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

[Pez1974]

General,

I am sure that you do not only read your threads on the various sites, and will have picked the strength of feeling on other threads about GH. Surely there is the need, given the 2 week break, for a senior person at the club to make a statement on GH's future because the uncertainty, if that is what remains, will be counter-productive to our current crisis.

Thanks for your hard work, and for communicating with the fans. I am sure that it seems like a thankless task, but I can promise you, it is very much appreciated.

[dudevillaisnice]

Agree I think a statement regarding what is happening (considering fans aren't happy and are uncertain) is a good idea.

[Moorski]

General the atmosphere of the supporters around me is like 1986-87 all over again,it has the same feeling and we went down in that season.

The Board needs to seriously look at GH before it is too late, Jol or Allardyce need to come in and salvage our season.

[Baalberith]

General,

Please. Please. PLEASE listen to the fans.

Get rid of Gerard Houllier or we are going down, there is no two ways about it. Nobody will condemn Randy if he sacks him, rather the opposite.

Randy needs to act NOW before it is too late!

[Villarocker]

Hi General,

I have a couple of posts that I would like to make here, of which, this is the first.

As yet, the club have not released season ticket information for the 2011/12 season. If this is due to not knowing which league we will be in can I suggest the following:

Freeze season ticket prices for next season - regardless of what league we are in.

Some fans may say they don't want to pay the same next season if we are in a lower league. However, I believe this would be fair due to the extra 4 home games per season that we would be watching. My season ticket cost £350 for this season at an average of £18.42 per game. I would accept to pay the same price for my ST in the Championship :cry: at a rate of £15.21 per game.

The club may look at this and say "well, what if we stay up?". My answer to that is that the fans have had a lot to endure this season, on and off the field. Attendances are down and I know there are ST holders who are saying they aren't renewing and maybe going to select certain games instead, especially with the club offers of 5 games for £100 and so on. I genuinely believe that freezing the prices is the best way to keep ST holders renewing.

I also want to add this incentive General. There will be a hell of a lot of people waiting to see what happens before they decide to renew their season tickets. I doubt that many will renew until the end of the season because they will want to see which league we are in. I am sure the club wouldn't expect season ticket sales to be as high if we were to go down? Not only that but, there will be people wanting to wait to see who the manager is, who we sell (Young, Downing etc) or buy, before deciding whether or not to renew, especially when you consider that we have sold our best player in each of our last two summers! As an incentive for early renewals, the club could announce that they will freeze the ST price for the 2012/13 season for all those who renew by say 12:00 on the 30th of April. Meaning that those who buy before that time will have paid the same for their season ticket 3 seasons in a row, which seems pretty fair to be honest.

The reason I chose 12:00 on the 30th of April is because we will have played half of our remaining league games by then. Unless we somehow win those 4 games our future would still seem undecided. It's a bit of a gamble for both parties but a situation that leaves the fans with the incentive of paying a frozen price for at least one, and the club with guaranteed revenue for the following season at least.

I hope this makes sense to you General? I am sure there will be folks who will questions parts, if not all, of what I have said but such is life. I would just hope that the club could take into account all scenarios before deciding on ST prices for next season.

Best Wishes and UTV.

[Maradona10]

General,

One plea, please bring in someone to help GH for these final 8 games, either Martin Laursen or John Gregory. Please save this CLUB!!!

[jackbauer24]

Player power is rife in football, it's not nice but it's the way of the world. Players will only play for a person who they respect. The big players at our club won't REALLY care if we go down, they'll pop off to other big clubs and leave us in the Championship. It'll only effect squad players really.

Which is why I feel Villa MUST sack Houllier immediately. Player power, right or wrong, dictates that they will only put in the extra effort if they respect/ like the guy in charge. If you have a cr*p manager in any work place you can't be bothered to put in your all as you kind of know it's pointless given all the other decisions.

Putting McDonald back in charge for a few games would keep this club up. The players respect him and want to play for him. Yes, Newcastle wasn't pretty but he at least got us a quarter of our wins this season in a fraction of the time.

And who's to say players like Dunne and Collins might be able to play through the pain barrier to keep us up if they were doing it for a guy they wanted to see succeed. And maybe even Warnock and Beye might get a look in and not be frozen out due to ego, instead relying on youngsters playing in the wrong positions.

And to make this reply a question: DO VILLA SEEK PLAYERS' OPINIONS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, IF THE PLAYERS HAVE A GRIEVANCE AGAINST THE MANAGEMENT TEAM DOES SOMEONE IN THE BOARD DEAL WITH IT?

