dukes

Well i think he did a good job, and i wish him all the best.

The progress we’ve made during his tenure has been magnificent. I’ll forgive him for Gerrard as he got it right with Smith, I’ll forgive him for Coutinho as he got it right with Kamara. 

Overall I’d give him 7/10 as there were more positives than negatives and he provided stability to the club at a time when it was seriously needed.

3 hours ago, Tayls said:

I still reckon Emery is going to get frustrated with the window if players do indeed turn us down and go elsewhere - which is what I think will happen with Asensio. Long way to go of course, but it does seem like we had this in January, and depending on what happens with Asensio, we will have it again this summer. 

I think Emery is a realist, he knew our position when he came here, he knew what kind of proposition we were, and he was prepared to commit. Now he has to work with the club to make sure that players are as convinced to join us as he was.

With the exception of his time at PSG has dealt with this exact situation throughout his career. Arsenal were not in great shape when he went there and had no money.

46 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

Are we being linked with any RB?

Should be first priority.

I agree with this, but i wonder if we might look for a more defensive minded right back to counter the attack mindedness of Moreno on the left. Is it possible for example we could see Konsa play there to allow Carlos or a new centre back to play with Mings ?

Villareal apparently after Ben Brereton Diaz from Blackburn (his contract runs out in the summer), i wonder if that interest started under Emery and maybe we're lining up a January bid for him ?

I don't know that much about him, i just wondered if that might be why we're letting Ings go.

I think the reported fee of £12M is very low, i'd have thought we could still get £15 to £20M for him given his scoring record, but if we've really accepted that then it indicates that Emery doesn't see any longterm future for him and i guess it helps with the FFP position.

Given that Lange was involved in the purchase of Ings i'm not sure i trust him to find a suitable replacement, but i suspect Emery is having a lot more control of signings, and we have every reason to trust his judgement. It looks like another nail in Lange's coffin and i suspect he won't be here come the summer window...

Simon Stainrod scored 4 on his debut against Exeter City, but did very little after that first season.

2 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Unique as in it looks shite. 

Yes, that's exactly the reason i voted for it, and i'm certain also the reason the club selected it.

Option 3 was round with a claret turd and blue background.

I voted (here and on the Club Website) for Option 1. I always thought i'd like to see a return to the round badge, but the shield really looks modern, but still has a nod to the past. Also as others have said it's unique.

Will probably just sleep better knowing he’s gone.

Please not Rodgers !

Seems that Beale was the brains of the operation, and we’re left with a jello brained, egotistical, blathering, idiot.

As far as i can tell (although admittedly we haven't seen too much of him in a villa shirt), he seems to be exactly the passionate, driven, maybe even angry player that our vanilla midfield needs.

Also from what little we've seen he's the best ball carrying midfielder we have in the squad.

I can only see this being his agent, i can't imagine any of the teams he's been linked to promising him more first team football than us. Surely the sensible thing for him is to sign a shorter contract extension of 2 to 3 years, and see how much football he gets. That puts him in a very good bargaining position if he  progresses as well as Ramsey has done, and he'd still be very young at the end of that contract. 

27 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Yeah but we have had various youngsters who did excellently in the youth leagues but then when it comes to proper league football they struggle.

Barry it failed miserably for him at Ipswich.  If he struggles at swindon it would be worrying signs for him. 

Archer was what 19 when he debuted for us? Look at him scoring scoring in a tough league like the championship at 20. For me there is no comparison when you compare  the two regardless of the 2 year age gap right now.

Isn't the point though that you're not comparing them at the same stage of their development ?

Archer had a relatively fruitless loan last year at a much lower level. Barry is 2 years younger than Archer, and has first team experience at a higher level than Archer at a younger age.

It's crazy to write him off now.

I can't believe we will let him leave on a loan. It would be madness.

4 hours ago, Zatman said:

The way I see it the Grealish deal has damaged Purslow ego hence the Ings panic signing and the now big name transfers. 

He then brought in a big name but unproven manager who has in fairness done OK so far. Then he signed the first 2 big names that came onto the market

For me I just see red flags at the moment hope I am wrong

Have to agree, the Ings signing does seem like a panic buy, i'm not entirely sure that Purslow was responsible for it, but Smith couldn't find a way to make room for Watkins and Ings, and Gerrard doesn't seem to be trying to. I have a feeling that Watkins could be sacrificed in the summer.

If as a Premier League team you need to scout Coutinho and Digne then something is seriously wrong. The same would go for Bissouma, although I think with him legal advice is more important than scouting. 

I honestly think supplementing a young squad with some older players is more a sign that we are bringing our push for top half a few years forward due to the Newcastle takeover.

The speed at which this has been done (especially given Gerrard's comments when asked about the Newcastle job  "Do I look happy? Do I look settled? Don't ask me silly questions then") shows that the board have a ruthless streak, as well as high demands (which would be appropriate for any business that has spent £200M Net over 3 years). Purslow and the board have previously shown loyalty to Dean Smith when we had that dodgy run from December 2019 - March 2020. Football is a results driven business, and given the squad we have 5 straight defeats is simply not good enough.

I'd say if Dean wants to blame anyone for his sacking it would be whoever was to blame for the loss of Terry and ROK, this seems to have greatly affected everyone (as well as the embarrassment of having the set piece coach running up and down the touchline barking orders, having Martinez take free kicks at 60 minutes, and passing notes around the pitch like a group of giggling schoolgirls).

