The General C. Krulak Thread XV

[ckrulak]

General Krulak here:

1.  Obviously I did NOT indicate that waiting for certain "big spenders" to go bust...or the Clubs to go under in red ink...is part of the plan.  Nonsense.  My point is a simple one of economics...there comes a time when even the richest begin to understand that the amount of money they are throwing at a Club does not make economic sense.  Chelsea's bill is not what it was several years ago...same with some of the other "big names."  The debt of some of the Clubs is simply going to choke them at some point in time.  These Clubs are owned by businessmen and at some time, there business sense will kick in.  Randy is also a business man and is well aware of the dangers of debt...and the dangers of a wage bill that is too large a percentage of the revenue.

2.  I think that Troy Eccles made a few very good points.  1)  Randy has certainly opened his wallet to get quality players...players that the Club wanted to get.  2)  We have invested heavily in our youth program.  One needs only to see what is happening at Bodymoor Heath with our youth system to see that it is VERY solid and IS producing!!  We have players who are ready to join the squad and be very productive...and we have them now!  3)  Scouting...critical to success.  Our model, in many ways, mirrors the model of other Clubs.  There is no "secret formula"...we have our own folks out looking and we also have others doing scouting.

3.  These are always difficult days for our Club.  Randy is in the UK specifically to be with the Villa at this time.

[Risso]

Hi General

I know you won't comment on transfers and rightly so.  But if the reports are to believed and Stephen Ireland is part of the Milner deal, then that will be a brilliant bit of business by O'Neill and Mr Lerner.  

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[eastie]

A year ago many would have been delighted to swap milner for ireland- now it looks as though we will get £16m on top it's a great deal,will all the money be invested in players general?

[Monty]

Hi General

I know you won't comment on transfers and rightly so.  But if the reports are to believed and Stephen Ireland is part of the Milner deal, then that will be a brilliant bit of business by O'Neill and Mr Lerner.  

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Riss, have you bet £1m on Ireland joining or something? This sudden Ireland-related change of mood is almost suspicious.

General, just to say that I approve of the club's move towards self-sustainability. Under the new UEFA regulations the two principle areas benefactors like Randy would be able to invest in are youth and stadium development. Seeing as Randy was planning for this before Platini even mentioned the phrase "Financial Fair Play", this seems like a typically good bit of foresight from him and the club.

[Top Cat]

HI General,

Can you assure me that the screen between the North Stand & Witton Lane will be back up by next Saturday?

I sit in Lower Trinity & really missed the screen during the frindly last night.

Thanks.

[Risso]

Hi General

I know you won't comment on transfers and rightly so.  But if the reports are to believed and Stephen Ireland is part of the Milner deal, then that will be a brilliant bit of business by O'Neill and Mr Lerner.  

This message will self destruct in 5 seconds.

Riss, have you bet £1m on Ireland joining or something? This sudden Ireland-related change of mood is almost suspicious.

I said at the start of the summer that he'd be my number one transfer target, so the mere fact that we look to have a chance of signing him has got me all excited.  But fear not, when the Milner transfer turns out to be £15m and Onuoha, normal service will be resumed!

[ckrulak]

General Krulak here:

I had a comment about the fact that you can't count on Youth and I am not sure I agree with that sort of remark.  Villa has been successful over the years in producing some fine football players and the below players can and will add a great deal to our Squad.  We have talent...and they are young and spirited.  You need a combination of experience and youth...and this list shows some of that youth.

Delfouneso:  Striker...player for England U 19's and 21's.  Solid prospect.

Albrighton:  Winger...can play on right or left.  Great preseason.  England U 21's.

Ciaran Clark:  Center back.  Former England U-19 Captain.  Played for 1st team in 2-0 win against Fulham last year.  Calm, composed, a leader.  Left footed.  Captain of reserve team for 2 years.

Weimann:  striker...18 year old Austrian.  Scored twice in preseason against Walsal.  Fine prospect.  Behind Delfouneso in pecking order but a helluva prospect.

