hippo

55 minutes ago, Rustibrooks said:

I think we need to hit the ground running ideally. On paper we have favourable games, whether we do the business is another story.

I’m quite positive about the season, my main issues :

- Will Gerrard drop his favourites if they are not performing?

- Limiting the amount of times we use 2 up top. (Should be dependant on who we play)

- Individual mistakes from players.

If we can show that we have fixed those issues by November/December then I’ll feel really confident in us finishing in the top half. 
 

I think dropping the favourites is overplayed. For the me the question (and a big one) is can he mould a group of clearly talented individuals into a team. Do that and we will be flying. 

Imo if you are going to depose the sitting captain - it's done quickly and quietly behind closed doors.

Don't think having this playing out all summer was a wise move to be honest.

In some ways I hope it's Ming's but in other ways (throwing the whole captaincy thing up in the air , then announcing it's still Mings) would be a minor farce imo.

1 hour ago, messi11 said:

Got the easiest fixture of the first round! Bournemouth probz rank 20th in terms of quality! We should be winning this one!

Yep and I think we will. Even if the team isn't firing as a collective - we have too much individual talent for Bournemouth.

Easy 2-0 villa win.

If he wins games he will be popular. That's all that matters.

If he doesn't win games then the fans will turn. Maybe as a Liverpool hero villa fans will turn marginally quicker. 

But the immoveable fact is that to retain and his popularity (and his job) he has to win games.

He's added a fair few players and had time with them. Now we get to see what he is made off.

36 minutes ago, ender4 said:

I'm on the fence myself, but the main positive for me is that we were pretty close to 8th position last season... someone pointed out that if we just didn't crumble in games where we were winning by at least 2 goals, we would have finished 8th.

Or another way to look at it, if we had just beaten the teams that got relegated we would have also finished 8th. 

Or that if you took Gerrard's reign as the season, then we finished 9th. 

And on top of that, we've added 2 new first teamers, more squad depth, we have Bailey back like a new player, Sanson actually fit as squad player, & Gerrard has now had enough time with the players tactically. 

In theory, all that should propel us to around 8th (though of course other teams might have been doing similar).

When we're crumbling after 2 goal Leads ?

Can only think of Man City ?

2 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Think the biggest issue is the system he is attempting to play. We seem to struggle to break teams down with it. 

Ok here's a first.

I'm agreeing with VLV here.

2 minutes ago, Woody1000 said:

I loved having Dean Smith as our manager, I can admit to having a wobble before Lockdown in 2020 but he proved me wrong, and on the whole I am enjoying having Steven Gerrard as our manager so I’m not sure exactly where anyone would pigeonhole me?

About SG, I’m not sure if it’s because he used to play for and captain Liverpool and score regularly against us as a player, or if it’s because they’re worried that he’s going to leave at the first opportunity, but the section of fans on here who’ve been against him literally from day one are baffling. I don’t think anything is ever going to change their mind about him, and I guess that is their opinion, and they’re entitled to it, but god doesn’t it get tedious to read. Whether it’s for his own selfish reasons or not, he wants success and that can only be a good thing for us!

It’s been up and down since SG arrived, and of course he is not immune to criticism as we have seen the good, the bad and definitely the ugly since November, but as a fan base we have to draw a line under last season as it’s gone. We’ve had a relatively decent preseason (unbeaten, 3 wins from 4) and we’ve got the strongest squad I’ve ever seen in my 30 plus years as a supporter. We should all be genuinely optimistic for the season, we’ve strengthened in areas where we needed strengthening and previous signings are obviously going to be more settled.

I know I’m not going to change any bodies mind on this matter, but just thought I’d give my 2p’s worth.

Don't like him and probably never will. That said results have been good enough for a guy taking over mid season.

He's said he's aiming for 7th - but I think 10th is more reasonable.

To much debate right now a bit pointless season starts in just over a week - all will be revealed in due course.

1 hour ago, MrSmirch said:

Gerrard doesn’t do any coaching and the players themselves have said he barely speaks to them. We were shit last year under Beale and he’s gone thankfully. 
 

Critchley is the one to pin your hopes on but as he’s missed pre season…

Really ?  

I have heard and it seems he is more relaxed now.

He appointed our new coach - so the credit (or blame) still rests with SG. 

He has said many times that the results/performances are on him.

19 minutes ago, TRO said:

It depends if you want a system to dovetail in to players, who's future you don't see moving forward.....or building a system, for players you intend to buy as upgrades....which I fancy is more of the case.

Its all very well having the system to match the players you have, if you don't intend changing them.

I guess SG is starting as he means to go on......but right now its WIP

Whether, I like his system or not....we are WIP so I will wait until he has all the players in, that he see's to complete his system......systems need to morph from game to game anyway, to meet the demands of the opposition, or tactics get stale/predictable

I am not overly convinced, about systems anyway......they have a place sure, but I think they can be over stated.....but I don't think its the be all and end all....many other things to get right, in addition.

