c-krulak

General Krulak here: 1. Ricardomeister: You make some very good points...as do many of the fans on this site. There is no question that our Squad is small...and injuries to a small squad can cause real problems. The difference of opinion, I believe, stems from the fact that MON obviously does not believe the answer to a small Squad is to go out and spend money on players who he does not feel will fit into our system. Someone mentioned the Super Bowl and the Giants. There was no question that the Giants did not have the quality personnel that the Patriots possessed BUT, they played as a TEAM...no prima donnas, no self-proclaimed all-stars. They gave 110% and when it came down to the end of the game, the fact that they played as a team on both offense and defense made the difference. I cannot over-emphasize the importance to MON and the Club to get players who "fit" into our scheme. MON will NOT spend money to get players that he honestly doesn't feel will meet the needs of the Club. It is here where the "trust" must reside...it is here where Randy trusts MON. 2. Ian_Taylor: Thank you for your comments. You articulated my feelings. 3. "Top Class" signings: For about the 10th time, "Top Class/World Class" comments have been explained...NOT made by Randy...NOT made by MON...NOT made by me. You can continue to beat us all up on those comments if it will make you feel good but they were NOT made by anyone associated with the Transfer process. It would be as if I were to promise "world class" signings...it would mean nothing because I have nothing to do with the process. 4. shortshadyuk: Did you get the snap shot of you and Chelsea and the London Eye??? It looked good to me.

Geneeral Krulak here: 1. 1982corp: You have missed my point totally. I have no problem answering tough questions and have done so on this site and 4 others. I have never shied away from them...even if my answer had to be, "no answer." What other Club in the Premeirship gives its fans the ability to communicate, ALMOST DAILY, with a Director of the Club? My point is this: NO ONE deserves to be treated with disrespect and NO ONE should have to read comments filled with 4-letter words. 2. Norwegian Supporters Group: Thank you and your group for attending the game. I think you all will have a great time. I can assure you that you will have some good guests and if things go right for me, I may be in the UK. 3. I agree, we need to look at ST Holder incentives. I think all the leaders of the Club feel that way...the key is what those incentives should be. 4. Super Tuesday: I believe that McCain will be the Republican Nominee. I believe that Mrs Clinton will do well on Super Tuesday but because the delegates are parceled out by percentage, she could win all the states on Tuesday (she won't) and still not gain many delegates. The democratic candidate, in my opinion, will be chosen at the Convention.

General Krulak here: 1. Richard Fitzgerald: Again, I believe we need to let the media release "stand"....Richard helped write it and he said what needs to be said. Neither the Club nor the Fans have a right to ask Richard to discuss his personal matters. The Evening Mail was not correct in stating that Richard left because of the arrival of Michael Cunnah. Those two events have zero connection. Michael is a fine addition to the Villa "Family" and has been give specific tasks to work on...none falling in the remit of Richard. 2. Intertoto Cup: I am not aware of us signing up. 3. hobbo: You want me to "assure you and others that MON and Randy willl review the situation like adults and admit where there are shortcomings." I have trouble even responding to a post that questions whether Randy or MON can act like adults..or can admit shortcomings. To ask me to "assure you and others" is just a tad bet cheeky in my opinion. Have you read what MON had to say about the latest window? If you have, then you have a solid explanation of what took place and why. 4. danwhichmann: PM me again and I will answer. 5. 1982corps: I do not and will not answer questions filled with 4-letter words and dripping with disrespect. When you are prepared to ask a question in a civil manner, you will find me more than willing to answer.

General Krulak here: 1. It is a little after 5:00 am here in the US and I am on this thread...my wife is going to kill me!! I got back from my trip late last evening and I knew I had better get to you all. 2. Randy and I do not know much about the new Derby owners...sorry. 3. Financial "crisis" in the US is not going to have a big impact on Villa...we faced basically the same exchange rate when we purchased the Club and the financial situation in the US has been up and down over the past year. I don't see this issue having an impact. 4. I do not think it would be right for me to comment on Richard Fitzgerald's decision. He is a friend and did a fine job for our Club. Having me speak on a personal issue would not be proper. 5. Lee Preece can be reached by calling the AVFC switchboard and asking for extension 216. 6. We are all VERY proud of our Youth Side. We have some very talented young lads on the Squad and that bodes very well for Villa in the future. I am sure that the Coaches know of the skill of young Mr. Hindmarsh. 7. As I have said many, many, times, I do not have anything to do with Players and the Transfer Window. What I would say is what I have said many, many, times: MON handles tranfers. He is our Manger. He knows what his Squad needs...for the present and the future. He knows what type of player he needs to play within his system and will mesh with the current players in a positive manner. He know how to evaluate players. He knows who is avaialble that fits this profile. He knows he has the support of Randy. He is trusted by Randy. He is trusted by the Board. There is no requirement to "sell before we buy." At the same time, he knows the value of a player and will not pay an exhorbitant amount of money for a player who he does not value at that price. At the same time, it is obvious from the money Randy and MON have already spent that they are not afraid to spend. Randy will support MON. 8. "The Board was quoted as we would be aggressive in the transfer market." I am not sure who the Board Member was that made that statement...since this is strictly a matter between Randy and MON. In many ways, I believe that AVFC has been aggressive in the transfer market...just look at some of the players we have brought into the Club and let go. "Aggressive" is in the eye of the beholder. Again, MON is in charge of players and what may be aggressive to him may not be to a fan. 9. From a personal standpoint, I do not think it would be wise for the Club to indicate the names of players we might be interested in obtaining. The quickest way to drive up a price is to set your sights on a player and announce it to the world.

