General Krulak: Villa need to fight like Marines to survive

Can Aston Villa fight off relegation this season? A few people still seem to think so, including the club's non executive director Charles Krulak, who put emphasis on the fight that Villa are in.

Speaking to the Sun newspaper, Krulak, a former general in the United States Marine Corps said:

"I faced way bigger 'losing battles' than this — and won them.

"You can’t tell me this is impossible. Three wins in a row and we are back in the mix.

"That’s what Randy believes and what everyone at the Villa believes. The day you don’t believe is the day you quit."

It's actually quite nice to see a member of the board standing up and speaking out like this. Granted, Krulak doesn't really discuss the fact that the board have gotten the club into this mess in the first place, and doesn't actually say how we're going to get out. Still, the sentiment is there.

I suppose that Krulak is qualified to talk about fighting at least. Whilst in the Marine Corps, Krulak served in Vietnam and the Gulf War, where he was part of Operation Desert Storm. In fact, he was speaking of his military experience when he went on to say:

"Let’s just look at Desert Storm. It was 4am and we were standing next to minefields separating Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There were trenches filled with gas, massive artillery ready to rain down on us and the threat of chemical attack.

"My next in command looked at me and said, ‘How are we gonna get through this?’

"I said, ‘We’re gonna do it, we’re gonna go through this like a knife through butter’.

"It’s easy to give up but you can’t do that. We fought our way through those minefields and the rest is history."

I'm not entirely sure how relevant that is to the situation that Villa are in truth be told. Like, I wouldn't exactly consider Sunderland's midfield to be a minefield, but there you go. Saying that, Villa do have a habit of self destructing, so maybe he has a point. But if anything, Villa's defence are the butter, and even the blunt knifes of Sunderland and Swansea carved through them.

While these words have come from Krulak, and not the big boss himself, General Krulak believes that Randy Lerner echoes his sentiments, having said:

"Never forget that Randy’s father was also in the US Marines and he shares these values, these beliefs."

If anything, my problem with Krulak's statement is the lack of accountability. Yeah, Villa's players seem to have given up, and they could do with some more fight. But who's fault is that? Is it the players? Or is it the ownership's poor decisions in the last few years that have gotten the club into this mess? You be the judge.