stewiek2 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 General, First up please wish Gerard a speedy recovery. I always felt that it was next season where we see the green shoots of recovery from this new setup, with a full preseason, new faces, old faces more aclimatised to his training methods etc. I would love him to be back in his managerial role next season, however, if due to this unfortunate health scare, he isn't to return as manager then wish him all the best and I hope he stays on within the club in some capacity. A true gent of the game. Secondly, big thank you for putting out an android app. As the owner of an android phone it baffles me how people can be fooled by apple and microsofts non-open source approach and the 'locked in' philosphy they have. *oops getting all techy * Is all this HTC launch linked to a hint of who our new sponsor is at all? *he cheekily asked in an attempt to get a hint from the good General* It's been a frustrating season but I'm am positive that next season will be one with some rather upeat and pleasant surprises for us all at VP. Stewie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Hi General, Just some feedback on the official HTC app. It's incredibly slow. I know this may be teething problems or due to a lot of downloads but it made me uninstall it straight away alongside a few other things. It also takes up 14MB of internal phone memory with no option to move it to SD. To put this into perspective most other apps i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc are around 1MB each, so why 14MB for the Villa one - with no option to move to memory card? It will put a lot of people off. Another thing. Why is it free on HTC, £2.99 on iPhone and £4.99 on Blackberry? I have all three operating systems and if you have to pay for it then I expect something like free AVTV subscription in return not some pictures which I can easily get off the internet for free anyway... That's all. Hope GH is recovering quick! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 General, If GH is to retire, can we have a new manager in place before pre-seaon please. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 2. There will be some friendlies this summer...working on schedule now...will announce when nailed down. Hi general, Just one quick vote for another friendly in Ireland if possible. Last year's one versus Bohemians was great and I hope Randy and the players had a good time. Regards Villa89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowlersrs Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Hi General, I know its a bit early to speculate the future of Gerard but if he where to resign would there be a place for him at the club? Perhaps a future director of football, in my eyes this man has been crucial in changing the club and im sure me and alot of villa fans would love to see him on the board if only for his transfer power alone!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simmo83 Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Hi General, First time poster here. I appreciate that you may not be able to comment yet but there are reports in the media that GH has been advised to retire from a managerial position. If this is the case i for one would be truely disappointed not to get the opportunity to see him build his own team. Many of my villa fan mates have been less than happy with our performance while he has been in charge but I have always defended him and argued that it would take time to convert the players to his way of thinking and style of play. If GH does unfortunately have to step out of the hot seat I would like to reitterate the previous posters comments about a DOF role. He has fantastic contacts and his highly regarded in the game. Having said this i would also hope that GMac would not then automatically take the reigns as I (and I would assume, talking amoungst my mates, 99% of villa fans would agree) don't think he is quite up to the task at a club the size of ours. I have nothing against the guy but would prefer to see somebody in the vein of Moyes (or an exciting talent such as Lambert at Norwich) have a crack. Apologies for the massive post and like i said i hope GH makes a full recovery and we see him in the dugout at VP next season with his brand of football having us challenging once more for Champs League footy! UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 2. There will be some friendlies this summer...working on schedule now...will announce when nailed down. Hi general, Just one quick vote for another friendly in Ireland if possible. Last year's one versus Bohemians was great and I hope Randy and the players had a good time. Regards Villa89 agree with this general i know pre season does provide the club with an opportunity to make a bit of money and spread the good word, but i think just about every villa going would like one somewhere that is £35 away on a budget airline, Hong Kong doesnt exactly fall into this category, id be amazed if more than 100 went over, whereas Dublin i believe we took several hundred at least especially with no europe next year it would be nice if a balance could be found between financial benefits, player fitness and fans enjoyment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 General, Not sure how ticket sales are going for the Wigan game but given we had 5k and 7k empty seats against Newcastle and Stoke respectively I'd hazard a guess not too well. Its what happens though when you have poor results, resulting in a poor league position and sweet fanny adams to play for, well apart from still securing Premiership survival which with just 3 games to go is an absolute disgrace. Unless major changes are made in terms of the managerial positions at this club then come the summer expect season tickets sales to be well down General as with money tight for many people they can find other more essential things to spend their money on than being served up the inevitable tripe that will be forthcoming if this clueless mob stay in charge. Can I ask at the start of the season Sir did you envisage with the players we had that we would still be in danger of being relegated after 35 games after having also spent 30 mill in January? Kind Regards Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen_Evans Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hi General I'm not sure whether you have had an opportunity to find out why we