General Krulak (No Transfer Questions allowed)

[V111AFC]

General,

Wish Gareth Barry well for me. He has been a great servant for our club. 10 years good work.

How can you blame a player for wanting to join Liverpool. They have a right back, a left back, a right midfielder, and are looking to strenghten with signing players like Robbie Keane for 20 million pounds. There board is showing real ambition to try and break man utd and Chelsea.

Here's to losing our best player but being able to have a pint in the holte pub before a game

(A demoralised) UpTheVilla!

[villa84]

General if you have not already, can i suggest you take a look at the Barry thread at the moment. A lot of us aren't happy about this idiot (BARRY) and us saying one minute we are keeping him then the the next minute he is going. Its getting embarrassing for us fans. Congratulations on getting us into Europe, but boy oh boy are AVFC gonna have some explaining to do if we drop straight out of Europe and drop right down the league table due to barely being able to put a team out.

Where is the big money we have been promised will be spent? Why have you not spent big money on a right back? Why have you not spent big money on a left back? We will give you the benefit of the doubt AGAIN about getting the desired players in, but at the end of this window if you don't get them, i for one don't want to hear the excuse " the players were not available".

[MikeMcKenna]

General I realise that the Barry situation is not originally of the clubs making but MON's humiliating climbdown tonight is the sort of embarrassment that I thought we had left behind when ellis sold the club.

Whoever came up with the idea that a "deadline" would work must be very naive. Tonight like many Villa fans I am really pissed off that yet again we have been made a laughing stock. I sympathise with the club but after all the big talk we have been made to look like a small time operation.

I have been a steadfast advocate of MON and the Randy Lerner but like others I am now starting to lose my faith and patience. I have just wasted a day travelling to Reading to watch an inept perfomance by a Villa team made up largely of reserves and academy players.... we were lucky not to have lost lost 4-1 never mind draw. Our squad was small last year, now it is a pitiful.

Please thank Randy for the for the pub and mosaics etc BUT.........

I would like to know when Randy & MON are going to do what I did when I bought three season tickets.......... i.e.

Invest in the FOOTBALL Club!

Only a deaf, dumb and blind man could believe that we have a hope in hell of of realising the clubs stated ambition of "...challenging for the Champions League within 5 years" based on the current transfer dealings.

[daft]

General, is there any way you can help me stop loving the Villa? Some fans are driving me nuts and I just want no part of it anymore. Please?

[Oaks]

General,

I really hope you understand why the fans are a little deflated at the moment. Some (not me) got really excited in the prospect in Barry's staying announcement on Wednesday.

When (not if) Barry goes we have lost 2 (along with Mellberg)of out most important/best players of the last 6 or 7 years had our Left Back horribly injured and all we've really had come in is a 37 year old keeper and a 6th choice Chelsea player 2 weeks before the start of the season.

I will tell you, i more hope things will happen than believe, especially after the last 2 windows. Im not really asking any question just telling you how i feel. But if its another bad window, i feel your honeymoon may well be over.

[JohnCresswell]

General,

I've bought the home shirt. I've bought the new season ticket. I went to the Intertoto game.

Please convince me that it's worth shelling out more money for the UEFA Cup qualifying game. Please convince me why I should go to see a team without one fullback in the squad. I am just feeling like I can't be bothered anymore. I can't be bothered to spend even more money when the club don't even have players to fill in the eleven positions of the football pitch.

[AstonSocial]

General

The pub is very nice

The mosaics are lovely

The free bus travel to Leicester was a lovely thought

The electronic advertising boards are good for business

The acorns sponsorship is nice

But please, Aston Villa fans do not want to hear any more spin. This pre season has been a shambles, we are two weeks away from our first game with more goalkeepers at the club then full backs. Invest in the football side of the club please as fans can turn very very quickly and if you check out a few of the threads tonight....it's already happening

[villa84]

Don't get me wrong General everything up to now has been great, but the future is looking bleak! (spelling). Im also just sitting tight and hoping rather than enjoying, it's a little bit like being on a plane with bad turbulence and hoping to get through it rather than looking forward to that sunny spell holiday in Spain.

[hobbo]

General,

Agree with most of what's being said.

Every window we go from one excuse to the next. The order is normally 'it's early in the window' (it isnt now), 'other clubs are still searching for players' (most other clubs, with bigger squads than us, have recruited good players in equal, if not more, numbers than us now) and 'the right players werent available' (this is where we go next).

