General Krulak (No Transfer Questions allowed)

[V111AFC]

Having little stalls just selling bottles of carlsberg for £2 would do it. In every corner of the inner holte and the other stands

[ianrobo1]

£2 ??????

Less pie choice int he hotle suite yestrday but noticed a better take up however at £3.50 each, are quality but Brummies are not known for paying this

General as a poitn the new food needs to be advertised better and maybe special offers to enourage the take up one poeple enjoy it maybe the sales will be better

[Ginge]

Yesterday was my first match this season and i personally never ate or drank at the ground so cant comment on qualiy or service etc but i do think £3.50 is expensive for a pie. IF me my dad and my brother all ate at the ground were talking £10.50 before we even buy a beer?

[blandy]

I appreciate the higher quality food in the Holte Suite at half time. Yes, it's not cheap, but there are still the standard offerings at the normal outlets in the lower Holte, but I am genuinely pleased with the opportunity to get some decent nosh in no time at all at half time. It's the choice between the two options that is good. Thank you.

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. As I have mentioned multiple times, we DO recognize the problems with catering and are working hard to remedy them. I would hope that many of you saw improvements from the Liverpool game to the Fulham game because there WERE improvements. I liken our problems with a fast food chain like McDonalds. They always look like they have things well in hand and sorted UNTIL lunchtime...then the queues develop, they run out of Big Macs, the fries are burned, etc, etc. Even a chain like McDonalds experiences problems at "crunch time." Our issue is exacerbated by the physical limitations of the concourse and the minimal time to serve. I have seen the changes that have been made and I believe we are getting our arms around the problem. At the same time, I am a realist and I recognize that we will never get it perfect.

2. Let me check into the issue with Villa Yearbook and Claret and Blue. I will be at Villa Park this weekend and will personally find out what the problem is.

[VlVA_LA_REVOLUTlON]

how can you make this process easier to get a drink at half time?

gen, sorry if this has already been mentioned but at the newcastle game they had a multiple beer pouring thing it was knocking out like six lagers at a time, can we get some, can we, can we. would speed things up alot imo. what you reckon general can you look into this amazing creation.

[ulstervilla]

One other small gripe. When soft drinks are purchased at villa park the lids are removed from the bottles( to prevent it being thrown onto pitch i believe). However at Newcastle the bottles were sold with lids still on them, why cant we do this? During the course of last season I had fizzy drink spilt on me or around me 5 times. When we score a goal we all celebrate which is good, but the bottles with no lids, go everywhere.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

General - Have the club concidered appointing a director of football, or at the very least someone to handle transfer negotiations? If not, do you think this is something you might concider in the future? I'm not talking about choosing the players, of course that should solely be down to the manager and his scouts.

The stock answer seems to be "Martin chooses the players", which is of course how it should be. But I can't help but think it would be better for all concerned, including the manager himself, if he were to then hand over the negotiations to someone better equiped.

Apologies if this has been answered before.

Dave.

[markavfc40]

how can you make this process easier to get a drink at half time?

gen, sorry if this has already been mentioned but at the newcastle game they had a multiple beer pouring thing it was knocking out like six lagers at a time, can we get some, can we, can we. would speed things up alot imo. what you reckon general can you look into this amazing creation.

I went to a concert at Wembley recently and they had one of the above mentioned multiple beer pouring machines. I think it poured something like eight at a time and certainly appeared to speed things up. Good call.

[b6bloke]

Dave (DDID) this was the Generals reply, i dont see the situation any less desperate as it was when this was wrote.

3. Director of Football. I know that people think that a DOF is the answer to "signings"...well, it isn't. Most Premiership Clubs do not have a DOF. Can you imagine Sir Alec deciding what players he wants and then turning the deal over to someone else? Do we really think players and agents want to interact with someone who is not running the Squad? Too many people think that MON is a "Lone Ranger" out there doing all of the work. He is not. He has a great deal of help...from Financial experts to Legal experts to Contracting experts. He is NOT out there doing everything and still trying to run the Squad. Right now, MON is going to continue to hold the role that he holds now. EVERYONE understands the frustration that the fans are feeling right now. I have "felt" the frustration on all 4 web sites for the past month or so. I see the same things you see...and can understand how you feel the way you do. But for me, I am trusting in MON. I just have to believe that he sees what is going on and has a good plan.

thanks B6, for finding that. couple of to and fro posts deleted in between, above. Blandy

[JammyB]

hello general. first time posting in this thread

how is the situation with the officail site message boards going. the mods on there are a joke.

they have banned a long time user of the boards without warning (this person didnt even break the rules, the mod invented a new one on the spot for his reason). the same mods allowed a user to remain who insulted someone on giving us the good news that he had survived testicular cancer. there are also regular cases of spamming on the boards that insult many people and generally make the boards un-useable.

the official boards are a joke and the mods are power crazy, unwilling to do their proper job and are becoming as much as a problem as the spammers they should be stopping.

i know that AVFC do not employ the mods, they are from premiumtv who run the officail site. But they are a disgrace. i hope the new site breaks all ties with these mods when the it comes. they should be fired. please help general! thank you sir!

[rsvdaz]

on that note..when is the new site being launched? hopefully it will a more user friendly forum on it..the current one is shite

next month, the General said a quite few pages back.

[Salsa Party Animal]

I noticed two players have not bought their house yet. Maloney had 1 year, and Carew had 7 months so far.

If Maloney buy a house, he would be more settled and help to kill off the Celtic rumours. There should be a clause in the contract every player must buy a home with 4 months. Is there an estate agent who we can use to help players find a nice home.

