General Krulak (No Transfer Questions allowed)

[avillafan.com]

General,

A question a bit out of the blue if you read what everyone else is talking about. What is the clubs policy on flags at the ground? Do they have to be certain size? would there be a problem if a flag had a website url on it?

I ask this because when you watch football in general i have noticed quite a few grounds around the premier league have fans flags with fansites on however there dont seem to be any at villa park?

On the Barry matter. I like Barry but im fed up on the whole story. I trust MON and the board and no.1 single player is bigger than the club so whatever the future holds for barry then so be it. I just hope MON doesnt let is interupt anymore of our preperations for the new season.

Best Regards

[Robulas]

General, I'm not going to knock other fans for having an opinion, the Holte was split on its opinion of Barry last week and where as some ppl booed him, i could not boo a man in a Villa shirt. Howerver I think he has let the club down big time and i have lost all respect for him.

Reading between the lines, he or his agent asked for this deadline right? When it didn't happen they asked for the deadline to be extended? I may be way off here.

However, I trust MON and the board, the club is moving in the right direction. If Barry goes, he goes, he has lost the fans now and will never get the respect from them that he could of done, once he is gone I don't want him to turn up at VP again. After he retires he can work for Radio Liverpools ex bench. Pls never bring him back here, he has proved he has no feeling for the club that made him.

Ahh I'm ranting now, sorry

[c-krulak]

General Krulak here:

1. Razor. If Martin came to Randy and said I need 30 million pounds for player "X"...that this player will fit right into what we are trying to do and is the type of player that will take us where we "both" want to go...Randy will have his check out before Martin gets past the player's name!!! Additionally, he will be equally ready to fund the other players that Martin says we need. I have said it before, Randy has NEVER said no.

2. Please do not worry that MON or Randy's time is being taken up by the Barry Saga...that has been a big issue but not one that has distracted the Manager or Owner from their jobs.

3. What are Randy's intentions? He is in this for the long term!! Heck, he has an AVFC lion tattooed on his leg...it ain't washable!! He wants Europe. He wants consistently winning football. He wants entertainment for the fans. This is more than a business...this is a passion. Those of you who have met Randy around Villa Park can see this plainly!! As I mentioned above, he will pay for players. What is the budget? He has set NO transfer budget...he just says bring the price to me. He has NEVER said no. Randy is no Abramovich...but he does have a wallet and he will open it. MON knows that in spades.

3. Jamaican Villa: You are, with all due respect, a waste of my time. I have answered EVERY SINGLE ONE of your points and questions in my answers of the past couple of days. You continue to rant about issues that I have tried to help you with...to at least have an understanding of where the Club sits on the issue. I don't know why you don't take the same time I take to read the thread before going off half-cocked. Do me a favor...sit back, have a pint, peruse my comments and think about what I have said. If you don't agree with what I said, coming back after me is not going to change how I feel...just like I doubt I will ever change how you feel.

4. paulanddonya: I know how you feel and what you are saying. Still, at the end of the day, benching Barry, putting him on the Reserves, banning him from Bodymoor, continuing to pay his salary and just let him chill, etc. etc. is a wee bit vindictive for my blood. The price is the price. It is still out there. If someone pays it, what is wrong with that? We all need to get over Gareth...it is no longer a distraction...MON has said his piece and is working other issues hard.

5. Flag policy: I am not sure but a quick phone call to Duncan Riddle would give you the answer.

[starsailor9774]

Hello General,

May i just say that i appreciate the work that Randy, Martin and yourself have done for the club in the last 2 seasons. Of course i want the club to be "up there" fighting for the title and European Champions league wins but i know that will not come over night. Unlike some on this thread i know that Randy does not dictate the play re - transfers like a certain Chairman in London. It seems to me that a few people seem to believe the media and gossip in their lunch-hour than what yourself and the club have to say.

It amazes me that people seen to think that just because Randy is a wealthy man then we can just attract the top players, it is unfair for him to be expected to pay some over-rated player an obscene amount of money just because he can afford it. But i also believe that if MON asked him to make a player the richest in the world to get him to sign for us he wouldn't deny him.

