M_Afro

He was an ok championship player. He only rose to prominence when he moved to 9. He doesn’t have the ability to play wide in my view. He would just be another square peg in a round hole.

It definitely feels as though there are some internal issues here. As some have already stated will things change in the event that a new manager is incoming? Possibly but bad eggs are usually just bad eggs. I can’t believe that Dean won’t have been anything other than very fair with him so maybe it’s just not the right fit for anybody. It happens.

I do like that formation but I don’t think we have the players to play it effectively. You need 2 dedicated and effective defensive midfielders like Rice and Phillips for England. I’m not sure Dougie is that player and I’m certain SJM isn’t. You need a proper 10. I think Buendia could be that player but I would keep him on the right until he finds some form. You also need quality wide forwards. Ollie is a 9. Move him away from that and he is a championship player again. I think we need to go back to 4-3-3. The same back 5 as you have. Luiz as the pivot. SJM and Ramsey as 8’s. Front 3 of Buendia, Ollie and Bailey.

I personally wouldn’t sell either of Watkins or Ings, I just wouldn’t start them both in every match but if I was forced to get rid of one of them, it would be Ings. Watkins has proven himself here, is much younger and has greater growth in him. I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable with the Ings signing for some reason. Probably because I thought we had glaring deficiencies elsewhere that needed to be addressed first. I don’t ever want us to sign another player until our midfield is sorted out first! It’s the key thing holding us back.

I agree with the sentiment entirely but why play Ollie out wide when you have Buendia and Traore (and arguably AEG) who have played that position far more effectively in the past? One of Ollie or Ings needs to start on the bench, 100%. I would start with Ollie with Ings to play super sub if required.

I agree. If we play to our potential we have a very good chance of winning. West Ham’s players are no better than ours and we are at home.

Dean won’t be judged on tomorrow. He will be judged on a much longer period. It does feel like tomorrow is important but only because of our poor form in 2021. I think he is at a junction now. Turn it around and show greater consistency moving forward or he will be gone. Whatever happens the decision will be based upon a general overview of his performance on the whole. Villa don’t do knee jerk!

He will 100% start in my view. He has to. The bigger question is will Dean have the balls to drop Ings or Ollie?

There’s absolutely hope for tomorrow. We are due some luck against West Ham. They are also nowhere near as good as people are making out. We played them off the park at their place last season, despite the result. We are at home. We have got the players. Dean needs to pick the best 11, in their best positions and employ the most beneficial tactics. That’s his job and if he does it well we will play well and have a very good chance of winning. If he doesn’t then he deserves all of the stick that will come his way.

It’s going to be interesting to see what Smith does in terms of selection tomorrow. In his press conference he stated that our performance against Arsenal was not formation related but simply just poor individual performances. He can’t really believe that. He also tried to make out that Bailey possibly isn’t ready to start. I don’t think he believes that either. I suspect that Bailey will start. That means that one of Watkins, Ings or Buendia really needs to come out of the team to accommodate Bailey. Which will it be? Will he try to keep them all in? I really hope that he starts with Ings on the bench. Watkins is class at playing the loan striker role and with Bailey and Buendia either side of him, I can see him flourishing again. I’d also be happy enough with Ings starting with Ollie on the bench but would prefer it the other way around. I really think this is where Smith will need to earn his corn. He wanted options and he now has them. It’s his job to select those best suited to getting three points and employing them in the right formation. It genuinely is intriguing because I have no idea of what Smith will do so you can bet that Moyes will be guessing too. We pretty much know what to expect from West Ham so Smith may be able to work this to our advantage. We need a fast start and then who knows. Over to you Dean.

I never wanted us to appoint Smith but I would never call myself anti-Smith. I think that most fans love Dean, I just felt that his cv was a little underwhelming to be considered to be manager of our great club. In his time as manager there have been some great spells where he has really won me over but the nagging doubts keep returning. I still want Dean to turn things around but for various reasons that I have posted over the past week or so, I am still unsure that he is capable. I am absolutely certain that he is on the edge now and a decent run must be forthcoming. Hopefully it starts with a sensible balanced team selection on Sunday, a motivated team, a good performance and something other than another defeat.

If Emi is available, we play 4-3-3 and drop either of Ings/Watkins then there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t beat them. Emi would be a big loss but he could still be back in time. I fear for us if we go 5-3-2 although I would expect a much more pragmatic approach which might help us. If we try and open up like we have been it could get messy!

There’s time for him to get back. We don’t play until Sunday. Hopefully his Dad will be fine and he can return in time.

Overrated- Sanson Underated - Sanson Depends on day/hour/poster/previous result! I am now going to run for cover but I always thought Ian Taylor was a bit over-rated!