It seems as through Dunne, speaking as captain, got punished for this previously.

One or two players complaining - probably their ego/ issues (NO ACTION)

Three or four complaining - big changes probably introduced poorly (WORD TO MANAGEMENT ABOUT MORALE)

Half the squad unhappy, vocally or not - simply a rubbish management team (SACK THE MANAGEMENT!!!)

Where are the players coming out in defence of the manager? Youngsters have to. But it is telling that Young, Gabby, Petrov, Friedel, Bent etc etc have not come out and said anything positive about the management team.

Oh and just to keep in line with the 35thousand people yesterday - HOULLIER OUT!!!

[Villarocker]

General,

My second post is regarding our current situation with regards to our league position. We are in a dogfight to stay in this league and usually the hardest fighters win. We showed quite a lack of passion against Wolves yesterday. To be honest with you, I don't see too many fighters wearing the colours these days. I didn't see anyone on that pitch yesterday who looked like they could get the others up for the battle. The middle of the pitch was far too small and lightweight. Downing, Albrighton, Young, Makoun and Reo-Coker are not statures of men that would have me quaking in my boots, if you know what I mean? Don't get me wrong General, I like them all individually as players. I just think that you need to have something of a more imposing figure to get stuck in and set a tempo and we lack that quality more than anything these days. A fix definitely needs to put in place here!

The Premier League has seen many quality, passing teams go down. I can recall the days when people said that Notts Forest were too good. West Ham, Newcastle, Leeds, Middlesbrough and others have all fallen through the trap door when it seemed they had too much quality to do so. I look at our remaining fixtures with fear to be honest. In previous seasons I would have been fine with what we are facing and feel comfortable that we would survive, but that was under a management that seemed to get more out of the players and that was able to instill a certain belief. This management team doesn't inspire me and I fear that they fail to inspire the players also. MON apart, Villa's most recent "successful" manager's have had an association with the club previously. Little, Gregory and Atkinson were former players and they knew what the club meant to the fans. May I suggest that this is kept in mind for some time in the future!

Our manager yesterday claimed that, and I quote "I think, unless you get 43 points, you're not safe. But I'm very hopeful that we'll get there." That means he thinks we need to take at least 10 more points from the next 24 available. I say "available" loosely because the last two games are going to be very difficult for us and I doubt they are going to contribute anything to our final points tally. That means we need to get those 10 points from the next 18. Usually I would think that more than achievable, however, those 6 games are against the following teams:

April

2 Apr, 15:00 Everton v Aston Villa Premier League

10 Apr, 16:00 Aston Villa v Newcastle United Premier League

16 Apr, 15:00 West Ham United v Aston Villa Premier League

23 Apr, 15:00 Aston Villa v Stoke City Premier League

30 Apr, 15:00 West Bromwich Albion v Aston Villa Premier League

May

7 May, 15:00 Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic Premier League

Newcastle and WBA were not corresponding fixtures last season. However, the other 4 fixtures were and in them we took just 4 points and that was when we were arguably a better side! I am not giving in General, just being realistic.

The above fixtures are against teams around us and all points dropped by us are like nails being driven into our coffin. These are our last 6 results against teams in the bottom half:

16 Jan, 12:00 Birmingham City 1 - 1 Aston Villa Premier League

25 Jan, 19:45 Wigan Athletic 1 - 2 Aston Villa Premier League

February

5 Feb, 15:00 Aston Villa 2 - 2 Fulham Premier League

12 Feb, 15:00 Blackpool 1 - 1 Aston Villa Premier League

26 Feb, 15:00 Aston Villa 4 - 1 Blackburn Rovers Premier League

March

19 Mar, 15:00 Aston Villa 0 - 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League

Mirroring those achievements would generate a further 9 points, which isn't what our manager is suggesting we need and may not be enough.

I have a couple of things to ask the club here General.

Firstly, please don't rush into hasty decision making without knowing exactly what you want for the future. If a change is gonna come, please think carefully about who the replacement should be and for how long. A short term fix this season is all well and good but what about next season and beyond?