This is ridiculous and there is no other way to say it. If Randy, you or MON truly believe that our current situation will get us to Uefa Cup positions, let alone CL positions, you really do need your heads looking at.

We've 1 experienced full-back and he's out for 5 months, our club captain is destined for Liverpool with no suitable replacement in sight and we're less than 2 weeks away from the start of the PL season.

As one thread is entitled, this pre-season is an absolute shambles. People have invested a lot of money and heart into Villa this season and in the past. We're told that transfers are not that easy to do but, I'm sorry, other clubs do need to manage.

It's ugly, it may not be right, but big transfers require guile and most importantly a lot of money. You have to be willing to invest what seems like stupid money. You, Randy or MON may not like it, but it's a fact. As soon as we embrace this ugly but important truth, maybe we can be a big club.

Until then, we may 'be Aston Villa FC', but we're not destined for anything else than mediocrity.

[Yuen_Biao]

General

The pub is very nice

The mosaics are lovely

The free bus travel to Leicester was a lovely thought

The electronic advertising boards are good for business

The acorns sponsorship is nice

But please, Aston Villa fans do not want to hear any more spin. This pre season has been a shambles, we are two weeks away from our first game with more goalkeepers at the club then full backs. Invest in the football side of the club please as fans can turn very very quickly and if you check out a few of the threads tonight....it's already happening

I agree, this superficial work will not win us football matches, and I'd swap all of these for a few decent players! I for one am very depressed at the thought of starting the season with no recognised fullbacks; there is no excuse for this whatsoever. A couple of injuries and we will be struggling this season, and with the UEFA deadline looming in the next few days things look rather bleak.

Furthermore, after all the talk all the posturing Barry will be sold after all; things go from bad to worse very quickly. 'General' please answer me this question: are we to replace the international quality of the likes of Mellberg and Barry before the season's kick-off?

[Adbo9]

general

Pass this onto randy & MON

im sick of the club attempting to Rub shoulders with the big boys, and im sick of hearing talk of villa having a "champagne lifestyle" frankly its on a lemonade budget........

I cant blame Gareth Barry in the slightest, Villa have struggled to put a team out today and there is no sign of the "top class" reinforcements (the clubs words) we hear are coming - Barry is off to play alongside Gerrard, Torres, Keane, Carragher etc... in the champions league......... I dont blame him, id leave if I was him cos Villa are going nowhere - and that is heartbreaking to type.

Thanks for the Holte Pub, the mosaics & some loveley scoreboards, but if there is going to be no serious investment on-the-pitch what is the point................

Ive been a seasonticket holder for 17years now, and Im seriously considering asking for a refund cos I feel so strongly that this new regime and management is all-talk......... so ill do my talking with my feet and not bother anymore, cos its a small fortune to fund my support for little or no encouragement....... please let me know the clubs policy on refunding seasontickets??

thanks

Ad

[markavfc40]

General can I start firstly by saying I have been one of Randy and Mons biggest supporters but I am now unfortunately starting to have doubts about the direction of this club.

I know you are not involved in the football side of the club but I feel you should pass on the concerns of the supporters, without whom there is no club, to those that have an influence over football matters when it comes to the size of our first team squad.

I have seen you state on numerous occasions that Mon knows as well as we do the problems that we currently have in terms of numbers and quality and that he is better qualified than any of us when it comes to addressing them. You are right of course but please do not underestimate the knowledge of Aston Villa fans. It is clear for a blind man to see that we are nowhere near prepared for the upcoming season.

With every passing day we are getting the same old sound bites that we are doing our best to bring in players but those words are now becoming hollow and the time as come for action.

The fans have backed this new regime over the past 2 years and you have so far delivered. Please be aware though General that, having been starved of the success for so long that I believe a great club like this deserves, fans will not accept failiure and false promises regardless of what has gone before it in the past 2 years. If this club looks as though it is prepared to take a step backwards or even stand still then the goodwill built up and the progress made over the last two years will have been wasted. You are pretty new to Aston Villa but we have been through years of false dawns and getting our hopes up only to have them dashed and if that is the case then, and this is not a threat, you can rest assured that whilst Aston Villa fans have been happy to come out in more numbers than ever to support the club, some supporters will just as quickly dissappear.

