General Krulak (No Transfer Questions allowed)

[b6bloke]

Gneral ,

In the 70's Villa supporters started a craze off of bringing balloons to the match and I mean thousands of balloons...etc.

This sounds a great idea General! I'm sure you would get some volunteers from fans like myself who would not mind donating their time in making this happen as getting these blown up would not be easy.

I feel a good atmosphere coming on for yet another home game!

[1968]

General ,

Bought my lad the blue training top today and must say the quality is very good .

He wore it to football training tonight with the rest of his 7 year old team mates and , check this out , one of the team turns up in full villa strip after binning his man utd kit .

The futures bright , the futures villa !

[yakulto]

General

I've been having a problem with the Villa Direct online store.

I am a brummie resident of Japan which means the online store is my only real means of getting hold of Villa goods (as I like to do my bit, however small, to promote the Villa cause over here!)

I ordered 7 items on the 25th of August. At first I received an email saying they were just doing a standard security check on my card but that it should only take between 1 and 3 days. So since then I've been checking the order progress online and it listed the order as "picking in our warehouse".

Over a week passed and the order was still listed as "picking". Now it's been in this state for well over two weeks and I have difficulty believing it takes this long to pick 7 items that were all listed as in stock. I've sent them 2 emails (one on the 4th and 7th of September) to customerservice@astonvilladirect.com but have received no reply to either.

This is dissapointing as on the website it says they will endevour to reply to all emails within 48 hours.

I live in Japan so don't want to spend vasts amout of money calling them to sort it out so you have an email address of someone who either works at the club shop or otherwise who may be able to help me?

The 3-5 days working days for worldwide deliveries advertised on the website is looking very innacurate indeed.

Sorry to bother you with such a trivial matter, but I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall trying to email the store and if it's happened to me then chances are it's happened to others. The online shop may be the only contact overseas fans have with the club so it's essential that it's running smoothly and creates a good impression of the professionaliam of the Villa organisation with the fan (not that you needed me to tell you that!).

Any help you could give me would be much appreciated.

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here

1. Just off a short trip.

2. Gough Arms: Next trip I will try to get Randy in for a visit...if not Randy, I will try to drop by.

3. MBNA Credit Card. As you know, neither Randy nor I are associated with the Bank anymore but I will drop them a line and see what the scoop is. My sense is that they still have "blanks" remaining that they need to issue. Seems like a poor policy to me. I will check on it.

4. Villa Staff had a very good visit. I think they learned somethings about customer service in the US that may well be applicable in the UK. They had a good time but the game was BAD!!!!!

5. Not sure why the ticketing office was down on staff when you were there...normally it is one of our most customer friendly locations. Perhaps folks were off for lunch or something.

6. The Browns fans know a good deal about Aston Villa. At first they were a wee bit chagrined because they saw how much time Randy was spending in the UK...but now they are pretty much OK. Randy hits both teams almost every single game...probably more Villa than Browns (percentage-wise.)

7. I will check on balloons. I don't know if there are restrictions on releasing into atmosphere now...I just will have to check on it.

8. Yakulto: Please contact John Greenfield directly at:john.greenfield@avfc.co.uk and tell him that I asked for you to contact him. Tell him your issue and he will sort it out for you.

[paddy]

Just wondering if you saw the England game tonight General? Gareth Barry was fantastic again, Ian Wright in the studio afterwards said that he was his man of the match over the 2 games and the phone in show on BBC Radio 5 after the game seems to all be about Barry and how he should keep players like Lampard and Hargreaves out of the team. He's really done Villa proud these last 2 games, we've always known he's good enough and finally now the rest of the country is realising it.

[V111AFC]

General, if you get chance you should thank and praise barry for what a good servant he has been for aston villa. What a player. His perfomances for England have been nothing short of immense. The future looks good for villa and england, although England will be relying on villa to supply them all their players in years to come! its quite clear what MON is doing at villa and building a young british team full of talent is seeing many other fans and pundits coming out of the woodwork and praising AVFC.

UptheVilla

p.s Good luck to the Browns for their next match!!

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. We are compiling all the fan comments and making sure that they get to our Skipper. He has certainly done both England and Villa proud. There is no question that he is helping the "Revolution" but, as you all know, MON and his view of the game and what makes a winning Squad is also key to where we are headed. Quick, smart, tireless, young players who are selfless and not a bunch of prima donnas will MAKE the Villa. There is no question that people have begun to notice Barry but don't worry...he is integral to our plans for the future.

[MYSTERYMAN]

General Krulak here:

1. We are compiling all the fan comments and making sure that they get to our Skipper. He has certainly done both England and Villa proud. There is no question that he is helping the "Revolution" but, as you all know, MON and his view of the game and what makes a winning Squad is also key to where we are headed. Quick, smart, tireless, young players who are selfless and not a bunch of prima donnas will MAKE the Villa. There is no question that people have begun to notice Barry but don't worry...he is integral to our plans for the future.

Good post , possibly a banner for our Gareth ' Property of AVFC saviour of England Gareth Barry ' :winkold:

[superchrisjames]

How About... "Gareth Barry... Propery of AVFC, Loaned to Save England

[paulanddonya]

Gen

(only as a joke I hasten to add)

In 1986 (the most hated Villa player in history but for a totally un-connected thing) Steve Hodge - Villa midfielder put the backpass back that resulted in Maradonas hand of god - knocking England out the World Cup QF

In 1996 England went out the Euro Champs Semi-Final when our captain (Southgate) missed the final pen.

In (I think) 2004 , our forward Vassell missed one of the pens to put England out the QF (or was it 2002 ?)

Tell Gareth to buck the trend will you and keep away from any penalties !!

