The General C. Krulak Thread XV

[glasses]

My own take on it is that in the modern game there is always going to be a mis-match between business principles and passion. The fans are passionate about their ('our') club, whereas owners, including Mr Lerner, are business people. Yes, they want their club to be successful, but because that is good business and profit comes from good business. In the same way that if I owned Argos I would want to sell a lot of stuff. Thus for owners, running a good business is the priority, where as for fans other types of success are more important. I am not suggesting these are mutually exclusive and are obviously complimentary, but ultimately they can contradict each other.

I believe the General cares about Villa (as does Mr Lerner), but I think they 'care' differently and therefore feel it differently to the rest of us, i.e. this is ultimately a business first, passion second (although that seems an oxymoron). The General obviously doesn't post on here to be a 'mate', but to communicate the business objectives (and deal with minor problems when he can). We are the consumers. We matter if we dutifully walk through the turnstiles week-on-week because we help pay the bills. Beyond that, I'm not always convinced that we matter to owners any more than an customer in Argos.  Football isn't about football anymore, it is about overpaid prima donnas who have little sense of the reality of the fans' experience. That's why the last couple of defeats matter so much to me too - not just losing to mediocre opposition, but the capitulation that, for most of us in our own line of work, would not be tolerated.

Owners and players can talk of pain and hurt, but then fans are criticised for 'poor' attendances. I think Villa fans have, historically and currently, stuck with the club through thick and thin, and will continue to do so because we are passionate. Like many, I probably spend thousands per year on tickets and travel following Villa, and have done so for years.  Small change for a premiership footballer or multi-millionaire owner.

Sorry for the rant, but the whole process of football (particularly the premiership) is toxic at times. Mr Lerner does seem to be a decent person and has invested in the club, but at this stage we need someone who is talking honestly to us, not through the smoke screen of business-lingo, saying it how it is. I am not always sure General how much you say on this thread is from the heart (it clearly is on occasions), and how much is the corporate line (it clearly is on occasions).  I can't speak for others here, but I always prefer it how it is, rather than with a vaneer that covers the reality; the former communicates respect for the heart and soul of the club-the fans. Otherwise the club risks becoming another corporate nobody and ultimately a floundering business.

If you are able therefore to answer some of the questions raised on this thread over the last few days in a transparent way, that would help considerably.

Phew.  Feel better for that.   

Well put, and bang on the money.

[H00513R]

Hello General,

As an American Villa fan I'm interested to know if there have been any recent talks to partner with a MLS club? I know Arsenal and Spurs both have deals for friendlies, etc. in place with Rapids and Quakes respectively. With a great club in Columbus (Randy's backyard), I would love to strike something up there. The fans are passionate and it would form a marketing vessel to promote Villa across the country. Thanks.

[pelty]

Hint: the really good ones already have good jobs at good clubs

Hint - we are not the first club to be looking for a new manager. You identify a shortlist of managers that you think are suitable and you go out and get one

you dont let the situation drift for 3 weeks, at the start of a season, with the transfer window ebbing away and risk writing off a complete season with the chances being that a poor season will result in the better players seeking to move and crowds dwindling

If it was that easy do you think that they would have done it by now? Do you really think that it's just a matter of deciding who we would like and then just offering them the job? Do you really think that the club are deliberately leaving this situation to drift, and are unaware of the impact which it's having on and off the pitch?

Stop making sense.

[monkeyboy]

Calmed down since last night - and while i concur with most of the posters here re manager / signings etc, my worry is this:

Randy last night witnessed with his own eyes what MoN has done with his cash which, IMO, leaves him viewing it in one of two ways:

!) MoN invested wisely and the chaps that make up the squad have suffered from MoN's "play the first 11 philosophy" and will come good once they get some more game time

or

2) MoN has pissed my cash up against the wall with signings such as NRC, Heskey, Guzan (who has me sweating like a cornered virgin whenever a cross comes in), Beye, Davies, Cuellar - not to mention Sidwell, Salifou who were not even good enough for that team and certainly not to mention signings he has made that we have moved on at a loss. FUCK ME WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!!!

My question General is does Randy have the stomach for it all over again - what is clear to me is that the squad is woefully short of what is required if we have any ambition other than to be a run of the mill top10 club over time (which i think we will be despite some of the hyperbole posted in the last 24 hours) - so he is going to have to suffer a loss on the dead wood and invest further if we want to try to develop the squad and all this will do for the wages / turnover metric.

MoN has taken us forward for sure - but when the gloss wears off we get what we got last night - we are very short of being competitive - and I think  we all agree beasting our best 11 until they crawl onto the pitch on their nuts come March is not the way forward.

Will Randy chalk MoN up as the tosser he has proven to be and invest further - or will he think balls to it - i'm going to spunk what i have lest on Brett Favre.

To lighten the mood a little - trying to take any positive i can from last night - who'd have thought Heskey is more deadly with his cock from 3 yards than either of his feet or his suede.

[Risso]

I don't suppose any club deliberately goes out to make a balls up of things. Are we supposed to feel sorry for the board because getting a new manager is a bit tricky? If they're not up to the job, then they should get some help. As far as I can see, you could comfortably fit their collective football knowledge on the back of a postage stamp.

