General Krulak (No Transfer Questions allowed)

[bakerbob]

In the local paper(Sunday Mercury) it has an article by an ex-manager John Gregory were he states that Gareth Barry has a sell on clause put on him by a football tribunal when he moved to Villa Park from Brighton & Hove Albion. Is this true?

If he goes we must get a replacement of equal quality or better before he is let out of the door.

[sam100]

General,

With Barry possibly leaving, what will happen with his testimonial?

Will he still have one before he possibly leaves? and when will we find out who it's against?

[Denis_B]

General in the event of a testimonial for Barry can it be on the condition every last single penny goes to the Acorns and not in his pocket?

[Denis_B]

General, all silliness aside it is rumoured we are contemplating a 'friendly' with Celtic before next season. There are long standing problems with Scottish clubs and their 'secratianism' and 'bigotism' if thats a word. Last time we played a jock team at VP all hell broke loose. If Celtic come down and start their republican crap it could all end up in tears. Please pass this on to those who make these decisions.

[gort]

1. The flag was passed too early yesterday, it should be done as the players are coming out.

2. Any chance we can have beer pumps installed in the lower North stand? I was in there yesterday and it took me around 15 minutes to get served because the staff were having to pour the bottles into glasses as we're not allowed to have the bottles either. The fans and bar staff were all saying there should be pumps in there, it would be a lot quicker and easier for everyone

[Salsa Party Animal]

Saw Youth Play off final today. Congratulation to the U19 coaching staff.

[coldbathkid]

Why not have people serving pints from those back packs like they have a Wembley, seems the perfect solution to stop the queues.

[paulanddonya]

Gen

Just to say with 6 days to go - whatever the result on Sunday - whether we finish 5th, or 8th (which unbelievable we can still do) a massive thanks to yourselfe for this season.

You take the praise, you handle the criticism - and you just keep coming for more.

One last thing from me, and as an american, you must know this more than any of us. Being nice can get you far in ths world - but sometimes you gotta fight to be a man (great track !!). What I mean is I get the feeling Villa always want to do everything the right and proper way, which is admirable. But sometimes, to our cost a lot of the time, the top 4 use underhand tactics, like this Barry thing, to their advantage - and it works.

We need to develop a nasty side, on and off the pitch to get further.

Now me, hearing the rumour that Liverpool have no money and thus offering players - I'd say publicly - fair enough, if Gerrard wants to play with Barry - there you go son, we'll offer the £15million - come and play here !! (that may make a board meeting between Hicks, Gillett and Benitez be eye opening !!)

[pablopicasso]

General Krulak here:

1. First off, if this issue is the "acid test" for our Club, then heaven help us. Let me, once again for the record, state the following: Your Club does NOT want our Captain to leave. MON's comments are spot on...they represent the EXACT feelings of Randy and the Directors. We ARE a top tier Club and will act that way in all of our dealings...we are professionals and we will act that way. If our Captain wants to go to Europe, what better thrill, challenge and "high" than to lead our Club to that "Promised Land"??? He knows we want him...he knows our vision and goal...and he knows he will be compensated properly. At the same time, if he wants to play for another Club...if he doesn't want to wear our colours...then it doesn't make much sense to say "no." I think we should all settle down a bit and trust MON and Randy...trust our Captain...and let this play out.

with all due respect, this is a SERIOUS test for the club...

this issue is more than simply losing a player of gareth barrys ability...

if we allow liverpool to walk all over us and cave into their underhand demands, then that will show that we are weak...

and it will show that any thoughts of breaking the "top four", are completely fruitless...

if we dont stand our ground on this issue and give into the media myth alleged "big four" clubs demands, or even give into player demands, whoever they are, then we might as well stick 'for sale' signs around our best players necks and just announce that players are bigger than aston villa football club...

and when other clubs come in for the likes of young, (and if he keeps up his progression, then the vultures will flock quicker than flies around shit), then we might as well just wave the white flag and admit publicly that we have no intention of breaking the "top 4" because we are not strong enough to keep hold of our best players...

we HAVE TO send out a message that WE are in control... to other clubs we are meant to be competing with... to our own players... and in the process, showing potential targets that we are serious with our plans to challenge at the very top...

make no mistake, this is a HUGE test of the club and our ambition...

