General Krulak's take on things....

General Krulak - MON WASN'T Pushed Out

General Krulak on the departure of Martin O'Neill.

It is pretty hard to address all the comments and questions that have come my way today.

Let me try to lay out what has happened as best I know.

First off, Martin's decision to leave was just that...Martin's decision..

I am very much aware that he quit 5 days before the beginning of the season.

He was not pushed out.

Rumors that there was a row between Randy and Martin over the sale of players (Young and Friedel) are just that...Rumors.

There is absolutely NO truth to the rumors!!

Neither player is up for sale and Randy and Martin never discussed such a sale. Martin's decision was a surprise to the Club. Randy had spoken to Martin last week and on the weekend. Randy then flew back to the US. This morning Randy learned that Martin has quit...and Randy is now flying back to the UK.

Martin was fully involved in the Milner transaction from the very beginning....he took part in all the discussions.

It is a good move if looked at in its totality. We have not suddenly become a 'selling club.' We have a player who wants to move and we have a solid offer that makes good sense to the Villa. That does not make us a selling club.

There is no question that if ANY Club has players on the payroll that do not play on the Pitch...it is prudent to sell them if possible.

As I know I have mentioned many times, a Premiership Club must balance wages vs. revenue...cutting wages always involves the sale of some players...and every Club does it.

We are NOT selling Young or Friedel. I have also written many times that we are trying to run the Club in a sensible and sustainable manner BUT, at the same time, the amount of money we have spent over the past 4 years should tell everyone that we marry this approach with aggressive ambition!!

Some of the comments and some of the rumors have been truly amazing. Randy is not broke! Randy is not selling the Villa! Randy has not lost interest!

I have even seen comments about Randy's divorce and its impact...pure nonsense. Like all of you, I am not privy to what went through Martin's mind when he made his decision to leave 5 days before the season kicks off. I am sure he will have his own views. My only hope is that the media will allow all the facts to emerge vice playing one side against the other.

What I do know is that Randy cares deeply for the Villa and I have posted thousands of comments on the web sites because I don't care. I care deeply. We will all get through this together...we will get the right man and we will continue to move forward. I recognize I didn't answer all the specific questions asked but I thought it might be best to post what I know right now.....I will provide more info as I get it.

Read more: http://www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7505236#ixzz0wFv2Hlwv

interesting...

if this is the complete truth then it would seem that MON for whatever reason just suddenly decided "thats it I can't be arsed I quit" He already knew milner was up for sale and if no other conversations took place then its a strange one and one that would make me think even less of MON, as it appears he is a bottler who looked at things and thought I can't improve us this season so I don't want to play anymore.

I think it's that MON wanted power, more that money. And he was getting that taken away from him. Which is right, he cant run everything at a football club, and he wanted to.

This is just my opinion, and the more I think about it, the more I think we will be fine. Even if we don't manage to sign anyone before the end of the transfer window and only sell Milner, we have got a decent squad, a good squad and some cracking youngerster coming along as well.

You see - I´ve been telling you for four years he´s a wrong un

The reports coming out of Sky this morning are a real eye opener.

What they are reporting is that Krulak is saying that Martin O'Niell saw himself bigger than the club, was not prepared to deal with the financial issues of the club and that basically was difficult to deal with.

If you then take that on board with player reaction that's happened in some cases then it seems this passionate down to earth fella that we all thought he was isn't actually the case.

Krulak points out no one man is bigger than the club and made a very stinging remark saying neither me Paul Faulkner or Randy Lerner are bigger than the club but it seems we are the only 3 that thought that.

Seems Mr O'Niell was a little bit of a prima donna and somewhat arrogant man and yet for me that didn't come over at all, which would say to me he could be quite devious also because he had 2 sides to his character.

Tony Cascarino got stuck in earlier by saying MON should have dealt with the issues of cash constraints, all managers have to and really MON was in a dream job compared to others and has spent massively, so no support there.

Well what coming to the surface is that the clubs directors are showing total relief at the fact this bloke has gone, that's the only way you can look at it, and are now happy to reveal certain truths to the fans regarding what they have put up with.

To be fair all Curtis Davies said was that a change of management might work for him because under Oneil he was transfer listed.. whats the guy supposed to say.. im gutted that the manager who wanted me out is gone??

