VillaFaninLondon

Grealish (other than last season) seems to be prone to long terms absences. It he stays out much longer I doubt he'll go to the Euros. The anger about Smith lying isn't about this game, it's about constantly playing smoke and mirrors since he's got this mysterious injury. Going back to Newcastle he apparently was back then got 'ill', then before Spurs he was apparently 'pain free' but not joining in with the group (what?), then now he's trained all week and got another mysterious knock yesterday. I'll still watch but I don't know why I do this to myself because Smith hasn't proven in 2 and a half years that he can win games without Jack. Please can he prove today that he's capable, because I for one want us to bloody win and if we don't I won't be the only one questioning the team and manager at the end of the game.

Oh f*** off. Once again lied to saying he'll be available. Can we actually play well and win without him, or is back to the same old rubbish again. I wonder..........

My opinion is you need to be on good terms with the players (after all, you're reliant on them to perform for you) but I just cannot for the life of me understand how this is helpful to our players. Staying up late, getting up late, playing games all night. It just doesn't sound healthy. Nothing wrong with playing computer games in moderation but it sounds like it's a bit of a problem. I think this is only a recent thing, not sure. If it is, I am not surprised we look so devoid of ideas out on the pitch to be honest.

But you're referring back to the days of Lerner where we sold any decent player we had and spent the little money Lerner was prepared to sanction on shite like Tonev, Helenius and Grant Holt. Completely different times to now.

Jack has been quoted as saying the aim of the owners this season when he signed his 5 year deal was to finish between 8th and 12th. I can even dig out the interview if needs be. That is why I believe it is dangerous if we finish below 12th, and like you say it's something that a small minded team would do and not something an ambitious club like us should be doing. I think finishing as high as possible is absolutely essential. I honestly think there must be something wrong with people's brains if they say there's no difference between finishing 8th or 13th, a top half team will have a much better chance of attracting top level talent than a team that finished 13th. Our signings have to go up a level this summer if we're to be up there next season, that's why we should be fighting tooth and nail to finish as high as possible. Another crucial point you make is the extra turnover it allows us to spend on players. £10m to our FFP headroom could make a world of difference to one of our signings. As far as I'm concerned, of the remaining games, we should be beating Fulham and West Brom and getting a point minimum at Palace if not another win. I believe on our day we're capable of beating an inconsistent Everton team so could get another win there (we play them twice). Expecting Smith to get to circa 50 points is not exactly massively high expectations. And I believe if we reach 50 points we should finish in the top 10, certainly in the top 12, and we can spend again this summer to try to improve further on that. All I'm asking of Smith is he ends the season with a bit of pride and getting the team to perform well enough to win a few games. We ain't gonna get relegated, we ain't gonna get into Europe, fine, but play for your futures and the future of this club. Jack is back for Fulham and the run in so he has his best player back, but he needs to get Ollie scoring again, he needs to get McGinn and Luiz performing again, he needs to try to get the best out of Barkley if at all possible, he needs to get Sanson contributing more in the final third. If he can do that I have confidence that we can end the season reasonably well, because as much as the Smith lovers would have you believe we're actually a decent side and fully capable of finishing in the top half.

Against Leeds we created chances but so did they, it wasn't a dominant display. Wolves was even yes, we were the better side in the first half, but in the second half one of their players somehow missed from a yard out and then Martinez saved from point blank range. But go back to before Christmas, the only game we got outplayed was Leeds and in all the others we were either the better side or the equal of our opponent. Even the defeats against Brighton, Southampton and West Ham were incredibly harsh and we deserved at least a point from all of them. The only games I can think of that we have dominated since the turn of the year were Newcastle at home and Burnley away and they were back in January. We're 14th in the league table for form. We're not the only ones, Liverpool are indeed in shocking form but that doesn't mean their fans aren't incredibly pissed off by their situation and most likely laying into the players and manager.