[shortshadyuk]

General Interesting game and I must say that the Holte Hotel looks superb inside i was VERY impressed!, the service for beer in there was abysmal! were all the staff on work experience?

I was a little gutted that I didnt get to see you in the bar but maybe next season I guess.

RE: Barry, just get a good price for the lad he deserves a move if he feels he needs it, we need people committed to the cause and if we have 11 "General K's" out there we'd have a title.

Keep up the fantastic work, is it true that Olly Mellberg is giving away half Villa half Sweden tops at the West Ham game?

[uncle_junior]

General Krulak here:

1. First off, if this issue is the "acid test" for our Club, then heaven help us. Let me, once again for the record, state the following: Your Club does NOT want our Captain to leave. MON's comments are spot on...they represent the EXACT feelings of Randy and the Directors. We ARE a top tier Club and will act that way in all of our dealings...we are professionals and we will act that way. If our Captain wants to go to Europe, what better thrill, challenge and "high" than to lead our Club to that "Promised Land"??? He knows we want him...he knows our vision and goal...and he knows he will be compensated properly. At the same time, if he wants to play for another Club...if he doesn't want to wear our colours...then it doesn't make much sense to say "no." I think we should all settle down a bit and trust MON and Randy...trust our Captain...and let this play out.

I think your standpoint is a little naive, General (forgive me, I'm not being deliberately confrontational here).

We're having this conversation about Gareth Barry now. Unless we invest MASSIVELY in our squad and improve MASSIVELY next season, this time next year we wil be having exactly the same issue with Ashley Young.

The reason we're so sensitive to the issue is because it touches on every aspect of our support for the club - we exist to challenge, to push for trophies.

If we don't progress quickly enough, or if we don't invest in the right players, we will always lose players to the Sky Four whenever they decide they like the look of them.

The result will be that we'll stop progressing.

We could finish 5th this season, or we could finish 8th. As this outcome rides on the result of one day's round of fixtures, you might think it doesn't really reflect majorly on the progress on the field. You'd be wrong though, it reflects massively.

Finish 5th and we've moved up 6 places. Finish 8th and - in a league table sense - we've barely improved. We'd be only slightly higher up the table than Newcastle. That is how "tight" football is in the mini league we are playing in.

For a lot of us, the Barry issue is not really about losing the player. Nobody is irreplaceable. It is about the message it sends out - to the other players, to the fans, to the rest of the league, to the Sky Four.

That's why we're calling it an acid test.

[chefdoc2000]

About the Barry thing, as you have said if a player wants to go then nothing much you can do about it, if he wants to leave then let him. But I am sure he will feel a bit silly when Villa take Liverpool's Champions league spot next year!

On another note what has been the most disappointing for me this season is that every single game that we have had a chance to make major progress we have lost, ie. Chance of going 4th or 5th or going over a rival and also the two cup games we had especially the Leister one. We have never won a vital match this season (I know they all are but you get my drift)

Maybe the most important one yesterday. We clearly have major consistency problems and it needs to be addressed.

Saying that I think the MON will have a good off season and will have the players and the mentality sorted out by the start of next season, otherwise it WILL be Barry playing in the CL next year.

But just like to say overall much improvement all round. Well done to all the guys and especially you for being here for all of us, look forward you meeting you maybe in late summer, or maybe in US

Cheers

[b6bloke]

General, I'm not going to go over ground that has been gone over already in the above posts as i have faith in MON and Randy that 1. We won't be walked over by the big four. 2.The episode last week will only make MON more determined and he will not make things easy for liverscum. 3.Yourself and Randy havent got where you are today without dealing with challenges like this. 4.You understand the game enough to know the consequences of the big four stealing our players.

Under the old regime losing Barry would have been for the money and the club showing no ambition but we know that these will now not figure into the equation and that if he goes this time it will not have been without a fight i also i feel we have a management team who is up for it and i believe we can do this without being as underhand as our competitors.

My final words General are that I'm sure you are wondering why the posters above are even asking you to fight to keep Barry as they should know by now that your vision for the future is the same as theirs and it is obvious that keeping our best players is a must but the this has happened so many times people get a feeling of deja vu but the faith will return in time and that i have no doubt.