As for power.. well thats obvious.. Oneil is the type who wants full control.. most managers are like that.. Faulkner is right but there isnt any smoke without fire.. and Lerner mustve done something to provoke Oneil too.. i personally think he changed his mind about Oneil having all the milner money..

Oneil shouldve stuck around.. even if he got Ireland and Keane in we still would be finishing around 6th IMO..

Anyway he is gone now.. lets hope we get a new manager and i hope its not McDonald Southgate or Curbishley.. Martin Jol would be the ideal candidate..

It's probably worth remembering that the media can make a mountain out of a molehill. Sky Sports in particular exist by presenting speculation as truth.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:To be fair all Curtis Davies said was that a change of management might work for him because under Oneil he was transfer listed.. whats the guy supposed to say.. im gutted that the manager who wanted me out is gone??

As for power.. well thats obvious.. Oneil is the type who wants full control.. most managers are like that.. Faulkner is right but there isnt any smoke without fire.. and Lerner mustve done something to provoke Oneil too.. i personally think he changed his mind about Oneil having all the milner money..

Oneil shouldve stuck around.. even if he got Ireland and Keane in we still would be finishing around 6th IMO..

Anyway he is gone now.. lets hope we get a new manager and i hope its not McDonald Southgate or Curbishley.. Martin Jol would be the ideal candidate..

Adrian: Papering over the cracks mate, what you are seeing is an outflow of relief by the directors of the club who are now pointing out to the fans and saying, hang on lads this shinning white night is actually not what he seems to be, in fact he was a right little gobshite that was unruly and saw himself on a pedestal, saw hinself bigger than the club and regarded any financial discipline as below him and to be ignored, thats what they are saying, in fact who does he remind you of...............................

As for the players, for me anybody that couldn't see the pleasure on Curtis Davies face at MON's departure has no people skills whatsoever, and i'm sure that reflected elsewhere in the squad, what we don't know now is just how good the Villa team could have been over the past 4 years, just what they could have been capable of had we had the happy ship we all thought it was.

I think these statments will continue to dribble out over the coming days and it will be very interesting to see how the lads respond v West Ham, without doubt if there is shock and dissapointmnet at the departure of MON that will show, hence the previous remarks of him leaving this close to the season start, if its the other way then the picture tells its own story.

Bedshammer wrote:It's probably worth remembering that the media can make a mountain out of a molehill. Sky Sports in particular exist by presenting speculation as truth.

The directors of the club are saying it beds....Not Sky.


Sky are simply reporting what been said, they can't show an actual statement from Krulak as said if he didn't say it, and thats what they are doing, as in.

A statement from Krulak saying this, and then showing the mans exact words.

Just to add another point to this:

How many managers do you see leave or are sacked form there position and how many times do you see directors and players condemn the role the manager played.

Last time i saw this was a bloke called David O'Leary, sure there have been more since but i can't remember.

Usually there is a parting of the waves followed by a short statement by the club basically saying they can't get on and its as far as it can go...that's it.

Rarely do you see players getting stuck in also. Not that i can remember, sure someone will site some example.

To be fair Ades, I dont think that Davies was the only one who will be pleased to see the back of MON. Luke Young in particular must be chuffed, seems a real pro yet MON was forcing him out. NRC, Sidwell, Carew will be others who not unhappy. While I agree that MON has done an excellent job for the club, think he has basically left us in the lurch with the timing. I hope MacDonald does well, both Friedel and Davies spoke highly of him yesterday. I dont want the pile of shite being trawled from club to club, if we cant get someone of the calibre of Jol, why not give MacDonald a crack of it?

Malachite wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:To be fair all Curtis Davies said was that a change of management might work for him because under Oneil he was transfer listed.. whats the guy supposed to say.. im gutted that the manager who wanted me out is gone??

As for power.. well thats obvious.. Oneil is the type who wants full control.. most managers are like that.. Faulkner is right but there isnt any smoke without fire.. and Lerner mustve done something to provoke Oneil too.. i personally think he changed his mind about Oneil having all the milner money..

Oneil shouldve stuck around.. even if he got Ireland and Keane in we still would be finishing around 6th IMO..

