The General C. Krulak Thread XII

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-moderator- Joined: 20 Jan 2005 Posts: 19505 Location: IOM

Now that the General is feeling a bit better (see unstickied thread), he asked that we recap for him. Rather than do that, I've started a new thread, so if anybody has asked a question in the time he's been offline, please feel free to ask it again.

Thanks.

Posted: Thu 08 Oct, 2009 5:53 pm

General, Is Randy looking for further investment from 3rd parties as recently reported in the local media?

reserve Joined: 30 Aug 2009 Posts: 140

General welcome back good to hear you are on the mend, keep fighting! See below for my original comments:

Evening General Sir

Called into the Holte Pub before the Citeh game, and was amazed at how empty it was. Noted a few things for future consideration by those in charge of this wonderful facility from your average punter:

1. Better advertising of the fact that season ticket holders can get in there at all.

2. Maybe £3 a game is a bit steep for building up the required "regulars" that fill the surrounding venues for £1 a time week in week out in their masses. Same venues offer season tickets at £8/season. That's your competition in these economic times, as the Wow factor of The Holte Pub will wear off after one/two visits.

3. Also re the entrance fee, why not say season card holders that buy a program on the door at £2.50 are in. You get the entrance fee, they get something to show for it, you shift programs.

4. More outside seating, this is a great area to sit in, but there's even more room for tables/chairs.

5. Should be able to watch the game live - they have paid for the season ticket after all. People, OK - I sometimes struggle to get motivated to go watch Hull etc on a cold Nov evening. So same as if I stood downstairs in The Holte with a beer and watched the first 5-10 mins on the screens, but leave it on all game! I can guarantee my spending alone will rocket the profits!

6. At the minute you have to walk down Trinity, reach the Holte steps then go right back across the car park to get to the entrance gates. I'm aware and grateful that the front doors aren't used - this could cause trouble, but why not open one of the metal gates on the side to allow access off Trinity to save the walk back across the car park.

7. Didn't see any quick & easy food on sale over the bar. For instance we arrived late, 7.10, I hadn't had time to eat as I came from work, we didn't have time to do the dinner order type thing, but also had no option to grab a baguette/sandwich etc.

We've got one hell of a facility there, I can see how it could be losing money currently, but am amazed it is being allowed to happen at all.

These simple suggestions would, in my opinion, no way detract from the atmosphere, ambience and clientele that you were clearly aiming at when refurbing to this very impressive high spec.

Posted: Thu 08 Oct, 2009 7:56 pm

General,

glad you're feeling a bit better.

Here was my suggestion, sorry to dig up the "Does Randy still care" thread again but thought this idea might satisfy some while not compromising his wishes to avoid the media...

"Fair enough General, he doesn't speak to the media. How about just a one page article in the programme for the home game preceding Christmas? He could say how the team has done in the last year, thank fans for their support, say what his expectations are for the coming year (on and off the field) and wish everybody a happy Christmas and New Year. Doug used to do that so I doubt the media would see it as a sign of weakness or have a field day with it.

Randy doesn't have to speak to the gutter press, Villa fans feel 'loved' again, what's to lose?"

reserve Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 233

I might be in the minority here but would it be possible for the club shop and website to stock a few Cleveland Brown mechandise?

Sometimes I don't want to be decked out in full villa gear and wearing Browns gear would show allegiance to people "in the know" whilst not offending / looking chavvy to the masses.

Posted: Fri 09 Oct, 2009 10:29 am

Hi General

I'm really glad you're on the road to recovery.

Sorry if this has been asked before by someone, but I'm just wondering if anything can be done about the rubbish on match days. We usually get to VP about an hour before the match and already the bins are completely full and people resort to leaving rubbish around or on top of the bin. I'm not sure if the rubbish is then emptied the next day, but it still looks really bad. Also, I'm wondering if recycling facilities can be put in place?

I do realise that the police might be reluctant to have temporary bins etc. that might be used as projectiles, but I still would like to see this issue resolved.

