ViewFromT2

Kinda proved my point chap

Can't say he's improved Tuanzebe...he's just played him in his correct position. As a young player his performances will naturally improve as he plays more games. Hasn't improved Jack. His game no different to before. Tammy - not sure i agree as he has been performing all season, but I'm happy to accept that one McGinn has been our best player all season, since day one! Is he better now than under Bruce? not sure He improved Nyland? So then he bought a new £7m keeper?...ok! Hutton and Whelan?.....come on, lets be sensible. I've got no problem with Hutton or Whelan, they are what they are....but I'm not having Dean Smith has improved them. That's crazy!

This all day, every day and twice on Sundays! Way too many fans (particularly on Twitter) are far too happy to just accept the dross being served up.....ooh he needs time, ooh they're not his players, ooh we're missing Jack.......all of the factors have an effect to some degree, but nothing excuses what is happening, we are going backwards, not improving. Something is just not right.....the chemistry isn't right. We don't even look like we're on the right path in my opinion. Can accept results (given the above excuses) if you can see improvement and a style emerging. I genuinely see no difference in our 'style' since the start of the season. Our home performance against Brentford was as good a footballing performance as anything we've seen since. I would challenge anyone to name a player that has improved since Dean Smith took over? What exactly does Richard O'Kelly do? What exactly does John Terry do? The longer we have between games (ie. more training sessions) the worse we tend to look. Do we have to wait for every player in the squad to have been bought by Smith and all of them to be 100% fit for the whole season until we can expect him to get results? Not calling for his head but the blind faith shown is staggering....you simply cannot dare to question him. Sorry to rant. Thoroughly and utterly pissed off with Villa!

Good points, well made! I can accept any fans opinion, whether they share mine or not. We're all fans at the end of the day and ultimately we all want the same thing. As long as it doesn't get personal, I always enjoy a good debate It's hard to argue with the facts regarding Tuanzebe and Grealish. It was the same last season under Bruce, we were never really competitive until Grealish returned November time. I still say though, that we have the strongest squad in the division, whether they be on the way down, or the way up....in the right here and now, they are better than most at this level. If you imagine a players career as a ladder, the 'rungs' they are on right here, right now are at least as high as most of the rest of the players in this championship. Some of our players used to be on higher rungs I agree. You rightly point to the 3 'star' men...they would be our premier league players, the ones that we could carry into next season were we to go up. But McGinn would be close to being the best performing midfielder in the league this year, even when Grealish was playing. Of the rest, for me these are absolutely proven at this level: Chester, Hourihane, Kodija, Hogan, Adomah, Elmohamady, Hutton, Elphick, Jedinak, Lansbury, Taylor....by proven I mean they've done it in this division, for us or another side. We then have younger players that look very capable at this level: Bree, Green, Davis etc To me that is simply not a 'shit' squad. Our squad is better than West Brom's in my view. In fairness to Darren Moore, he tried to force a style on that squad that did not suit them. He was big enough to accept he got it wrong, tweeked the style to suit his personnel, and got results. Blues have a shit squad. A couple of really decent players, but overall, they've a shit squad. In my defence, I would also like to say that I have not held an 'entrenched' position over the manager since the off. I was underwhelmed by the appointment but I have been behind him all the way. He's had 15/16 games or so but I am worried that the initial spark that he seemed to bring has gone so quickly. I had a similar underwhelming feeling when the job was given to John Gregory....but he would be amongst my favourite villa managers now. I really hope Dean Smith does the same.

Thanks for that, I'd like to think my opinions are more than a 'classic feature of football fan moaning', but I value your response. Going back to the players issue, I really do not recall any fan, on any platform, bemoaning the squad when Bruce was in charge. I remember many, many, many fans (including yours truly), drooling over what another manager could achieve with such a squad in the championship. To call it a 'shit squad' is bazaar in my view, were they all made available for transfer today, none of them would struggle to find another side at this level or above. Name me a better squad of players currently playing in the championship? OK, I accept that there is no depth to our defensive line, but when fully fit, we have a back four consisting of seasoned internationals, and for the championship they should be doing far better.

Can't see any manager getting 2 years at Villa in all honesty. That may be the biggest issue, the fact we are not prepared to wait. However, when you take a step back....we shouldn't be as far away to promotion as we are now after 4 years in the championship really, should we?

Value the opposing opinion, but would really welcome some comments and counter arguments to explain your difference of opinion? Not sure what entrenched means in the context of this post either?

In fairness, Smith has highlighted defensive issues several times (not that he needs to), he has then said how hard they've worked all week in training on said, defensive issues. We get to Saturday and, well....it actually looks worse!

I agree totally. What's more worrying is that on more than one occasion now, but in particular last week, he has explicitly stated they have worked hard on shape and defensive situations in training....Saturday was a result of a week's defensive work. That is simply horrifying! You could argue that the longer he has them between games, the worse we look!

My twopenneth.... Bottom line, you'll have to go a very, very long way to find a Villa fan that doesn't want Smith to succeed. He's one of us....we would love nothing more, but equally, if we are all honest, we all felt slightly 'underwhelmed' by the appointment deep down. Take out the villa connection, and Smith has been so-so manager. Done ok at small clubs without ever over achieving. His Brentford side were ok, but the way some of our fans go on about them, you have to wonder! They never had a top 6 finish (which they had achieved previously under Mark Warburton) or an eye catching cup run...4th round FA cup and never past 1st round of League Cup under him. It would seem that Saturday showed us that Smith could be out of his depth at Villa, and that was always the underlying fear. I don't think he is the manager to take us back to where we want to be, I really don't. We all have our own opinions, but instinct tells me he will ultimately be a glorified failure. Do we get rid now? Would be insane I guess, but ultimately, in the same way we knew we would get nowhere with Bruce, nothing has changed! Not having the... 'they're not his players' nonsense, even by his own admission, they are the best squad he has ever worked with. And by that logic, if a new manager cannot be expected to improve a team, what's the flamin' point getting rid of the previous manager? we may as well have kept Bruce if it's unfair to expect Dean Smith to improve players that he never bought....what a load of rubbish! Just look up the road and see the job Gary Monk has done with someone else's squad, never mind the constraints applied since he got there. Defensively we are an utter shambles, still. Considering the reputation Richard O'Kelly came with, you have to ask what exactly he does day to day? If we don't have the players suitable to play in Smith's preferred style, then change the f####in style to suit the players that we do have for god's sake! If they are the 'top coaches' we were told they are....coach the bloody players. As for JT....no idea what he brings to the table, other than reputation. Zero impact on that squad from a defensive view. I have written this season off now, we have absolutely no chance of making the play offs this season. I guess Smith will get till October next season to see how we look after he has a full summer and a chance to overhaul the squad. I have a feeling we will be back to square one at that time! Sad times!

Has anyone ever seen Nursey and Gregg Evans in the same room?

Well if we're going down the tried and trusted route, there is nobody with a better promotion record than Steve Bruce, he is bound to get us up....lets go for him?

You've heard of FFP yeah?

Have they? Where?

OR Henry played the situation perfectly to open the door to AS Monaco, which is his dream first job? Fonseca was the first link....wouldn't rule that out yet. Rodgers and Smith being in jobs means compensation. There are alternatives out there that are freely available, I would think they would be preference. Sanchez-Flores not mentioned at all. Available. Won championship with Watford. Presumably has links to Pitarch (if he is working with us).