Anyway he is gone now.. lets hope we get a new manager and i hope its not McDonald Southgate or Curbishley.. Martin Jol would be the ideal candidate..

Adrian: Papering over the cracks mate, what you are seeing is an outflow of relief by the directors of the club who are now pointing out to the fans and saying, hang on lads this shinning white night is actually not what he seems to be, in fact he was a right little gobshite that was unruly and saw himself on a pedestal, saw hinself bigger than the club and regarded any financial discipline as below him and to be ignored, thats what they are saying, in fact who does he remind you of...............................

As for the players, for me anybody that couldn't see the pleasure on Curtis Davies face at MON's departure has no people skills whatsoever, and i'm sure that reflected elsewhere in the squad, what we don't know now is just how good the Villa team could have been over the past 4 years, just what they could have been capable of had we had the happy ship we all thought it was.

I think these statments will continue to dribble out over the coming days and it will be very interesting to see how the lads respond v West Ham, without doubt if there is shock and dissapointmnet at the departure of MON that will show, hence the previous remarks of him leaving this close to the season start, if its the other way then the picture tells its own story.

Mal your first point.. if he was a gobshite why did it take 4years and FIVE days before the start of the season to figure it out.. relationships breakdown.. that happens in all walks of life.. and as i said all people who are good in there profession have egos.. look at all the great players in football.. all had issues and ego of the pitch.. im sure only a matter of a few weeks ago you were on Lions case everytime he tried making fun of Oneil nad his tactics...?

Regarding Curtis Davies.. like i said.. ofocurse he is happy that Oneil is gone.. wat do you want the lad to do.. cry cus the man who put him on the transfer list is gone??

It might be a good time for a change cus things were going a bit stale.. lets hope the new man can keep the momentum going...

villanfromluton wrote:To be fair Ades, I dont think that Davies was the only one who will be pleased to see the back of MON. Luke Young in particular must be chuffed, seems a real pro yet MON was forcing him out. NRC, Sidwell, Carew will be others who not unhappy. While I agree that MON has done an excellent job for the club, think he has basically left us in the lurch with the timing. I hope MacDonald does well, both Friedel and Davies spoke highly of him yesterday. I dont want the pile of shite being trawled from club to club, if we cant get someone of the calibre of Jol, why not give MacDonald a crack of it?

I agree..but thats with any club.. any player who is not in the team or on the transfer list will be over joyed with a change of management.. even when Fergie and Wenger quit there will be players happy to see them go..

If the likes of Dunne Young Gabby Petrov Downing Colins turn aorund and say there over the moon he has gone then that will be a revelation..

McDonald might do well your right.. but i prefer soemone who has experience of management.. i dont know mucn abotu the fella to passs a total judgement.. but i hope we can attract a manager of experience and understanding of the European market then a rookie..

Malachite wrote:

Bedshammer wrote:It's probably worth remembering that the media can make a mountain out of a molehill. Sky Sports in particular exist by presenting speculation as truth.

The directors of the club are saying it beds....Not Sky.


Sky are simply reporting what been said, they can't show an actual statement from Krulak as said if he didn't say it, and thats what they are doing, as in.

A statement from Krulak saying this, and then showing the mans exact words.

And then analysing and pontificating over the meaning of the words until they can make them into what they think they are. If you think otherwise you're being really rather gullible.

I saw the Curtis Davies interview last night. Not really the best of spokemen for the club, is he? Funny how the interview with Brad Friedel hasn't received the same exposure. And all this stuff about players texting each other champagne bottles comes form an article in yesterday's Mirror and hasn't been backed up by any kind of fact. I've seen it happen endlessly about West Ham - 99% of sports journalism is speculation.

villanfromluton wrote:To be fair Ades, I dont think that Davies was the only one who will be pleased to see the back of MON. Luke Young in particular must be chuffed, seems a real pro yet MON was forcing him out. NRC, Sidwell, Carew will be others who not unhappy. While I agree that MON has done an excellent job for the club, think he has basically left us in the lurch with the timing. I hope MacDonald does well, both Friedel and Davies spoke highly of him yesterday. I dont want the pile of shite being trawled from club to club, if we cant get someone of the calibre of Jol, why not give MacDonald a crack of it?

