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

[Oaks]

Hi General;

I take it as a given that all our young professionals at the club go to media training. I was just wondering if there is any chance our bumbling fool of a manager might be given an extensive crash course? Or perhaps maybe training in engaging his brain before he says something more ridiculous than the last time.

I have to say im liking a lot of what the guy has been doing on the football front in the last 2 months (Wednesdays team selection aside), but the guy speaks such rubbish all the time. Its hard to like a guy who belittles the team so often. I would have thought he might have learned his lesson from the Liverpool debacle, but i guess not.

[dudley_villa]

Happy Birthday Gen,

Having been a season ticket holder since 1986 i have never been so angry, embarressed, saddened and a lot more emotions all in just a few days than i have this week. Never have i thought i would see the day come that i would see my team surrrender and not take the later rounds of the fa cup seriously.

Unfortunately that day came for me and a near 4000 other villa supporters, Collectively its cost us 1-2 days money at work, match tickets, travel, hotels, food and drink. but most of all its cost us pride, WE'R ASTON VILLA AND WE SURRENDERED YET AGAIN ANOTHER FOOTBALL MATCH UNDER THIS MANAGEMENT! Why would you wanna pay serious money week in week out to watch the love of your life keep getting screwed up and over by some delusional man?

Especially when the people in charge are so blind that they just stand by and pretend its not happening!.. Is it delusional or are we the new libya of premier league football?..

Get your acts together before its to late and you loose all respect like GH has done to the fans and fa cup!.. Prevention is better than cure so please dont abuse that fact!..

Anyway muggins here has got a coach to catch to bolton, i will only be missing the everton game out of all the home and away games from now till the end of the season as i have already paid out the money, But i can asure you this that if GH is still here next season i will be spending my £3-4k a season on other things!..

[Brumstopdogs]

The Board have done some decent things for the club. The interaction with the fans, the training facilities, the Holte Pub and continuous investment in the team are all big positives.

However, Gerard Houllier. From the moment he joined the club he described as a club who belongs between 8th to 12th and he has gone downhill since. He is a PR disaster for the club.

The latest outbursts (amongst many) are that 1) Man City are a bigger club than us (why say something like that?) and that 2) our strongest team couldn't beat Man City.

Comments like this are not what the fans want to hear, they don't want to see us not believing we can win games and we don't want to be told we can't beat teams.

Houllier has lost the majority of the fan base. You must realise this?

The Board's biggest weakness and failure has been the backing of Houllier, a man who was appointed with good intentions but who has been a disaster on the pitch and off it.

Please do the right thing and give us our club back and that means without the PR disaster that is Gerard Houllier.

[markdraper]

General,

Happy Birthday.

Is the club's current ambition still to finish in the top 4 and be successful (i.e. win trophies)? If so would you mind asking Randy to tell the manager that this is the case as he seems to think our purpose is to simply exist and survive in the Premier League.

If it is no longer the case and survival is our only objective then would you mind asking Randy to TELL THE FANS what has changed? Why should our objectives change SO MUCH in the space of 1 year? These are objectives which have changed despite having largely the same squad of players at the manager's disposal as last year.

We used to be a big club General. Could you please let Gerard Houllier know.

[The_Rev]

Hi General. Happy birthday.

I dont know whether this is the correct thread or not, but I have a great idea for some official club merchandise. I dont want any money for my idea, I just hope the club can find a use from it. Everybody knows that for a player you can get a shirt with his name on it, or if he is popular enough a t shirt with his face on. One year the club even sold Savo Milosovic bandannas as he was known to wear them while playing in Belgrade. This left me wondering why there is never much merch aimed at fans of the manager. Then I thought if this:

Yes, its the Gerard Houllier white flag. I figure it will be popular with fans who go to away games when we play anybody who is above us in the league. The cardboard boxes are there for marketing purposes only, you do not need to include them with every flag we sell.

[Brumstopdogs]

Hi General. Happy birthday.

I dont know whether this is the correct thread or not, but I have a great idea for some official club merchandise. I dont want any money for my idea, I just hope the club can find a use from it. Everybody knows that for a player you can get a shirt with his name on it, or if he is popular enough a t shirt with his face on. One year the club even sold Savo Milosovic bandannas as he was known to wear them while playing in Belgrade. This left me wondering why there is never much merch aimed at fans of the manager. Then I thought if this:

Yes, its the Gerard Houllier white flag. I figure it will be popular with fans who go to away games when we play anybody who is above us in the league. The cardboard boxes are there for marketing purposes only, you do not need to include them with every flag we sell.

General, I for one would defintely like to purchase this. Is it something you could look into?

After humiliating league and league cup campaigns there's nothing quite like a white flag to round off a 100 mile drive, time off work and the cost of a ticket.

[Villarocker]

Hi General,

Hope you are feeling better and have had a good birthday.

Please do not see my views as a dig at you. These are entriely as a result of Gerard Houllier's actions this week and are aimed at him!

I would like to ask you what the club would think if Villa Park was empty of all Villa fans for the last game of the season against Liverpool because the fans thought the same way as our manager and couldn't be bothered to show up to watch the team lose another game?

