Salute the General!

There's been a lot of nervousness in English football about the invasion of American money. Why? The evidence to date is pretty compelling.

Manchester United seem, actually, to be flourishing under the Glazers' stewardship - the signings of Nani, Hargreaves and Anderson putting to bed any notions that the brothers just want to milk the United cash machine.

Hicks and Gillett seem to be giving Liverpool clear leadership and renewed ambition. As well as the fact that they are real characters to boot.

And Lerner? Clearly instrumental in the capture of O'Neill, so far he has shown incredible respect for our club's history and traditions, reinvigorated Villa Park, and made "significant funds" available to the manager.

I suspect, and my sources (who I won't disclose) confirm that those funds are way above what we or the media have estimated. £35 to £45 million is not off the radar, if MON can prove the case and the players want to come.

One thing that did worry and confuse us was the appointment of ex-US Marines head honcho General Krulak. What on earth does this guy know about "soccer"?

Here, we have to take our hats off. I attended (under cover of false identity of course - no-one knows who the Doc is) a presentation before last season's Arsenal game. The General greeted everyone with a firm, warm handshake and knew all the writers from weblogs by name.

He may not have entered into the comments forums on these pages (please do, General, if you read this), but he has been actively involved in VillaTalk forums (once they accepted that it was really him).

But this is more important, and shows the character and judgement of the man and his boss, Randy: General Krulak, on the Bodymoor Heath visit day, stood outside the entrance for some five hours personally greeting every season-ticket holder, asking their first name, giving them a hug or a high-five, and generally making them/us feel a valued part of the club.

I have two boys, 7 and 5 years old, both season-ticket holders. They were lifted into the air by the General, and told that they should take a good look at the Academy side of the Bodymoor set-up, because the future is there for them. My boys were quite entranced.

General Krulak may have a learning curve to travel when it comes to football/soccer. But I take my hat off to him as a fabulous and tireless people-person. He is making a difference, and - you know what? - I really like the guy.