As for the Barry saga, i think that Liverpool and Barry's agent should be utterly appalled with the way they have acted. It is simple supply and demand logistics, Villa have an asset that in todays market is probably worth 8-10 million........ however they do not wish to sell him and have no desire to sell him, so Liverpool decide they can just come and take him but MON says "No, we do not need to sell him, but if you really want him then the fee is 18million" I see nothing wrong in this.

One last thing General, as a Villa fan now living in Aberdeen, it's not often that i get to see many matches apart from the odd occasion that i am back home. I was at the Odense game as i was visiting my new nephew and i will be down again in September to visit another new nephew......... so i was wondering any chance of a pre-season game next year against Aberdeen? I would love to see the look on the faces of my workmates when Ashley Young scored his 7th of the game.

[Noah]

General; what were your first thoughts when you came to the Villa?

[ozvillafan]

Over 500 pages? Wow!

Just a quick comment here for the General.

When I talk to my friends about this club (they are glory-hunting "fans" for the most part) I dont have a lot of recent success to boast about compared to them. But I do point them at this site and this thread in particular and boast that we have a board member who posts regularly on our forums in a "casual" manner.

Of course, they don't believe me - and I dont blame them. Especially when some of the posts here beggar belief and wouldn't warrant anything other than a 1 finger salute. But 500 pages later, you're still here...

... and my mates are jealous. And rightly so.

So - for what it is worth - thank you. As fans, we have great pride in our club - as do many fans of other clubs - but we have something a little more to be proud about: The leadership of Mr Randy Lerner and yourself. You are setting the standard by which all other clubs management will be compared to.

[sickmick99]

General

You may have answered this before, but i can't see the answer at the moment.

Do you have much contact with the players and if so are do you consider any of the friends ?

And do you personally have any ideas how we can fix the player power in the game ? I'm not asking for the club stance, just what you think should be done to stop practiceswhich are obviously wrong.

(if these questions have been asked before i apologise and would ask that someone could point me to the answers).

I have no problem with how the club is run and i also believe the money is there to improve. I wish to show no other frustration with things other than the club needs a bit of a boost, something to get us over the recent shite. You have answered many question that have been asked to many time on this board. We are all fans, and as Mon has said you guys are in the results business, if the results don't go well then we can question whats going on. Untill that point.....

Up the villa!!

[srsmithusa]

General, a post above gave me a great idea. Please have a shirt made with Krulak and your favorite number. I promise I will buy one.

Please don't let the turkeys cause you to quit posting here. They don't have a clue. In fact, if I were you, I would respond to all ridiculous and offensive questions with a statement. "One of us doesn't have a clue."

Please keep up the good work, tell MON and Randy to do the same, and let me know when the Krulak shirt is ready.

[Reality]

Honestly, if roles were reversed and I were in your shoes I'd have left here a long time ago. Keep up the good work General, and ignore the idiots. You get that with every club, and everywhere in life as I am sure you are aware of.

What would you say has been your favorite Villa game to date? And did you ever follow soccer, before you got involved in Villa? If so, which team?

[Razor]

1. Razor. If Martin came to Randy and said I need 30 million pounds for player "X"...that this player will fit right into what we are trying to do and is the type of player that will take us where we "both" want to go...Randy will have his check out before Martin gets past the player's name!!! Additionally, he will be equally ready to fund the other players that Martin says we need. I have said it before, Randy has NEVER said no.

Thanks for answering General, that is very reassuring, now MON just needs to show that kind of ambition!

[Lammadrama]

After reading this thread since the beginning (and gritting my teeth through every single whine about transfers, right-backs, transfer kitty etc etc) its time for my first ever post…

Keep up the excellent work General.

[paul34]

well general im a 38 year old bricklayer whos been villa all his life and im ashamed by some of the comments that people are directing at you.What do the fans that post on here expect you to do anyway?Ive seen some bad times at villa but since randy and yourself came here things are on the up and how people cant see that is beyond me, of course im worried about the transfers not being made but its as you say when mon wants someone he will have the money to buy them so thats good enough for me.The barry saga has just blown everything into the high heavens really he wants to go then the deadline is passed then he comes back or is it his agent pushing things a bit more than barry?whatever it is you and randy and mon will have my backing for the rest of my life through thick and thin because i was born a villa fan and will die a villa fan whatever happens

Keep up the good work general

Paul :notworthy:

[Taylo]

Integrity and honesty is all we have the right to ask of you General, something that I believe we have had from page 1 of this thread from you, and from day 1 of Randy taking over the club, I genuinely feel that the clubs values are clear for all to see in the way that we operate. There has been a lot of "passion" displayed recently, a lot of it misplaced if you like, I see that another poster has pointed out the other thread running on the board at the moment, if you get a chance to read it you can see that there is still some common sense left!