10-12 games isn’t really a short term thing like you say, as we’re talking about 3 months there, but ok. I can guarantee both City fans at the start of the season and Liverpool fans now grumbling about that form and not happy with it. Don’t think their performances dropped quite as much as ours have though. What I want, hmm let’s see: • To beat the weaker teams in the league and not drop unnecessary points (OK, can’t guarantee you might slip up once or twice in these games, but it’s happened 6-7 times to us this season) • To stop playing in the same predictable manner of flinging crosses into the box for nobody like last night, or hitting long balls up to Ollie like at Newcastle • To learn to play without Jack and get the best out of other players – some of this is a personnel issue I understand, but players like Luiz, McGinn, Barkley are paying well within themselves and this can’t be just down to the player • To tweak the system and occasionally spring some surprises (tactics, formation, preparation etc) – Smith is too easy to get the better of tactically I also am concerned that the players are up late at night playing games and training later than most teams, it doesn't seem right to me and suggests a lack of discipline. I don’t want Smith gone, but I believe the final 10 games of the season are important. If this form continues and we slip badly down the table (not saying this will happen, just hypothesizing), then serious questions have to be asked of his management. First off I want him to win at least three of the final 10 games because I believe there are three winnable games there. If he can add another 1 or 2 surprise wins out of nowhere (possibly Everton), or a couple of draws, that will be great too, but at least beat the teams we should be beating.

It's not short term though as we haven't played well for 2 months. And by well, I mean dominated a team, created loads of chances, been creative, looked like, well, a very good side. This isn't a short term issue.

Exactly. I don't know why to some dropping down to finish 14th is in any way acceptable. Three places above last season (which, by the way, even Dean said himself was an unacceptable season), it would mean we barely pick up any points in our final 10 games, end the season on a sour note, miss out on the position that Jack himself said he was told the club was aiming to finish (between 8th and 12th), and speaking for myself here but I would be really angry and embarrassed that we dropped that low. 12th at the minimum we have to finish, but top 10 is very much doable and would give us a much better chance going into next season to bring in the players we want. We can still do it but this manager has to sort out the slump we're in and fast, so far shows absolutely no sign he's going to do that. Fulham has to be a must win game.

I'm getting tired of explaining this to be honest, it isn't nonsense, you just see it that way maybe because your expectations are low for this team. I've explained my dissatisfaction isn't with the losses to sides like City, Man U, Leicester or Spurs. We did play Spurs and Leicester at good times to be fair (straight after a Thursday night game where they had to travel) but you accept they're better than us currently. It was disappointing to take 0 points from those games, as we showed we could compete and beat the better teams earlier in the season, but more understandable. West Ham I was displeased because even though they're doing well this season, I do think that was a winnable game for us, but ok we'll let that one go too. The wins against Leeds and Arse were good results, I agree, though they were classic counter attack 1-0 wins and nothing like some of our performances earlier this season. Pleasing results, but both were below us in the table and they were rather smash and grab wins. I'm disappointed with the failure to beat Brighton (and relying on a goalkeeping masterclass to get us a point), Sheff U, Newcastle and Burnley. Now we might screw up in one of those games, maybe even two at a push, but to lose to Sheff U and Burnley and deserve to lose to Brighton and Newcastle isn't good enough. You make out that football can sometimes work like that, but the only game we were robbed was Burnley. We didn't deserve anything from any of the other games and are clearly better than those sides. We haven't played decent football for 2 months and if you can't see that well then sorry I can't help you.

Watkins has been crucial to our style of play this season but if Smith once again goes into next season having not signed another striker then he's lost the plot. Watkins' goal return could definitely be improved and it's frustrating how long he goes without scoring at times, but I agree he's been good for us with his pressing and work rate - however, he looks knackered and needs competition to get the best out of him. He's also not that good in the air so I don't know why we continue to lump crosses into the box for him, we need someone like Tammy if we're going tom play like that. Watkins isn't really an aerial threat and is better playing on the shoulder or getting the ball to feet. Having said that, our transfer targets have to go up a level this summer. We need to sign a couple of really top talents from a top league to play with Jack if we want to push on next season. De Paul, Draxler, Brandt, Leon Bailey - that standard of player.

Of course he's under a bit of pressure and depending on how the rest of the season goes it may happen. To go from being champions by an absolute mile to where they are now is a huge decline in form, Klopp has done great things there but even he is vulnerable. I've always been fair to Smith, to say I've been unfair is not correct. I praised him immeasurably in December and said if things continue he should be up for Manager of the Year. Unfortunately all that good work he did earlier on in the season is now at risk of being a distant memory. To rebuke him for failing to beat Brighton and Burnley this season, losing to a really poor Sheff U team who are one of the worst teams to have played in the PL, and failed to beat a Steve Bruce Newcastle side who were without four key players is not exactly unfair. I'd have been disappointed with those results if we'd been fighting down the bottom. To say Smith needs to reach 50+ points is not unfair at all. All I'm asking of him is that he win the games remaining that we should win (Fulham, Boggies and Palace, maybe one of the games against Everton) with his best player back who he's so reliant on and end the season with some pride at least and possibly a top half finish. If he can't do that then sorry if I don't believe in him.

