General-KrulakAs you're probably aware www.avfc.co.uk made a high [profile new signing when we relaunched last month: General Charles C Krulak.

The General has kindly agreed to answer a selection of questions sent into the official club website each month and below is his first batch of answers.

Steve Rose was one of many fans who asked about MON's future. He wrote: Hi General. Like many other Villa fans I am concerned that Martin O'Neill (allegedly) is only on a short term rollover contract. Although I know he is a man of integrity, and will see the job through at Villa Park, I would be slightly more at ease if he was committed to a longer contract. Is there any possibility of him signing a longer contract? (or being persuaded to do so).

GK: First and foremost, it would be unwise for me to discuss MON's contract arrangements. Suffice it to say that MON and Randy are more than just Manager and Owner, they are friends. The issue of a contract has never played a major role between them. Randy respects MON and MON respects Randy...it is obvious that this respect is more important to them than a piece of paper. At the end of the day, that piece of paper really does not guarantee anything...certainly not as valuable as friendship and respect. We have two quality men here...Randy is a superb individual and so is Martin. My sense is that they will work out issues in a gentlemanly manner and that the end result will be good for the Club. We all agree that MON is a superb Manager, leader and tactician. We are over the moon that he has stated, unequivocally, that he is with Villa for the long term.

Rob Hamilton wrote: I live in Tamworth which is home to thousands of Villa fans. In Tamworth the biggest sports store is Sports Soccer. The Aston Villa fans in Tamworth have no access to Villa products in their town. The potential is there to make huge sales in Tamworth but there are no products available apart from the shirts. I notice that the marketing in Tamworth has improved through newspaper advertising and posters on buses but I would love to see more Villa products available in shops.

GK: We are slowly but surely moving our marketing effort beyond B'ham. It will take time but we are dedicated to doing so. We know that locations such as Tamworth is important.

Robin Whitehouse wrote: Having made good strides forward both on and off the pitch, how do you see the next 2-3 years?

GK: I see the next two or three years as a continuation of our 5 year plan to make Villa a consistent, winning team on the Pitch and Villa Park a superb place to come and enjoy entertaining football, good food and great comraderie. I think we are progressing well...both on and off the Pitch. At the same time, I recognize that we still have a looong way to go. With a focused approach, supportive fans and a dedicated Manager and Squad, I am confident we will reach our goal.

Andrew Coward wrote: AVFC needs to promote itself as much as possible. If I sell flowers I put out a beautiful display not hide them in the cellar.So, why not make AVTV free completely??..........losing money in one direction would yield much greater benefits in others. Think outside the box!!Thanks for all you are doing-most importantly keep MON happy!!

GK: "Think outside the box." Great advice. I can assure you that Richard Fitzgerald and our Marketing Team are doing just that. Good businessmen try not to give things away free...even if it means attracting new customers. They key is to attract them without giving too much up. This is the role of our marketers and I think they are doing a superb job. Just look around the stadium...look at who is making our kit....look at the advertising taking place around B'ham...look at the new visibility in the City Centre....look at the expanding efforts around the UK. We are getting there. It takes more than just a "give-away" to bring success to the Club.

James Horton wrote: Despite the frustrations fans directed towards Doug Ellis (not every one!), I've always firmly been amazed by his personal dedication and commitment to Aston Villa over his 36 years as both Chairman/CEO and majority shareholder.I was very pleased that Randy Lerner and Mr Ellis came to an agreement with his honorary role as President Emeritus, and his continued support to Aston Villa at both home and away games in the directors area.I was wondering how the new board have adapted to Mr Ellis in this honorary role, and how much involvement he has with the club? ]

GK: Truthfully, I am a Doug Ellis fan in many ways. He was very kind to me when I first arrived at Villa Park and was very nice to Randy too. He gave us a good Club with a solid tradition. Randy asked him to become Chairman "Emeritus" and Doug accepted. He has no official duties and the title is strictly honorary. He has very little involvement with the Club but we are always happy to see him come "home." He is a nice man who has a lovely wife and family....he is dedicated to AVFC and we are glad to have him with us. 