No. I genuinely can’t. Maybe Norwich if they got rid of their manager but otherwise no.

I would say it’s highly unlikely that he will leave. I really hope not as well. He is a class act. I have never known our club to be so well run. He is calm, authoritative and decisive.

Just when you thought this could not get any funnier a disallowed goal for CR7!

I honestly think the next 2 games are massive. This next International break is always a precarious one for managers who are struggling. Fail to win either match and Dean could be gone. Lose both and he will be gone.

Are we a mid table side though? The stated aim of the club at the start of the season was to challenge for Europe. Smith said on Friday that we have a top half squad. There is a subtle difference between saying we are a top half side and a mid table side but it is important nonetheless. Top half suggests that we are at least in the hunt for a European slot. Mid table suggests we are neither in the hunt for Europe or in danger of relegation. I know you really want Smith to stay and I do empathise with you. Smith has much to like. He brings things to the table that are unique to him because of his history with the club. I also have to admit that I never wanted him in the first place. There have definitely been stages where he has really started to win me over but then we revert to the same things that ultimately hold us back. In my view however, our form has largely been poor all year. This is backed up by our points accumulated during that period.

Our form has been poor all year in my view. We did play well against Spurs at the end of last season but we were incredibly lucky against Chelsea. We were poor against an Everton side missing their best players (the stats had it as the luckiest result of the weekend). We were good against Utd. That’s only 2 good performances. I also wasn’t talking about our attractiveness to managers. I agree that we are a very attractive prospect. I was talking about how our finish will affect our ability to retain our best players and attract new ones who are of a high enough quality to improve us. Our finishing position becomes incredibly important then.

My points weren’t just about spells of bad form though. Also, our form has been poor for a very long time now. Does that still class as a “spell”? If we have to wait until the summer to get the right person then I wouldn’t be totally against that but if we feel the right person is available now, then why wait? If we let a poor season drag out with Smith it will make our player retention/recruitment so much more difficult. Smith himself has stated that we have a top half squad. We really need a top half finish to be able to build. If we let the season drift under Smith and say finish 14th, we will have lost a load of revenue and the outside perception of the club will be that we are a relegation candidate. That will make it so much more difficult to attract players. It’s too great a risk.

You make some good points and if it was his first bad spell, or even his second, then I would be in total agreement but it’s not. Key considerations for me are: Our form in 2021. Our form without Grealish. Our long spells of poor form where nothing gets changed. We just go again. Our indiscernible style. I still don’t know what we are trying to do/be. The shoe horning of certain players come what may (SJM and Ings in particular). Our in game management (not at least tweaking the formation/tactics in the first half on Friday was quite unbelievable). Our total failure to create a competitive and balanced midfield, despite spending £350m. The number of occasions when we simply just don’t turn up (Watford, Spurs and Arsenal so far this season). Our in game capitulations. The lack of leadership within the team. Why we are so easy to get at. I know we kept a lot of clean sheets last year but Emi was the key reason for this. We still allowed a high number of chances in those games. I do love Dean and we all want him to do well but he is sat in last chance saloon now. He needs to turn this around now! Not in a month or two. Now. We have currently lost 5/9. We have not been unlucky. We have got what we deserved in those matches. Even the Wolves match they had an expected goals of 2 compared to our 1.

Axel is an interesting player. I have genuinely never seen anything in him to suggest that he should be playing in the PL. His reading of the game and anticipation is awful. He is poor on the ball. He constantly loses his man. He dives in. Just watch the first goal that Chelsea score against us. It’s so easy to prevent and yet we make it so easy for them to score. So why do we keep bringing him in on loan? The club obviously see something in him but what is it? He seems like a good bloke and probably is very professional but are we really considering bringing him in permanently? I can’t see him coming here to warm the bench so if we are interested then we obviously see him as a starter. I just can’t see it.

Yep. I think most people agree with the formation. I would play Sanson in place of Ramsey, who is not ready to start in the PL yet but otherwise no change. Ideally we would sign a physical DCM so we could play a 4-2-1-3 as well with SJM as the 1. If we are really serious we would also sign a proper 10 to compete with SJM for that position. Sadly, the above means dropping Ings and Axel and that won’t happen. Smith my drop Axel and revert to a flat back 4 but he will keep shoe horsing Ings in to everyone’s detriment.

I agree with this. Our biggest problem is trying to shoe horn our players in to get Danny Ings a game. It’s really starting to get on my nerves. Play 4-3-3. Watkins down the middle and Bailey and Buendia either side. You will then see what Buendia can do. If he is still rubbish, then we have a problem but he still needs a bit of time to get used to the players around him.