icouldtelltheworld
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Everything posted by icouldtelltheworld
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I reckon we've got a lot more players who'd plausibly be considered squad options at top 6 teams than Newcastle, Leeds and a handful of other teams. But they're all outperforming us due to having a competent coach in charge of the team
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It's certainly up for debate how crucial Grealish was in all of that, but clearly the board (and most of the fan base) felt that Smith was underachieving with the squad at his disposal. FWIW I really think it's debatable how much Gerrard improved us last season. When he took over we were 14th, we ended the season 14th. He steered us away from a relegation battle initially, but ultimately he gained a third of all the PL points he's earned in his time here in his first 4 games. Take that new manager bounce out of the equation and the difference is negligible at best
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The difference being that Arteta was brought in to oversee a huge squad overhaul, move on the expensive older players and build a team around the talented youngsters. Gerrard was brought in to replace a manager who had been judged as not getting enough from his players, and to take what was now an established PL side into the top half, with license to abandon our transfer policy and spend big on older players for instant success. The two situations aren't remotely comparable
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Said to my old man it's the exact same as when he was here. Every so often pull out a 4-0 or a 5-1 in amongst months of crap performances, just enough to give the illusion of progress and keep him in a job
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We're managed by one of the all time great PL midfielders. If anyone can finally sort out our midfield issues, surely it's him
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This is exactly how I remember it as well. They came out fighting and gave it everything in that second half, but it just wasn't enough. Targett gave the post-match interview and was close to tears, talking about how the players had let the manager down. Even when times were tough under Smith in the PL, he had clearly nurtured a degree of togetherness in the squad which tbh I can't remember us ever having before. None of us know what goes on behind the scenes, but I highly doubt we have the same sense of unity in the squad now. Particularly when newer players have been brought in on huge wages and have done next to nothing to justify it
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In the past you could always make allowances for the manager's hands being tied or being severely limited by circumstances outside their control (certainly applies for McCleish, Lambert, Sherwood even Bruce for some of his time here). Whereas Gerrard has had backing and resources that previous Villa managers could only have dreamed of, so really the blame for our current plight is his and his alone
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Just caught up with MOTD from last night, and it really is depressing to see how teams which we were ahead of have managed to overtake us in the time Gerrard has been here (Leeds, Newcastle etc) At this stage, the longer he stays the more we are undoing the progress made over the past few years. In terms of squad harmony, bond between club and fans and ultimately our aims to break the top 10. It was time for Smith to go, but replacing him with Gerrard has to be one of the worst mistakes in the modern history of the club. We've arguably got a stronger squad than at any point since the 90s, but are going backwards. It's some achievement really
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Should be a red cabbage this time surely?
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The problem is that almost a third of those points were won in his first four games. Since then it seems that the more he gets to stamp his own ideas on the squad, sign players he wants etc. the worse that we get. Sadly I think you're right, the longer he stays we're likely to find ourselves slipping towards a relegation battle
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I think someone like Potter (or any other competant manager) would be able to get a squad containing the likes of Buendia, Luiz, Cash, Digne, Ings etc. comfortably into the top half of the table
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Not sure this has ever been discussed on here tbf
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And knowing that our players should be more than capable of doing the same
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I'm assuming a lot of people did the same as me and abstained from the last poll. I wanted him out in theory last week but didn't feel two games into a season was the right time to do it. I've seen enough though, sooner he goes the better for the club and the less we undo the progress we've made over the last few years
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Ratings & Reactions: Crystal Palace v Villa
icouldtelltheworld replied to limpid's topic in PL: Crystal Palace a
Hes gorra go Tom -
Partially yes, but 7 goals and 6 assists in 2020/21 were very good numbers (and IIRC he wasn't exactly a nailed on starter for the whole season). I think the unique talent of our club to sap all of the value out of our players so that we are unable to move them on has also been a factor here
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He spent time in a homeless shelter when growing up, but you are partially right. He attended a private school for part of his education on a football scholarship, I think when he was at Southampton's academy
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Yeah I was giving a very generous benefit of the doubt tbh
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We all know that he isn't the most clinical finisher, nor the most technically gifted footballer in the world. But tbh the real noticeable change in his game indicating a loss of form was that he was struggling to do all the unselfish parts of a strikers role - I thought he did that side of the game brilliantly yesterday, running the channels, holding the ball up and bringing others into play. Agree with the poster above who stated we are better team when he plays
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Between this and his weird obsession with Pogba, Souness might as well just admit that he doesn't like self-confident black players tbh
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Buendia is the one player in our squad who can genuinely make the difference and turn us into a top half team. Has to start week in, week out. How many times does he have to do more in 20 minutes than any other player has managed in 70+ before he gets his chance? First name on the team sheet for me
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Much better than last week but still way off the standard required if we want to break into the top 8. If he continues to start Coutinho ahead of Buendia it will be his undoing.
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Oh and there seems to be a bit of a debate about Watkins going on. Had a good game for me, and I'd start him and Ings together next time out
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Thought we were pretty poor against what is ultimately one of the weakest teams in the league. A game which was very low in quality, but two lovely moments for each of our goals and Buendia has to start moving forwards, Coutinho was completely anonymous again and if there's one of them that should be treated as a last 20 mins impact sub then its him. Important three points but lots of work to do. We clearly have better players in our squad than the likes of Everton now and we have to start reflecting that in our performances
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With Buendia behind them then I agree