Lichaj:  full back...can play right or left side.  Strong and tough...great long throw in.  A fine up and coming player.

Lowry:  Australian left or centre back.  Has played on the Australian Squad. Has potential to be effective for the Villa.

Parrish:  Keeper from our Academy.  Needs experience but will be good in future.

[ckrulak]

General Krulak here:

Oh, and don't forget Bannan.  Great skill...he may be a bit small but he is talented and has a HUGE heart!!

[hollybobble]

General Krulak here:

Oh, and don't forget Bannan.  Great skill...he may be a bit small but he is talented and has a HUGE heart!!

and Baker england under 19 ,  

General will the North Stand have a Wembley way style entrance

[Kevin Dawson]

Vuvuzelas are not allowed into Villa Park

That's a shame - I missed them last night...

[Dave Cooper please]

General, not wishing to put a damp squib on this whole youth thing, but by law of averages and bitter experience, of the eight players you named we'll be lucky if more than one of them ever becomes a Villa regular. If we get two stars from this lot we'll have done brilliantly.
We could rely on youth, but it means mid-table finishes without some real class alongside them.

[sfx412]

Oh Heavens above, now I really am beginning to worry.
General, when club officials, managers, chairman, spokesmen et al, start promoting the youth as the future of the club, experienced fans know immediately that all is not as it should be.

Whilst I appreciate we have a decent youth setup few clubs with top 4 aspirations, or even top 10 aspirations ever achieved anything based on its youth setup, especially with a manager prone to selling the likes of Cahill and buying Knight and Davies. The few that did, had an exceptional group of players and found it hard to repeat again.

Talk of youth as saviours is just pandering to the masses, its been tried too often before, by the likes of Ellis, Taylor and many before them. It never worked then and its not going to work now.

If we are lucky, 3 maybe 4 will offer the club some useful service, with more luck 1 maybe 2 will prove to be very useful in the mix, as Gabby has been for the last few seasons, but generally most fall by the wayside, and leave for next to nothing.

The other problem is of course if we get the odd real quality coming through a Rooney or similar, and I don't see one, surely club policy  will be to sell him to Man City to balance the wage bill.

No General, for the first time since you started on these sites you have sown seeds of doubt, very worrying

[Monty]

Out of those you mention there, General, it's probably the first four - Fonz, Albrighton, Clark and Weimann - who will be involved truly with the first team this year, and maybe Lichaj due to our shortage of full backs (and I do think he's a good player). It would be unwise to expect too much of the others, but no matter - I'm compliment we have the talent and will get more to make up the core of the team.

Every team will be doing this in a couple of years - Randy is, as ever, two years ahead of the curve.

[boboonthecorner]

Hi General

I know you won't comment on transfers and rightly so.  But if the reports are to believed and Stephen Ireland is part of the Milner deal, then that will be a brilliant bit of business by O'Neill and Mr Lerner. 

This message will self destruct in 5 seconds.

Riss, have you bet £1m on Ireland joining or something? This sudden Ireland-related change of mood is almost suspicious.

I said at the start of the summer that he'd be my number one transfer target, so the mere fact that we look to have a chance of signing him has got me all excited.  But fear not, when the Milner transfer turns out to be £15m and Onuoha, normal service will be resumed!

I seriously hope this isn't the case. Ireland part of the deal or money only. If we sign Onhuha afterwards then fair enough. This deal should be on our terms, although if Ireland has better options which are rumored then obviously he has to look after himself.

[VillaZogmariner]

General, not wishing to put a damp squib on this whole youth thing, but by law of averages and bitter experience, of the eight players you named we'll be lucky if more than one of them ever becomes a Villa regular. If we get two stars from this lot we'll have done brilliantly.
We could rely on youth, but it means mid-table finishes without some real class alongside them.

I understand what you are saying Dave, and agree to a certain extent. However, it's also not impossible that the majority of them players come good. For example, look at the kids that Alan Hansen said Man Utd would win nothing with - G. Neville, P. Neville, Butt, Beckham, Scholes, O'Kane, Davies. 5 out of them 7 didn't have too bad careers.