[TrentVilla]

Hi General,

Rather than the normal moan's and groan's that you get I thought I'd make a suggestion of a way we may be able to improve what the club can offer potential new arrivals. We have recently heard Shaun Malonney saying he hasn't settled or found a house and over the years this has been a familiar story, I'm sure you will have heard about JPA's first few months at the club.

I know we have a club 'mum' to help players settle but I was thinking it would be a good idea if the club had a couple of houses in or around areas where the current squad live. These houses could be then loaned to new arrivals for 2/3 months while they settle which would be so much better for them than being in hotels. It would help them settle and I think would help attract young players, foreign players or players with young families.

Anyway, its just a thought. It may be something the club already do but thought it would be nice to put forward a constructive idea for a change. be interested to know your thoughts on this General.

[JohnCresswell]

It might also be worth asking if theres anything WE can do to help quality players like Maloney settle so we can get to keep them?

[sacvp99]

hi general just a quick question,

i was lucky enough to be invited to the holte hotel, unlucky for me i was in america on vacation. (my parents didn't tell me of the invite until i returned home so as not to ruin my holiday) i was also unable to attend the fulham game due to illness.

this weekend's game against chelsea will be my first this season and i was wondering if there was anything i could do to get an invite this sunday? i still have the letter if that is of any help?

i would be very grateful of any help or advice on this!

many thanks,

steve c

please don't type in caps lock on. Blandy

[prmort]

General Krulak here:

Richard's primary task...and one that he is doing extremely well...is to assist in making Aston Villa a world-wide brand. Everything from the deal with Nike to the LED Boards to other key relationships that you all will see in the future are the result of Richard's hard work and Sporting/Marketing expertise.

Firstly General, thanks for taking the trouble to listen and advise us mere mortals on this site of your thoughts and aspirations for the club.

Obviously, both your good self, Richard and others have far more experience in running a business and marketing that business than I and probably any other contributor to this forum. However, surely LED boards and Nike sponsorship do not help to make AV a world-wide brand. At the end of the day Aston Villa is a football club, and as such most fans, if not all, would believe that the best way to become a world wide brand is to have at least a competitive team first.

Fans, in the main, are not naive enough to believe this can be done overnight, even Chelsea took a few years to become successful after the arrival of RA, but you must understand our frustration at the apparent lack of ambition being shown by the club with regard to the players coming in. It is as if we have been led from the wilderness to the promised land, only to find that the gate was locked when we got there.

All we ask is more attention to the main reason we read and contribute to this site each day, the reason we buy shirts, programs and tickets…….Aston Villa Football TEAM.

[OutByEaster?]

General,

I've just read on Walsalls official site that the club is planning on playing the reserves derby game against small heath at Bescot Stadium.

Is there any way this one could be moved to Villa Park, it's the only reserves game with an atmosphere, usually attracts a decent crowd, and with a minimum of promotion could atttract a very healthy number and prove profitable for the club both on and off the pitch.

Any game against our poor relation from across the city generates excitement and attention, and it would be much more fitting for this game to have a more suitable arena.

Cheers,

OBE

[deko1970]

General

Just a little story which has some good news and some not so good performance from the Villa.

A colleague of mine happens to be a Chelsea fan (from Shrewsbury? Iknow wtf??) and as a present his son (a Manure fan? Double wtf???) brought tickets for himself and my colleague in the Trinity Road for Sundays match off the OS and all this was about 2 weeks ago. At the time I warned him that this was not advisable as feelings on this subject were running high down at Villa Park and told him what he was doing was wrong and if he did go he had better sit on his hands throughout the game.

Today the colleague has turned in for work stating he had a message to ring the ticket office at the Villa, which he has now done. Basically they (quite rightly) asked if he was a Chelsea fan to which he answered that both he and his son were neturals and just football fans. They then stated that they would not be selling the tickets to him and the only way they may offer tickets is for the away area should Chelsea return any surplus.

After all the trouble at the Liverpool game it is a well done for not letting a Chelsea fan into the home area and deprive a genuine Villa fan of a ticket.

The only business in all of the above which was in my opinion handled badly was that the club intially took his money (he had to set up an account on the OS prior to purchasing) and that they have held on to his money for 2 weeks before refusing the tickets and refunding the money. This needs addressing as it is not reasonable to firstly take the money then hold it in the clubs account for 2 weeks, could you please look into this for me.

Many Thanks.

[Ferris]

Hi General,

Rather than the normal moan's and groan's that you get I thought I'd make a suggestion of a way we may be able to improve what the club can offer potential new arrivals. We have recently heard Shaun Malonney saying he hasn't settled or found a house and over the years this has been a familiar story, I'm sure you will have heard about JPA's first few months at the club.

I know we have a club 'mum' to help players settle but I was thinking it would be a good idea if the club had a couple of houses in or around areas where the current squad live. These houses could be then loaned to new arrivals for 2/3 months while they settle which would be so much better for them than being in hotels. It would help them settle and I think would help attract young players, foreign players or players with young families.

Anyway, its just a thought. It may be something the club already do but thought it would be nice to put forward a constructive idea for a change. be interested to know your thoughts on this General.

The Villa own a couple of apartments all together round Brindley place - currently Young, Maloney and Carew all live there - I dont think that the club just let them stew there and would help them to find a house - but how difficult can it be? SM - Hi Gaz, where do you live? GB - I live in X. SM - Great I will contact an estate agent there and look at some houses in the area!