I am sure you are already aware of all of the above General but it is a message that needs reitterating as the remainder of this transfer window will not only shape this coming season but the next 4 - 5 years of this great football club.

[Coops_AVFC]

General, please do not take these outbursts to heart! Fans are just reacting to todays news and it's struck a chord big time. I'm as annoyed as the next fan when it comes to this whole barry saga, but the other issues that's being spouted on here and to you are really unfair. I'm almost willing to say that it comes across being really ungrateful for everything that's been done since randy and yourself, along with martin, came into this club.

Would I like to see more players? Absolutely. But not at the cost where it would cause a split between randy and yourself with the fans. And as you've stated countless times, you have no business in the transfer dealings and martin & randy are working hard hard to bring in players, so I think it's really unfair to read the flack you're receiving on here.

I'm sure a man such as yourself doesn't need any sort of encouragement from a young lad like myself, but please dont take these posts to heart.

Thankyou General.

[hobbo]

And as you've stated countless times, you have no business in the transfer dealings and martin & randy are working hard hard to bring in players, so I think it's really unfair to read the flack you're receiving on here.

That's a good point. Let's ask a more relevant question:

How many season tickets have we now sold? I could contact the club but I can't be arsed so I thought I'd ask a Board Director instead!

Player recruitment is the biggest issue we have, esp. this time of year.

[Shillzz]

Gen,

Whilst I agree / sympathise with many of the concerns left on here, i'd like to throw some encouragement your way if I may. So far everything at the football club has gone swimmingly well since youve been here, but now a small rain cloud is hanging over head. I know full well that you do not need me to tell you to take the lows with the highs, but please believe that Fans are merely worried about their football club and are not turning against you and Randy. I agree that the squad is in a bad way at the moment, but please please do not let any individual test your patience too far.

Keep up the good work and thanks once again for your time and effort.

[bakerbob]

Villa show the white feather. I thought this board had more of a backbone I was wrong.

What can we believe anymore?

We have a weaker team than last year and I dont believe in MON.

[holte_k1]

General,

Can you ask MON to work harder please. We've been told for 7 months that he's been trying his hardest but the squads got smaller and all we've spent is the Cahill and season ticket money.

[Mjvilla]

General, put yourself on our side of the coin.

Would you be willing to spend your hard-earned money, travelling, paying for tickets etc etc to see the current team in this state? To see a squad, so pathetic, so tiny that any more injuries, were not sure we can ctually put a side out!

We trust MON, but were now at the point where the trust is running so thin, that its at breaking point. We need something from you guys, which will build that trust back up. Namely, a RB!!!

[V111AFC]

General, please do not take these outbursts to heart! Fans are just reacting to todays news and it's struck a chord big time. I'm as annoyed as the next fan when it comes to this whole barry saga, but the other issues that's being spouted on here and to you are really unfair. I'm almost willing to say that it comes across being really ungrateful for everything that's been done since randy and yourself, along with martin, came into this club.

Would I like to see more players? Absolutely. But not at the cost where it would cause a split between randy and yourself with the fans. And as you've stated countless times, you have no business in the transfer dealings and martin & randy are working hard hard to bring in players, so I think it's really unfair to read the flack you're receiving on here.

I'm sure a man such as yourself doesn't need any sort of encouragement from a young lad like myself, but please dont take these posts to heart.

Thankyou General.

You see General,

I simply do not agree with this post. And i know for a fact a lot of villa fans who wouldnt either.

Today's reaction is NOT because of TODAYS NEWS. It has been building for some time now. If AVFC had signed an amazing midfielder to replace Gareth Barry then you wouldnt have had the same reaction...BUT

We havent. and we look lacklustre in the transfer market.

Villa Fans are dissapointed General. I think you need to look past all the 'ass kissing' that you get in this thread. Not everyone is with you General. People will come on here and praise you because your rich, succesful and powerful, i wont. I look out for AVFC and the results ON the pitch.

You have to sometimes put forward what you think general and i think your honeymoon period may come to an end soon. I for one do not believe everything you say.

Upthevilla

[Razor]

General, i have to say as a usually optimistic Villa supporter, today for the first time i have real doubts as to where the club is heading and huge doubts as to whether the club are lying to us. Lets hope this changes because a large and growing section of Villa supporters are slowly starting to think that maybe we have been falling for PR for a long time now. Lets just hope this changes.