Mjvilla

8 hours ago, Kingman said:

England squad announced tomorrow, should give us a steer 

The England squad is announced Thursday, not today. 2pm

1 hour ago, lexicon said:

I honestly don't mind him shooting often - nobody else does it and we often just pass it around looking for too perfect an opportunity and the attack breaks down. 

One particular example against Newcastle frustrated me like the original poster stated. He got himself one on one against the full back and it was just so blatantly obvious what he was going to do. Cut inside, where there were more defenders, and have his shot blocked. I don't mind him having a shot, but he needs to be more creative in finding a decent angle for a shot or a clearer shot. I don't think he has the ability to do that and that's where he will fail and not become good enough, in my opinion.

2 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

We need to take in to account, the nature of the defeats. I don't really think this season there are many games we have lost, where we can actually say we have been at our best, which is why it frustrates me at the points we have as good as give away.

But isnt this just the sign of a young, inexperienced and completely new squad, that lacks quality in depth... Inconsistency? Could we enjoy the development we've shown and trust that we will continue to develop based on what's happened in the last couple of years?

I've taken the final sentence away because I completely disagree that we are 'half arsed'... see paragraph above.

7 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Man Utd is probably the best counter attacking team in Europe. Can perfectly understand why he did it.

Man Utd under OGS have traditionally struggled massively against low block teams.

Alternatively you can go gung ho like Leeds and concede 6

It's not black or white. It's not gung ho or park the bus. You can go away to these teams and give it a go. Like we did at Old Trafford. Without throwing everyone forward like Leeds. 

West ham barely laid a glove on Man Utd, it was a bit limp and pathetic. There would be uproar on here if we played in such a way. At not one point in the game did I think west ham would get anything from the game. I thought we were going to get something from the game at old Trafford.

Would much, much sooner play how we did and give it a go then put in a limp display and lose 1-0 when aiming for a 0-0. 

On the subject of recruitment, some good points made by all but I feel that if we made as many mistakes as other teams do last summer, we would be a championship team this season and probably a record low points tally. We had to build a squad, we had such little room for error.

West ham can afford to take a £20m loss in 18 months and still be doing well. Because their squad has been built and developed over many years. Ours hasn't, we are in the early stages. It's why, I think, Dean deserves some leeway and why I think we will continue to improve. 

It's also why we are so inconsistent in our performances of late, a lack of quality in depth goes hand in hand with it too. I'm loathed too criticise anyone in the coaching staff and it's because of the development in the last 2 years.

I get criticised for mentioning the last 2 years, but it has to be considered because of the unprecedented level of upheaval Smith and his staff have had to deal with. And yet we still sit in the top half of the premier league. For the first time in how long? 

If a number of posters want to continue to pick holes in Smith, go for it. I'm happy for him to keep proving you all wrong, it's fun to watch him do so! 

2 hours ago, MotoMkali said:

Because if you loop it, it is incredibly easy to defend. You need to hit it low, hard and with pace. That means sometimes it hits the first man but if it beats the first man you are more likely to score. How many times should konsa have scored from ste pieces in the last 5 games? 4? 

I understand that it is more likely to hit the first man for those reasons. But the regularity with which it happens, across premier league football is higher than should be for elite footballers, in my opinion. 

Watching West Ham was horrible tonight. They will probably finish higher than us this season. But doing what Moyes is doing and doing what Smith is doing, I see our ceiling as higher. We can go further than west ham if we continue to build the way we do. And play the style we do.

West ham parked the bus tonight, no doubt. They may have defended well, but they still lost. I'd always rather go down trying to win a game. 

5 minutes ago, TRO said:

So are you saying that amongst 25 professional players on the books, many Internationals.....We can't cross a ball with any effect, without Conor?

what an indictment on the team.

I always thought, it was one of the easier things to do as a Pro footballer?

This is one of my pet hates watching professional football. Not just villa, but all sides. How many times do we see a corner hit the first man? Extremely frustrating to watch.

They plan in Zagreb on thursday evening aswell as arsenal tomorrow. Be interesting to see how mourinho shuffles his pack. I'd expect full strength tomorrow. How much football can Bale play at the moment. Finishing his feet again but fitness will be the concern. 

