c-krulak

General Krulak here: 1. I will be off the net for a couple of days...need to go to California to see my 96 year old father...he is not doing well. 2. Coin incident: First and foremost, Randy was terribly disappointed about the incident but has no intention of "hanging it up" because it happened. Again, it was a blemish against our Club and that obviously sits poorly with our Chairman but he will not abandon this Club. As for not being able to identify the culprit...I respond by what I have said before: The KEY to finding the culprit is found in our Fans. A Fan saw who threw that coin...simple as that. You can't sit next to a person or behind a person and not see them wind up and throw something. That Fan needs to step up and do the right thing. We will not be able to screen a VTC feed and pick out a single person with a throwing motion. A Fan saw it happen and needs to take the right steps. 3. Grunthos: I am not sure what the status of overseas feeds are with the FA. Like anything else in life, if there is money to be made, this step will be taken. 4. Dugdale's shirt: I am sure that we are looking at that potential. The key will be, of course, the cost. 5. As a fan, I confess I was gutted by the game last night. Through the first 20 minutes I thought we were going to see a fantastic game. After half-time, I was very disappointed. I am not sure what happened but, like most who saw the game, we appeared to have lost steam. I am not going to try and second guess why or even if what I saw was correct. What I do know is that we have a great Manager and a very solid team and that they will bounce back from this game. I can assure you that we have no players who go into a game like last nights and aren't up for it...aren't desirous of a win. Lord knows what happened...but, as the-savman said, "win some, lose some." NOW we need to just get back on the winning path.

General Krulak here 1. Southgate: We have tried and continue to try to get as many tickets as possible. The priority of ticket sales is something that we could argue all day long about. If we went by your route, I can assure you I would be getting comments from fans who believe they are not being treated fairly...such as ST holders. We do as best we can. 2. I am sure the club would consider a card display but...they are hard to coordinate and. if not, carried out to perfection, can cause embarrassment.

General Krulak here: 1. DalianDaley: As I have indicated before, we have commissioned a well known group to look at the overall development of Villa Park...not just the stadium. This group wil make recommendations and Randy and the Board will determine how we press forward. All options are being looked at...enclosing corners would only be considered as one of the options and not necessarily a done deal or the way to proceed. As soon as we have determined the final direction, we will let the fans know. 2. holte_k1: The price rise has NOT been a failure. First off, as I said at the time, we are still at or near the bottom of the pricing scheme for Premiership Clubs. Additionally, we had not raised prices for a couple of years so we were coming off of a very low base to begin with. Our revenue has more than made up for the attendence...which, for factual information, is not much different than last year at this point in time. There is no question that the economy is having an impact of attendence...not only at Villa Park but around the League. I would expect nothing less. At the same time, we are experiencing a great atmosphere at our games, people are proud of their Club, we are into Europe and have kept prices low for those European Games. I think the Club has done very well to balance to realites of the economy with the requirements to ensure a revenue stream that will support the Team.

General Krulak here: 1. The 50%-50% split decision was made BEFORE any article came out. Again, we do MANY things for the Forces that we NEVER publicize...it just isn't what we do. As for going after NOTW, we just don't think that there is any gain in something like that. Our actions will speak for our Club. 2. Not a whole lots of job openings at Villa Park right now...people are very happy there. If you are seeking a position, the best thing to do is submit a CV to AVFC, HR. 3. Some folks have been complaining about a "live stream" that did not work. This was an "illegal stream"...NOT coming from AVFC. People who paid money for the stream need to be mad at the people who took the money..not at AVFC. I

General Krulak here: 1. Solid game...3 points. Not every game is going to be pretty...but winning is key.

General Krulak here: 1. I know that there are many out there who wish the Club to pick a solicitor and go after NOTW. I would imagine that by now, most realize that this is just not something our Club would do. We, again, try to let our actions speak for us. NOTW might get a large readership but our Fans and the members of the Forces who have served and are serving are our on ly concern. Our actions will show to them where our hearts lie. 2. An e-mail to either ticket office or hospitality will get to the folks you want to reach. 3. Don_Baker: So glad that the session was such a positive one for you and your family. 4. Attendence should be between 36-37K.

General Krulak here: 1. I hope that some of you had the opportunity to visit Villa Park today for the training session. A good time was had by all. 2. Your Club is looking at what we might do re. the NOTW article. We have put out a statement and has spoken to the major media outlets. I do not think that we will go on the "attack" because that is just not something we would do. I put down my feelings (and those of Randy) a few pages back in this thread. Our concern is that our Fans know what happened...we cannot "correct" the entire UK.

General Krulak here: 1. Obviously I should not comment on the John Carew incident other than to say that I felt MON did the right thing and John responded as the Villa man he is. 2. Re. 3rd kit. I am now not sure we will have one.