[Legion]

Let's get back to questions for the General please.

[pauliewalnuts]

General

Will we be hearing something from the club sometime soon?

We know Randy doesn't like the limelight, but might this be the occasion for him to do a proper press conference? Uncertainty is a lot easier to handle when you feel at least informed.

[The Situation]

As far as I can see, you could comfortably fit their collective football knowledge on the back of a postage stamp.

For real, bro? Congrats on totally disrespecting our board.

[sfx412]

I don't suppose any club deliberately goes out to make a balls up of things. Are we supposed to feel sorry for the board because getting a new manager is a bit tricky? If they're not up to the job, then they should get some help. As far as I can see, you could comfortably fit their collective football knowledge on the back of a postage stamp.

Firstly how do we know they are not up to the job, have I missed something. They might not meet your criteria but until an appointment is made its hard to assess how good they are.
Secondly are you sure their football knowledge is so poor. randy's certainly isn't.

[mozza]

General ..............you might find this question a little sarcastic but here goes..............

You are still out there aren't you and haven't done an O'Neill on us ?

I'm really becoming concerned for the future and need positive re-assurance

[nechells]

Hint: the really good ones already have good jobs at good clubs

Hint - we are not the first club to be looking for a new manager. You identify a shortlist of managers that you think are suitable and you go out and get one

you dont let the situation drift for 3 weeks, at the start of a season, with the transfer window ebbing away and risk writing off a complete season with the chances being that a poor season will result in the better players seeking to move and crowds dwindling

If it was that easy do you think that they would have done it by now? Do you really think that it's just a matter of deciding who we would like and then just offering them the job? Do you really think that the club are deliberately leaving this situation to drift, and are unaware of the impact which it's having on and off the pitch?

Stop making sense.

It's not so much a case of making sense Pelty-Anyone with half a brain knows that it's a thankless task to find a decent manager out of the rubbish that is out there.

My criticism lies with the board & ultimately Randy-This stand off between MON & Randy had been going on since last season-It was covered in a lot of papers at the time.If Randy didn't trust MON with transfer money (& I can't say that I blame him,given the shit that he bought) Then just get rid of him-English football is a ruthless beast & I'm not sure that there's room for nice guys like Lerner & Faulkner

[west sussex villan]

General, after a very dissapointing couple of games (without a manager) I was wondering how this will affect our future. It would appear we have a lack of transfer funds. With the club reported to have lost £50Million last year. We got to the the final of the League cup, semi final of the FA Cup and finished 6th in the league, surely we need to better that by a great deal or we will have a greater loss this year. We cant afford to lose that amount of money every year. Having said that the only way I can see us going forward is to have a large investment to bolster the squad, which is what i think Martin O'Neil has said in every interview for the last 4 years but did not do it. Every game I look to the bench and there is no one on there who I think will turn a game around. It would help if we had a manager in place sooner rather than later although it would seem the cheaper option (Kevin Mac) would be prefered by yourselves, I don't feel the best league in the world should have people getting promoted to management. If we are to better ourselves we need to get in a better manager than MON otherwise we are going backwards. Everyone says how much of a great manager we have lost but we shouldn't let that ruin the club. I guess what Iam trying to ask is what are your ambitions for the club and how do you plan on fulfilling these ambitions?

[Nigel Macdougall]

As far as I can see, you could comfortably fit their collective football knowledge on the back of a postage stamp.

For real, bro? Congrats on totally disrespecting our board.

He's entitled to ,as he is a site moderator and has over 20,000 posts,don't you agree General ?

[villajk]

As far as I can see, you could comfortably fit their collective football knowledge on the back of a postage stamp.

For real, bro? Congrats on totally disrespecting our board.

He's entitled to ,as he is a site moderator and has over 20,000 posts,don't you agree General ?

He's entitled to as a member of this board, whether he be a moderator or not and no matter how many posts he has.  We are all entitled to our opinion.

[pelty]

Hint: the really good ones already have good jobs at good clubs

Hint - we are not the first club to be looking for a new manager. You identify a shortlist of managers that you think are suitable and you go out and get one

you dont let the situation drift for 3 weeks, at the start of a season, with the transfer window ebbing away and risk writing off a complete season with the chances being that a poor season will result in the better players seeking to move and crowds dwindling

If it was that easy do you think that they would have done it by now? Do you really think that it's just a matter of deciding who we would like and then just offering them the job? Do you really think that the club are deliberately leaving this situation to drift, and are unaware of the impact which it's having on and off the pitch?

Stop making sense.

It's not so much a case of making sense Pelty-Anyone with half a brain knows that it's a thankless task to find a decent manager out of the rubbish that is out there.

My criticism lies with the board & ultimately Randy-This stand off between MON & Randy had been going on since last season-It was covered in a lot of papers at the time.If Randy didn't trust MON with transfer money (& I can't say that I blame him,given the shit that he bought) Then just get rid of him-English football is a ruthless beast & I'm not sure that there's room for nice guys like Lerner & Faulkner

I am not going to get into a long discussion on this, but your problem is that you actually believe the papers. Without exaggeration, they are wrong on all things Villa probably around 90-95% of the time. I can assure you they were wrong re: this supposed stand-off between Randy and MON in the April-May timeframe. I am just going to leave it at that.