Gerard Houllier's comments at the press conference were amazing to see. How must that make the players feel? Not just the younger players but the senior players such as Young, Downing, Pires, Reo-Coker who were sat on the bench on Wednesday night. Those players (Pires apart) have gone from one manager - MON - who made them think they were world beaters, to a manager like GH who publicly says they aren't good enough to beat a team they beat just a few weeks before!

I hate to admit to this but today I surfed the www to look for this: http://www.talktalk.co.uk/video/36469/sport/McLeish---We-can-win-it/#36469

If that man can get a rag-tag bunch to out-perform the team currently lying second in the Premier League and who beat the mighty Barcelona just a couple of weeks previously, then why can't our manager motivate our superior paid players to get a result against a team that was down to its last 14 fit players, whom had played 3 more games than ours in the previous 17 days?

If the senior management at our club believes that Gerard Houllier's style of management is exactly what they are looking for and agree with his actions, can I suggest that they ask Mr Houllier for a list of all games that he believes we won't be able to win so that they can be published in order for us fans to decide whether it is worth turning up to see our beloved club lose.

Best Wishes General,

Villarocker - UTV!

[dbsboots]

An absolute disgrace today. Absolutely laughable. At least Doug Ellis had the bollocks on him to sack a manager.

[jonno_2004]

It was worth throwing the game in midweek for that wasn't it, General? Yeah, it's a shame when your manager cannot train the team to defend set pieces.

The man was employed due to ill-informed decision making, has made countless incompetent decisions since then and frankly embarrassing press-conferences, and has single-handedly turned this club into a complete shambles from top to bottom.

This week has been one of the most embarrassing and dire weeks I have had to enjoy as a fan of this great club.

[TheDon]

General,

I'd like you to extend my personal thanks to Gerard Houllier for resting our key players against Man City. His decision was entirely justified today. I dread to think what result we would have got had he not ensured they were fully rested.

[terrytini]

General

Houllier was right about one thing - we are very deep in a relegation fight (thanks to him).

I keep hearing he has Randys support - will that be the case if he becomes the first Manager to lose us our Premiership status, and that with the same players (PLUS lots of exciting young players, PLUS 'better use of the Squad' - sic and 'better tactics')who just missed out on CL football and made a Final and Semi Final ?

What a difference the right bloke makes, just ask Spurs, Liverpool, oh, and, er us.

[symmouk]

General,

Can you ask Gerard why Ashley Young takes all set pieces, when his accuracy from corners and free kicks is outrageous. So many times today again. Why isn't someone like Albrighton, who has an amazing cross on him, taking corners and free kicks? Then take off Albrighton, who is playing excellent, for someone who has OPENLY come out and said he doesn't want to play on the wing.

Now I am not one of the few on here who loved MON, in fact I am glad to see the back of him, but at least he knew how to motivate a team. Gerard can not do that. Its blatantly obvious and we can all see it on the pitch.

I understand you cannot come out and criticize the manager etc etc, but PLEASE sit down with Randy this week and seriously consider the manager. We are losing fans, losing matches, attendances are decreasing, revenue will start to decrease. If things carry on like this, I can bet you £10 that season ticket renewals will be a lot lower for next season, which has a huge impact on this team. People like Young, Downing and I imagine sooner or later Bent will become bored, dis-interested. But more importantly our youngsters will as well. Players like Albrighton, Bannan, Clark will see that too, and they will go. But can you really blame them. He has taken this club beyond a joke now. Yes the players are the ones who perform, but the buck stops with him.

If that is the way the board want to go, then fair play but seriously, its the fans that pay the players and managers wages and some fans who have been going for 30+ years are losing interest.

I live and breathe this club, and I will be there until the day I die. It hurts a lot to see this happening to the one thing in my life I will always love. Please do something General, because there are tens of thousands of fans hurting just as bad as I am.

[Moorski]

General, The FA Cup is a Trophy that Villa used to be famous for winning and no win since 1957 is long overdue, I hope you understand the fans frustrations.

Gerard laughing & hugging Patrick Viera at the end of that game only rubs salt into the wounds.

[dudley_villa]

IT IS TIME TO FLY THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER UPSIDE DOWN... BROKEN ARROW... BROKEN ARROW... BROKEN ARROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pinnacle" denotes an incident of interest to the Major Commands, Department of Defense and National Command Authority, in that it:

Generates a higher level of military action.

Causes a national reaction.

Affects international relationships.

Causes immediate widespread coverage in news media.

Is clearly against the national interest.

Affects current national policy.

Public hazard, actual or implied.

All of the following reporting terms are classified Pinnacle, with the exception of Bent Spear, Faded Giant and Dull Sword. AFI 10-206 notes that the flagword Pinnacle may be added to Bent Spear or Faded Giant to expedite reporting to the National Military Command Center (NMCC).

May God Help Us!..

[pacbuddies]

I am so glad that the manager threw the FA Cup match at Man Citeh in midweek because it made all the difference to the league result at Bolton didn't it.