Having said that, they are a very good side when on song an have certainly found their flow in recent weeks. Will be a tough test, for sure. They are a good side.

5 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

I had him in similar range to what Calum Wilson would've cost last summer. Two years left on his deal so Burnley will have decision to make soon.

Main difference being that Bournemouth went down and Burnley won't so can demand a bigger fee. £20-£25 mill is what they'd ask for in my opinion. Not worth it at that price. Would be a decent shout at half that.

10 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Just watching Burnley game on MOTD...surely someone we could sign who could make decent short term impact and be viable plan B is Chris Wood?

Fantastic focal point in their attack, great attacking crosses as he showed against us pretty much every season. Only scored 6 so far although he has missed a few games with injury so record is still in 3. Last season he scored 14 league goals, previous season 10, season before 10...

It's a fair bit better than Kienan Davis isn't it? The sort aswell who probably would fancy a wage increase and wouldn't kick up a fuss if he wasn't starting every week.

Probably looking at £20m plus on a 29 year old with an 'ok' scoring record. Not for me.

39 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Shocking result for Everton that

It's tragic to watch.

2 minutes ago, bobzy said:

I don't think we will.

Why not?

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

There was European football to play for and we was heading for it. But we have dropped points against the poorest of teams, Burnley, Sheffield and now Newcastle, we will end up about where everyone expected if we aren't careful. 

 

FTFY

With the team news we have, I'd expect 2 changes. Cash in for Elmo and el ghazi for trez. 

Keep the midfield 3 the same, it worked well, particularly first half against wolves. They will be ugly to play against so we need to earn the right to win. That midfield 3 gives us the balance of being able to earn the right to play and being able to play when we can.

We can get at these behind their full backs, I noticed west brom had a lot of joy in the channels. Perfect game for cash to come back and overlap traore and give targett a bit more freedom to get forward too, particularly with a hard working midfield 3.

20 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

They said from the start it's almost impossible to predict the length of this injury, but don't let that stop the conspiracy theories or angry entitlement that we're not being told what you feel you deserve to hear.

So, if it's that injury, why say he's ill? It's the previous times this has happened. Every single other club knows which of it's players are out and for roughly how long. 

2 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

Not to mention the fact that, even if they did know it was going to be 6 weeks, why say that and let every opposition know.  Then everyone we're facing for the next 6 weeks has the heads up that they'll not have to prepare to handle Jack.

Annoying as fans, understandable as a football club.

It'll get to the point, however, that clubs will look at our injuries and see what we've done before (Engles, Barkley, Jack, probably more?) and they will think 'hes not likely to be back' and thus prepare that way anyway. I don't see it as 'understandable', when it's common practice to put a rough timescale on it. Will other clubs really change the way the play? 1 or 2 might (west ham for example) but I think most clubs will play the same way with or without jack. 

A club is nothing without its fans so you should be as open an honest with them, as best you can. I may be barking up the wrong tree, but this doesn't feel like openess and honesty. 

We were told it was a shin injury and he may be back for Leeds (first week), that was now 3 weeks ago and the excuses have been mounting up since. 

The online rumours were 6 weeks, which is beginning to look more accurate by the week. 

Will he be fit for spurs, or will we hear another excuse? My money is on another excuse. I pray I'm wrong. 

6 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

He's injured.
He's been injured badly for a few weeks. He'll be back after the international break for us I Imagine. The weird and wonderful tales Smith is telling in the press conferences have just been to keep the opposition guessing. I was just surpised they went with the 'ill' line. 

Certainly is a bit funny this. A few of us said 'he won't be back untill after the international break', and that's seemingly more and more likely. This dragging us fans along is a bit tedious in all honesty.

They don't have to tell us anything, absolutely anything. But when a number guessed it would be like this, there's a potential problem with that.

On 09/03/2021 at 18:47, villalad21 said:

How many of these promoted teams have spent £200M+ on players in just 2 seasons?

Serious question.

Irrespective of money spent, Smith had to build a whole squad due to many years of mismanagement. It's skews our spend, without question. None of the mismanagement is on Smith. He's has completely recovered us as a side. 

I have a question for you and I know the answer... how many managers have taken a midtable championship side to a midtable premier league side, building a complete squad in the process, in 2 years?? Want me to help with the answer?? I can, honestly. 