General Krulak here: 1. I will be off the site until Friday. I will be going to Board Meetings in Phoenix and Omaha. "I shall return." 2. Parking outside the Holte. I will look into it. As you know, parking is at a premium at the park and we are constantly looking at ways to increase the spaces. I will check into this but I would imagine it was done to increase parking....by the way, were some of the spaces for disabled parking? We are trying to increase that. 3. We will try to honour all those who have given much to our Team.

General Krulak here: 1. Paulanddonya: I am perplexed as to the issue with your son...someone complained that you were holding him on your lap? Can you give me some additional data on this one...include in your pm to me re. your Mum.

General Krulak here: 1. gavilla828: I know it won't help your son much but please tell him that a Marine General and a Director of the Aston Villa Football Club is very sorry that the Villa Players had to cancel their appearance at his school. I am sure there was a very good reason for this because we try to honour all of our committments. Tell him I will try and find out exactly what happened. MOST IMORTANTLY, tell him I am personally sorry and apologize to him and his mates. :oops: 2. Catering: as you can imagine, we try to keep up on the catering issues every game. We have people moving thru all the stands and all the concourses to see how we are doing...the good and the bad. I will take your comments and pass them on to Alison Plant and her people. I will say this....Alison and her Team have made a HUGE effort to get the catering to where we want it and the fans deserve. We are not always 100% successful but I can assure you we are trying. 3. Movement of the games: Please understand that we are as surprised as you all when a game is moved. There are many reasons for movement of the games and if I tried to list them all, it would just look like excuses. At the same time, I think you all recognize that such things as Cup competition can make an impact on the schedule. As certain teams progress, it has a knock on effect around the premiership. Many people are far more interested in watching Premiership games on the telly than something else. Fortunately or unfortunately, Aston Villa Football Club is becoming more and more of a "draw" on the telly. People want to see Barry, Gabby, Young, "Big John", "Hokey Cokey", Laursen, etc. etc. etc. They want to see MON roaming the sidelines and firing up his Squad. They want to see what this "up and coming" Club is all about. TV wants to show the Villa. A couple of years ago, we were not a "draw"...now we are. None of this is to "excuse" the movement of games, just to try and g :oops: ive one person's opinion of what might be happening. AGAIN, if a fan has a problem with the change in schedule, PLEASE contact Nicky Keye and let her know so she can help sort out the problem. BELIEVE ME, we want to be fair...we don't want to hurt our fans.

General Krulak here: 1. Selling pictures...or copies of old photos....not a bad idea. Let me look into that. 2. Inter toto competition. I really hesitate to discuss an issue that is pretty much in the hands of our Manager. As you have seen, neither Randy nor the Board believes that we should attempt to get into the intricacies of MON's decisions...we have a Manager and we pay him to do a job...and we need to trust him to do that job. If he doesn't want to get involved in this competition, well then we will support. 3. As we all know, Birmingham is a great City and the midlands are a great place to live. Unfortunately, the reality is that most people view London as the "center of England" and thus, that City gets much attention. It is, in fact, a beautiful, exciting place. In order to make Villa a place where players want to play, we need to do several things....we need a great training facility (so we built one), we need a great Manager (and we believe we have one), we need a great tradition (we certainly have that), we need supportive and vocal fans (we DEFINITELY have that), we need a quality place to play (and Villa Park fills the bill) and we need a team on the rise (and we have that). Birmingham will never be London...but it doesn't need to be to attract players. 4. I would have no problem with a Q & A with fans...so long as they know I will not talk about players. 5. I love to see MON on the sidelines...he motivates me.