General Krulak here: 1. The Poppy Appeal: I confess to being somewhat suprised by the News of the World article. Having served in the Forces for 35+ years, fought in VietNam on two tours of duty (wounded in action twice), and fought in Desert Storm, I doubt if anyone appreciates the sacrifice of our fallen warriors more than I do. Randy, whose father was a Marine Officer, has visited troops in Iraq and has supported both US and UK Forces in many "unheralded" ways equally has the deepest admiration for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. As many will see, there will be a guard of honour at the Middlesborough game, money collected by acorns will be divided equally between acorns and the Poppy Appeal, and, as has been the case since Randy took over the Club, all members of the Forces will be able to obtain discounted tickets. We have NOT publicized any of this because we do not believe in tooting our own horns. Just please know that YOUR Club would NEVER disrespect those who ARE serving or HAVE served...and certainly not those who have laid down their lives for their Country. God Bless them and their loved ones who have been left behind. We owe them our MOST precious possession...our FREEDOM!!! 2. What a wonderful win today. The lads played their guts out. MON did a magnificent job of taking a Team that had an amazingly emotional game on Thursday and having them ready for another one today! A special thanks to the Fans who provided the away support.

General Krulak here: 1. To lodge a concern re. security, please contact John Handley at AVFC...he is the Head of Security and will take your issue and work it hard. He is a good man with a great relationship with the police. Let him know the problem and he will attempt to sort it asap. 2. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments made to MON, Randy and the Board. Believe me, I pass all of them on...just as I pass on those that have legitimate complaints. I have always said I look for the "good, bad and ugly" but it sure is NICE to get some of the good. 3. Programmes: We printed up the number we thought would be required but people purchased multiple copies per individual. The actual programme was not intended to have a bunch of extra pages and extra words...it was to "celebrate" our entry back into Europe against a team of great tradition and quality. I personally purchased one for each of my children...to keep as a memory...and carried them back to the US. If you felt that they were not worth the 5 quid...I am sorry. My sense is that 10 years from now you will look at the programme and be darn happy you purchased it. You were at Villa Park on a very special night and saw a very special result. One thing you should know, we did NOT make a bunch of money on the programme...the cover itself was very expensive to the Club. We were trying to provide the fans with something special...I am sorry there are those who did not feel we succeeded. What IS IMPORTANT is that YOUR Club tried to do something special for YOU, the fan. 4. Training day at Villa Park will really be something special!!!!! Try to get there!! It is free and will be a great time for children and adults.

General Krulak here: 1. Yes, I was at the game and so was Randy. I spent time in all 4 stands during the game and was in two of the concourses during half-time. I saw the normal queues for food...and I saw people working at the kiosks doing their best to keep up with the requests. I saw polite servers who had smiles on their faces. Was everything perfect??? NO!!! At the same time, I continue to be convinced that Alison Plant and her Team are making big strides every game. There is NO doubt that our biggest problems come from the infrastructure itself...not enough room to move food in and out, avoid the huge queues and the packed concourses. We will eventually fix that problem. Still, I firmly believe that we are doing better and ask everyone to remember what it was like before Alison established more kiosks, hire more people and conducted more training. 2. MON was correct...Randy and the Board were very disappointed in the coin tossing incident. It does absolutely NOTHING for our reputation! When it comes to tickets for away games, especially in Europe, these sort of incidents (when tied to a specific Club) do not make things easy for us. It can also cause real problems...to include playing at a neutral site or closed games. We are not a bunch of thugs but when something like this happens, it does nothing for our reputation. Aston Villa has always stood for what is good in football...our reputation and our ethos and our tradition is very high. We cannot afford to allow one "knucklehead" to put this in jeopardy. If we discover who threw the coin, he/she will NOT be welcome at Villa Park again. Someone out there...a fan...saw who threw that coin. To date, no one has stepped forward to identify that person. 3. Rules dictate that a Club is required to provide 5% of their stadium capacity to away fans. I am sure that all of you realize that we always ask for an "additional allocation" for these Cup Games. Your Club does not just sit there and say, "Thanks for the allocation"...they try for as many as possible. We either get the added number or we don't. It is NOT something we control. The number of people going on the "official travel" is no where near the total number of tickets allocated. Simply put, a % of Fans who pay for the travel get the tickets...but, by no means, all of the allocation. Obviously these tickets are going to be very sought after...and when it is posted that they are going on sale, people need to hustle to get them. I wish we had more but we don't...we allocate them as fairly as possible whilst, at the same time, offfering a special package. The fans who take the special package are no less Villa fans than those who don't. 4. yes, we do have plans for Villa Park...MON is correct. We are not fully prepared to articulate those plans as yet because they have not been totally vetted and argreed upon. I have said on many occasions that we commissioned a study on Villa Park and will announce the results when ready. 5. A GREAT win last night!! The fans were spectacular...as MON and the Team have said. The atmosphere was superb! Thank you! I am at Heathrow right now and could probably "fly" to the US on my own.