keep wearing claret shorts with the home shirt. But if you haven't, could you tell me who to ask, so that I don't have to keep bothering you about it? To remind you, West Brom wore white shorts at our ground, so why did we change? Stoke wore white shorts at our ground, so did Blackburn and there was not deemed to be any clash. The other very obvious point to make is that in previous seasons under Randy's leadership we have always changed the shorts to blue if the home shirt was still being worn. Remember Carew and Agbonlahor scoring at West Brom in September 2008? So this clearly IS a policy decision by someone at the club (or, as I suggested before, perhaps Nike didn't make any blue ones!) So....why ARE we changing the shorts to claret? Frankly, it looks rubbish, and it goes against tradition. Man Utd would never wear red shorts with their home shirts, they always change to black, and if that won't do then they wear an away strip, thus preserving the consistency of their brand. We should do the same. We're not Scunthorpe! In the past, when this kind of policy has been adopted (e.g. 1983-84), it's been to soften us up for something ghastly (i.e. the Henson and first Hummel kits). PLEASE tell me that isn't the case here.... I do appreciate that at first glance this kind of issue seems trivial (compared to Mr H's problems, of course it is). BUT what we wear on matchday is what represents us in the eyes of the whole world (ignoring our present troubles!) Anyway, all claret is just not Villa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
returnofthemac Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 General, my first post I've sent to you and hope you can find something positive from it. Having supported Villa for over 40 years, today brought out a frustration I haven't felt for years. To be defeated by all our local rivals was nothing short of embarrassing but today the ineptitude, poor substitutions and tactical naievity shown by Gary McAllister against a Manager like Roy Hodgson tells me the decision the Board made at the start of the season was a poor one. By the grace of Mr Lerners money did we sign Darren Bent a player who has almost single handedly saved this great club from relegation, but had this signing not been made many Villa fans agree with me that this Management pairing could not have kept us in the Premier League. Ashley Young is a shadow of his former self, our Captain Petrov is unfortunately at the end of his career and the signing of Pires was a panic move and yes we have many players sat on the bench earning money from transfers made by our previous Manager who have no love or fight for our club. All Villa fans agree we need a clear out and to cut our wage bill. My request and hope is that Mr Houllier and Mr McAllister are removed from their roles, certainly in the case of the Assistant Manager and a Manager brought in to take this club forward. Nothing more than seeing this Club, not just top dog in the Midlands but challenging for Europe will be acceptable. My positive from this is at the moment I will continue purchasing my Season Ticket but decisions made by the Board in the near future I hope will reinforce my belief in this great club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJVilla Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 General, Naturally there is a lot of anger and resentment today which has been burning all season from the fans. Im sure you guys are already working on what Im about to ask (and Im not even sure if you can answer it as it may look bad on the boards behalf) but I trust there is a contingency plan being drawn up for the eventuality that GH can no longer continue in his role as manager of Aston Villa next season? Obviously we all wish GH a full and speedy recovery, but it would obviously be reassuring for the fans to know that if GH can't continue, then we would be in place to approach and appoint a successor to give us as much time during the summer transfer window to restructure the current playing and coaching staff. None of us want a season like this one again, yourselves included, and we as fans of Aston Villa football club, truely hope that Randy and the board make the right decision for all parties concerned and can once again lift us back up the table where we belong, rather than looking over our shoulders at relegation with 3 games to go. Also, can we have blue socks back for the new kit next year please? :winkold: (and maybe more than 1 yr of shelf life for the kits aswell would be nice) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 General, please can you do me a favour and list the clubs our current assistant manager (currently our manager!) Gary McAllister has been a success at as a coach/assistant manager? Thanks - just a short summary will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfcgoodie Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 General a stat I found out today which really shows how bad of a season this has been. This is the first season EVER! we have lost to Blues, Wolves and West Brom, our 3 biggest local rivals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuintonK6 Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Hi General. In the week of royal hysteria and the whole world focusing on our royal family and falling in love with them all over again, can I ask why the club hasn't approached Prince William to be a club ambassador or something of that elk ? He is obviously in the wake of this weeks events one of the if not the most popular figure heads on the planet. He is a self confessed Villa fan and I think if we can associate him in anyway with the club it can only help to raise the profile of the club worldwide as the interest in him now he has his princess will be bigger than ever. I'm not a royalist as such but I'm very patriotic and yesterdays events made me feel very proud to be British. The image of him sitting in our directors box wearing a Villa scarf would be seen by billions around the world and would almost certainly raise our profile to huge proportions. Any thoughts ?? P.S General - We know Mr Houlliers heart can't take the stresses of the Premier league so please move him upstairs for next season and get on the blower to Davey Moyes.. You know you wana.. :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaAndLoyal Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 General Apologies in advance if this sounds blunt, but why the hell did we not take the full 2,900 allocation for Arsenal away? I, and many others, want to know. We ALWAYS sell-out for Arsenal away - so with this being the last away game of the season it is a disgrace that we've only got the 2,200 which has, obviously, already sold out. I have a ticket but that's not the point, many of my mates who intended to go, can't now. It has been said elsewhere on this board that the reason is because Villa were too "slow" to request the full allocation. Is this true? If so it's a shambles on our part and a disgrace. We pride ourselves on having one of the top away supports in the country - how is it helping the club if we are under-selling our own fans? The more away fans = a better chance of winning at the end of the day. I await your response. V&L General, I posted this a week ago and I would appreciate a response. