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

[TrentVilla]

Hi General,

I would just like to remind you of what you posted on Jun 19th.

I think you will be hearing quite a bit from the Club in the next couple of weeks...from the Manager and from the Board. More importantly, you will see "action" which is the way Randy has always operated...words mean very little but actions speak loudly.

It is a little under a month since you posted this General and in that time we have seen the following;

* no players signed

* Ashley Young sold

* We've paid compensation for a manager our local rivals couldn't afford

to sack who we previously claimed was a free agent.

* An offer accepted for Stuart Downing

* The first team report back for training with no 1st choice goal keeper

and an incomplete backroom staff.

Hardly inspiring stuff General and really not the kind of action I was hoping for when I read the post I've quoted above.

You said we would be hearing quite a bit from the board and the manager, well I have to say I don't think that has happened. We are used to not hearing from Randy but you seem to post less and less while the best we get from Paul Faulkner is the odd short statement on the website, the one last night coming after several news agencies were already carrying the story of us accepting the bid for Downing.

I would like to ask do you think this is a good way of the club communicating with the fans given the current level of unrest amongst us and the ever increasing lack of belief in our current direction?

I don't doubt that behind the scenes efforts are being made to bring players in, that players and agents are being spoken to but at this moment in time there is zero to show for that.

Despite our end league position last season we narrowly avoided relegation yet since then the squad has been seriously weakened both in terms of numbers and quality.

As you said yourself General, words mean very little but actions speak loudly. Sadly General I agree with that statement although I doubt you meant that to be quite as a damning statement at the time as it looks now.

[GarethRDR]

Dear General,

Two questions:

1. What are the board's expectations in the league this season?

2. What manner of scouting network do we have in place?

Many thanks.

[JohnGoodman]

General,

Now we are a selling club, can we put Paul Faulkner up for sale?

[Risso]

Hi General,

I would just like to remind you of what you posted on Jun 19th.

I think you will be hearing quite a bit from the Club in the next couple of weeks...from the Manager and from the Board. More importantly, you will see "action" which is the way Randy has always operated...words mean very little but actions speak loudly.

It is a little under a month since you posted this General and in that time we have seen the following;

* no players signed

* Ashley Young sold

* We've paid compensation for a manager our local rivals couldn't afford

to sack who we previously claimed was a free agent.

* An offer accepted for Stuart Downing

* The first team report back for training with no 1st choice goal keeper

and an incomplete backroom staff.

Hardly inspiring stuff General and really not the kind of action I was hoping for when I read the post I've quoted above.

You said we would be hearing quite a bit from the board and the manager, well I have to say I don't think that has happened. We are used to not hearing from Randy but you seem to post less and less while the best we get from Paul Faulkner is the odd short statement on the website, the one last night coming after several news agencies were already carrying the story of us accepting the bid for Downing.

I would like to ask do you think this is a good way of the club communicating with the fans given the current level of unrest amongst us and the ever increasing lack of belief in our current direction?

I don't doubt that behind the scenes efforts are being made to bring players in, that players and agents are being spoken to but at this moment in time there is zero to show for that.

Despite our end league position last season we narrowly avoided relegation yet since then the squad has been seriously weakened both in terms of numbers and quality.

As you said yourself General, words mean very little but actions speak loudly. Sadly General I agree with that statement although I doubt you meant that to be quite as a damning statement at the time as it looks now.

General

If your continued presence on fans sites is going to have any value whatsoever, you need to pull your finger out and answer posts like the excellent one I've quoted.

When are we going to see evidence of Lerner backing the manager as you've been wittering on about over the last few weeks?

Because I think if you stopped 100 Aston Villa fans in the street, 90 of them would say it looks very much like you've all given up.

[Ulver]

Dear general.

Talk about hiding away when supporters need answers.

June 19th - General K tells us there will be happenings in the next few weeks, trust Randy, trust the club, we know what we're doing etc etc

Four weeks later, all the club have done is appoint a manager nobody wanted, pay out more in compensation deals, sell off two of our current English internationals and not a lot else.

