austrianvilla Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 thats sounds fantastic and lets hope it can turn a few kids towards Villa and away from the evil that is the 'big four' absobloody exactly...just what i was thinking...good work AVFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 General, does the club (apart from the attendances) have any other indications to measure the level of interest in the club and whether this has gone up (as I would expect it to) ? Have any new demographics emerged ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiggainmanila Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Dear General, I just wanted to run an idea by you to see if it could turn into a reality as a half time entertainment slot for our home games down at Villa park. In brief it is basically a half time penalty shoot out amongst 5 lucky Villa fans who get picked out of a hat by signing up for the penalty competition the week prior to the game by submitting their details to the official site. The club could perhaps text or email the selected 5 or just announce them on the big screen prior to kick off. For most Villa fans, along of course with success for our club, a massive dream of ours is to one day have the chance to score infront of the Holte End- this would provide a perfect fun opportunity for doing so and should be great entertainment. As a token for the winner, perhaps the club could give away a signed shirt or a voucher for the Holte Hotel for food/drink etc but to be honest, I'm sure that just getting to walk out onto the pitch and shooting at the Holte End would be reward enough for most. I did post this idea on the forum just to see if others thought it would be a good idea before placing another suggestion on your already busy schedule. I'd say it met with mixed responses! But there were certainly some who thought it would be a great idea and like I said, those not in favor of taking part would never have to as it would be something each fan would sign up for. There are obviously logistic issues of getting down to the pitch from the seats and also who the keeper would be, age restrictions and so on but it shouldn't take too much effort to set up. Perhaps one week, you or Randy might even fancy coming down to take a penalty- that would be a massive crowd pleaser. Anyway, I hope you are able to consider this and hopefully some other posters might offer their suggestions of how this could work best. I look forward to hearing from you when you get a chance, thanks again for all you're doing for this great club of ours, it is greatly apprciated, cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 General Krulak here: 1. Paul: Thank you for the kind words. You are correct, the Club has taken a big interest in the youth in our area. It is not just an attempt to "turn them on" to AVFC (although that would be great) but also an attempt to connect with the various entities around B'ham. 2. Ianrobo1: Good question. There is no question that the level of interest in the Club has increased. The obvious measurement of that fact is game-day attendence. At the same time, there are other measures that are very important. Some are as simple as the amount of communications coming into VP. Others are the increase in corporate functions being held at VP during non-game times. Kit sales around the UK and, in fact, around the world are another indicator. We keep a very close track on the demographics around B'ham and can get a pretty good feel for where we are gaining ground. Another indicator is the amount of media coverage we are getting...written, spoken and on the telly. Finally, there is something as unscientific as a "gut feel"...there just seems to be an excitement in the air that is palpable. I am not sure this fully answered your question but hopefully it gives you an idea of where we think we are and why. 3. Half-time Penalty Shoot: The Club is continually looking at ways to enhance to Game day experience...to include what is taking place at half time. I do know that they are looking at a number of ideas and the Penalty shoot is one that is being looked at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 thanks General, I asked because my 'gut' feeling is that we are growing all the timeand by each week we are getting more respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablopicasso Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 General Krulak here: 1. Yes, today is Randy's birthday. We have sent him some of the kind posts you all have written and he is most appreciative. They are a great "present" for him...NO need for anything else. he shares the same birthday as my good lady.. happy birthday to randy for yesterday.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 General, being watching the you tube footage of the return of the EC team last season I think it would be great if a video of this could be posted on the OS for free one of the best days at VP for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 General Krulak here: ianrobo1: I don't know why a link couldn't be made. I have not seen the you tube footage myself...nor Randy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 thats a shame General it shows the passion of the crowd from the upper Trinity, Witton and Holte End it showed what that day meant to us a professional say one minute stream on the OS would look brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salsa Party Animal Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Manchester United have Bobby Charlton on their board of director. In our history we have former players like Howard Spencer for example as director. Will there be a former Aston Villa legend be on our board of director. (providing he is suitable) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyorkvilla Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Just want to say a quick, but heartfelt thanks to everyone for their support and kind comments about my Dad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salsa Party Animal Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 our armed force is poorly paid and poor supply with equipment according to the media. Do you agree with this ? Also how well USA look after their armed force ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 General Krulak here: 1. Legendary_10: Two answers....1) I do not see a former player joining our Board at this time. As you