I agree with this part.. im just seeing it froma different slant.. but somehting mustve happened in the last week or so for him to just up and leave..

Adrian : Its that thing, what happens behind closed doors, clearly the man we thought we had wasn't like that and clearly and as is being said now the directors thought they put up with a lot of sh1t, i agree why put up with him for so long, totally agree with that, if that's the case they should have sacked him much earlier, have to say Adrian if you think the powers at b are now bad mouthing O'Niell just for the sake of it.........don't buy it one bit, that ain't Lerners style and you now that, and its got nothing to do with people getting on and relationships, that's why over the years you see problems soon coming to the surface as in Rafa at Liverpool and Hughes at Man City.

And yes 5 days before the start of the season, doesn't that point out how indeed MON thought himself above the club, to drop the team in it this close to the season.

Lion's tactics, have to say Adrian, i think you have the wrong person, i may have made the odd comment like the other day saying that over time and looking at the results of last season its difficult to knock MON's tactics, but i was on Lions case every time........hmmmmm, i don't think so, moan about how repetitive it can be but every time

Its a good time for a change because this has been brewing to the surface since the winter and now the truth outs as it always does, IMO the directors are relieved and probably a good few of the players but as said we will see at the weekend.

Bedshammer wrote:

Malachite wrote:

Bedshammer wrote:It's probably worth remembering that the media can make a mountain out of a molehill. Sky Sports in particular exist by presenting speculation as truth.

The directors of the club are saying it beds....Not Sky.


Sky are simply reporting what been said, they can't show an actual statement from Krulak as said if he didn't say it, and thats what they are doing, as in.

A statement from Krulak saying this, and then showing the mans exact words.

And then analysing and pontificating over the meaning of the words until they can make them into what they think they are. If you think otherwise you're being really rather gullible.

I saw the Curtis Davies interview last night. Not really the best of spokemen for the club, is he? Funny how the interview with Brad Friedel hasn't received the same exposure. And all this stuff about players texting each other champagne bottles comes form an article in yesterday's Mirror and hasn't been backed up by any kind of fact. I've seen it happen endlessly about West Ham - 99% of sports journalism is speculation.

They are not analysing and pontificating over Krulak statements beds, the same statement is everywhere in precisely the same format.

And although i agree that a massive amount of reporting is manipulative ( 99%..bit exaggerated) when they are direct quoting someone has said and not saying its being reported or we believe, then really that's has said, its just one very short step form seeing the man say it himself.

As for Davies, i agree, but surely you could see the relief as opposed to Friedal who looked like he didn't know what planet he was on and knew nothing about it and said so, as for the champagne moment, yes classic unsubstantiated reporting, but that will be shown at the weekend to be true or not, and the report of the champagne originally or supposedly came form a player and was reported outside the ground by Sky before the Mirror....

Regards lion if it wasnt you then my badd

I dont think the club would bad mouth Oneil for any reason.. dont think lerner is like that.. all i was saying was that there must have been some provocation from the club for oneil to leave 5days before season ends.. and your right that does seem like Oneil has left us int he lurch...

I guess the arguement about how much he spent will always be divided.. you cna argue both points.. we wer progressing season by season but also we did have a lot of bench warmer who had gone down in value and yet were on high wages..

I just hope we get a good manager with the understanding of the European market and we give him some money to spend.. to be fair if a new manager comes in with Ireland in the squad and 20M to spend then we could still make sigings.. like for e.g if Bradley turned up then maybe Landon donavon would be on his way too... a very cheap option to add to the squad.. so if we look at it as a positive.. 20M can still buy you a fair bit of talent if you know how to work the market..

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Regards lion if it wasnt you then my badd

I dont think the club would bad mouth Oneil for any reason.. dont think lerner is like that.. all i was saying was that there must have been some provocation from the club for oneil to leave 5days before season ends.. and your right that does seem like Oneil has left us int he lurch...

I guess the arguement about how much he spent will always be divided.. you cna argue both points.. we wer progressing season by season but also we did have a lot of bench warmer who had gone down in value and yet were on high wages..

I just hope we get a good manager with the understanding of the European market and we give him some money to spend.. to be fair if a new manager comes in with Ireland in the squad and 20M to spend then we could still make sigings.. like for e.g if Bradley turned up then maybe Landon donavon would be on his way too... a very cheap option to add to the squad.. so if we look at it as a positive.. 20M can still buy you a fair bit of talent if you know how to work the market..