General, whilst you may not be in charge of Aston Villa you are the only person us fans can communicate with to get a message to Randy Lerner.

Please take this message to him.

See Gerard Houllier for what e really is and what he has done to our club and get rid of him before the end of the season and appoint someone that can assess what is needed to get us challenging again next season. If Mr Lerner fails to act then my son and I will not be the only ones that do renew their season tickets at the end of this very very depressing and disappointing season

[Villarocker]

General,

As you will read from my earlier post today, I am not the biggest fan of Gerard Houllier right now. However, I don't think that today's result is as a direct result of poor management on his part. After all, it wasn't he who missed all of the chances we created. It also wasn't he who made some incorrect officiating decisions.

The only part of today's performance I could possibly blame Houllier for is the inept defensive display against set pieces. I know that Nathan Baker is still young and that it was his first game at centre back but this has been happening to our team all season, regardless of who's been playing at CB. What the hell has happened to our defence for it to become so vulnerable to crosses? We were renowned for conceding so few goals from set pieces last season and yet now we seem to concede at least one per game!

My customary question is, can we PLEASE employ at least one DEFENSIVE coach ASAP? If you tell me we have them already, can you please let us fans know exactly who this person(s) is? It seems to me that any defensive training could only be coming from someone who never played in that position!

General, 40 points may not be enough this season. The next 7 games are unbelievably crucial to our survival. We have away games at West Ham, Everton and West Brom. You could argue that, on form alone, we could get just a point from those. I say this because of our poor away record this season. We have Wolves, Stoke, Newcastle and Wigan at home. With our record against these sides recently, it makes me think that a return of 1 win and 3 draws could be on the cards. That totals just 7 points from those 7 games and gives us a total of 40 points for the season.

I know that you are now thinking "what happened to the last 2 games of the season?". Well, I don't know about you or anybody else General, but given our managers' recent comments, I just don't see us getting anything out of the games against Arsenal or Liverpool. In fact, I am terrified that we will need a win against Liverpool on the last day of the season in order to stay in this league. I just don't have enough faith/trust in GH to see us get anything out of that game!

[imavillan]

General Sir,

Please take the time to read my post and answer the three questions i have.

Now i happen to work in a high pressure industry, working long hours, and for each year i have to set out and agree with my manager my objectives for the year.

If i succeed with my objectives i get a pay rise and a bonus...if i dont i get nothing, zero, jack, zilch!!...and if i keep failing i end up getting the sack...with no pay off other than 3 months notice and 3 months wages.

Sir, (1) I would like to know what objectives have been agreed with our manager and his boss (Randy or Paul) and (2) what will happen if those objectives are not met?

Make no mistake sir, we are in a scrap for our lives....i would have hoped that the objectives set for GH were ''stretched'' as are mine.

The management, staff and players are paid HUGE amounts of money in relationship to what the the average fan earns. It is my belief along with many others that they are so much out of touch with reality.....just watch the tv in the forthcoming weeks General and see all of the empty seats...the fans will vote with their feet...there is only so much we can stand.....ask your self the question i keep asking my self....(3) am i getting value for money??

[villafc82]

General,

I'm not going to come on here and talk about Gerard Houllier, enough people have done that already. However I want your opinion on one point relating to him and the coaching staff. I'm a season ticket holder and at the moment, a very angry one! Aston Villa are a big big club and when Martin O'Neill left he took all of his backroom staff with him. Since that day Aston Villa lost their defensive coach and have rarely kept a clean sheet this season conceding from set-pieces almost every game. We are never organised and ready to defend a corner with confidence, we aren't good in the air and clearly are not being coached in the correct way to defend set-pieces. I've attended every game this season and something has to be done because I am bored of seeing this in every game under Houllier as manager and he is showing no signs of improving us defensively. In fact we are getting worse at set pieces, look at the game today at Bolton.

In frustration today I checked the official site to find the name of our current defensive coach so I could know who's door to place the blame at for such horrific defending. You can imagine how disgusted us Villa fans are to realise that since Gerard Houllier was appointed as manager he is yet to recruit a defensive coach after failing in his attempt to recruit Patrice Bergues! We are a great team going forward but we concede far too many goals from situations that are not considered to be all that dangerous. Will Villa recruit a defensive coach in the coming days because if we are to progress at all we need one! It's a basic decision, every football club needs a defensive coach. It seems that because Houllier couldn't get Patrice Bergues that he has just given up on finding a defensive coach.

I've heard that Rafa Gonzalez (First team Goalkeeper coach - promoted from reserves) is in charge of first team defensive coaching; surely somebody is trying to wind me up? That would be criminal. Please say it isn't so and that Villa are aware of the situation and are in the process of recruiting a first team defensive coach? This situation really does make us a laughing stock!

Can you shed any light on this General?

[ChrisNichollsToe]

General, just to break the run of questions concerning Napoleon....

Do you belive the Ancient Mayans predicted the end of life on earth in 2013, and if so, what should we do about it?

I guess we could offer napoleion as a sacrificial gift to the gods. But i fear they might reject him.

[Maradona10]

General,

Do the board still believe Houllier is doing a fantastic job?