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolteMan Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 This season has been a shambolic embarrassment for all concerned at avfc. Late kit. Selling Milner. Getting Ireland. Mon walking. Losing to wolves, blues and albion. Poor attendances. God awful football. Best to worse defence. Dunne, Collins incident. Carew, warnock and beye alienation. GH numerous gaffs (there have been alot). Relegation battle. I for one cannot wait for this season to end. Next season cannot be worse else we are gone. I hope GH is replaced as manager as soon as the season is finished. Ill health aside he is not the right man for villa. Three good points. Bent signing and Clark and Albrighton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer24 Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 It is without doubt Villa's worst season since the formation of the Premiership (and there are a host of stats to back this up being discussed in the main threads) and, perhaps a lot more worryingly, the worst season a large majority of our fans will ever have known. It has been a disaster in every area and I hope the club address every single area or at least realise there has to be some tough decisions to be made. Even you can't blame MON for all this?! If Manchester United lost Ferguson a day before the season they'd still be a Champions League club at absolute worst. There are bigger issues than one man leaving and if we still insist that is the main reason then that points to why you would give one man that much power. Did you ever expect a season like this when you took over? Mr. Lerner took over and gave Villa a few years of hope, not success, but strong hope and we (and I) were very happy with where we thought we were going. It never reached the heights of '96 (League Cup winners, 4th and FA Cup semis) but there were some good points. But now that has been replaced with the feeling we didn't take full advantage when we needed to and that time has now passed. We were given hope but limited success, now we're given no hope and abject failure. We were never given the best but have been given the worst. For hope to come back we need massive (seen) changes over the summer. Start with a new management team, quick actions in the transfer window, new sponsors announced before the season ends and a new kit out on time to show we are learning from or mistakes. We should just about stay in the Premiership now, but it might well be a case of just goal difference keeping us up. We await Villa's response to this season as the next decade probably depends on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 General Krulak here: 1. I wish I could refute the comments made over the last couple of pages but the reality and facts ARE the reality and facts. This has been a VERY tough season and no one at Villa Park is happy about what has transpired. We had great expectations...we are NOT blaming our previous manager for the entire season (counter to what jackbauer24 says)...we believed we had set the Club up for success. We had made great strides in the infrastructure of the Stadium, the People at Villa Park were totally focused on our Fans, we had increased revenue from marketing and sales, we made some good acquisitions with regards to players and probably made the best transfer of the year. All of this effort has basically not produced what we hoped it would produce. I wish I could say something else, but I can't! I can point fingers all day long but that will not alter the facts. Just like we are capable of taking the accolades when things are going good, we need to take the blame when they are going bad. So....I do recognize my responsibility and accept it. Likewise, Paul and Randy understand that they cannot just accept the kudos...they also must accept criticism. All of us are well aware of the disappointment of the Fans and the "heat" that they take when we lose to our heated rivals...and lose in the manner we saw yesterday. I know Fans want to discuss the path forward which to include our Manager. Now is not the time to discuss our Manager...he is suffering and does not need to be discussed on an open web site. Right now all we want is for him to regain his health...he has gone through a tough medical issue and deserves our prayers and our hopes for recovery. Regarding comments about announcing new sponsors, getting the kit out on time, etc. This is one area where I need to take a stand for the Club. Before we can announce a sponsor, we need to have a sponsor!! We are working on that right now. Does anyone out there really believe we are deliberately holding out on a sponsorship???? As for the kit, I have explained what happened multiple times...I regret that there remains some who obviously do not believe what I say. I guess it is like the "birthers" who worry about President Obama's citizenship...some people just can't be convinced. 2. The Game: It was a HUGE disappointment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoody Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Great reply general, appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-67 Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Once again General, you do not hide from the issues and tell us like it is. I appreciate your reply and am happy that you realise that things are not right in the Villa garden. Have you any idea on what the attendance is expected to be for the forthcoming Wigan game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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