The General C. Krulak Thread XVI

[Dave Cooper please]

General. why oh why oh why....errrr...no, its gone.

As you were.

[Lambert and Payne]

General, do you prefer Red or Brown sauce on a sausage sandwich? (or maybe none at all)

General i noticed you diddnt reply to this comment? I think this is a rather important topic. And im anxious to know: Bacon or Sausage!

[VillaZogmariner]

General,

It has been a very long and testing Summer and start to the new season, and I'm sure that if it were possible to turn the clocks back a number of things would've been done differently. What I'd be interested to find out it is what Randy, Paul Faulkner and Yourself have learnt and more importantly going to try and implement so that should a similar situation arise again the same mistakes aren't made.

General,

I've quoted my question above so that you could read it again. Where in that question do I say that the board are at fault? I just pointed out that, as Summer's go, this one at Villa Park has hardly been the best has it? To come on here and throw your toys out the pram, as it seems you have done on this occasion, is a bit low in my opinion. Equally, to say that "none of the Board feels like we made mistakes as a result of what has happened this summer." is a bit naive at best (arrogant at worst). Off the top of my head these are some of the key points of what has made this Summer a bit of a disaster -

1. The time it took to organise the new kit because of sponsors.
2. The lack of signings
3. The James Milner situation (Mon saying in the press that Milner wanted to leave and not sign a new contract - something that only MoN knew about).
4. The kit unveiling (Having it on display on a big notice board so that people could see it before it was unveiled).
5. The MoN leaving situation (and taking his coaching staff with him).
6. The farce that followed (allowing KM 2 weeks to decide what he wanted to do, and in turn waiting until after the transfer window had closed before interviewing managers - meaning no squad strengthening).
7. The continued farce that is the kit.

Now I know that the board aren't totally to blame for these occurrences, however there are lessons to be learnt from them. For Example, having a suitable "back up plan" should the manager decide to quit 5 days before the season starts. As shocking as the timing of the departure was, there had been rumours being banded around since the Chelsea game that MoN wasn't too happy, so much so that Randy had to release a statement in the start of the Summer saying how happy he was with MoN as manager. Surely alarm bells would've been ringing that all was not well? It is at points like that that contingency plans need to be put in place.

As a military man I am sure you are aware of the 6 P's - Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Why has a situation been allowed to develop that caused the manager and 5 members of staff to leave as they did. Clearly for that to happen 'something' had to have been festering, and had that been at any other business, the department heads, in our case the CEO, would face major and rightful pertinent questioning from the shareholders, or in our case the supporters. Randy and the board are custodians of the club, but the fans always have been and always will be the blood that courses through the veins of the club

[pauliewalnuts]

General

I read (on another, far inferior Villa message board) today the notes of the Supporter Consultation Group meeting, at which two things stood out.

The first was that the concern with having a club museum is that we don't have enough to put in it.

The other was that we do not have a trophy cabinet.

Are either of these points true? In the case of the second in particular, this would be very, very odd indeed.

[villa1]

We don't have a trophy cabinet. Tour guide told me that on a ground tour this summer. The only cabinet they have is a very small one in the North Stand reception area.

Sorry to have answered that one myself Paulie.

[shaldonvilla]

When is the traffic carnage going to be sorted
Two way traffic on Aston hall road is madness , never known it over the last 30 years

[Dave Clark Five]

General

If the new shirts rip as easily as John Carew's did then people are going to be unlikely to buy them, especially if they bump into Zat Knight.
 

[spangley1812]

General

A small gripe, but one in which I think you should hear about.

Got to the ticket office today about half an hour before the game to get tickets for pals for the game against  Blackburn on Wednesday. Considering it was half an hour before kick off I was surprised at how quiet the ticket office was and walked up the ramp bit to go inside the shop to be met by some young fella in a yellow club jacket who enquired as to what I was trying to purchase. "Blackburn tickets mate" was my reply.  He then told me that it was 'todays match only', and 'you'll have to come back after the game" - I told him I wasn't able to come back after the game and as the queue was so small (I estimate a 5 minute wait at most) would it really matter?

Now I appreciate if it was chaotic with people after tickets for todays game his point would be valid but surely common sense should have prevailed? My pals now probably won't go to the game as they won't get there early enough on Wednesday to collect tickets.

Please don't tell me to phone the ticket number either, it costs a bloody fortune to listen to God knows how many minutes worth of ticket offers and availability.

Can't you book the tickets on the website and collect them from the portacabins at the back of the Holte, they dont close until 10 mins after kick off or tickets will be on sale from the ticket office by the Trinity Road Stand from 6.00pm - 8.00pm on Weds night

[Shrek]

General

A small gripe, but one in which I think you should hear about.

Got to the ticket office today about half an hour before the game to get tickets for pals for the game against  Blackburn on Wednesday. Considering it was half an hour before kick off I was surprised at how quiet the ticket office was and walked up the ramp bit to go inside the shop to be met by some young fella in a yellow club jacket who enquired as to what I was trying to purchase. "Blackburn tickets mate" was my reply.  He then told me that it was 'todays match only', and 'you'll have to come back after the game" - I told him I wasn't able to come back after the game and as the queue was so small (I estimate a 5 minute wait at most) would it really matter?

Now I appreciate if it was chaotic with people after tickets for todays game his point would be valid but surely common sense should have prevailed? My pals now probably won't go to the game as they won't get there early enough on Wednesday to collect tickets.

Please don't tell me to phone the ticket number either, it costs a bloody fortune to listen to God knows how many minutes worth of ticket offers and availability.

Can't you book the tickets on the website and collect them from the portacabins at the back of the Holte, they dont close until 10 mins after kick off or tickets will be on sale from the ticket office by the Trinity Road Stand from 6.00pm - 8.00pm on Weds night

I'm sorry but Villa should not be turning fans away regardless, booking over the phone might be easy but is just more hassle for fans who were actually inside the ticket office.

[Legion]

The £1.50 booking charge might also be a factor.

[pauliewalnuts]

The booking charge is a   bit of a pisstake.

Charging 1.50 for the right to buy a ticket. I really don't get the concept behind that.  Maybe a third party selling tickets for an event but not for a club selling its own tickets.

[VillaAlways]

The booking charge is a   bit of a pisstake.

Charging 1.50 for the right to buy a ticket. I really don't get the concept behind that.  Maybe a third party selling tickets for an event but not for a club selling its own tickets.

Im always charged £2

[dave.woodhall]

Can't you book the tickets on the website and collect them from the portacabins at the back of the Holte, they dont close until 10 mins after kick off or tickets will be on sale from the ticket office by the Trinity Road Stand from 6.00pm - 8.00pm on Weds night

Not if you're not online.

[Somniloquism]

The booking charge is a   bit of a pisstake.

Charging 1.50 for the right to buy a ticket. I really don't get the concept behind that.  Maybe a third party selling tickets for an event but not for a club selling its own tickets.

Don't we use a third party to process those, ticketmaster or something similar. Plus we are not the only ones to do that. Try booking a ticket at the Hippodrome or for an NEC event.

[MarkM]

The booking charge is a   bit of a pisstake.

Charging 1.50 for the right to buy a ticket. I really don't get the concept behind that.  Maybe a third party selling tickets for an event but not for a club selling its own tickets.

Villa are after all a business, how much does it cost to pay the ticket office worker to process the order? the cost of the envelope, postage etc... £1.50 isnt unreasonable if you ask me

Mark