General Krulak here: 1. I am now at Villa Park...got in yesterday...Randy just landed at Luton this am. Everyone is ready for the game tonight. Ajax practiced at Villa Park last night..nice looking team. 2. We will probably not sell out for the game today...probably come close to 40,000K depending on walk-ups today. I still believe the atmosphere will be great!! As you all probably know, the programmes for the game will be special...I have seen them and they are sharp. 25 will have autogrqaphs of the entire team in them...so 25 Fans will be very happy when they open the programme and discover that they are one of the "lucky" 25. 3. Be aware that we will be having a Villa Park "training day" very soon. The date/time will be posted on the OS today. 4. A little late for Bouma to write something. He is doing much better and is progressing well. He appreciates all the well wishes he gets...we pass everything on to him. 5. No new info on the "coin tosser." We can investigate until the cows come home and probably not find the person without help from fans who know who that person is. I confess that I am a bit disappointed that we haven't had a fan step up and help us identify the culprit. We could have had someone seriously injured and we certainly received some very negative publicity for our Club and Fans. Someone out there knows who did it but apparently is not willing to get "involved." 6. Away tickets: We are allocated 5% of the stadium capacity...which meant 1500 tickets for one game and will probably mean around 3000 for the other game. Our folks will be going to Europe to nail down the Hamburg game early in Novemeber. As soon as we know what the numbers are, we will be announcing on the OS how the tickets will be allocated. We will try to be as fair as possible...for ST holders and the regular fans. Part of the deal with the official travel is to ensure that people who take that pacikage have a ticket...that would only make sense. With a potential 3000 tickets available, we should have enough to take care of most people who want to go. Tickets are limited to the 5% so when the notice is posted on the OS, people need to react quickly if they want a ticket.

General Krulak here...at airport. 1. Quickly: ChrisVillan, I just communicated with Nicky Keye...she asks that you call her so she can try to help.

General Krulak here: 1. don't_do_it_doug: We do not schedule the location of games...when it comes time for us to host a reserve game, we eagerly do it. 2. avillafan: Not sure exactly what you are saying...the Holte is a pub...not a posh bar. The fact that it is very nice inside and serves good food at fair prices does not take away from its "pubness." The Holte cannot be "filled to the rafters"...we WISH it could but it can't. We are restricted by the fire code as to how many people can be in the Holte at any one time. We ARE filled to capacity every game day...capacity dictated by the B'ham fire department. During the week the Holte is NOT filled...we understand that and lament the fact. It is a great place to bring friends and family to enjoy the Villa Park experience. It is hard to come up with a scheme to make sure we fill the Holte on game day...we do know that 1st come, 1st serve is NOT the way to do it. It places the stewards/ushers in an untenable situation of being "counters", enforcers, etc. NOT good. 3. Songs: I have addressed this issue many times. We will be more than happy to produce song sheets BUT, we need the fans to give us the songs!! We have raised this at the SCG meetings but to no avail. It should not be up to the Club to start determing what songs the fans sing...that should be up to the fans. 4. sellyoakvilla: I will pass on your thanks to Sheila and pass your other remarks on to Nicky Keye. 5. The Game: Not much to say. I thought Petrov played extremely well. We need to focus on Ajax now.

General Krulak here: 1. Flag is planned to be out for Ajax game. 2. Attendence for upcoming games: Ajax. 42K, V Zalina, 39K, Portsmouth, 39K. 3. Online ticketing: I am sure that there are newer and more up-to-date systems than what we have...and we will be looking at those systems. At this point in the season, I doubt if it would make much sense to attempt a turnover to a new system. 4. Invite to Holte: This is one that I am personally not happy with. We still have not come up with a way to ensure equity across the board with regards to the lottery. I promise that I will fix this.

General Krulak here: 1. Missed a couple of questions: a. Economy: Obviously it is never good when the market drops 40% in a year. At the same time, Randy is commited to the Club and people should not start worrying about Randy and his commitment. b. For people who have serious issues with ticketing...problems with accounting, etc. You should call Nicky Keye and let her know the issue and see if she can sort.

General Krulak here: 1. Games in Scotland or Ireland or elsewhere...friendlies: This is really a call made by MON. He pretty much sets out who he wants to play and where and then goes about making it happen. Randy and the Board are loath to start telling MOn where to play and who to play. I am pretty sure that he will eventually get a game going in Scotland and Ireland but I am not sure when. Truly, this is MON's call. 2. Tickets: As I have indicated before, we have every phone manned and have everyone working at 110% effort in the ticketing office. We recognize the queuing issue and are trying to be as responsive as possible. We exoect 41,000+ for Ajax, 37,000+ for Zilna, 39,000+ for Portsmouth....as you can see, things are very busy for Nicky Keye and her team right now. We are trying to be as fair as possible with everyone...understanding the ST holders place in the big picture.

