M_Afro

It’s quite hard for a half decent team to lose 4 on the bounce against other half decent teams and for that reason, purely stats based, I am certain that we will draw or win this.

Dean will go back to 4-3-3. He simply has to. I suspect that he will still try and play Ings and Ollie from the start, which will make our task more difficult but we won’t lose. 1-1 is the score most likely. 

7 minutes ago, hippo said:

He pretty much such said it in his first ever window. He was asked about recruits in the Jan window. He said he wasn't involved and that was left to Susso. (I doubt he is totally out of the loop tbf) he said the part of the job he enjoys is being on the training pitch with the players.

I think there was the initial glee of the Ings purchase. But quickly on here some thought Watkins would go wide - others thought one be on the bench. Not many saw a Ings/Watkins CF combo.

He said that about the actual negotiations which is the way it should be. He is fully involved in the process of selecting the players that we target. The DOF and sometimes Purslow then handle the negotiation. 

Is JT working at the minute? I wonder if Smith could get him in to do some consultancy work for a month or so. Our defence has gone to the dogs since he left!

4 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

He needs games he's missed a lot of football. He's a better player than Hause but when he's getting exposed every week I'm not sure we can be too loyal now. Especially if we don't have a mandatory fee.

I think Hause is better. Our best defensive performance was against Utd.

I’ve slept off my annoyance from last night now  but still I can’t understand what I saw in that first half. It was clear before the match even started that the midfield was going to be a massive issue. That was made even more obvious in the first 5 minutes of the game with Arsenal being totally dominant. To then watch the next 45 minutes unfold and do absolutely nothing! I just can’t understand that. It’s as if Smith just froze. I have never seen such a one sided half of football where the manager has not at least tried a few things to stem the flow. 
 

I am further perplexed that when the change did come at halftime, Ings and Watkins were left out on the pitch getting in each other’s way and offering absolutely nothing. I was surprised by the Ings signing when it happened and it is looking like an even more bizarre decision now. Much to ponder but unless Smith drops Ings and Axel he will not be picking our team for much longer!

7 hours ago, ender4 said:

Thank you for this graph after each game.

Still early days but need a decent winning run to get back on track.   Like 4/4 wins in our next 4 which should all be winnable on paper. Of course it doesn’t work like that, but maybe just maybe.

Our last three games were all winnable and that didn’t work out too well! Dean has only had two decent winning runs in his time at the club. First our 10 game run in the Championship and then our first 4 games of last season. Other than that we have always been very inconsistent. We may win 2 of our next 4 but we will almost certainly lose 2 as well. 

He is gone this season at some stage. I absolutely guarantee it. It’s likely to happen sooner rather than later too. 

1 minute ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

He's not wrong though? The first half was completely unacceptable. 

And yet he watched the entire 50 minutes unfold without doing a single thing about it. Nothing. 

I’m even more annoyed after hearing his post match interview and pretty certain that we are stuck with a starting 11 that shoe horns Ollie and Ings into it. Smith is done here. Let’s get it done and move on. 

1 minute ago, HeyAnty said:

I posted the above this morning and i stand by it.  Don’t be surprised if he goes after tonight.

Also i have it from a fairly reliable source that ROK has been a major lose, more so than JT.  He was major behind the scenes 

He deserves to go after that first half. I am an ex rugby playing middle aged football lover with zero coaching experience but even I could tell that we were going to be in trouble as soon as I saw the two team line ups. That was ratified within 5 minutes of kick off. For some reason Deano did nothing about it until the game was well over. Even then he didn’t make the right changes. Lovely man. Great Villan. Bang average manager.

He will be gone before the end of November and he deserves to. Thanks for the memories Dean but we need much better 

I can’t believe that he has not been mentioned tonight so far. Never a PL centre half in a million years. He is awful.

