General Krulak (No Transfer Questions allowed)

[musicw8832]

General Krulak here:

A very tough loss. Not much to be said except that the Fans who made the trip were absolutely brilliant!!!! What more can be said about Fans who made the long trip and did not sit down...even when things were at their worst. I can tell you, Randy was so impressed with the Villa fans and what they meant to the team. You can imagine the dressing room...the loss was very hard to take but to take it in front of such magnificent fans...tough. This is a solid team and Martin is a tremendous Manager....we WILL get there!!! WE WILL!!!! Again, we have players who care and a Manager who will work magic...we just need to believe.

Semper Fidelis, General Krulak

We're building. We'll go back there in a few years time and knock them out the cup.

Onwards!! There's a game to win on Saturday.

[TomIsADeftone]

Dear General,

If anything this hard defeat seems to have really brought home to me the size of the job which is in the boards hands, While we have started the season well, this defeat has probably flattered Chelsea slightly but still shows we have a long way to go.

It also brings home the realisation of what a good job MON has done already with this squad and the hightened expectation which goes with it and i'm sure your well aware of what happened last season, and i'm truely grateful that the board brought in a manager that has made me proud to be an Aston Villa supporter again.

I'm well prepared to be patient afterall the only success i've seen in my life time is two league cup victories but i can't help but feel saddened because i felt that with MON's reputation in this competition and our tradition within this cup along with the new believe around the club, i thought we could have gone all the way, but it would have been a big ask of our current playing staff and it didn't help getting such tough opporsition so early in rounds.

I'd like to finish with a few of questions, but i'm not sure what sort of answers you'll able to give us due to it not really being appropriate. (and with prying eyes around. )

First of all, Are you aware of the recent stance towards the club from the city newspaper 'The Evening Mail'. i firmly believe that the Wolverhampton based Express and Star is far more reliable when it comes to matters to do with Villa.

Has MON intimated which, if any squad members he'd like to see move on? (i'm not expecting you to name names)

Also is there a set limit on transfer funds or is it a case of martin suggesting players and going on a deal by deal basis of who you can bring in?

What was your reaction to the handling of the James Milner 'collapsed transfer' involving Newcastle?

Do the board have an expectancy of when you feel the club should be challenging again within European competitions? ie 3,4,5 years?

Finally, They're has been much paper talk about new sponsers and a magical £120 million deal, with local companies involved, Is they're any truth to the rumours about the sponsers being local or would the search for successful sponsors strech far and wide?

Many Thanks for your time.

[kerms]

Just read all 36 pages and cant believe one of the new directors is posting and listening on a fan website, totally unprecidented !!

Being a serving Royal Navy Submariner for 17 years I am so glad a former military man is on the board of my club, welcome indeed !!

Living up in scotland (for obvious reasons for those who know where our boats are !) I dont get to many games but have made it to 2 this season , enduring a 10 hour round trip to see villa !!

It makes the effort worthwhile when you realise it is totally reciprocated by the board,,,,, at last !!

How about some free travel for us up here ? just kidding !!

General K , we'll have to have a chinwag next time I come down.

Up The Villa

Last night was a hiccup, it aint gonna happen overnight is it !!

[limpid]

ICBM: 56.3.58.21N, 4.49.0.18W ?

[kerms]

hmmm maybe not yet limpid but who knows !!!

[VillaEire]

Agree with you there Lom,But was it not the cost of having the Man U store right off O;Connells Bridge the reason it closed??

The Package deals-Flight & Game Ticket etc -sounds like a great idea tho.

Oh-Mr General- You are a Legend sir!

Yeah that was one of the reasons alright, but now, about five years on, the rents have gone through the roof, so it doesn't make very good business sense.

The Package deal would be class, entice more people to get over more often...

Good on ye General, your doin a SUPER job....

Up the Villa!!

yeh, there's not that much demand to warrant shops but the package idea would be a real goer. i think i'd nearly buy a season ticket if it was well organised.