General Krulak here: 1. Randy's finances are obviously his own business. Let me just state that his Family does many wonderful things for other institutions...medical, educational, and the arts. No one has "unlimited" wealth but the Lerner Family believes in giving and that is what they do. Villa will be fine. 2. Yes I do know GWB. I do not agree with his policies, for the most part, but I am loath to call him "dumb."

General Krulak here: 1. Ian_Taylor: Cheers did make a HUGE impact...as they do for all games. The Players can definitely hear them and do respond...keeps them going when the going is tough. Randy heard the cheers too. Obviously they make an impact on him but he is pretty "shy" about that type of thing. 2. Villa Fans in Africa>>>>Amazing!!! Makes us all proud that we have a Fan with that kind of spirit and motivation. Randy has been given a copy of the pictures. WELL DONE!!! Randy is in Africa right now on a special National Security trip...and my son is currently in Chad serving with the Marine Corps Special Operations Command on a medical contact team...he is a Doctor in the Forces. 3. As I have mentioned before, Randy is a huge art fan...and very knowledgeable. He loves England and wanted to do something for his adopted country in the arts. BEFORE anyone gets concerned, the money came from the Lerner Trust...completely separate from any monies that Randy has...so don't worry about transfer funds!! :winkold:

General Krulak here: 1. A very special scarf....Villa colours on one side, Browns on another. We are thinking about the possibility of selling them at both Team's stores. 2. I always pop into Holte before the games I attend.

General Krulak here: 1. First off, a nail-biter of a game!! I must say that for all the stick Marlon has taken since joining the Villa, he really did come in and change the equation...that plus the "pep talk" that MON provided at half time. I would have loved 3 points but to come away from Anfield with a point is not all bad. The Villa Fans were ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!!! 2. In the US, away fans normally have to fly or drive very long distances. The ticket prices are somewhat higher than experienced in UK and vary with the Club. The Browns keep the price very low but other teams, such as the Redskins, have very high prices. The price of a playoff ticket ranges from the hundreds at the box office (IF you can get one) to thousands from the scalpers. 3. We already have over 35,000+ for Blackburn...will end up with 38,000. Newcastle will be a sell out. 4. As I have said before, Randy or I try to make every game. He was there yesterday and was cheering for the team. 5. Outbyeaster: I will FIX your issue!! 6. shortshadyuk: If I were you, I would definitely visit the Gettysburg Battlefield, Valley Forge, the Inner Harbour in Baltimore and, of course, Washington, D.C. 7. The fans will not have an input into next years kit.

General Krulak here: 1. shortshadyuk: The best way to get an answer to your ticket question is to call Nicky Keye...Head of the Ticketing Department. She would be the best person to ask to get all of your specific questions answered. By the way, do you live in Philadelphia or around the area? 2. mys: We can arrange for it to happen the next time I am over for a game. You bring it to the game, I will get the autographs and get it back to you. 3. There is no grad program at AVFC. 4. I do not, at this time, see Randy agreeing to move a fixture to the US or visa-versa. 5. avillafan.com: Roger I understand. I was just trying to say, "thank you" for the kind comments but you really didn't have to make them...Jackie deserved the call because of her loyalty to the Club. Just the awkward way of a Yank...saying thanks. As for the Flags, they should be run thru the Club first...for obvious reasons. We don't want a flag flying from our stadium that lacks good taste or is offensive in any way. 6. MON and Randy have an agreement...it is based upon trust. Contracts are just pieces of paper...what they have is much more valuable.

General Krulak here: 1. avillafan: You know that I made the call because you asked me to do so...I had no idea you would put it on the site. Simply put, Jackie is a great Villa Fan and it was a pleasure to speak to her. I agree, the Blackburn move really hurt her efforts to see the Villa play but she is such a good fan that she understood and was OK with the move. Now we just need to get her through the operation and back at Villa Park.

General Krulak here: 1. shortshadyuk: I have provided your e-mail to both Chelsea and Caroline...I am sure you will be hearing from both of them soon. I sent them your picture (the Tom Cruise version) so the time line between my contact and their e-mails to you will be short. Stand by!!! 2. Yes, I hope to be at the youth game. 3. stevenjos: I am happy to hear about the business villa folks treating you well....that is important to us, By the way, I was at that Youth Game myself and FROZE!!!!! 4. VillaN.I: Congratulations on getting the tickets to the Newcastle game. Your wife is a real sweetheart!!! Well done to her!! To see what is available on that day you should contact Lee Preece and tell him I asked you to call him. Hopefully he can get you in on a tour. Training on friday will be very limited. 5. Re. Cahill: I am not going to talk about transfers other than to say the following: MON knows better than any of us what he needs on the Squad...he knows his players strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, he knows the teams in the Premiership...all about them. He, Randy and the Board also know the rivalry that exists between us and our cross town opponents. We need to trust MON that he will do the right thing for the right reasons. He is the ONLY on of us that truly has the big picture. We should let him do his job.