In last seasons end of year supporter polls, the following 5 players got some of the best praise after a woeful season.

Ashley Young = GONE

Stewart Downing = GONE

Nigel Reo Coker = GONE

Brad Freidel = GONE

Kyle Walker = GONE (Couldnt do much about that, but shows the short sightedness of a premiership club having to loan players)

Every action this club has taken over recent months screams out one or two things to the world at large.

1. WE HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE

2. WE WANT OUT

It's an absolute farce. We never had this ongoing mess even under Doug!

Someone added up that since Summer 2009, we'd actually spent about 5m on players (well Makoun, Bent's fee being covered by the Milner money) and that was before the sales of Young/Downing!. So i think it's safe to assume all this talk about 'transfer fees arent the problem, trust Randy' is yet more hot air with no substance to back it up.

This morning my 9 year old nephew (who's been wavering in his support all summer due to the ineptness of the club, so much so he turned down my yearly offer of buying him a new kit which nearly broke my heart) text me to say, 'don't worry about Downing, i've added up we've got 60m to spend, with transfer fees and the 25m we already needed to spend'

Oh to be that young and niave again!

Last one out please turn off the lights. Mind you, with our belt tightening I doubt we're allowed to have them on in the first place

Proud History. No Future

[holtelower]

General.

Serious question. It is quite apparent that the majority of Villa fans feel that everything that is wrong with our club at present seems to eminate from one man - Paul Faulkner.

Ever since the man was appointed CEO we have leapt from one crisis to another, whether it be on the field, or off it. No matter what you say, I believe this is costing the club money, never mind all the pay outs we have to pay, ST sales must be down. People are phoning with sheer desperation every day asking whether I will renew. I go in a party of 6, I then know 5 others who I drink with - out of the 11 - 4 have not renewed. I would estimate that this is being replicated by others.

Within two weeks of him being appointed, he has already made our new manager (who isnt exactly popular anyway) look foolish. AMcL states "Downing is not for sale - I have spoken to him" and within 72 hours Mr faulkner makes him look a pillock by selling.

So can I ask, why is Mr faulkner employed by the club, because, from the outside, he seems totally incompetent, please explain.

Apparently you sought the input of Graham Taylor last year when appointing Gerard. I would advise you speak to him again, and ask him to tell you the story about 1986, when he had just taken over, and Mr Ellis attempted to tell him who to sell / who to buy and how to manage.

And take his advice !

Oh, one last thing.

As you state "The manager is doing a fine job of pulling the players together", can I ask why model professionals (and these are your words) like Ashley Young, Brad Freidal, and even NRC (to be re-instated vice captain he must have done something right) are leaving left right and centre.

Whilst players that have behaved dispicably, like Stephen Ireland, Richard Dunne, James Collins, Stephen Warnock, Habib Beye are staying.

Does this not suggest the direction the club is going is totally wrong. And, having said in the national media only 3 days ago "I was forced to go to newcastle against my will" - does this not suggest as stated above, the person making these decisions is what is wrong with Aston Villa - and should not be employed by the club ?

[andyh]

my 13 year old season ticket holding daughter asked me this morning, 'why do we keep selling our best players if we are supposed to be a big club?'

What should I tell her General ?

[markavfc40]

General,

In the last 12 months we have sold Milner, Young, Davies, Shorey and are about to sell Downing. Approximately total sales of between 60 and 70 million. We have brought in Bent, Makoun and Ireland ( makeweight in Milner deal ). I'd estimate we've made anywhere between 35 and 40 million. Add to this that the likes of Carew, Sidwell, Reo Coker, Friedel and a number of young players have been released we must be saving a fortune in wages.

Throw in the new shirt sponsorship deal, the Sky money then its appears we are rolling in it.

My question is a simple one. Is the above money going to be invested in improving our squad. A squad that is now lacking in quality in many areas. A squad that just about survived last season and has now lost three of its best players - Young, Downing and Friedel.

A 50 mill spend this window on 5 quality players is the minimum requirement now. However I won't be holding my breath.