If your players are sub standard.....no system will bail you out.

Thing is he (or any other manager) isn't going to get an extended grace period to implement such a system with players completely of his choosing.

He's signed a decent number of players now and he has had time with said players.

Once the season is up and running the reckoning on him begins in earnest.

I'm sure Stevie G knows that.

20 minutes ago, lexicon said:

I agree that he's not there simply because he's Purslow's mate but you can't deny the massive impact their relationship had on that decision. 

Gerrard was never a perfect decision because there were always unknowns and risks involved due to his lack of experience as a manager.

He still has an awful lot to prove.

Some of this makes me laugh.

Countinho only came because of Gerrard.

Gerrard came because of previous with Purslow

I'd imagine the questions in players mind are more like:-

What the money like ? 

Might I win something ?

Is the area/location suitable ?

27 minutes ago, av1 said:

Quoted from another thread so we can stay on topic mate. 
 

I agree again. And this is why I think Gerrard is a clever appointment for this stage in our progression. As I said in m first post, there are probably top class players out there that as a club we can afford, but currently can’t attract. I believe Gerrard was a calculated risk, the name and reputation means he can attract the guys we want (there is no way on earth we sign Kamara on a free under Smith), if he proves to be a top manager fantastic. If not, we can appoint someone else who will inherit a very strong squad. 
 

I’ve read some nonsense on here about Purslow appointing Gerrard because he’s his mate, it’s flipping nonsense. Purslow and our board are clever sods and like a game of chess everything will be planned 3/4 moves in advance. 
 

Gerrard is perfect for this stage of our development imo. 

Sorry but the average span of a manager is less than 3 years. So any player asking how long x will be manager - should really already know the answer.

25 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

Believe me, it wasn't through May and June. I checked every day for weeks trying to make sure I could make a friends stag do and not a single appointment became available.

Yeah - it seems the service is available - but the slots are taken so quickly.

It seems par for the course in the UK. Doctors apt + A+E etc etc.

40 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Are you sure? There are reports for ages that you can’t get an appointment through that service because they have stopped doing because they are short on staff and I just tried myself on the website as a test to book a face to face and it said there are no current availability 

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/fast-track-uk-passport-what-7350647

Recent article.

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

I don’t that service is available at the moment

It is 

Even if Gerrard can't get the most out of this squad of players we have enough quality there to just out gun the lesser teams in the division and that should get us around 10th. (Acceptable imo).

If you want more than that we are going to either have drastically spend more in the transfer market - or recruit a higher calibre coach . 

Right now I'm not sure the club is ready to do either of those things.

10th and bit more style is ok with me.

Still Mings.

50 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

His errors are so basic. He should be making these down in League Two with someone else.

Persisting with a formation that will never work.

Playing his mates instead of better players.

Amateur hour.

He's got a presence when he walks in a room though 

2 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I don't think he's our best player or makes us a better team. 

Buendia is our best outfield player. By some distance.

1 hour ago, DCJonah said:

He gets till after the world Cup before I start being too critical. But it's a worry that major issues from last season continue to be major issues in pre season. 

Agree.

But even a slight improvement gets us 10th. We should be able to easily beat the lesser sides in the Prem.

Just now, AshVilla said:

Gerrard's excuse last season was he just needs a preseason.

Considering we still look dogshit and preseason is almost over should we be worried and what's his next excuse going to be?

To be fair to bloke he's never made that excuse and admitted that the results are on him. 

1 minute ago, jacketspuds said:

Don’t Man Utd look ten times better under their new manager? He has had less time to put his stamp on the team?

The problem is trying to shoehorn too many expensive players in to a plan that doesn’t work.

Good players are only effective if you can get a tune from them. 

A collection of good players will only get you so far.

A good coach will make a bunch of decent players into a decent collective unit.

That said it is Man U who probably have better players and a top proven coach. We won't come up such well stocked clubs each week in the PL.

I mean week 1 is Bournemouth!!! FFS 

1 minute ago, Farlz said:

Absolutely nothing as changed from last season. 

At least this should hopefully calm down the Europe talk again. 

But seriously why would it ?

Gerrard has been here since November - he's had hours on the training pitch with the players.

The idea that 4/5 over the summer was going to transform is was always a long shot imo.

Oh right - so the full pre season might not have done the trick 

Still got 2 weeks to go though. All is not lost.

48 minutes ago, TRO said:

Well you have a point Pete.

or 

After being mooted as one of the best youth players in the country.....He is blaming the coaches as opposed to himself, for not making the first team as a regular.

Its all speculation, until we know the truth.

I remember David platt saying "if the move is right in a footballing sense - the money will follow in due course" 

Maybe CC wants the money now - hoping the football will follow. 

The Platt strategy makes more sense imo.

Or doesn't he have the confidence that a glittering career is a ahead of him and wants very big bucks right now as by the time he is 22 he maybe a busted flush ?