I would certainly go on a regular basis if it meant I wouldn't have to take Fridays off as I do now when I go to VP and if it didn't cost a fortune.

[dubav]

The GEneral got mentioned on a Dublin radio station last night as did this site on newstalk 106 last night on their footy show they were saying how the villa were getting beat by chelsea and the host said i wonder what General Krulak would make of it all.The co-host asked what it was all about and he explained how the General had been posting on the villa talk site and was getting good rapport going with the fans but the host dissmissed it as someone ghost posting i phoned up but they would not let me on air.

[Hev]

Dear General, I would just like to say a personal thanks to Randy, yourself and the Board for laying on the coaches yesterday. I was on coach 4. The day was great (took half a day's holiday (Vacation) from work and all of today to get over it). The atmosphere was brilliant, non-stop singing and I especially liked the "We all came on a Randy Lerner Bus" chant (to the tune of Yellow Submarine). Thanks so much. Hey we lost, but I didn't think we deserved to lose 4-0 - Chelsea were just sore from losing at the weekend and we were on the receiving end of their hurt - let's hope we can beat Everton on Saturday . Thanks so much for the coaches - it was an awesome sight to see so many all along Witton Lane and all the souvenirs and merchandise on sale and the local press getting in on the act selling papers, and the local media covering it - it was a great day out. The feelgood factor remains, despite the loss. This is all down to the New Board and MON. Villa are back. Thanks - Hev x

[lee_av]

No we are not. We are called Villans.

We're called both hence

:winkold:

[Pelle]

Hm, may I come with a small suggestion, General? What about you getting yourself an avatar, supposably a picture of yourself so one might get to know how you look like, so it will be easier to find your posts? After all, even if I try to read every post on here I find yours as the most interesting. Can't understand why that is... Anyway, just a small suggestion.

[lee_av]

Hm, may I come with a small suggestion, General? What about you getting yourself an avatar, supposably a picture of yourself so one might get to know how you look like, so it will be easier to find your posts? After all, even if I try to read every post on here I find yours as the most interesting. Can't understand why that is... Anyway, just a small suggestion.

Wikipedia has a very good biog.

[Pelle]

Didn't read it all, not even close as I am too tired (nothing personal, General), but it's really surrealistic to me that we have a member of our board that is a general mentioned in the wikipedia. Well, I don't know much about wikipedia TBH but it's still amazing to me. Even if it's maybe not that amazing to others. Sorry, OT. :oops:

[NibblyPig]

Happy Birthday to the Marines, General... Will you be attending any of the Birthday Balls tomorrow night?

[Daholteend]

Dear General, I would just like to say a personal thanks to Randy, yourself and the Board for laying on the coaches yesterday. I was on coach 4. The day was great (took half a day's holiday (Vacation) from work and all of today to get over it). The atmosphere was brilliant, non-stop singing and I especially liked the "We all came on a Randy Lerner Bus" chant (to the tune of Yellow Submarine). Thanks so much. Hey we lost, but I didn't think we deserved to lose 4-0 - Chelsea were just sore from losing at the weekend and we were on the receiving end of their hurt - let's hope we can beat Everton on Saturday . Thanks so much for the coaches - it was an awesome sight to see so many all along Witton Lane and all the souvenirs and merchandise on sale and the local press getting in on the act selling papers, and the local media covering it - it was a great day out. The feelgood factor remains, despite the loss. This is all down to the New Board and MON. Villa are back. Thanks - Hev x

Hev's post speaks for thousands of us. Thank you .

WE the Villa fans cannot thank The new Board at Aston Villa enough for what they have accomplished in so short a period of time. .

General Krulak, thank you for taking time from your schedule in assisting Randy Lerner and his team.

Thank you for sharing your time discussing aspects of Aston Villa and listening patiently to our observations and answering our numerous questions so promptly.

Thank you also for sharing with us the time that you spent with your famous father.

Hearing from you that General Victor Krulak said "Up the Villa" was priceless.