You seem so intent on downplaying anything Smith does, and it takes away from valid points you have actually made recently. 

I firmly believe we could challenge top 4 next season and you would complain we finished 5th and not 4th.

Unless, of course, we change manager and bring Potter, Bielsa, Ancelotti in. I'm sure top 10 would be an incredible achievement then.  

9 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Aston Villa will always have a much bigger pull than Brighton in terms of being attractive for players. Not similar clubs. Like comparing Everton and Liverpool.

I just had a look at the Premier League table ranked by squad cost

1. Man City - £810,870,000 

2. Man Utd - £628,130,000

3. Chelsea - £577,100,00 0

4. Arsenal - £454,800,000

5. Liverpool - £454,250,000 

6. Everton - £388,050,000

7. Spurs -  £385,300,000

8. Leicester - £317,450,000

9. Wolves - £241,980,000

10. Aston Villa £229,350,000

11. West Ham £218,500,000

12. Newcastle £198,100,000

13. Southampton £170,550,000

14. Brighton £159,100,000

15. Crystal Palace  £149,860,000

16. Sheffield United £120,700,000

17. Leeds £120,300,000

18. West Brom £97,700,000

19. Fulham £94,350,000

20. Burnley £82,600,000

It's quite interesting that it's similar to the actual table.

West Ham and Leicester over performing while Arsenal quite clearly under performing.

I take into consideration the points you are bringing up but it still confirms money is still by far the biggest factor in succeeding. It is a sad way of looking at it but it's reality.

Chelsea and City are only where they are because of financial doping and i predict if our owners keep spend at their current rate we will continue to climb up the table. 

So, Smith overachieving and Potter underachieving then. Well, well, well.

Also, I presume this table doesn't include players out on loan at clubs? I think if it doesn't, then we would slip down a couple more places. 

56 minutes ago, TRO said:

It is easy to react to a post being a wind up, when you don't agree with it......you could be right by the way....I just take it at face value, maybe I am naive, I just can't see the point of a wind up.

but we also have to remember, there are varying levels of ages, personalities and intellectual background ...between us.

If someone slags off a player or manager, without  feasible support to their case, I just ignore it......If someone makes a case against the manager or a player, with a reasonable deduction of why they have arrived at their opinion, despite me maybe disagreeing....I will still read it with Interest and may respond with my reasoning....nothing wrong in agreeing to disagree.....if its a player, I will watch a bit closer, next time out.

but thats just me.

I have been watching Villa, for over 60 years and still learning about my team.

I, too, don't see the point of a wind up. I don't think it is a wind up.

When I see certain posts, I think I do need to think more about your second paragraph. This is a very true statement. 

I just see the disrespect toward Smith, from this and many other posts and it frustrates me. I keep talking about last season and the season before because we need to think about all this when looking at posts like the one I quoted. Not in relation to constructive criticism.

Is it fair to say 'we can be too soft in the middle sometimes'.. yes absolutely. I wouldn't bring up Smith's achievements then. 

Is it fair to say 'smith is a muppet' or 'smith has hit his ceiling' or 'hes not going to be a top tier manager and he's doing a good job for someone else to take over in a few years', no it's absolutely bloody not. When talking about these sorts of things, I think it's ok to talk about his past achievements over previous years with us. Why not, what else can we base what will happen in the future? A single game in isolation? Which was disappointing? Or year upon year of progress and development on and off the field? 

None of this is in anyway a dig at you tro, btw. Don't want to come across that way.

45 minutes ago, John said:

The excellent interview below between Jonathan Northcroft and Dean, is from yesterday's "Sunday Times" and it concerns our progress over the past 12 months: 

Soaked and hungry, on a bleak hillside, Dean Smith had no choice but to keep grappling with his adversary. It was a tent. Putting it up almost defeated him, but Smith persevered and was able to join Tyrone Mings and the rest round the fire for dinner. “I was just one of the boys that day,” he says, “rather than the actual leader.” In August, Aston Villa’s manager took his squad out into the Brecon Beacons, challenging them to a night on the Welsh mountains where they had to navigate, lug their own gear, erect their own shelter, and work in groups — himself included. The trip was a surprise, sprung on players during a pre-season training camp in Cardiff. When they trudged back to civilisation, Smith pointed out that the four-star hotel where they were based — something as Premier League footballers they could take for granted — seemed a luxury now. He talked about the importance of connecting with colleagues and not just others within the playing group but ordinary staff at the club.