Adrian: New manager, new dawn as they say, and i think, IMO you will see Randy Lerner get his cheque book out again leaving all to think well obviously there was something going on in the background, I think Randy Lerner is the type to listen to a manger then back him and expect him to do his job and not remove himself form his responsibilities to the club.

I still think our new manager is Bradley and as you say that opens the doors to all sorts of opportunities like Donavan and maybe his nephew or son (not sure) who is very highly rated.

All of a sudden the West Ham game which up to now i could have happily fallen asleep at the thought of seems interesting.

Another point that will be interesting, if MON was like this we may see a complete turnaround in events surrounding Milner....who knows. Maybe Barry may want a transfer back to Villa.


I know what i meant to ask you, what game is it that they have revealed that some players and managers are playing and now receiving psychological help with after playing the game to much

In his time at the club Randy has hardly put a foot wrong.Krulak has spoken out and thus keeps the fans onside.O'neill did a great job for the club, this should not be forgotten.Maybe when/if we hear Mr O'neill's reasons for leaving we can make a considered opinion, but until then you're falling for a PR exercise

QBVILLA wrote:In his time at the club Randy has hardly put a foot wrong.Krulak has spoken out and thus keeps the fans onside.O'neill did a great job for the club, this should not be forgotten.Maybe when/if we hear Mr O'neill's reasons for leaving we can make a considered opinion, but until then you're falling for a PR exercise

Very true, however it doesn't alter the fact that MON has left us, 5 days before the start of the Premier Leauge season. He has done brilliantly for the club, absolutely superb but it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth to walk out like that.

My opinion, which is what it was before this stuff by General K, is that MON wanted power more than anything, and part of that was been taken away from him at the club, and correctly if you ask me because the clubs wage bill needs to be trimmed and you cant have one man control everything, he has just got the hump and left.

This is of course my opinion.

roadoftrinity wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:In his time at the club Randy has hardly put a foot wrong.Krulak has spoken out and thus keeps the fans onside.O'neill did a great job for the club, this should not be forgotten.Maybe when/if we hear Mr O'neill's reasons for leaving we can make a considered opinion, but until then you're falling for a PR exercise

Very true, however it doesn't alter the fact that MON has left us, 5 days before the start of the Premier Leauge season. He has done brilliantly for the club, absolutely superb but it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth to walk out like that.

My opinion, which is what it was before this stuff by General K, is that MON wanted power more than anything, and part of that was been taken away from him at the club, and correctly if you ask me because the clubs wage bill needs to be trimmed and you cant have one man control everything, he has just got the hump and left.

This is of course my opinion.

Fair points made, but i'd say in O'neill's defence that until we know his reasons for leaving 5 days before the season it is unfair to lambast him.he may well have felt he couldn't work under the conditions.Obviously it's not ideal but i wouldn't want this to be his legacy

roadoftrinity wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:In his time at the club Randy has hardly put a foot wrong.Krulak has spoken out and thus keeps the fans onside.O'neill did a great job for the club, this should not be forgotten.Maybe when/if we hear Mr O'neill's reasons for leaving we can make a considered opinion, but until then you're falling for a PR exercise

Very true, however it doesn't alter the fact that MON has left us, 5 days before the start of the Premier Leauge season. He has done brilliantly for the club, absolutely superb but it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth to walk out like that.

My opinion, which is what it was before this stuff by General K, is that MON wanted power more than anything, and part of that was been taken away from him at the club, and correctly if you ask me because the clubs wage bill needs to be trimmed and you cant have one man control everything, he has just got the hump and left.

This is of course my opinion.

I don´t remember anyone ever using those words about DOL for finishing sixth

Just getting awaiting confirmation from the lad that he has not got game Saturday, if not I will be getting two tickets for the game, something I had not even thought about doing before. As an extra favour to my lad, I might even let him drive back

QB: fair points again and very rational thinking. Nice one. I'm just trying to give background, never doubting what MON has achieved, you simply couldn't.....

ROT: This as well.


Luton: pick us up, we are only 300 miles to your left, there's a good-un.