QldVilla

2 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Whilst I agree with virtually all of your post the first sentence seems to endorse a mindless. anti-intellectual outlook. People ought to be able to debate and criticise on a forum without being derided for their lack of 'credentials', it's totally missing the point.

I don't believe I was saying you can't debate the issues with the club, but I haven't read anything with a methodology that supports their views. What's the saying, opinions are like @($-?@!$/ everyone has got one....social media just allows everyone to express it. That some are going after a Manager who has been there for 16 weeks is just wrong and have no validity to their argument. Rather than getting up their post numbers, try putting together a logical point of view.

Personally thought there was no advantage for Tammy or Chelsea loaning him to Wolves for six months and he was better off staying where he is and continue banging them in. If he does, his value will increase and be worth more to Chelsea, and other clubs will be chasing him for next season including Villa if promoted.

Great news and well done Tammy.

13 hours ago, TRO said:

If i was him and considering the last 6 games or so.......i would go.

he and a few others at Villa are doing all the work, in terms of carrying the torch.....and if i was Jack, i would do the same.

He is making the right decision.

the sooner we drop promotion talk and concentrate on building a team the better.

 

 

 

I don't see it that way, there's many reasons why the form is the way it is at the moment, tired squad, best player on sidelines etc.. but what you say is valid, Villa doesn't have that team look about it, yet...

TA is by no means the finished article and he still missus the odd sitter, he had a slow start with Villa this season and wasn't until Smith became manager that he flourished. Although I would preferred he stayed and helped us get promoted, too many players these days are looking short term, rather than what is in their best interests long term.

If he stayed with Villa and we were promoted, Is there the opportunity that we would sign him? I would have thought yes. On the other side of the coin, Wolves are so sure of him, they are only signing on loan for 6 months?. He probably feels that he is ready, and he probably is for the challenge, but if he keeps banging them in then there will be a handful of clubs wanting to sign him at the end of the season and he might be worth more to Chelsea.

Six more months in the Championship will only make things better for him and Chelsea, and hopefully Chelsea will see this.

How many clubs in the Championship could rightly lay claim to going through the same period of games starting with Derby and ending with Leeds and say they would do better than Villa for points in the same period of games?

The squad has looked tired the last two games and due to key injuries we haven't been able to rotate some players to keep them fresh. I know a lot of people don't like Jedinak, but we are missing a no nonsense DM who makes opposition players look for fear of being put on their backsides, we needed this against Leeds yesterday and a couple of other games in past weeks.

The same frailties are still there that were there at the start of the season, but with a couple of CD's a ball playing CM and cover for Grealish, this Villa team is still good enough to go up, but we need a little luck like every club needs to get promoted.

27 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Is it true Axel is out for the season? 

I thought the manager said it was a stress fracture of a metatarsal in his foot, should only be 5-8 weeks depending on where in the foot.

I think the run of games over the last 6 weeks has caught up with the team. We looked tired as a squad last game and looked it again today. We also aren't the same team without Grealish, having someone to hold up the ball and allow the attacking players to get into position. Now that we are getting injuries, it's showing we don't have the quality of depth we thought we had.

Will be interesting to see who is brought in in January, we not only need the well publicised defenders but another ball playing central midfielder, someone who sits a little deeper, urgently to go on with it.

Thought we were a bit flat today, but the brilliance of one player nearly got us the win.

I don't believe Nyland is our long term keeper and what most have said is true, but he's not to blame for the loss today. It's easy to read into situations after the fact it's another to make decisions in real time. I've seen world class keepers do exactly the same as him for the first goal, and he should have been better physically in the second goal, he reacted too late. But doesn't take away from the fact in the second goal that the WB player pulled the ball with arm away from Nyland ( deliberate hand ball) and then hand balled again on the ground. We should have killed off the game could have had 4-5 goals. I don't see the purpose of hammering Nyland each game, we need to get behind him until the manager decides otherwise.

At some point the game passes some managers by, this was Bruce. He had his window and just missed on delivering.

We now have a proper manager who understands the club and has the players playing an attractive attacking style of play. It's getting better every week and is a joy to watch. 

I think the manager getting a full week with the players showed tonight. There's still a lot of work to do, but you can see we are better tactically. We could of scored 4 or 5, but they also could have scored 1 or 2. We look a threat going forward from both touch lines and through the middle, even if the last pass or touch is still going astray. THe back 4 look a lot better, although looked exposed a couple of times, maybe the manager plays a DM in front when we are away from home. There's small improvement each week and that should continue, very promising.

1 hour ago, TRO said:

We rarely do.I don't think we look comfortable against physical sides.....and we don't move quick enough to negate it.

folk mention subtle changes, but there are still many residual things left from the Bruce era. some of those things will prevent us going up

That does not surprise me one bit.....It will take DS some time to get the many things right and the games keep coming at a rapid rate.

Not an easy job.

