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The General's thread - do not respond to other posts!


TrentVilla

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General,

Is the clubs PR done in-house or outsourced? A few press releases of late are very poorly worded and fail to make any sense, I work in advertising and PR and have many contacts who would be 'up to' the job of writing coherent and interesting pieces. Just let me know....

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General

I don't buy the whole "I typed 4th instead of 5th" line, but 5th is almost as outlandish. Agreed anything can happen on a football pitch...football is indeed a funny old game but I've been watching it for 40 plus years and like AM, nothing is giving me the signals that we achieve a top ten spot.

Given and N'Zogbia are good signings and good replacements for Friedel and Downing but we still need to find replaements for NRC and Ashley Young and a third signing to give some depth to the defence

It looks like the plan is just to survive, the appointment of a journeyman manager like AM points to that as does the sale of our best players without adequate replacements.

I really bought into the five year plan and have been a massive fan of RL but I'm very worried what your plans for my club are - please ask Randy in his statement to set out his ambitions for the next five years.

Thank you again for posting on this site - I know you get some stick but your presence here is appreciated. Feelings run strong because we want Villa to succeed

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Hi General,

I'm rather confused about your prediction for our performance last season of 5th-9th so I've a few questions if you don't mind.

Last season you proclaimed that you thought Houllier was doing and I quote a "remarkable job" yet we spent much of the season fighting relegation and ultimately only escaped the threat with a couple of games to go. An escape which was largely the result of the wins over Arsenal and Liverpool which again to quote you "who would have guessed" that would have happened, who indeed given our quite terrible season.

Since the end of the summer we have appointed another manager who I think it is fair to say splits opinion and despite two decent signings significantly weakened the squad from last season both in terms of quality and numbers.

So I'm a little confused as to what it is that is behind your bold prediction of 5th-9th and the belief we can improve on last season. How can we improve on last season if Houllier was doing a remarkable job given that Alex McLeish has a weaker squad with which to work? Or would you say you were mistaken in your statement that Houllier was doing a remarkable job given that it was in his absence and with most unexpected wins that we actually stayed up?

I don't see how it is possible to consider Houllier did a remarkable job and given the events of the summer think that McLeish can do better.

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General

I'm disappointed with the lack of action in the transfer market and the lack of backing the manager has received.

Randy therefore does not always back the manager and at this stage we do not know how McLeish would do if he was backed properly which is a shame and also reduces our chances of getting a top six finish.

My question however is this:

Last season (and previous seasons) you kindly answered questions on a regular basis and I understand with you new job this isn't as easy to do now. I do think however this leads to a lot of worthwhile posts being missed - could someone therefore pick up questions in your absence or will you still be dealing with the other questions asked even if you don't necessarily respond to them on your thread?

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General,

I have STILL not received my season ticket and there is 10 days to go until the season kicks off.

This is shocking. I know we aren't at home, but I haven't been able to listen live to tonight's game for example or access the content on AVTV.

I probably speak for many when I say this is very poor service. The club are eager to take your money ok, but when it comes to sending out the Season Tickets, they are shockingly slow. Mates support Chelsea (got his mid July), Arsenal (got his 23rd July), Fulham (mid july).

Please let me know what is going on here and what we do if they dont arrive by season kick off. At least if the codes were sent out for AVTV before the season tickets we would have something to watch.

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Curious, why is there a need to move on players now for us to sign another 1 or 2? Didn't we get £35-£40 million for Young and Downing? We have spent £13 million on Shay & Charles, plus have lightened up the wage bill. Peter Grant today mentioned they'd like to bring in more players, but would have to move others on to do so. Also Big Eck also said he'd like to strengthen last night, obviously spotting weaknesses in the squad after his assessment period. The likes of Habib Beye I'd imagine would be hard to be moved on unless given a free transfer (to free up his wasted wages).

Our squad doing just lack real depth, our starting 11 lacks quality throughout now. The manager is not being backed, you said, imagine what Eck would be like with a chairman who backed him, well we'll never know this it seems :lol: .

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General

I think the thing that worries me most is that you think that it is the difference between you thinking we can finish 4th and 5th that is the issue.

It isn't. Fifth is pretty much as out of the question as fourth is.

I think yourself and Randy have been marvellous in the time you've been at the club, you have always been well intentioned, and this has shown through.

I do worry, though, just how much you've learned about the game over that time if you think that this squad is going to be anywhere near 4th or 5th come the end of this season.

Just to reiterate. Last season, we spent most of the season around the drop zone, before two good results and some other results going our way put us in ninth.

However since then:

Ashley Young - gone

Stewart Downing - gone

Nigel Reo-Coker gone

Brad Friedel - gone

Kyle Walker - gone

A bunch of other releases including Salifou and Carew - gone.

Coming in, we have had N'Zogbia and Given.

Nobody thinks they're not very good players, they are. The problem is, there are only two of them.

How on earth do you think that last season's squad, significantly weakened, is going to improve on last season, let alone challenge for anything significant?

We all want it to, but wanting it to alone does not mean it is magically going to happen.

Last season we were forced to play a number of the kids far more often that we'd have liked to. We had to do this because of injuries, and although they didnt let us down, unsurprisingly over time, the results went pear shaped. What is staggering is that this season, we are actually sleep walking into this again, except this time, it's a policy we've chosen to adopt.

