General Krulak On Manager Search & Villa Fan Plea

General Krulak is still batting the questions in the forums and no doubt reading the threads of doom with ‘don’t get that manager’ and ‘don’t get that one either’ !

GK said:

‘I am away for 2 days and the Boards get pretty rough.

‘First off, we have and are continuing to look at Managers who are currently employed, are outside of the UK, are not outside of the UK and who are not employed. Simple as that.’

This follows on from some saying that Villa are only looking at our of work managers etc. We are all in a tizzy about wanting a new manager but I think some forget so are the board, they thought they HAD a manager and then he left (and so that doesn’t start up again… for whatever reason).

GK continues:

‘For those who believe that all we need to do is walk into a Manager’s office and throw a wad of money at him and he will come with us just have ZERO idea of what it takes. Seriously, as Fans we MUST get our heads into this issue and try to understand it. Things are just NOT that simple.’

‘Likewise it makes little sense to me to pick out one or two candidates and run threads on how much we don’t want them or how bad they would be for the Club. ANY Manager worth their salt is going to do some due diligence on the Club…and that would probably include reading up on the Fans and the type of support they might receive.’

Whoops… unfortunately that is the nature of the internet and our passion for our clubs I’m afraid, no getting around this will happen. Any sensible manager (and players to be fair) don’t go near message boards.

GK added, ‘Take Mr. H {Houllier ed} for an example….what ever anyone thinks of him, he deserves respect from the Fans of this Club. He has a fine record with multiple Clubs and deserves better for the amount of effort he has put into his chosen career than to be ridiculed by AVFC….and that is just one person who has been taken apart on the 3 sites I post on. We are bigger than that!! As I have said many times, we can disagree all we want but we should do it respectfully.’

GK also says ‘We realize we will not make everyone happy…but we must do what we feel is right under the circumstances….and we will. For those who are striking out at Randy for not spending money…that, too, is crazy. He has more than bought this Club 3 times over…so saying he won’t spend money is absurd.‘

To be fair, I couldn’t agree more. Why put in so much and then stop spending? Do people not realise this would cause his asset (and at the end of the day, that is what it is) would depreciate? And also some say he could sell up and make a tidy profit. Really? You think? I can’t see that many oil rich billionaires queuing to invest in the maddest business going!

Anyway…

Following on from that… HH2 posted:

‘I for one have not ever doubted the money Mr Lerner has invested. I have defended him to the hilt with MON fans with stats like ‘Our wage bill is bigger than Spurs but half the players are completely ignored!’

My main point is that we must still aim for the top. This club is big enough to aim there and is still probably regarded outside and inside the UK as one of the six biggest clubs in the country.

That means we are still a very attractive proposition to the vast majority of manager’s out there who are both in employment and out of employment.

I don’t want to see Mr Lerner’s hard earned dollars that have been invested in Villa now go down the drain which is what will happen if the right appointment is not made. Look what happened at similar big clubs like Newcastle and Leeds with poor manager choices in a very quick matter of time.

Aston Villa fans including myself (32 years season ticket holder) are frightened of that. We have had so many up’s and downs over the years. The last 4 in the main have been progressive. No trophies which now dates back to 1996 but good groundwork has been laid down. In fact a better tactician/manager I believe would have delivered you a trophy by now.. Certainly the investment made to date warrants one.

If the right manager is now appointed I really believe the sky is the limit for this football club. There is a good squad there which with better management and a few top class additions along with the constant introduction of home grown young players who are good enough, can still make the holy grail of the top 4.

That’s why this appointment is so very crucial… We are at such a crossroads.

We have been here before. Champions of Europe, 1982… Lost the manager that got us there, followed up with second rate appointments and were relegated within 3 years!

Won our last trophy in 1996, having also finished 4th and got to semi final of FA cup. At that point well ahead of Arsenal as a football club. They then appointed Wenger, we appointed Gregory and the clubs started going in opposite directions.

Both times at these important crossroads we appointed cheap options for the most important job in any football club and paid the price. You could also add the time we appointed Venglos in 1990 having just finished runners up to Liverpool under Taylor. We went from finishing 2nd to almost getting relegated within a season!

Mr Lerner and his board have started to close the gap again but in order to keep closing the gap its imperative the best is appointed. I am not naive enough sir to think it just takes money.

Ambition, Vision, Passion and Belief in your Football club are what is required to entice the best.

We have entrusted the board of Aston Villa to do exactly that. We all share in the sincere hope you get it right and understand how difficult a job it is. However I for one have every faith the very best option open will be taken to drive this club upwards and onwards!’