Just now, villa4europe said:

Disagree

We have players players who can play out position and fit a 4-3-3 

Watkins is not a left winger, neither is young, El Ghazi is not a right winger, maybe he should have tried PB but that is what it is

Buendia, traore and Bailey have all missed too many games this season to get consistent use of a strong 4-3-3 line up 

AEG is a left forward who has been available all season. Buendia is a right forward who has been available almost all season. Add to that Bailey, Traore and Bidace who have all been available for quite a few games and you will see that we will always have been able to field a decent team in that formation. The problem is his insistence that Axel and Ings have to play. It is killing us.

4 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Behind the scenes, alot of fans have discussed this to be fair.

Is Deano stubborn?

Fair play for surrounding himself with the right people, but does he listen to them when it counts the most?

Good leaders hire people who test them. Poor ones hire people who are unthreatening. Seems like the later to me.

3 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

And when Bailey is fit and starting next game and the formation is changed unfortunately too many fans won't see the connection... 

Sorry mate but this is nonsense. We have umpteen players suitable to a 4-3-3. We do not need Bailey fit for it. We could have played it all season. Smith is clearly too gutless to drop a centre half ( all of whom deserve dropping on current form) or either Ings or Watkins ( neither have been good so far). Show some minerals Dean. It’s last chance saloon mate.

2 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Brighton would be a good fit for him if they lose Potter in near future.

He wouldn't get a look in at top half team though e.g Leicester if Rodgers goes somewhere else.

Potter is on another level to Smith. If Potter leaves Brighton will replace him with someone much better than Dean. 

How is this kid still getting a game? His first half today was worse than his first half against Watford. He is also a gutless wonder. He gives up so easily. I would much rather play Young. At least he will always show courage.

1 minute ago, string28 said:

dean got it wrong and im angry about it but i think in the end he will get this sorted just hope he changes and doesnt do a bruce.

Just look at his record without Grealish. It’s awful. Really bad. This team cost £350m and it was as bad as any villa team I have ever seen in the first half tonight and not that much better in the second. Indefensible. You can legislate for players having a bad day but you can never legislate for a manager who watches something truly awful but does absolutely nothing about it.

I always think the big test is who would be interested in a manager if he became available. Can anybody see another premier league team take an interest in Smith? It won’t happen. He will eventually get sacked by villa and then never manage in the PL again. 

Seriously how can anybody defend Smith after that? He got the selection woefully wrong and then watched Arsenal take full advantage of that for fifty minutes without doing anything about it. Nothing! Nada! Sweet fa! He just watched. Even then he didn’t address the real elephant in the room and stuck with Ings and Watkins on the pitch at the same time. It really is laughable. Lovely man. Bloody average manager. He is done here.

Grow some balls and drop Axel and either Ings or Watkins. Go 4-3-3. Save our season or go back to the championship Dean.

3 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Tonight was dreadful, but if it makes some fans want us to lose more games to force out a manager who's turned us around and brought us up from the Champiponship to a comfortable mid table team, well, I'd much rather those fans **** off than Smith, personally.

Tonight wasn't good enough, neither was Wolves, but if anyone seriously thinks where we currently are in general is along the lines of the Lambert/Sherwood era, they need to stick a hose in their ears and wash out the shit they have for brains.

Mate. Seriously how many good performances have we put in 2021? Less than 5. If you think it’s more than that then you are either clutching at straws or have very low standards. Arsenal have not done that to another PL team for at least 5 years. Woeful 

1 minute ago, string28 said:

dean will fix this just need to use the players and have faith in them in the formation.

I admire your optimism but why do you think that. He picked a terrible side and tactics today and did nothing to change it in a 50 minute first half that was the most one sided match I have seen all season. He did nothing mate. No tweaks even. Just let it happen. Totally lost me there I’m afraid.

2 minutes ago, nick76 said:

I agree with everything in that comment apart from ‘Dead man walking’…I don’t think he’s close at all to being sacked, I just don’t.  Everything else is spot on in your comment, it was dogshit!

Nick, his record without Grealish is terrible. Lost 5/9 this season after spending £350m. The owners will not be accepting of that. They just won’t. Lose to West Ham he is gone in my view. We have been awful this year so far (2021).

He’s been great this season but my goodness he was awful tonight. Maybe those cakes Deano was going on about (really annoyed me for some bizarre reason) we’re space cakes.