I understand your need to get the wage bill down, I understand the need to alter the finances on the transfer side, too. What scares me to death is that you're doing it far, far too fast.

God help us.

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General with Randy making less than 50% of the games last season, you are clealry so committed over the pond you can only make a few minutes a week to contribute ot the fan sites is it really fair on Paul Faulkner running a multi million £ multi national business practically on his own?

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General,

What kind of football club has a Chairman that doesn't communicate with its fans? What kind of club tells its fans that it'll back its new Manager and then fail to do so? What kind of club appoints a Manager with a crap track record and is a rival Manager? Start telling the truth please and stop with the PR rubbish. The wages spiralled out of control because the board allowed it to. Why punish the new Manager for this? There have been so many poor choices made, poor press etc from the club over the last 12 months it's unbelievable. Alex McLeish has performed well so far, and now he's here, I back him. But I am extremely disappointed that we have gone backwards as a club, given the players out, players in, quality and quantity so far this summer.

Steve.

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Hi General

***I have a question you can actually answer rather than some of the rants, i mean supposed, questions you get thrown at you here***

I took part in a 5 side tournament on the last weekend of the season with the Irish lions fan club, we played on Saturday and won though to the final on Sunday that was played on villa park after the Liverpool game. my question is there was filming done by avtv on Saturday and the final itself was filmed on the Sunday with a team photo taken as well. this was all done by somebody at the club. Do you who i need to chase to get a copy of the video and team photo? it was an amazing weekend and would love to have these!

Thanks!

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Hi General

How's business?

Just a couple of things I would like to discuss with you, let me know if there's a meeting room we can perhaps use at VP anytime so we can go into greater depth and I will free up some time from work to come over. In the mean time I will share my concerns via this site... and you can respond in your next post if it's easier. :/

Ok, you have probably read it a thousand times already, but quite simply... Why arnt we going to invest any further in the squad? We know now that no further business will be done which is shocking to say the least. The last 2 games were poor. Most recently vs Derby, it really shouldnt matter if we played a weaker team because so did they. Our front line included Makoun, Albrighton, Bannan, Ireland and Bent... That really should have got us a goal or two... Those are players we will expect to be in the starting line up next season. Our Midfield needs some addressing... Would you not agree? All them players are great.. And I'm glad they are Aston Villa but if certain line ups don't work who we will we have to compete for places? Reo-Coker being released should not have happaned.

Ooo, good news, I'm looking at getting my first season ticket with my dad, I dont really do any father son things with him so I'm looking forward to spending some time with him watching the Villa. He's not really a football man but he took me to a couple of games around my birthday when I was a lot younger. Should be good!

I like forward to your views on the above.

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General,

When 'accidently' typing "4" instead of "5", did you also leave the "1" off before "5" and "9"?

General

Was it similar typographical errors that led to say, Habib Beye being given a lomg contract on forty odd thousand a week, rather than a one year contract on £20K?

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General

Me and my mates in total 5 of us travel from essex every home game its almost a 400 mile round trip. We have decided that Villa are a shocking run outfit that dosnt care for anything but themselves I have been appalled at the cost cutting, it is a real shame for such a prestigous club. Villa will not be getting anymore of my money Im disgusted by the lack of action we have seen or should I say not seen. I wrote on here a few weeks ago but since then we have had a few games where we have been awful the 5 of us have come to the conclusion if you cant be bothered as a board then why should we waste our money, we dont have many good team where we live but Villa is out team for the past 15 years. I just want to ask you how could you ( The Board let villa become a laughing stock at this rate we would beat Colchester United and that is the team just round the corner from where we all live.

I hope the board are prepared for low attendances because I feel as though the club will be made to pay for what they have done by people talking with there feet

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Hi General,

Looking forward to kick off

Just wondering how the ground is fairing up after the Take that concert? Would you do it again? Would the groundsman want it to happen again?

Like I said looking forward to the 20th, as are my mates

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General

If you could have all the pairs of socks given back to you that you have ever owned since you were born, which pair would you most be reluctant to pass on the responsibilty of delivering a presentation outlining the corporate governance codes employed by Aston Villa in the last 5 years.

Me? id always steer clear of any socks made in the early 70's and tend to feel more comfortable with a quality brand such as a pair of aran wool socks whilst at the same time ensuring that they have an aptitude for public speaking.

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Hi General

I think its a great gesture putting the braga match on AVTV today , but the last time a first team live match was shown ,there were loads of problems trying to watch the match ,with so many of us logging in to watch it , are those problems been solved now ?

Just want to say thank you for staying on the site and try and ignore the negative numpties !

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General,

A few questions (as it's the weekend!)

1) How do you feel the squad will cope this season in terms of strength and depth?

2) What did you make of Dennis Mortimer's comments about Stan Petrov and the captaincy

3) What areas of the squad do you think need strengthening and who by?

4) Agree with the decision to put the Braga game on AVTV - just hope there's no technical gremlins to screw it up!!! Will you be watching the match?

5) Last week you mentioned Randy's state of Villa statement, when will this happen?

Cheers, Chris

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