“One of my biggest things in any workplace is you have to build a culture,” Smith says. “My players are young men and those who had been in Premier League academies a long time have had a lot of things done for them. And sometimes it is good to see them in another walk of life, just having to think and cope in a different environment. “A lot you could see thinking, ‘What are we doing?’ but as it went on were thinking, ‘This is all right. Actually, better than running round a field in pre-season.’ They certainly got a lot out of it — you saw new relationships form. Though it did tip down with rain. My group was one of the last ones and I could see them sitting round the campfire, eating and I’m having to stick my own tent up.”

There are many things, behind the amiability that can cause him to be underestimated, that make Smith a star of his profession, the top-placed English manager in England, and one of the biggest success stories of football’s strangest year. One is an approach to leadership based on understanding people and the kind of humility shown by putting aside boss’s privileges to struggle among the rank and file. Another is the inclination to think deeply about the details. The past 12 months have demonstrated those qualities to the full. When you think of how coronavirus has challenged their sport, it is hard not to think of Smith and his club. Before the Premier League shut down a year ago this week, its final game was Leicester 4 Aston Villa 0, a result that left Villa 19th and to spend three months knowing they would be relegated if 2019-20 was curtailed. When the season restarted, they were tasked with playing in the first game (v Sheffield United) and taking that step into the unknown on behalf of all 20 clubs. This season, headaches include closure of their training ground after an outbreak there in January. On the human side, Smith had to get the balance of discipline and empathy right when dealing with a breach of lockdown rules by his captain, Jack Grealish. And, most of all, he had to keep leading while grieving for his father, Ron, who died last May at the age of 79 after contracting Covid-19. Out of all of this, he has emerged with a stronger club and a team markedly improved, who are competing for Europe rather than trying to avoid the drop.

In shutdown, Smith watched in entirety every game Villa had played in 2019-20, looking particularly at the defending. “We’d conceded too many goals [the most in the league] and too many big chances. I got the analysts to give us the stats. Since my Brentford days I’ve looked at big chances for and against because ultimately they decide results. I went into the Premier League wanting not to ‘not lose’ but wanting to win. There’s a big difference. We lost our first game to Tottenham and people were impressed with our performance but Spurs had 24 chances on the day, and I was like, ‘Woah, that’s too many.’ “So it was always in the back of my mind, but I suppose at some stage my ego had got into it and it was, ‘I don’t want to play the likes of Liverpool and just defend.’ But against better teams you have to learn quickly and we had to become more pragmatic.” Smith identified Liverpool, Manchester City — and Napoli — as “best practice of defending. With the analysts we clipped up their best [examples] and sent them to players and held small group meetings.” Why those sides? “They weren’t just defending as a back four and goalkeeper, but as a whole team. We’ve always wanted to be a team who counterpresses quickly. You watch Liverpool and City and it’s difficult to get past their front three, then it’s difficult to get past the next three before you even get to the back five.” Improved defending, when they returned, helped Villa survive and this season only City have more clean sheets. Smith prepared intently for that “Project Restart” game v Sheffield United. With the Bundesliga already back under way, he spoke at length with Uwe Rösler, manager of Fortuna Dusseldorf, about playing in empty stadiums. “I moved my coaching position because there were no fans and I was able to go up higher,” he says. “I could see the whole picture and knew the players would still hear me.”

He pondered how games might be from referees’ perspectives, and to get their squads sharp, he and Brendan Rodgers organised for Villa and Leicester to play each other twice in one day, once at King Power Stadium, once at Villa Park. Then there has been training. Initially restricted to small groups, since the restart there have been too many fixtures to follow normal practice and recovery schedules. It has called for staffs to be flexible — second nature to someone who began coaching at just 30 with an under-13 team in east London and began managing at Walsall. “It has helped, having that backdrop,” he reflects. “Improvising is what lower league coaches have to do. “Teams normally train at 10.30am or 11am but we were training at different times when we came back and now we train at 12pm. That came to me from the improvisation of training at different times.” The reason is fascinating. “I thought players, young men, now, they’re different. They don’t go to bed like we used to at 11pm. They go to bed at two in the morning. They’ve all got an Xbox, a PS4 and they’re up later. I thought OK if they’re getting to bed later, let’s get them up later. Because sleep is such an important part of recovery. We stayed with 12pm training and I feel we get a little bit more from them as players.”