David Fryer wrote: Is there provisions to be made for better public Transport facilities to and from the ground.

GK: Transportation to and from the Club is not really something that we have much control over. We certainly let the transportation companies know how many fans we are expecting at each game but we have no power to tell them to lay on more busses, express busses, trains, etc.

A number of fans, including Richard Benham, asked for the General's reaction to Gabby Agbonlahor's derby winner at St Andrew's last month.

GK: On a scale of 1-10, I was at 11 after beating BCFC....BUT, I like all wins!!! Gabby's 87th minute goal left me gasping for breath. Magnificent.

Liam Small wrote: I am a 22 year old lifelong villa fan and 8 year season ticket holder in the lower Holte! I had to move to Leicester some years ago due to my dad's job and as a result i have got to know a few Leicester City fans. Any time that one of my friends cant go to a Leicester game, I go as a neutral, and have noticed that at half time they open a select few doors and cordon off an area, lined by a few stewards, where people can have a cigarette. I'm not sure whether there are different rules regarding smoking in the Championship that prevent Villa from doing something along the same lines, but in the many occasions I have been to a Leicester game I have seen no trouble or micky taking of the rules at all! Thank you for reading this and I'd very much appreciate your feedback.

GK: Smoking. The law is pretty clear...no smoking in the stadium. When people do smoke in the stadium...the loos, etc....they put the Club in real danger of being fined. The money comes right out of the Club...which means it comes from all that we are trying to do to make the Club better. The idea of opening the gates at half-time and letting smokers out to smoke sounds like a good idea but is VERY difficult to manage and would entail an expense to keep track of those coming in and out. Basically, I personally feel that if someone is going to hop a plane and fly to Disney World or to Europe, they are going to have to go a few hours w/o a smoke. They should be able to last a couple of hours at Villa Park.

John Hughes wrote: I love all things Aston Villa, but I get a little disappointed by the lack of Merchandise available, like all fanatics I would buy almost anything with the Villa Crest on. So here's my question, are there any plans to 1) Increase the size of the Club Shop & 2) Increase the product range? Say Children's Cycles, etc

GK: You will see the size of the Club Shop increase within the next couple of months....and the merchandise will also increase in amount and quality.

A number of supporters sent questions regarding matchday catering at Villa Park.

GK: I recognize that we still have some problems in catering but I do NOT agree that it is the same as it was at the beginning of the year. Alison Plant and her folks have done wonders in making it better and are continuing to work hard at it. I walk around the stadium at every game I attend and watch the queues and the quality of the food....I have seen great improvements over the past months. None of this means that we are where we need to be...we recognize that we still have a long way to go. Alison and her Team are dedicated and will do what needs to be done to sort this out. One thing we need to remember is that the infrastructure restrictions are something that we are having to live with. The concourses are restrictive and so are the ingress and egress points. All this compounds the food/drink delivery problems.

Bob Spittle wrote: It seems to me that the selling of half season tickets, at this time of year, is becoming increasingly popular. Would it not be a good idea to introduce these at the begining of the season also. I for one find it fairly difficult to finance a season ticket during the summer, although I do have one, but to have the option of buying one in two installments would be very attractive. Just a thought.

GK: I will pose that question to Nicky Keye who is the Head of our Ticketing effort...I do not know the answer.

Many of you emailed to ask about future plans for the expansion of Villa Park.

GK: We do have plans on the drawing board to expand the seating at Villa Park and when we are ready to present them to the planning commission, we will make them know to the Fans. Just know that we recognize that we may definitely need more seating.