General Krulak here: 1. Post # 800!! Where has the time gone?? My wife is going to rip my head off! 2. Ticket sales are going good...things a slowing a bit. Don't forget we sell at the City Centre store. 3. Look for flight and ticket info on the OS. Also, for those who had such a bad problem with the stream for the Livek game, please look at OS for action by the Club to "make good" on the problem. added by mods

General Krulak here: 1. I can assure you, we had a full complement of people working the ticket issue...people you may have seen walking around were, in fact, involved in work. We had people upstairs, people in the office, people in the ticket booth. We had every single person on the case of the tickets...we absolutely knew we'd be busy. When you have a one-off like this, you just need to expect a wait. You absolutely cannot hire and train staff for "one offs"...just makes no sense.

General Krulak here: 1. Ticket prices: A good deal of thought went into these prices...and input from the Fans was VERY important. The Board basically looked at the economic crisis ongoing...a crisis that impacts our fans and our Club. The decision was made to balance both of these impacts in as fair a way as possible...and trying to ensure that we had our "best weapon" (cheering fans) at each game. We wish we could have done even better but, as you all realize, we also have to ensure that the Club meets its obligations too. This is, indeed, a very tough time economically. The United States has seen its stock market drop almost 40%...not good. AVFC recognizes the stress on the Fan's pocketbook and is trying to be a fair as we can be. 2. Nicky Keye and her Ticketing Folks are working overtime right now. PLEASE do not get frustrated with her. She has a full compliment of people working and every phone is hooked up and answering calls. We recognize that there is a queue...we ask your patience. 3. Newcastle can be touted at 350 million BUT...what counts is how much they get for a sale. DE was not bad at finances...he and Randy just did what was necessary to make the deal happen.

General Krulak here: 1. imavillan: That video was sent to Randy, Paul and myself late last night. It is a classic!! Obviously Randy is a wee bit uncomfortable with this type of tribute...he shuns publicity as you know. He is always anxious to put the spot light on other people and not stand in it himself. At the same time, this video is a very nice tribute to a good person. 2. walesavfc: Welcome to this thread. Yes, Tom Hanks has a standing invitation to come to Villa Park whenever he is in the UK. 3. andycv: Obviously it would be improper for me to talk about the finances of the Club. Suffice it to say, there are various types of "debt"...the debt you are referring to is not something you or any fan should be worried about. We are fine! We would NEVER mortgage the future of our Club. Randy is a consummate business man and has superb advisors.

General Krulak here: 1. As I indicated immediately after the Litex game....we had problems. Ticketing software went down before game time and set us back from then on. We can't go back and fix the Litex game...we can only try to make things better in the future. We know what we did wrong and will try to improve.

General Krulak here: 1. FUSE: We will get as many tickets as we are allocated. 2. paulanddonya: We will work hard to recognize the economic situation...world-wide. We understand that the financial situation is impacting ALL fans. We will do our best to ensure that our ticket prices recognize this important fact. 3. brommy: We recognize that we will never have a 100% approval rate from the fans. This is to be expected...it is life in the sports arena. What I DO think is very important is to recognize that Randy does care deeply for AVFC. This is NOT a "hobby"...he is passionate about the Club, the Team, Villa Park, and the Fans. Every decision he makes is aimed at moving the Club forward. We do not expect that everyone will always agree with his decisions but NEVER think he doesn't care. "Exit strategy." Randy does not see "exiting." 4. jimgriff: Chelsea and Ken Bates....yes, I was invited by Ken Bates to have dinner and address the Chelsea Team the evening before they played Liverpool in the game that clinched their Champions League qualification. It was a good deal of fun...a very enjoyable night...and the results of the game are obvious. I sat with the Players at dinner and enjoyed meeting people who I had watched for a few years on the telly. As for talking to Villa...only if asked by the Chairman and the Manager.

General Krulak here: 1. First off, I think we got a pretty good draw. I can't wait for the Ajax game at Villa Park. We recognize that there will be many fans who want to travel and that there are many fans who are looking for ticket sales dates, any game day changes, etc. etc. We will be using the OS to ensure a rapid dissemination of info...so please keep checking. I will also try to post info as it comes in.

General Krulak here: 1. Update on the TV stream problem: The problem turned out to be a failed piece of hardware...the failure coming at kickoff time. This failure resulted in no streaming of audio commentary to go with the footage. The provider assured AVFC that they tested for both audio and visual before the game and everything was working perfectly. Hardware failure occured at kick off. NO excuses...just providing what we learned.