(below - your right - changed)

[dappadan]

general this is my first post to you and i would like to thank you and randy and martin the list goes on for what u have done for our beloved club. anyway to the point this may well be inappropriate but a couple of years ago my dad had an absolutely brilliand villa related idea and i was wondering if it would be possible to talk to yourself or anybody at the club about this confidentially and if so how?? thanks for your time danny

[brommy]

general this is my first post to you and i would like to thank you and randy and martin the list goes on for what u have done for our beloved club. anyway to the point this may well be inappropriate but a couple of years ago my dad had an absolutely brilliand villa related idea and i was wondering if it would be possible to talk to yourself or anybody at the club about this confidentially and if so how?? thanks for your time danny

Danny, I suggest you PM (private message) the General. You can do it from this forum. Just click the PM icon adjacent to one of the General's posts, type your message in the text box and submit it. The General has referenced dealing with numerous PMs before so he will be familiar with the communication method.

[JoolsDeVillan]

BALLOONS CRAZE:

Hi General,

Just in case you haven't read the other threads but me and a few guys are getting together an old carze from the 1970's where we all blow up balloons before the game and release them just as the teams come out.

We're trying to organise this for the Everton game and maybe if it works well other games after that.

The balloons will be purchased at the expense of the supporters like my self and handed out to all just before people go up to take their seats.

Can you have a word with all the 'Stewards' especially the ones in the Lower Holte, who have a tendancy to be 'Jobs worth's' that this is to be an exercise in fun / jest.

Hopefully this little gesture from the supporters will grow and produce some magnificent end results.

Thank you.

[holte_k1]

General, will the club be backing the idea for the Balloons?

If there is any worry about environmental issues then check out this site

http://www.allenprograms.com/store.asp?pid=11143

For some facts about balloons and various issues/claims surrounding them. I never thought id do research into balloons and balloon related problems hahaha and i bet you didnt either.

[burchy]

1. As I have mentioned before, sale of kit will be moving "world-wide". This is absolutely the plan. I spoke with the Nike representative on Sunday and we talked about sales throughout the Uk and the world...and the fact that some fans couldn't even get the kit in Birmingham. He acknowledged the problem...and it all comes back to lateness of contract. This will get fixed. As for prices...hard to dictate price points and various stores. If the store is willing to cut into profit margin, we can't do much about that. We know what the kit cost Villa and we know what the margin needs to be...and price accordingly.

will there be any plans to get the villa kit in london at all this year? as cant find the villa anywhere but can get the leeds kit!

also will the black training top be avaiable in men sizes on the OS? as at the mo it only has it in kid sizes

I asked at the Nike Town Store on Oxford Street whether they would be getting the Villa kits in and they said they were going to be stocking all of them, so might be an idea to try there. They did have all the Barca, Inter and other nike kits and training tops in there when I was there, no Villa back then as the shirts hadn't been realised yet. I was in trying to see if I could get a sneak glimpse of the new kit designs from a member of staff

[c-krulak]

General krulak here:

1. If you have an idea that needs to be "quietly vetted", pm me and I will get it to the right person.

2. Let me check on balloons.

3. I have sent many fan "best wishes" on the the Skipper...so that he knows what the Villa thinks of him.

[MYSTERYMAN]

Banner update :

Have with the help of the Villa sub contractors Bowden and Dolphin put up two banners today the Holte End 12th man one remade after the problems with the last one getting irreparable damage and the Bells are ringing both look great .

The main banner however is a cock up because the company have done it in the wrong blue its being remade and have arranged with the contractors to put up next Thursday .

Was looking at the three banners up from the North Stand and also pitch side got to say they look fantastic and when we have the final banner the Holte End is almost covered in banners .

Now what about the Trinity Road next :winkold:

[Salsa Party Animal]

If the club want some idea for books. How about asking Carl Chinn to write a history book about Midlands football with all Villa, blues, wolves, albion and walsall in it. Then it will help all 5 clubs to raise money together.

or just a wonderful Aston Villa book.

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. Regarding the balloons: The Club has no issue with this initiative. I would only ask that someone contact John Handley (pm) at john.handley@avfc.co.uk or 0121-326-1505 to discuss the issue. He is prepared to receive the pm or phone call...just let him know the issue so he can get right with you.

[MYSTERYMAN]

General Krulak here:

1. Regarding the balloons: The Club has no issue with this initiative. I would only ask that someone contact John Handley (pm) at john.handley@avfc.co.uk or 0121-326-1505 to discuss the issue. He is prepared to receive the pm or phone call...just let him know the issue so he can get right with you.

Done !

Good evening John ,

Myself and a fair number of other Villa supporters have been in contact with General Krulack about trying to bring back something Villa fans used to do in the mid 70's when the club was really on a bit of a high and we all became part of one cause almost . It sounds odd but back then hundreds and sometimes thousands of Villa supporters would bring balloons to games and as the Villa team came onto the pitch they were greeted by hundreds of balloons the sight if you wasn't there was amazing . I have been the focal point with the banners around the ground and there is now a growing enthusiasm to do even more and enhance the match day experience let our children know of what Villa Park can be like and to create the atmosphere of a golden era or create another golden era .Dennis Mortimer only recently commented about how opposing players used to say to him wish our fans did that .

The General tells me the club have no issue and requested we contact yourself direct about it , the supporters are planning to purchase 4/ 5000 balloons and others are bringing their own would it be possible if we issued them to the club that they could be issued to the Holte End and North Stand lowers to start this trend off or even put one on each seat .

We are looking to start it at the Everton game and seems others have already bought balloons individually to bring but we want to get to the masses and create something special like the Sheff United scarf day but from the supporters , if it means we have to have people handing them out we will do just think it would be better if we can get them distributed inside Villa Park ?

What would be your advice ?