Purslow and our Billionaire owners have done what good business men do. Changed things at the bottom, given those at the top the chance to make it work, and then when they have failed sacked him. Dean Smith did a fabulous job on the whole, but we should undeniably be in a better position than we find ourselves in, and so it's on to the next man.

Gerrard wasn't my choice for the job, but the more i hear about him and his backroom team the more excited i become, and what must the board have told him of their plans that made him so happy to join us, when just 3 weeks earlier he was so ahppy and settled when Newcastle came knocking with their huge sacks of cash ?

5 hours ago, tomsky_11 said:

Have already talked about context of the 7 losses and contributing factors this season (inconsistent teams due to absenses, no best xi starting, in form teams towards top of table, results broadly in line with fan pre game expectations) but maybe worth a few points about the other 11 losses in 2021:

• 8 of these defeats were to sides that qualified for Europe last season, 5 of these were against sides that qualified for CL
• Not much split between home and away (5 to 6), but all three defeats to non-Euro teams were away from home
• Palace defeat was joint most changes to a starting line up from the previous game (4, equal with Burnley 0-0 draw at home). Cash, Mings, Barkley and Grealish were missing from arguably our best XI for that season.
• Sheff Utd defeat was also missing 4 "best XI" players, in Cash, Luiz, Barkley and Grealish
• 7 of the 11 defeats were without Grealish
• 6 of the 11 defeats were without Barkley
• Burnley defeat was with our full "best XI" and result arguably did not reflect the game, xg would've suggested likely result of game to be something like a 3-1 villa win.

Surely we should at least be looking to draw against the top teams, i find your reasoning totally defeatest.

After Christmas, Barkley was a crock of Sh1t and we were generally better without him. 

In the last 5 seasons we have the 5th highest net spend of any club in Europe, Smith has overseen the lions share of that spend (Euro 330M over the last 3 seasons). Without the Grealish money, we'd have the highest net spend in Europe over the last 3 years. Are you saying that we should just accept losing to Burnley (for example), because we had 4 players missing ? 

It's the managers job to make sure the team can compete with all teams as best as possible, at times We were excellent under Smith, but all too often form dipped, injuries happened and Smith (and his team) failed to get the most out of the players available to him.

Teams get injuries, suspensions, loss of form etc etc, but you have to change your tactics to suit what you have and in game to suit your opposition, ultimately that was Smith's failing, and his undoing.

44 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

'We' didn't sack him, Purslow did. I no longer consider him one of 'us'. Sacking a manager the first time you hit a major bad run is utterly, utterly stupid. Dean was the most intelligent and astute manager in the Premier League, and had nowhere near reached his ceiling. We were in a post-Grealish period of transition, just starting integrate new players and new tactics, in the middle of an injury and illness crisis. We'd beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford. We had young players coming in and learning their trade. There was no need whatsoever to disrupt the season and the club. 

Frankly, I don't give a shit who the next manager on the Doug Ellis Memorial Merry-go-round is, the club has already blundered and undone three years' good work at a stroke. **** you, Purslow. 

Dean Smith's Claret and Blue Army. 

We've lost more Premier League games in 2021 than anyone else.

Our form before the first lockdown was woeful, and many were calling for change then. Yes, we had a good first half of last season, but let me repeat we've lost 18 league games in 2021.

I understand that taken on it's own the 5 losses on the bounce don't seem like reason enough to sack him, but look at t he results throughout his tenure in the Premier League and given the money spent it's just not good enough.

I would liken it to when Ron Atkinson got sacked in 1994, which happened at a similar period in the season having won the league cup the season before (after which his players seemed to have their minds elsewhere) and had finished 2nd in the league the season before that.

It seems like a wasted opportunity to me. if the board are giving him one game then that basically means the decision is made, so it would be better to sack him now and get the next guy in while there is some time to get it done rather than rushing things.

I think Smith has been great, but the resignations of Terry and ROK in the summer have clearly affected the squad more than expected and Smith seems to be bereft of ideas.

In-game tactics are a thing he doesn't seem to know anything about  and the players don't seem to be playing for him. 

The next appointment will tell us an awful lot about the real ambition and ability of the board to sell it to candidates.

16 hours ago, Xela said:

Who else is decent at the baggies academy? A quick glance at their forum seems to suggest Ingram and Richards? There was talk on their thread that Villa were sniffing around Fenton Heard? Apparently he's a Villa fan as well. 

well he sure has a Villa name.

I'm happy overall with our transfer window.

Buendia, Bailey and Ings are fantastic aquisitions, Young is a sound addition, particularly as he will help with the younger players, and can replace Terry as a senior figure they can look up to.

Tuanzebe is a decent loan, and a known quantity 

Particularly the signings of Bailey and Ings stand out for me as these are players that have constantly been linked to champions league clubs, and the Ings signing and speed that it happened indicates that players are buying in to out 5 year plan.

Losing Grealish was expected and I think even without signing a CDM we've improved our starting 11.

I give the window an 8/10 and am optimistic that we can improve on 11th position.

I'll be honest I really rate him, but it's clear his face doesn't fit so we just have to move on, and at the same time pray that Cash finds his from from last season and doesn't get injured.