Meticulous recruitment was also learnt in the lower leagues. Smith has a strong relationship with sporting director Johan Lange and together they have fuelled Villa’s improvement through “value” signings such as Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martínez and Matty Cash. “Profiling players is something I’ve done since Walsall and players have to fit your style of play and for me the biggest thing is their character and potential. That learning ability.” Grealish is learning under Smith. Their bond is close. “You have an idea of what somebody is going to be like before you meet them but the reality was totally different,” he says. “I came into the club [in 2018] and found a player who wanted to get better, to learn, who was one of the last out. Certainly wasn’t one of the first in, though. Was probably one of the night owls as well. I challenged him to improve his goals and assists and he grasped that importance straight away. He has a really good memory for football. I’ll talk about an incident where he could have got in the box and he’ll say, ‘Yeah, that was in the 71st minute . . .’ ” When Grealish crashed his car after a party during lockdown last March, “it was that conversation with him, reminding him of his responsibilities. People make mistakes and I think he has learnt some big lessons very quickly, and like any young person that’s how they mature. That’s how I matured and you probably matured as well — but fortunately for us we weren’t in the public eye.”

When Smith’s father died he was deeply touched by the support he received from supporters and within football, including from Pep Guardiola, who lost his mother to Covid. “My dad had been in a care home with dementia, so wasn’t in the best of health, but it was really tough for the family because we couldn’t go and see him. Fortunately, we could be by his side when he passed,” says Smith. “I can sympathise with anybody who has lost a loved one during Covid, and dementia as well is a terrible illness.”

 

 

Thanks John. If I remember rightly, the weather was pretty wet when they went on that trip? The beacons can be brutal, I live about a half hour drive away.

They are an amazing place. Would've been a real eye opener for them. A great idea for a bonding trip. Love to hear little snippets about this kind of thing. 

On 03/03/2021 at 20:28, villalad21 said:

Clearly isn't a top tier manager and will most likely never be.

As of now he is fine though. He is building the right foundations for a better manager to take us to the next level in a few years.

Posts saying 'we give the ball away too much' are absolutely fine tro. I'd agree, we can be very careless at times. These sorts of posts aren't the issue, not in the slightest. Areas which we can improve.

It's this kind of one that gets people's goats. And it's from multiple sources across multiple threads. The ratings and reactions thread, the match thread, the Dean Smith thread, virtually any thread it remotely links in too. Absolutely baseless rubbish. Not when you consider the base was a game in isolation against Sheffield United. This happens alot. It didn't take me long to find the kind of post I thought about when I read your post.

7 minutes ago, Tommo_b said:

If those 3 extra goals earn 9 points they would only be 5 points (8 points off Liverpool) behind us and pretty much safe. 

Also the ridiculous amount of bad Var decisions against them plus us I guess and the table would look completely different. 

It’s fine margins.

They will be a top top team sooner than later. 

If you don't have players that can find the net regularly, across the park, then you won't be a top top team. They either need to recruit or find a way that their current players find the net more regularly. It's not a coincidence they keep losing games and not scoring enough. That's a theme.

Just had a look, maupay with 7 is decent. They have no other player with more than 3 goals. Macalister with all his good play, 1 goal. Trossard, 2 goals. Lallana scored his first goal the other day. Gross, 2 goals. Alazate, 1 goal.

This is a running theme across their team. Are they all suddenly going to score 6/7/8 goals a season? They are in a relegation battle for a reason.

50 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

I do think Traore needs to be dropped from the starting line up next game. Been out of form for a bit now.

The problem is, starting el ghazi and trezeguet isnt the answer. Traore, despite being out of form, still creates our best chances and that's the most important thing when we don't have jack. 

Very misleading stats to me, I get very frustrated when we have good positions and he shoots from 20/25/30 yards. Quite often wasting our good position by shooting high and wide or a weak shot towards the keeper. Burnley at home was the prime example of this.