Secondly, please do not allow Gerard Houllier to manage our club on the last day of the season unless we are GUARANTEED safety and our position in the Premier League next season. I do NOT trust that man one bit to get a positive result of any kind against Liverpool. Imagine the scene General:

A beautiful, sunny day and 40k+ fans packed into a nervous Villa Park. Liverpool fans on a jolly and Villa fans chewing nails. The team line-up, whatever it is, is not enough to convince the fans that we can survive. Each loose pass met with murmours from the crowd. Each opportunity that goes begging met with moans and groans. The tension increases as the Liverpool fans sing "you're going down with the baggies" and "we'll meet again" etc. The tension between fans heats up as the game passes by without a Villa goal. Then the unthinkable, a Liverpool goal and 3,000 jubilant Liverpool fans delight in the sorrow faces of the Villa faithful. The final whistle goes and Villa are relegated for the first time in a very long time. The Liverpool fans will be singing "Gerard, Gerard Houllier" whilst the Villa fans sit crying and distraught in disbelief, whilst others shout abuse and poison at the players, manager and board alike. Villa fans are sat thinking about away day ventures to Doncaster, Bristol City, Ipswich, Millwall and so on. The players don't return to the pitch for the customary season-end lap around the pitch and the remaining devastated fans sit whilst the tabloid press take pictures to adorn the back pages of their London/Manchester/Liverpool-biased rags. God only knows how our great fans would react to such an occasion! A red rag to a raging bull springs to mind.

Honestly General, do NOT let that man be here for the Liverpool game if it makes or breaks our season, or if we are already down.

I want to ask one final question if I may? Can you tell us approximately how much relegation would cost our club? I am guessing it would be a colossal amount for a club of our size and would inevitably mean the selling of our better players?

Sorry to be such a doom-monger. I pray that it's all said and not done. I will be renewing my season ticket whatever the season finale brings. I love this club of ours and will always give my full support. I never boo and won't even if the worst case scenario was to happen. Here's to a successful run-in and Premier League survival

[darthsimo]

Hi General

Houllier says we have 8 Champions league game left. Well in that case we should treat the home games as such. We need the following.

1. Fans, all to a man completely behind the team for the last 4 homes games. For 90min+

2. Consider filling Villa Park for all those games. Do what you need to, reduce ticket prices for area's that are mostly unsold. Give tickets away to schools to fill those seat, anything but Fill the ground and create a Champions league/semi final atmosphere.

3. Get the 82 team on the pitch again before a game, Remember Warnock saying after that Sheffield Game that "they had created such an atmosphere before hand, it was hard for us to play against it" It worked 3-0! Or get Paul McGrath on the pitch. Anything.

4. Get the Holte flag out for each game.

5. Pump up the music, 10 min prior to Kick Off.

6. Lastly, do not leave all this until the last game of the season. Do it now.

Thanks

Mark

[jacketspuds]

Hi General,

Sorry I'm another who will jump on the GH out bandwagon. I would be very interested to know how many Villa fans still have faith in our manager. It's a sad state when we can go on about long-term vision blah blah blah when it is the present that is killing us as a club. Everything RL has built since taking over from Ellis will be decimated if we go down. Our youth team, our finances, our current squad (although that would probably be a good thing). My point General is that sacking GH now would not be considered a rash decision. He has had time, money and support and has failed and we will be the biggest disaster in Premier League history if we go down. We have a 2 week break now and it is the perfect time to sort this mess out. I'm sure however that GH will use that time to alienate another squad member or arrange another disastrous team "bonding" session.

[Meath_Villan]

Gen could you pass on my view to randy and the board could we get rid of houllier now as soon as possible and have kev mac back in charge for the rest of the season as we need someone who the players will believe in to inspire our fight for prem survival

Thank you

[DeepDish]

General. I'm not sure we are totally fair with you here, but remember that we saw what happened the last time we were relegated, and we see the similarities in lack of team spirit and effort.

One Irish poster on this forum, with connections to our Irish players, have said some alarming things about the Ireland situation and now the Dunne/Collins situation.

I quote him:

Those who say that these disputes should be kept on the training ground or in the manager's office.

Imagine, for a moment, that issues have been raised by the players regarding defensive training; issues regarding defending of set-pieces, defensive tactics being different for reserves, youths and first team. The players are unsure of their individual and collective roles whilst defending, for example, corners.

What if, when the players raised these issues and concerns, nothing was done about it? And if the concerns that were raised, and the subsequent inaction of the coaching/management staff, resulted in a huge amount of goals and points being surrendered?

The players would be feeling, quite rightly in my opinion, a little bit disappointed that their concerns weren't taken on board. Let's imagine that they were labelled as trouble makers and dissenters for raising their concerns. If they were called, in front of their colleagues, "traitors".

Then, imagine if the management commented in public that the defensive problems were purely of the player's making, that the management were as baffled as anyone as to why there were problems. And if the management were to say, in private, that these players are paid to defend and they should just defend "and stop asking questions".