I read that In World War Two your father was awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart and of special note was part of the citation that read

although wounded during the assault, he refused to relinquish his command and with dauntless courage and tenacious devotion to duty, continued to lead his battalion against ... numerically superior ........ forces."

They say that the apple does not fall far from the tree and these qualities that you and your father share are just the kind of qualities that we suspect that Randy Lerner and Martin O'Neill also embody. That being said, can we make clones of you all and teach them how to play football and have them in A Villa shirt say by the year 2025 ?

The new Academy at Bodymoor Heath "will need a few good men"

Thank You General Krulak.

[PB]

The GEneral got mentioned on a Dublin radio station last night as did this site on newstalk 106 last night on their footy show they were saying how the villa were getting beat by chelsea and the host said i wonder what General Krulak would make of it all.The co-host asked what it was all about and he explained how the General had been posting on the villa talk site and was getting good rapport going with the fans but the host dissmissed it as someone ghost posting i phoned up but they would not let me on air.

The guys on newstalk are old friends of Villa Talk, I used to be on Ger Gilroy's show quite often, dont know if he still does it

[JohnCresswell]

Can we please keep this on topic for the General.

Thanks.

[toaster]

General Krulak here:

I know Richard Branson (as does Randy)

Name dropping!!! I love it!

any other celebrities you know that might lend their name to the villa?

surely any high profile media personality that mentions the villa in interviews, etc., raises the profile of the club in a positive way. the trendier we look, the more fans through the turnstiles. there was quite a fuss in the papers when prince william was pictured in a villa hat.

try here http://www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=36091

for a list of some celeb fans. not sure of the accuracy though!

if tom hanks could be persuaded to attend a game, maybe presenting a player of the month award or similar, the national press would have to report it. we might even get some press stateside too. If he was promoting his latest film, it could be of mutual benefit.

ozzy osbourne is, of course, a world famous brummie, the connection between birmingham and the villa could be emphasised here.

hope this gives you something to think about.

by the way, do you prefer sir, general or can we call you the chuckster? :winkold:

[salopvilla]

hello general !!

i am so glad that the team i love is heading in the right direction

i have been a loyal supporter for as long as i can remember until this season!

i have emigrated to New Zealand,i bloody knew that Villa would have a good year if i left :nod:

heres to gareth barry :arrow:

UP THE VILLA!

ps i was working at a blokes house the other day,a retired marine! his cat was called semper fidelis (sp)

top bloke he was too! his house was covered in marine memrobilia!

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

Regarding a CEO. As I think I may have mentioned, Randy decided early on that he would concentrate on "learning" the Club and operation first before selecting a CEO. His rationale was that if he didn't know the issues...day-to-day and strategic...then he might make a mistake picking the right person for the job. Randy has a wealth of experience in running Sports Teams and he is very careful in his planning....it is important to him that he pick the right person for this wonderful Club. Remember, the CEO and the Manager are key people in forging a "new" Aston Villa FC.

My 93 (soon to be 94) father now is the proud owner of an Aston Villa Game Kit!! His legs don't look too good but the rest looks great!!

I don't know anything about awards...USA vs UK...but what I do know is that most awards are given because the troops around you are doing great things. Like football, it is the Team that counts in warfighting. There was not a single star on my shoulders or medal on my chest that didn't get there because I had great people fighting with me. The only one that is different is the two Purple Hearts for being wounded....and that is just because I was dumb enough to not get out of the way of a bullet. Bottom Line: I owe everything to the Marines I served with.

I am glad the trip to Chelsea was a great experience...believe me when I say that Randy enjoyed it as much as you did. Like everyone, he didn't like the loss....but he was mightly impressed with the fans!!

Semper Fidelis, General Krulak

[Joey]

General I'm sure you'd welcome some adaptation of the Halls of Montezuma as the fanfare to replace the current Thunderbirds theme as the teams walk out at Villa Park.

It's a nifty tune and could serve AVFC as well as it does the USMC.