Andy Dukelow wrote: As an ex serviceman in the British Army, who served in Northern Ireland and the first Gulf War may i say firstly i have great respect for you for your career and history of supporting your troops through leading by example. Respect. As an avid AVFC fan it is reassuring to see that our club values it`s history but also looks to the future under the stewardship of Mr Lerner.It is a lesson in values which is sadly lacking in society today.The openness of the board, the management and the team is a refreshing approach in todays "mad football culture" and should be modelled on by other clubs in the premier league. One question i have for you is.............when you watch the villa, how would you like to see them play? with passion and desire or with a planned methodical approach. An interesting question for the planning mind of a General i would have thought (mixture of both?)

GK: Obviously Randy and I are very attuned to those who are serving their country in the Forces...and to those who have previously served. When I look at play on the Pitch, I first look for passion and "guts ball". Secondly, I have great admiration for crisp passing and movement to the open areas of the Pitch. The Arsenal game was a perfect example of both in play in one game. Arsenal was brilliant in the first half...crisp, short, passes right to the foot of the player. The second half demonstrated the value of passion and guts ball. Great teams, Champions, will have a combination of the two styles.

A few people asked about the Villa Park PA system.

GK: PA volume. This is an issue that will require more than just a "tuning tweak." We are looking at the entire PA system and will come up with a fix. Live feed to TV screens....fans are very much split on whether to do this...we are currently going to continue with the way it is currently handled. Highlights but not the entire game. Food and drink has been mentioned under "Catering."...see above.

Chris Jones wrote: Could you investigate the possibility of showing the previous away game in full on the big screens before the home games?If we come in earlier we will spend more!

GK: Showing previous away games on big screens...interesting idea. I am not sure if there are any restrictions on that but I like the idea and will check on it.

A few supporters asked why they were sometimes unable to buy a match programme during the game.

GK: I am not sure why you can't buy a program during the game....you should be able to. We produce enough programmes so that you should be able to obtain one. It is never possible to hit the exact number. My suggestion is to NOT wait to buy a programme until half-time. We certainly don't want to over-produce...just a waste of money that could be spent more effectively.

Brian Cox wrote: Some of us think the new club badge is too blue. Our colours are claret and blue not the other way round. Maybe the lion should be claret. What do you think?

GK: I have not heard any complaints about the Badge being "too blue." My sense is that it is going to stay the way it is. Many fans now like it a good deal.

Nigel Masters wrote: I went along pre season to Toronto and Columbus , a great trip - are there any plans to invite an MLS team such as Columbus or Juan Pablo Angel's New York Red Bulls to the UK for a match. ie if we were knocked out of FA Cup early and it coincided with pre season MLS ?

GK: There are no plans at the present to ask an MLS team over to Villa Park. We are evaluating the "admission" policy to Holte Inn at this time. The numbers allowed in the Pub are restricted by the fire marshals....we wish we could have more.

Jayne in Nelson wrote: First of all thank you for the fantastic job you do with the Villa fans. We really appreciate it!! :-) I wanted to ask you first of all, do you like Baseball? And if so, who do you support? Do you go see any games?

GK: I am not a big baseball fan but when I cheer for a team, it is normally the Baltimore Orioles,

The largest number of questions related to plans for the January transfer window.

GK: MON will have funds made available to him for the January transfer window...and he and Randy will determine how much. Martin is THE man when it comes to picking the players that he feels will help the team now and in the future. We all want success....and understand that comes with a price tag. At the same time, MON has made it clear that he isn't going to throw money away on someone who will not fit into his system. Martin knows what he is doing...he is smart and knows football. We have total confidence in him and his choices. In the summer MON spent what he felt he needed to spend. Trying to second-guess the Manager is never a good strategy. He knows Randy supports him and will support him...it is up to Martin to do what he feels is right for the Club. Measuring the results so far, he seems to be doing fine.

Matt Stewart wrote: I was just wondering what plans the club had for the women's team? I remember reading in the summer that other teams, such as Charlton and Fulham were closing or reducing their support for their women's and I just wondered where the board stood on this, especially as the female game is more widely recognised in the US?

GK: Thanks to good questions from fans, we are supporting the Woman's Team in many ways. They are doing well and are a source of pride for many of the Directors and for Randy.