What if the management responded to the player's concerns by leaving angry voicemail messages, lambasting a player's commitment and accusing them of "treachery"?

At what stage are the players to be forgiven for getting so frustrated that their patience snaps?

I am not condoning any players actions, nor am I commenting on any specific incident. Let's call this a hypothetical situation.

When are the players forgiven for taking their concerns out from the training ground and manager's office?

I have bolded the parts that I feel is extremely worrying. You should check this out, because if it is true, the club will be relegated as a consequence of the key players being alienated from poor leadership.

[villafc82]

Can I just say General. Dunne and Collins were fined for apparantly hitting out at the management staff. Well from where every Villa fan is standing I think it's absolutely disgusting that they were fined! These 2 players are rocks for us, have been fantastic players for us and as leaders feel they need to speak up to stop the management ruining us. Well every time Collins and Dunne play now they keep throwing their bodies on the line for us where as Houllier, Gary Mac and I can't believe I'm saying this, Sid Cowans himself all sit there like complete lemons lost for words from the kick off. The manager's technical area is never in use! Please, if Gerard isn't going to use that area then give it to McGrath, Laursen, Merson, Ian Taylor, Dublin, Atkinson, me? Just please get somebody with some passion for this club to do what a manager should do and motivate his team! Everyday that passes with him as our manager then you are implying that 35,000 fans, the entire squad and all our followers are in the wrong and that Gerard Houllier is the sole man in the right.

The man is clueless and doesn't understand how to show any passion anymore. Please can we just bring in a legend to motivate the team, I don't care who, just bring in a former Villa man to motivate the team and sort this mess out!

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. Rather that try to answer specific questions, let me state the following: A. I was terribly disappointed in the game today! We are a better Squad but we did not play like the better squad. Like the fans, I was gutted!! B. All comments are fed to Randy. We are very open and transparent with each other. He knows exactly what are on the posts. C. I am not going to comment on our Manager....you all know that. Doing so...good, supportive comments or bad ones...all would be immediate fodder for the media. D. I am certainly aware of the position we are in. Believe me, we do NOT want to suffer relegation...for the Fans, the Club, and for other obvious reasons. Everyone is concentrating on making sure that doesn't happen. E. As a member of the Board, I recognize I am not exempt from Fan criticism...I am a big boy now and realize my responsibility in that light. I would only ask that you continue to be respectful when you level your criticism. I am not happy about where we are and can assure you that Randy and the Board want success as much as the fans. F) I know I have not really touched on your specific questions/comments but I can assure you that Fans are NOT ignored at AVFC and have not been since Randy arrived.

[jackbauer24]

General - one question can be answered in light of your position and makes no difference if it get's into the papers. A few posters have asked;

Do we have contingency plans if/when we get relegated?

[Shoody]

General,

I am studying Advertising and Marketing in my second year at University and about to move to a new Marketing and Management course in September, whilst this may not be the best place to ask, is it possible that there is any work experience or Summer work available in the clubs Marketing or PR department at any point (or for the entirety) of the May-September months?

Thanks in Advance

[dudevillaisnice]

I am not going to comment on our Manager....you all know that.

Which is fair enough and would be totally unfair on you to comment on him on the website.. however as a club couldn't a statement possibly be released on the club website or something stating what is happening? if anything is happening at all?

[villafc82]

I am not going to comment on our Manager....you all know that.

Which is fair enough and would be totally unfair on you to comment on him on the website.. however as a club couldn't a statement possibly be released on the club website or something stating what is happening? if anything is happening at all?

I agree with this General, please can we have some sort of statement regarding what will happen for the rest of the season? Nobody in an Aston Villa shirt looks interested anymore, it saddens me and I want answers as to why so many players have hit out at the manager with nobody defending him anymore. What's going on? Please fill us in. A statement is definately needed!

[Oaks]

I can assure you that Fans are NOT ignored at AVFC and have not been since Randy arrived.

Errrr i think you are, Mr Houllier still has a job at the club. I find it disgusting, how someone so terrible both on and off the pitch is aloud to continue. I really like Randy i really do, i just wonder if he has the knowledge and expertise to help us succeed, he certainly has the cash.

I do wonder if its any coincidence that the Cleveland Browns continue to fail, bad appointments, followed by failure. But you dont get relegated in the NFL.

[RussG]

I can assure you that Fans are NOT ignored at AVFC and have not been since Randy arrived.

I look forward to reading about Houllier leaving shortly then, I never want to see that imbecile anywhere near Villa Park again.

Surely you, Randy and Paul can see he's been nothing short of a disaster?!