[villab0y]

The point is we dont need to sell, if Barry leaves then we should make sure we are compensated for him.

We don't need to roll over and accept pathetic offers like we have in prevoius seasons.

Anyway, Im sure Randy knows this and hopefully it is irrelevant as Barry will want to stay.

Thanks for all the comments and answers you have given us again this season its great to have you on board and we all appreciate the job you and Randy along with the rest of the Villa 'team' are doing.

Up the Villa and heres to another good season!

[holtefantastic]

It would be great to have a Celtic friendly at Villa Park, the only worry would be who our Martin would prefer to win!

[holtefantastic]

I'm aware that this forum's emphasis is for topics of discussion posted to yourself. However... post edited. There's no "however". Please stick to the site guidelines including this:- General Krulak's thread is for Q&A, the raising of issues and the passing of info two ways. It is NOT for discussions or banter between posters. Please look to see if your question has already been asked or answered before posting. You can discuss Celtic on this thread Thanks. Blandy

[tomzep]

Hi General,

I was wondering if you could tell me who to contact regarding Villa's participation in the Kickz program. Im just about to graduate and im looking to volunteer for work placements to gain more experiance and improve my CV

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. My odyssey is over...a long trip from Utah to B'ham and back to Florida. My plane was late so I barely arrived in time to do any of the things I wanted to do before kick off. I did get to meet with some of the "Trinity Road 400" in the stand itself. They were very definitive in their feelings and made sure we understood where we went wrong. Although some were satisfied with what had happened and their new seats, many were not. We got the word!! Although the visit in the stands was "painful", I think it was very necessary. We needed to hear, first hand, what the feelings are.

2. The game was sad. To say I am gutted would be an HUGE understatement. I cannot sugar coat what took place...we just never seemed to be in the game. I know that the Squad is now kicking themselves...because the chance to go forward at the end of the day...and with Sunday's result...was in our grasp. Now we must depend on a million circumstances. Flying back to the US was a nightmare...having to remember every minute of the game.

3. I would be remiss if I didn't thank you, the fans, for the support during the game. I thought you were great!! From the minute the Flag went up until the last walk-off by Olof...you all were superb!! Thank you!!

4. Flag: The flag was a direct result of a post by a member of the sites. We had to go early with it because it was the first time we were going to attempt to move this huge flag across the seats and we weren't sure how long it would take.

5. I think that if you asked Randy, he would say that we are probably (at this moment) slightly ahead of where we expected to be...but not by much.

6. I have heard nothing about a Celtic game this summer.

7. We are looking at multiple ways to dispense the beer in a quicker manner. This summer will see Alison Plant and her team working hard to iron out some of the remaining "bugs" in our catering.

8. Acid Test: Let me tell you why I don't like to look at this situation as an "acid test": To me, an "acid test" is just that...fail the test and everything is a failure. It is like making a person an objective in combat...ie. "get Bin Laden", "get Geronimo"...when you don't "get them", the entire operation looks to be a failure. We, YOUR Club, cannot afford to put a line in the sand re. success or failure around one player. We just can't. I have said, ON MULTIPLE POSTS, that we do NOT want to lose our Captain and that we will do ALL in our power to keep him. At the same time, if he wants to go...if he no longer wants to wear our colours...it is hard to keep him. The key will be to get his value!! Again, we do NOT want him to go. We will get to Europe and it would be wonderful if our Captain was here to lead us on that path.

[Tomaszk]

Thank you for answering General.

Following Paul's comment, hank you so much for this brilliant season as well! Everyday when I see this thread I am reminded we are in good hands.

Just be sure to get a solid price. You are the pros of course, but do not forget how much silly money will be spent this summer, don't get fleeced just as we are one of the only clubs remaining with honour and dignity.

[trekka]

When are we going to invite (and give an offer he can't refuse) to Tom Hanks, General?

This picture just about tells it all!!

(Thanks to TSV - GREAT site by the way).

Also, many thanks to yourself and the rest of the Aston Villa family for such a wonderful season. Here's to many happy seasons ahead!