I recently watched the season review DVDs for 05/06 06/07 and 07/08 in that order, it is pretty clear that progress has been made unbelieveably quickly and I for one am thoroughly enjoying the journey. There is plenty of hard work ahead for all at the club, but I feel we have the right people in the right places to get there.

All the best General

Quick question though.....why dont we have a right back, how much money is available, who are we buying, why was there no Sprite available at the drinks kiosk when I got there, when is randy going to give a huge press conference, there was a window ledge that was the wrong shade of claret in the North stand - is it a priority to get that changed, and why on earth when the cost of everything else is rising is the price of my season ticket going up - I would have thought that would stay the same forever???? :winkold:

[Paul_W]

I thought I'd join the sometimes silent majority and tell you to keep up the good work General.

I along with many others are proud of having Randy, MON and yourself on board, and like all good relationship General, you have to take the rough with the smooh, and its been pretty rough around this thread lately so have some smooth ;o)

Yes we're all a little frustrated transfer wise, but you've all earned my trust based on what I've seen so far.

Worst comes to the worst Gen, I'll play right back ok ?

[roblinley83]

Hi General,

Thanks for all the time you put into answering our questions and putting up with the slightly more exuberant Villa fans. I don't want to retread old ground but thinking about how this whole Barry thing has been handled made me realise how lucky we are to have professionals running our club, looking after the reputation and image of Aston Villa.

Now that the Blues have been relegated, what is the one game you are looking forward to this season? Are you still planning on bringing Mrs K over for a game?

[Niall]

Good morning General,

I'm a Villa fan living in Spain. I was just wondering if you could tell me where the team will be based while they are over here.

Many thanks.

[ianrobo1]

General, on a different topic than the past three days but I am very angry at the club for agreeing to the request for swapping the UEFA cup game.

For me once a draw is made and you get to play home first that should be the end of it, there should be NO reason for the draw to be changed with and if it ihas been done because of any possible extra money to FH then money really has won out over principles.

No question just my point of view to you, I will not be attending the home leg because of this descion that is my protest over it

[nzvillaman]

Hi General,

Like many other posters to this site, I also wish to offer my support to Randy, MON and yourself for the fantastic job being done down at the Villa. We all know it was going to take some time to fix things up thanks to the previous regime under Doug Ellis and much of what is being posted on this site now is fans being unpatient as no one wants to return back to the dark old days we had under Deadly.

I am proud to be a Villa fan and living in NZ with a Chelsea supporter living next door to me, having the bragging rights over our two games last season and then finishing 6th in the table was huge leap forward for the club. Now we are in Europe and how great will it be having European football back down at Villa Park!!

I too wish there was more transfer activity and it would be great if we could attract some of the bigger name players to the Villa and I know it will happen. I like many others are upset that Barry is going but he gave the club 10 good years and he is simply thinking about his career whether we like it or not, if he rots on the reserves bench then that was his call to make.

So general I am sorry for many of the negative posts on this site, but as fans we all want our club to be great once more. What Randy and MON have done for the club so far and the relationship you have with us fans is something special that many of the other Premier clubs will be jealous of. So keep up the good work and UTV

A couple of questions - Does Randy have any other footballing interest in the US besides the Browns? I see from the odd game shown on ESPN that it would appear that the interest in football/soccer has returned to the States (especially with Beckham playing over there) so I was wondering if Randy sees that a chance for Villa to jump on the back of and build up our club profile in the States?

[avillafan.com]

Removed. I'll deal with this via PM. LV

[Villarocker]

General,

I think it is a great idea to switch the UEFA Cup game. It means we have home advantage for the 2nd leg and we won't have to travel all those miles in the week leading upto the Liverpool game, which means we will be fresher for when we play them and hopefully will give us a better chance of beating them and sending them North with egg on their faces!