indicated, they would have to have the qualifications that we may lack on the Board...qualifications re. the business of Villa...not on football. We currently have a very strong Board with great experience and comraderie. For the most part we have worked together for years and understand each others strengths and weaknesses. The number of Directors is "right" and I don't see us bringing on anyone else right now. 2) The Armed Forces, both in the UK and the US, are being sorely tested by the on-going deployments and the stress of combat. Equipment is getting utilized at a rate that was unexpected when purchased (sort of like buying a car and expecting it to go 60,000 miles in 5 years and ending up with 60,000 miles in one year), troops are deploying more often and for longer periods of time, and defence budgets are not keeping up with the reality of the need. The US will have to increase the defence budget...simple as that. My sense is that the UK will be faced with the same challenge. Pay for troops is low...not as bad as it used to be but how much pay is "enough" when you are getting shot at? My sense is that within the next couple of years, there will be a very detailed look at requirements...both in the US and UK. 2. Good game today!! We really needed the 3 points and we got them. I wish we had not let in the last goal but such is life. We may need the goal differential later on in the season. I thought Carew played a superb game...Gabby and Young were solid and Marlon did his "thing"...coming on and making a difference. I remember when a few people on this site were very much down on Marlon...maybe MON knew what he was doing after all. :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 General, some of us never doubted that and did you think two years ago you would be making comments like that just like any fan eh ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSufferingVilla Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 General Krulak here: Marlon did his "thing"...coming on and making a difference. I remember when a few people on this site were very much down on Marlon...maybe MON knew what he was doing after all. :winkold: Blatant point scoring if I've ever seen it, careful General you wouldn't want to land yourself a yellow card for rubbing it in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salsa Party Animal Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 If the person gave him a yellow card, he probably will remove their season ticket back to Q&A or comments for the General, now, please. Ta. Blandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortshadyuk Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 General nice to see that you brought up the Marlon thing being a good choice by MON, but im sticking to my guns I think the lad is nothing near the quality I would expect of a Villa player and would love to see Nathan Delfouneso come through instead. Not being a huge named team I think the bench could do with some youngsters on it and our Youths and Reserves coaching staff are doing such a wonderful job, it feels like we're leeds in the 90's :-) anyway I went to the Villa Seat Exchange site - http://astonvilla.seatexchange.com/ and its just red, black and white blocks, I cant see text, at the very bottom are a few clickable buttons which are text... is something wrong or do i have a strange virus on my pc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark8691 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Have mentioned this before, but never had a response. Please, please General..can you improve the commentary provided by the club on matchdays! It's so frustrating to listen in on a game and then to hear that connection as been lost and we have pure silence. It happened again today for 5 mins...there's a famous saying, "It only take a second to score a goal"...so it's quite obvious we could miss quite a lot during these down periods! Please cant some money be spent on upgrading the equipment? Surely it wouldn't put a big club like Villa too much out of pocket?? Thanks for listening.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted February 25, 2008 Author Share Posted February 25, 2008 General Krulak here: 1. shortshadyuk: We can agree to disagree on Marlon. I believe he is talented and, more importantly, brings energy to the game every time he come on. There are certain types of athletes who just seem to generate energy and emotion when they are on the Pitch...they normally are not the most skilled or the most reknown. The simple fact is that they can "change" the energy level of the game when the come on the Pitch. I think Marlon is that type of player. The point I was making in my previous post was that MON obviously saw the same thing when he went after Marlon. 2. I agree with the youth talent...we have a strong program and superb coaches. We need to have a way to "grow our own" in order to augment the players we buy. The youth program gives us that! 3. As I have mentioned before, we are going to be upgrading all of our comm systems. There are many issues around VP that are impacted by the comms and we recognize that fact. You indicate that it wouldn't be "too much out of pocket"....well, don't count on it. To do the complete fix necessary, it will cost a lot. Timing will be important to the budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu_The_Villan Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 General Krulak here: 1. shortshadyuk: We can agree to disagree on Marlon. I believe he is talented and, more importantly, brings energy to the game every time he come on. There are certain types of athletes who just seem to generate energy and emotion when they are on the Pitch...they normally are not the most skilled or the most reknown. The simple fact is that they can "change" the energy level of the game when the come on the Pitch. I think Marlon is that type of player. The point I was making in my previous post was that MON obviously saw the same thing when he went after Marlon. I think shortshadyuk is in the minority on these board General. Marlon is quickly becoming a firm favourite with alot of Villa fans. As you say, his energy is unbelievable, you just cant put a price on that. His goal against Reading yesterday was pure class, so id say hes got a fair bit of ability aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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