Thanks and keep well.

Posted: Fri 09 Oct, 2009 11:39 am

General, good to hear you're improving.

To repeat an earlier comment of mine:

Is there someone at the club I can talk to about putting ALL the half-time scores up on the big tv's? This is something I've mentioned to you a few times, but I really don't want to be bothering you while you're still recuperating. I'd much rather speak to whoever's in charge of half-time entertainment

-coach- Joined: 20 Jan 2005 Posts: 2575 Location: Brum

Hi General,

Hope you are well on the way to recovery.

Just wanted to say thanks for sorting out the Trinity Road pavers (if it was you that is)!. Nice touch.

UTV

international Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Posts: 1009

General Krulak here:

1. peterw: The media blew that issue totally out of proportion. To answer your question directly, Randy was not seeking 3rd party investment in the typical sense of the word. Rather, he was and is looking for new business partners/sponsors just like all other Clubs are doing at this time. He is NOT looking to sell any portion of this Club.

2. cdvillan: I promise I will see if I can make this happen.

3. Dante Lavelli (I love the name): As you probably know, we do stock shirts but I will see if we can get some other Browns gear into the store.

4. mollyig: You have identified one of the most frustrating things about running a Club on match day. The trash builds up very, very, quickly as we prepared the food, the stadium, etc for the 40,000 fans that will attend the match. We have purchased extra bins for the rubbish, have folks walking the area to see if they can shift bins from one area to another, etc. etc. At the end of the day, we are at the mercy of those folks who pick up the rubbish. Cleanliness is absolutely something we focus on but, to date, it has been a pretty tough battle to win.

5. Tony Boucher: I will give it a go again...not sure what the problem is. You can contact our media department and see if you can get it going.

Posted: Fri 09 Oct, 2009 7:43 pm

ckrulak wrote:

General Krulak here:

2. cdvillan: I promise I will see if I can make this happen.

Thanks, General.

Posted: Fri 09 Oct, 2009 8:43 pm

Thanks General. If Randy is looking for extra sponsorship/investment what is he offering in return?

Posted: Sat 10 Oct, 2009 12:14 am

Dear General

welcome back to the madhouse.

good game on Monday, I took two newcomers to the Villa and they loved it. Also, the Holte suite is looking super slick these days: nice work!

But a quick word about the balcony of the holte Suite. Even though it wasn't that busy, the bar up there was absolute chaos up there on Monday for the City game. There was a very long wait to be served as it was taking two staff to serve one person, with a third staff standing round looking on. They refused to give us real glasses or to drink bottled beer out of the bottle "because of health and safety" yet they still sold us water in glass bottles with the caps still on. Go figure. The draught beer ran out about an hour before the game and the non-pint plastic glasses they made us decant bottled beer into were so flimsy they kept splitting and spilling...

We can do better, don't you think?

Posted: Sat 10 Oct, 2009 1:03 am

General, why not get Randy to do an exclusive interview with H&V?
Glad you are feeling a bit better.

reserve Joined: 10 Aug 2009 Posts: 304 Location: Burbage

General, can you tell us what the plans are for the North Stand? Are we looking at knocking it down and building a less ugly new stand to compliment the other 3 great stands, or are we looking to just fill in the corners?i hope its a completely new stand.
Thank you.

first team Joined: 14 Oct 2005 Posts: 835

villasjf wrote:

General, can you tell us what the plans are for the North Stand? Are we looking at knocking it down and building a less ugly new stand to compliment the other 3 great stands, or are we looking to just fill in the corners?i hope its a completely new stand.
Thank you.

S'cuse me? Doug knew he would be lynched if he cut corners on the Holte, but the two side stands are not up to scratch.

The Trinity looks like it was finished after a trip to B&Q, whilst the Witton is a cramped bodge job.

Any HK proposal that doesn't suggest ripping down three sides and wrapping them around, with the quality red brick finish (and mosaic) of the Holte isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Welcome back General.