Vancvillan

If only we had a manager who could pick the right players...

What in @villa4europe's post do you disagree with? Because I thought it was spot on.

I wish I could print this out and nail it to the forehead of every moron pundit jumping on the "Mings is shit" bandwagon by blaming him for the goal. He was one of our better players today.

Here you go.

I thought he looked ok today - playing out of position but trying to put himself about a bit. I guess it's a sad indictment of our situation that "trying to get involved" is now the bar for a reasonable performance. Will definitely be a player that we'll look back on in two seasons and wish we still had in the squad.

kennethwilliams.gif

A few times when he had the ball he looked desperate for someone to make the run he could see. Instead we managed to play narrow and not make runs through the middle. Our set pieces were also terrible (not sure what Nanny McPhee does all week tbh). Our only goal threat is a piece of magic from distance. Play him in a team with runners or width and he'd create.

What about people who think he wouldn't do any better?

Genuinely curious to see what the SG supporters have to say after that. The man himself is saying the players are good enough. The narrow formation he chose obviously wasn't working. The only excuse left is that he's the least bad option available, and that's pretty much defending the indefensible at this point.

All I need to win my fantasy draft game this week is a Villa clean sheet. What was I thinking.

Mate, I feel your pain. The excuses seem to be: 1. No-one else could do better with this squad, not even Poch or Tuchel. 2. Players have talent but they are not performing because they don't have desire. This is not SG's fault because motivation is obviously not his remit. 3. Players have no talent, squad is worse than Brighton for Potter's first season. This is not SG's fault despite signing 9 players since his arrival. 4. He's learning and his system needs time, despite the fact that if you accept (with Christ-like benefit of the doubt) that he had a system, he's obviously changed it recently. I don't know how you convince people who follow this line of reasoning since their answer seems to be "show me I'm wrong", which obviously isn't definitively possible in football. It's the Sherlock Holmes falacy - ignoring the fact that there may be a simple explanation; that SG is responsible for a lot of the above and just isn't cut out for elite management.

What evidence do you have to suggest that Emi lacks these attributes? It's utter nonsense.

Then in the next manager thread you said: "We have a frontline who can't score, to save their lives, is enough to get any sought after manager to baulk at the prospect of joining us." So Ollie's better than Andy Gray but can't score to save his life? I'm starting to wonder how many people use this account. And to keep it on topic, the problem with Emi clearly isn't effort, drive or desire - that's the last thing you'd fault him for.

Some would say picking the right 11 is a manager's job. Others might even be so bold to suggest that picking a formation that suits said 11 also falls under the manager's remit. And a crazy bunch of wackos may even go as far as to suggest that 12 months isn't "too early in the analytics".

Kane started 8 games under Sherwood that season, finishing maybe 4 of those matches. The next season under Poch he started 37 games. Sherwood gave him a chance (which he took), but Poch made him a regular starter (which is what I said in my post). Thankfully Tactics Tim isn't in the running. Poch definitely has pedigree when it comes to putting faith in a young striker who has proven his worth on loan while more established players aren't delivering, which sounds somewhat familiar...

Ah, yeah - the same Pochettino who bought in one player during his first transfer window at Espanyol, had two days of training with the team and got a 0-0 with Barca in his first match. He topped that later in the season, beating them at their patch and dragging Espanyol from third from bottom up to comfortably mid-table. The same guy who again bought in one player in his first window at newly promoted Southampton and took them from 15th to 8th, with their best points haul in 20 years. The same manager who at Spurs bought Harry Kane into the first team as a starting striker, along with youth prospects like Eric Dier and Dele Ali. I could go on, but the idea that Poch wouldn't be able to do better than SG with this squad defies his record. And sure, he will want money to spend but he has a decent enough track record, and is known for promoting promising youth. If no quality candidates are interested right now then I can understand the idea of giving SG more time, but that'd only be if he was the least bad option - and (assuming they were keen) Poch and Tuchel are demonstrably better. Suggesting otherwise is blind faith.

Who got fired...

Nah, it's Alan Wright.

Clive Mendonca for the Dendoncka-Mendonca combo. Double donks.

As long as he gets us promoted in year one that's fine.

It's not the same - I'm not paid to critic my best mate's very high profile industry where there are only 20 managers, everyone knows who they are and there's a very public metric to show how well it badly they are doing. I'd be respectful about it, but offering constructive criticism isn't rocket science - it's expected and encouraged at entry level jobs in decent corporations.

Surprised this took two pages to come up tbh. Was absolute suicide.

Yellow card machine last year but honestly don't see him starting much. If it's him and Mings we're guaranteed a booking between the two each game.

I like this signing. Gives us something we don't have in the midfield, and as @Mantissaid would be a good partner for Bouba. Then pick one other midfielder (I think we know who that'll be). About as fashionable as a Burbury-wrapped Vauxhall Nova, but does one job well. Not expecting him to chip in with many goals and assists, but according to Wolves fans is good when played to his strengths and (quoting from a forum) "plays like he's reffing the game". We could use a bit more malice and bite in the middle to free up our creative players.

MLS is about his level.