Refreshing Change At Villa

What a refreshing change

I have written this article as I wanted to share a few things with my fellow Villa fans which have happened to me recently that show how much the club has changed. Since Randy took over I was inspired by our change of fortune and I decided to put a few of the idea’s I had about making the club better down on paper. Some of these had been knocking around in my head while Doug was around but let’s face it. If he wasn’t going to listen to Bruce Langham the Chief Exec he brought in and was paying to improve the club, he sure as hell was not going to listen to some dreamer from the Holte End.

So given the club is improving in all directions I thought I might as well get these into the mix and even if one of them is useful and makes a difference, it will make us that little bit better. Eventually all the
work came to fruition (after enduring my missus moaning while I had my face stuck in a laptop at every opportunity) and my baby was born. Now before everyone thinks the sum total of this was getting the back of a fag packet and writing with my best blue crayon’ I reckon we shud by Kaka and we will be da best’.I have to say in my eyes it was a bloody masterpiece, a 40 plus page folder covering off all angles of the club, based on my perspective of how we could improve things.

So off it went addressed to The General just before the last home game of the season and a week or so later, I get a letter back from the States thanking me for the idea’s and that it was greatly appreciated. Also that he would forward onto Randy and Richard Fitzgerald so they could see what I had sent in. Now we all know how fan friendly the General is and those who have personally met him would be better placed to say what sort of guy he is, but I am immensely impressed, as I believe we all are, with his open and receptive approach to the forums and communicating with the fans. So at this point I am thinking.hey he actually got it, and read it, and he bloody liked it.get in! Never mind sending it on to Randy and Richard, and they may read it ..and might like it!!

I’m ecstatic at this stage, all the hard work was worth it. The General appreciated and liked what I had done and Randy and Richard might see it. And more importantly maybe one of the ideas will be useful; well…that was the whole bloody point! So I then went on holiday, get back on the 13th June and I have a letter from Aston Villa.and it’s only from Richard Fitzgerald.Our CEO, saying I should contact his PA and arrange a meeting to go through my idea’s and talk about some of the things that are happening at the moment. At this point my missus had to peel me off the ceiling…and then I proceeded to sh*t myself. I am going to meet our CEO.our CEO is taking time to see me.a normal fan from the Holte end.

On the 29th June at 2.30pm I am standing in the North stand reception about to meet Richard, excited and scared at the same time. His PA showed me to the office and for an hour we sat down and went through the folder of idea’s and some of them were noted for further discussion and some of them the club were already addressing and implementing, as they were obvious glaring things that could do with improving. I have to say he was a down to earth really normal, nice guy, and it was a great experience.

Now to put this into perspective Richard has been in the job for about 6 months, if that. And he has the task of making Aston Villa a slick business that is attracting strong partners and in general taking a
business that has been stagnating/threading water under the old regime and he has to bring it up to 21st century standards. I am no expert on how to run a football club, but it does not take a genius to work out we were not setting the world alight under Doug. He must have 101 things to do, the new season is coming up and everyone wants his time on decisions and things that are affecting the club.

And he made time to see me.

So rest assured we are definitely in good hands..