own faith.

And that Faith appears to be Liverpool FC.

Houllier Out.

[PauloBarnesi]

Dear General

I wonder if you could make my Christmas wish come early? Can you get me a new manager for my football team?

Thanks.

ps I still believe in Santa.

[dudevillaisnice]

general, apparently cuellar isnt happy because he isnt playing even though he is match fit..rightly so he isnt happy, why does GH insist on playing those clowns in defence? You might not be able to prevent Ash from leaving but you can for cuellar, all he wants to do is help the team! If he leaves, im pretty sure every fan will be truly gutted, please do something about it.

[b6bloke]

general, apparently cuellar isnt happy because he isnt playing even though he is match fit..rightly so he isnt happy, why does GH insist on playing those clowns in defence? You might not be able to prevent Ash from leaving but you can for cuellar, all he wants to do is help the team! If he leaves, im pretty sure every fan will be truly gutted, please do something about it.

This General! Cuellar should be playing or maybe he is inside Richard Dunnes stomache as that guy is carrying some weight!!

General I have had time to reflect over what I posted last night and I still feel the same, you may not remember the support I have shown for you and Randy on this thread over the past few years but I can tell you now that I was 100% behind you both but you and the board are in serious risk of losing the support of the likes of me if GH is not dealt with.

I would also love to point out that AN APOLOGY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

This club has always been a part of my life and I refuse to sit back and let this man ruin it. OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD.

[diand]

General

Would you agree with me that the Board made a mistake in appointing Mr Houllier, and will make a bigger, catastrophic one if they continue with his tenure.

While Mr Houllier clearly has a decent track record in football, it was apparent from the first day of his appointment that his passion was with Liverpool FC, and that the manager position at Villa was simply a means by which he could a) get back into the Premier League, and extricate himself from the debacle that is French national football.

He is, in my view, guilty of misconduct after his actions/behaviour last night, and if I were to behave in the same way to my employers I would expect disciplinary action with the possibility of my contract being terminated. Of course, I have long realised that the rules that apply to everyone else in the real world tend not to in the narcissistic-driven world of football.

Please take steps to save our club. Poor performances are one thing, but bringing the name of the club into disrepute is another.

UPDATE: Just speaking with a friend of mine who is a Liverpool fan (yes, I don't know how that happened either). But, all the Lpool fans he was talking to thought that Mr Houllier's treatment of the Villa fans was very poor and did nothing to add to the dignity of his position.

[Don_Simon]

I think its fair to say this is the most eagerly I have awaited a response from the General in all the time he has been gracing us with his presence. (Apart from when I invited him to join me for a beer at the Holte Hotel pre Villa 5-1 Blues. On a side, how long ago does that seem!)

General, i'm not going to attack Houllier's managerial ability yet, he should be given an opportunity to mould this team into his. But, surely, as a manager of the most watched league in the world, at a club trying to gain a larger worldwide following, in a city where our fierce rivals seem to be making huge inroads into our clear superiority over them, perhaps a course in PR wouldnt go amiss for Mr Houllier? He is turning our club into an absolute laughing stock. The Mrs was mocking me last night during the match, and as a fan of TUS Koblenz, she should never, ever be mocking the Villa!

Please do something constructive about this General, it is unacceptable, and if let to continue, could have disastrous consequences.

[theunderstudy]

General, we have never been relegated whilst I have been on the planet, and I intend to keep it that way.

We are not doing great, we've lost our best player from last season, failed to replace him and signed houllier who looked good starting off but whilst I appreciate the injuries have certainly gone against him, the fans are growing inc reasingly disillusioned especially after last night's disgustingly diabolical performance and the comments maade by Houllier. I will continue to support him, but I am very very annoyed by his comments and I hope the board won't jump ship IF the big R rears its ugly head.

[zapbranny]

General,

I'm not reactionary as you can see from my previous posts. The form is atrocious, performance and attitude unacceptable and the buck stops with the Manager/Leader. Yes he is new in, the squad has injuries etc, that I could accept, however anything less than a public apology for his comments last night and he has lost my support. "I prefer to lose to Liverpool" If that is the Ethos coming from the manager, then we are beaten before we start, there should be a never say die attitude, never beaten, no surrender, he clearly is not the man for the job.

The squad needs investment as three injuries i nmidfield has shown, if I was Randy I would not trust my investment with Houllier. Sometimes it is better to admit a mistake early, rather than let it carry on because it seems the right thing to do to give more time. I hope Mr Lerner has that Nous to know, because my gut feeling is that its the wrong appointment.

If Mr Lerner decides to stick with him and is proved correct I promise I will come on here and admit my mistake. I just hope Mr Lerner has a plan because without being over the top, we honestly look a real easy touch and real relegation candidates.

[lapal_fan]

Hi General Krulak.

This, like many others on here after last night, is my first post in your thread.

You and the board are doing a brilliant job and I'd like to think as fans, we all think you are great.

I also think there is a reason a board member like yourself comes onto the message boards and that is because at any given time, you can gather a mini opinion poll on how the fans feel.

Well today General, for the first time in a long time, I feel angry and helpless. I feel angry because of one person, Mr Houllier. Since he started this job (he was even 3 weeks late for that, I brought my ticket to the Everton game with the premise it was his welcome party), he has said for the last few seasons we were punching above our weight. Then the constant poor interviews and it has totally dragged the feeling of 'we can beat XXX'.

Im not at all suprised once we concede we don't look like fighting back. If I had to train for a manager who is so negative in his interviews, never mind in the flesh everyday, I wouldn't give my gust busting all.

Today General Krulak, is the most important day of your browsing of these boards. It will hurt to read most of it, and many people will be fustrated and unable to put their opinions into words and you will inevitably come across people who will 'Eff and Jeff'.

But today, you need to show the appropriate people the responses of the fans. I know the message boards only demonstrate a tiny % of the total amount of Villa fans, but its a source that is right here, right now.

If nothing can be done, at least try and tell Houllier that he needs to work harder and at least show he enjoys being our manager. If you lose the crowd this early not only will it further affect team performances, it'll also affect the $$$.

Regards,

Mark.C

[jonno_2004]

Ah, just woke up General, and by the way I don't feel any different.

Actions speak louder than words, General. I'm afraid no spin you put on this will make it any different in the fans' eyes.

[Ulver]

Dear General

The shitstorm awaiting you here is mightly so I wont add the same old gripes. I've backed Houllier, I'll still back him now as i've always thought we'd be in a 'it'll get worse before it gets better' phase but for some things there is no excuse

Last night was like the first 45 minutes against Arsenal but for 90.

The lack of passion, bite and willingness to fight for the course was woeful. There was still plenty of pretty aimless passes, but there was nothing to hang on to as a supporter.

It has, to me anyway gone all soft.

I appreciate you haven't been through all the lows/highs I have with this club (not your fault), but this side has very worrying similarities to previous disastrous eras.

I don't know what the answer is. But losing our dogged core and replacing it with a lightweight nice one isn't the way to get out of a scrap.

[Cracker1234]

Edited.