General Krulak here: 1. Randy is a very busy man...aside from owning the Browns and Villa, he runs a company in NYC, and other projects around the country. He is very active in National Security activities, supports the young men and women who serve in the military by providing transition education for them He is active in the arts...music/art/writing as well as education. Bottom Line: Randy is involved in many, many things beyond just sports. He is a very caring individual who is selfless in the way he deals with the world outside of football. 2. I never considered going into politics. I sit on 3 Corporate Boards, 3 Not-For-Profit Boards, work with Randy on National Security issues to include working to help get former service people jobs in the private sector. I spend a good deal of time on National Security issues...speeches, lectures, discussion groups, advising, etc. Obviously, I am on the Board of AVFC. 3. The Democratic Race is very tight...but I do not believe that race is an issue...certainly not with the average American. The recent "flare up" was much ado about nothing. 4. John McCain, although a hero and former military officer does not gain my vote because of those two things.

General Krulak here: 1. Sorry I was off the site...I was asked to go to South Carolina to meet with Presidential candidates and had to go with little or no warning. 2. "Laursen is with us" is now pretty obvious. 3. My job and roles...Randy's jobs and roles. Do you mean at Villa or do you mean our total obligations, including Villa? 4. Love to get fan help on banners but, as you know, we would need to see what the banners looked like first. 5. My personal desire would be to see the Patriots play the Packers and have the Patriots win...even though I had the honour to give a motivational talk to the Packers during pre-season.

General Krulak here: 1. The results and recommendations on ground development are still a long way off. I am not sure who told you that they will be done shortly but that is not accurate. We have a good deal of work to do. When finalized, the plans will be made known to the fans. 2. V111AFC: You are so right. Randy is one of a kind. He is a man of great character...who is selfless in all manner of things. He has very little ego...he gets his satisfaction from seeing a "plan come together." He is a patient man and doesn't like the limelight. I know that there are many who wish he would be a bit more "visible" but that is just not his style. What you see is what you get...a hard-working man who cares about history, tradition and his fellow man. 3. Juan Pablo: I know that there has been some discussion re. his return for a "tribute." Not sure whether it will happen or not. It is a two way street. 4. I don't think we would want to see all ST...we need to keep tickets available for those who cannot afford a season ticket. 5. Holte Hotel: Yes, I did set up a "walk-about" for a fan who had some very good questions and made very good input on our catering effort. His report is posted on another web site. I think the issue of names is not really a police issue...it is an issue of making sure that those who were "selected" are there and not others.

General Krulak here: 1. Away fans, When we start renovation of stadium, we will have a look at "splitting" idea. 2. Parade at end of season. We will focus on that when we get closer to end...and when we have a better idea of where we will be. 3. We are working the Irish market. Lots of things to come. Hang in there. 4. Attendence...this issue has been raised with Richard Fitzgerald and Phil Mepham...they will sort it.

General Krulak here: 1. Paddy, I think you are correct. 2. We obviously cannot talk about sponsor...other than to say we are working on it.

General Krulak here: 1. How far we have come!!!!!!!! Comment after comment re. the attendance. As I have said more than once, the attendance was 38,000+! We will try to correct the "beeb" and others who got it wrong but what is to worry...the end results of attendance in the Premiership will have it right. We cannot always get the media to "get it right"...we give them the numbers but they transpose or mistype a number. This too shall pass.

General Krulak here: 1. "snowy": I am not exactly sure what you are trying to tell me in your post...sorry. 2. According to Nicky Keye, attendence was 38,000+. 3. If I were picking players for the Browns, I would pick Tom Brady and Asante Samuels.

General Krulak here: 1. Yes, we will be improving PS system throughout stadium.

General Krulak here: 1. markeefc: Interesting point. I am sure that MON and other Managers have seen the same thing and will eventually get it changed IF change is possible.

General Krulak here: 1. There is no truth to the rumor that the away fans will be moved. I have checked with people at Villa and with Randy...no knowledge of such a move. 2. Solid game today. It was a game we should have won and we did win. Now, all we need to do is keep focused, keep doing what we need to do...keep fighting for 90 minutes everycgame and we will be fine. 3. I hope many of you read the interview with Big John Carew. It shows a side of Carew and the Club that is important. Yes, you need class play on the pitch but we also need class play in the community. If we are going to be a force in English football, we need to display class across the board.