Agree. We need a harder edge, and not sure some of those players have it in them. Jedinak wouldn't of copped that in midfield and would of given it back in spades, but he's slowed down too much for the style DS wants to play. The other issue is the passing game, some players are standing like their feet are in cement, when it is about moving into space, sometimes you don't need the speed for it to work, but you do need the intelligence to find or make the space between players. 

PS I love Grealish as we all do, but a lot of times he looks like a cat playing with a ball of wool, entertaining, but not creative and to the teams detriment. He needs to work on his output and it being more effective.

I thought Norwich got a lot more physical in the second half and we didn't handle it too well. A few players wanted to wave there hands in the air appealing to the ref rather than playing the whistle and getting the ball back. We created enough chances, just didn't take them. You can see the a different style developing, its just going to take a while for it to be bedded down. Disappointing loss but encouraging.

3 games in 6 days. While JG does need to improve his finishing, DS is thinking more about the next 2 games and how he can use his best players including JG effectively over the period. That means not playing full games in some instances and resting players when the opportunity arises. We have a big enough squad, over most teams in the Championship and if used to our advantage, will hopefully lead us winning games through less fatigue than other smaller squads.

I said it the other day, it was a breath of fresh air to hear a manager not talk the normal cliches, as some have already commented, Smith is more anaylitical and has a strong coaching methodology.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like to hear what he is getting the players to do tactically, they obviously targeted a couple of players, 'setting traps', and great to see the team with a plan and execute that plan.

4 minutes ago, Tegis said:

Pretty bloody close before he sold to Lerner. Make no mistake, we where in freefall at the time.

You are confusing the DE/Witton Lane stand with the demolished Trinity.

I have no problem doing both.

Ok sunshine...

5 hours ago, Tegis said:

I wish the private family man Doug Ellis a truly peaceful rest. It's not like he is evil or anything.

BUT!

The chairman of Aston Villa Doug can well and truly rot. I will never forgive him for this.

Yep, but how close were Villa to being added to the list below, which wasn't part of his tenure. A name on a stand that can be removed anytime, or below? I know which I'd prefer. It's easy to criticise, but even harder to show some class.

History will define his legacy in a positive note. A custodian of a great club. RIP Sir Doug.

Congratulations to the club on the appointment of Dean Smith, personally although not my first choice, I believe he's a very good manager and believe he will do an excellent job. He understands the club and I look forward to him getting the best out of our squad.

Also, applaud the club for the appointment of JT as his assistant. This is a really exciting double appointment that will energise the squad, the club and the fans.

PS feel a little sorry for Brentford fans, hopefully they can find a suitable appointment to keep Dean's good work going.

2 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Amazing..  deemed by many on here as too inexperienced for us, yet Monaco seem to trust him enough - and they're in the champions league!

 

Fwiw,  I don't want Terry &/or Faria as manager.

And time will tell whether he can be an effective manager. You can be emotional all you like, the end of the day we all want what is best for Villa. We will have differing opinions, but as much as Henry was a fabulous player, and could be a great coach one day, he doesn't have the minimum experience to be considered ready to be a Manager IMO. 

If he took the Villa job I would have been a 100% behind him, but he didn't he decided to go to Monaco, which reinforced my concerns about him being appointed.

I didn't want to say anything negative about Henry, even though I didn't believe he was properly tested to become a Manager at this point. I had the suspicion that he was after any job and Villa would be a stepping stone. Now he gets to be at a team with Champions League football.

The talk seems to be about Terry now, I would still prefer Rodgers, but would love him as an assistant to the successful candidate. Rui Faria has to also be a strong candidate, he's done his time as an assistant and if anyone deserves a shot.

8 hours ago, TRO said:

I can't argue.....i just have reservations with his time elsewhere.....Liverpool was mixed, Swansea was, well ok, but mixed.......Celtic , i have reservations with that too......not exactly challenging football, generally attract players with one eye on a champions league opportunity.......already had a manager from there that had some success with us but bought a load of tripe in the main.

we are 15th in the championship........we need a radical rethink of our playing philosophy, not someone to scrape us up.

personally, i want a new fresh approach, with guys that can do it.....without preconceived predjucies born out of old experiences.

There inexperience is an attraction for me not a negative.

We need to go in a different direction.

 

I guess we'll see what transpires. I have no issue with Henry if appointed and hope he is successful, it just concerns me that he hasn't bedded down his ideas and coaching methodology. People are using sound bites of media grabs and that he is a great technician, maybe? But what is the next sentence after that, the next paragraph, how do you get the players to buy into your beliefs? You don't hear that side in the media, only the sound bites. I see Rodgers getting us up and towards the Top 6. He did well at Liverpool IMO, but over thought his last season, maybe a limitation, he's accomplished all he can at Celtic, they have hit the ceiling and he needs a new challenge.

I'll be happy with either appointment, but I do support Terry being the assistant no matter who is appointed manager, he gets Villa.