Mark

[Richard]

General is the reason we appear to be struggling to recruit new players because they are not being persuaded of our ambitions or is there another reason?

[LockStockVilla]

General...for the new Hero Away Shirts I ran into a problem when trying to buy. First, a Darren Bent top is not listed yet and I would like to order one. Also, on a side note...Ashley Young is in there...Cheers General

Add Downing to the list there....but anyways any word on when that Bent #9 top will be i the hero's section of the online shop for the away kit?

[ChrisNichollsToe]

General,

Can you see any worms under the Sand?

AND

Is Randy's neck hurting?

Seriously though.....

Any chance of hearing from our illustrious leader within the next two decades? I really do think now is the time for Randy to come out an address this clubs lifeblood, otherwise there is a the danger of a massive falling out.

[tezzaleed]

General

First off I would like to say what you do on this thread is remarkable and that I think we are very lucky to have a way to communicate with those in charge at our club.

I've mostly refrained from posting on here with my moans as I know it's not constructive and to expect it to have any affect is ludicrous. however the sale of Stuart Downing so soon after Ashley Young is just too much of a fundamental mistake for me not to express my concerns.

I understand the player wanted to leave and may have even handed in a transfer request. I know it's difficult to keep a player who is unhappy and wants to leave. The bottom line, however, is that he had 2 years left on his contract and selling him sends out a clear signal to the rest of our squad and potential targets that we are not a club ready to challenge anywhere near the top 6 of the league.

I think it's only a matter of time before Darren Bent hands in a transfer request now and for that matter any player with real ambitions of winning anything in their career.

I know it's a difficult situation and damager limitation is key. I just think the club hasn't chosen the best option to limit the damage.

Once again I'd like to thank you for reading some if not all of these messages and even though expecting a respone is niaive at least you are able to take on the general view of the fans.

Incedentally I'd just like to say I have nothing against the appointment of Macleish as our manager in fact I think it was a brave and potentially very good appointment.

[rc_villa1972]

General, we shouldn't keep players who want to go. He wanted to go, we tried to keep him so end of story, we then try to get the best funds we can for him - according to rumours, this is about 5m more than the initial attempts. Good bit of business if you ask me

I dont have a problem with doing this year after year after year as long as we are replacing with similar people who in a few years can command a much higher fee than we paid and have had a positive impact on the team while they are here. We will become a better team for it. There will be some that dont work but that is where the scouting network and managerial capabilities kick in.

I strongly believe we will be a better team for having a good ethic. Where would a good up and coming person want to come and play if they can develop with us and we allow them to move onwards and upwards after getting value for money.

If we can get 2 potential starlets into the team whenever we sell a "star" then lets do it.

I guess the main question is how is the scouting network coming along so we can find the starlets to replace those that do leave ?

[UTVPK]

General. New Away shirt receive dtoday with half the G in Genting missing from logo "kitbag" are looking into it. Who the hell is in charge of the QC of the products we put out there. The print didnt come off in the post, it was packed and sent like that. A joke.

if someone can tell me how to get an image onto a post, ill happily show the craftmanship.

[Oaks]

Its 4 weeks now. 4 weeks since McLeish has become our new manager and nothing...not even a new keeper. Dont you think it would have been a good idea to actually sign anyone before you let Downing go?

I mean its 3 weeks since you said this "I think you will be hearing quite a bit from the Club in the next couple of weeks...from the Manager and from the Board. More importantly, you will see "action" which is the way Randy has always operated...words mean very little but actions speak loudly.". To be honest, not 1 Villa fan likes this action you speak of.

5 weeks, its 5 weeks until we go into the new season probably unprepared AGAIN. We should take that "PREPARED"off that badge.

[Irishvillian82]

General. New Away shirt receive dtoday with half the G in Genting missing from logo "kitbag" are looking into it. Who the hell is in charge of the QC of the products we put out there. The print didnt come off in the post, it was packed and sent like that. A joke.

if someone can tell me how to get an image onto a post, ill happily show the craftmanship.

You think that is bad,i ordered a villa diary from the club shop and was sent a west ham one,this club is turning into a joke.

[ChrisNichollsToe]

Its just occurred to me General....

But without Martin to blame for our late transfer action, maybe we can now blame the tooth fairies?

[Villarocker]

Hi General,

This is my view of the club at the moment and it is not so much aimed at you but everybody on the board who are making the executive decisions for Aston Villa Football Club at the moment.

I renewed my season ticket this week, together with 2 other members of my family who I sit next to down the Villa. Today, I sat and thought about something and it has made me have to ask you this question:

Is it JUST coincidence that Villa waited until the evening BEFORE seats were going to be allowed to go on general sale to announce that they had agreed a fee with Liverpool for Downing?

I am ashamed to say it but I believe that the club had already agreed a fee but wanted to wait to reveal this until the last minute and people had renewed their seats. I am sure the announcement of agreeing to sell Downing a week or so ago would have affected ST sales. I am sure I am like most ST holders when I say that we like to renew before the deadline in order to keep our seats and I am sure the sales history would support that. The club isn't stupid and neither are us fans! Or, maybe we are, but how will we ever know this?

Also, the reported fee, what is that all about? They just paid the same fee for a young kid who has maybe 1 full year's PL experience behind him. Downing is a seasoned campaigner now who is in his prime and was our player of the season last season. He is head and shoulders above Henderson in my opinion and yet he isn't in our owner's opinion? Why not?

This is a quote from Darren Bent on the 10th of February this year, after playing for England the previous night:

"Since I've come to Villa, Ashley has been a dream to play with," said Bent. "I thought he was fantastic when he came on and he has been the same for Villa as well. That is the kind of reason I went to Villa, to play with people like Ashley and Stewart Downing.

"To be fair, having four members of the Villa team [including the unused substitute Kyle Walker] in the England squad is only going to help. Can Villa form the nucleus of the England squad? I'd like to think so."

The 3 "Villa" players he mentions are all going to be playing somewhere else next season. Will next summer see the exit of Darren Bent for a profit too? Does the first offer of £30m get taken?

I think I have an idea as to what your reply might be to this. I think you would say something along the lines of "Let us do our thing in the transfer market" or "Alex hasn't worked his magic in the market yet and the window isn't yet shut" or something to that effect. Fair enough, I am aware of this and it will be a fair shout from you. However, my point is this. Why buy a Rolls Royce engine and put it in a mini? For God's sake General we have seen this so many times in the past it is now second nature to us. That's why we get so bloody frustrated with our club! All we needed was a little tailoring here and there but now we need a whole new fit because half of our starting 11 from the last day is gone!

Look, I sort of understand why we would not want to keep a player that wants to play elsewhere but what happens if every Villa player goes to PF and says they want out? Who do we field then? At what point are the board going to draw the line and say enough is enough and take a firm stance on this?

You said in a previous post that EVERY club has a price for its players. I hope that Spurs don't sell Luka Modric and back up your words General because if they don't you will see even more folks on here asking why Spurs - a club with a supposed, current, sell to buy policy - can keep hold of their star player whilst we watch ours sold rather cheaply, season after season!

Advice for you all General. Build a successful team and the stars will stay - simple as that!!!

[avid_1977]

General, over the years I dread to think of the 1000's that I've invested into the club. The way I feel right now you wont be getting another penny of my money until I see some real conviction and leadership from the club. Right now we are seriously lacking in both and please dont give me the "there are things going in behind the scenes" quote, there may well be, no doubt in a disastrous manner if Faulkner has anything to do with it, but we the REAL fans know our club and things arent right within it right now, we're a shadow of ourselves even from 2 years ago. A very very disheartened and disillusioned villa fan.

[Richard]

General can I say you have ben 100% correct, actions do speak louder than words. The words of the board that we are challenging and continue to challenge at the higher echelons and that is where our ambitions are have been proven to be hollow by theactions of the club. The actions that clearly demonstrate our ambitions and aspirations.

What are your thoughts on this?