But it hasn't been poor for just 4 games. We've taken 6 points from the last 7 games with 5 of them against teams in the bottom half. We've taken 15 points from 14 games in 2021 after getting nearly double that in the 14 games prior. We've also had a very kind run of fixtures in that time. Ignoring results, performances have also been incredibly poor. We looked an inferior side against Steve Bruce's Newcastle FFS. I just don't get where you're getting that this dip in form is only temporary, it clearly isn't.

So by challenging him to maintain form of a point a game for the rest of the season (which isn't actually very good anyway) my comments are madness? Ok then.

I'm not using that against him, I'm using the dire performances and results of 2021 against him and have quoted teams that are inferior to us on the pitch where we have dropped points yet people like you constantly claim it's about the players not being good enough. Even if we got relegated last season I recall you saying the manager should stay so clearly you're one of these people who will back the manager regardless of performance. So we're clearly never going to agree.

I think 12th or better has to be the minimum or there doesn't seem to be much point in keeping him on. There have to be standards at our club, of course progression is key but the way in which that progression is achieved is vital imo. To be top 6 standard for a third of the season and bottom 3 standard for the remaining two-thirds of the season (and ending the season on a sour note) is not acceptable for a club that is supposed to be ambitious. Of course standards will drop off to a degree but to the degree it has is astonishing. If he can't take a minimum of 9/10 points from the final 10 games (I still hope we can surpass that tbh) then that really isn't on and if we are able to get better in the summer then it has to be a serious consideration.

I think those people on here who continue to defend Smith unconditionally only see that he is a nice guy (which he is) and a Villa man. They continue to look past his deficiencies. It's almost like they want this romantic ideal of him leading us into the future regardless of what's happening on and off the pitch because he's a fan and he supposedly gets the club. What gets thrown around is we're on course to have our best season in a decade in what has been one of Villa's worst decades in their history. That isn't a good benchmark to set for this club. Every season Smith has been with us we have had long periods of bad form. Usually this occurs when Jack is out because Smith is so damn reliant on him. Season 18/19 (his first with us), Jack gets injured early December. We then win 2 out of 13, failing to beat Stoke (twice), Reading, Preston, QPR and Hull in that time – the finishing places of those teams in order were 16th, 20th, 14th, 19th, 13th. Last season Jack luckily didn’t get any lengthy period of time out. We were generally pretty awful all of last season but that period before the lockdown started we were losing to the likes of Bournemouth and Southampton without so much of a fight and without the season freezing I’m certain we’d have gone down. This season our form tailed off as soon as 2021 hit in my opinion, but since Jack’s last game to now we’ve played Brighton (draw), Leicester (loss), Leeds (win), Sheff U (loss), Wolves (draw), Newcastle (draw), Spurs (loss). The position in the table of those teams are as follows: 16th, 3rd, 11th, 20th, 13th, 17th, and 6th. So five of the seven are bottom half. Now for all the Smith lovers who say it’s because our players aren’t good enough, of the last seven games, apart from Tottenham and Leicester, and possibly Wolves, can you honestly say the other teams had better players than us? I can’t. Especially when Newcastle were without four key first team players, rock bottom Sheff U had basically a patched up defence, Wolves were missing one of the best strikers in the league in Jimenez. Even Spurs and Leicester had played midweek and were clearly pretty knackered when we played them. I could have taken yesterday’s defeat a bit more humbly if we had beaten the likes of Sheff U, Newcastle and Brighton. Spurs were knackered and without Son, we gifted them the first goal by a catalogue of errors from our goalkeeper and defenders, but they do have better players than us. But when we fail to beat shite teams near the bottom and get told it’s because Smith still needs more quality, that’s where I think what a load of bollocks. We should have with the players we have, even with Jack missing, enough to beat the likes of Sheff U and Newcastle. If Smith fails to get to 50 points this season, I personally feel that we need to explore new manager options in the summer. People will think I’m being overly dramatic but the fall off in form is too much (we had 26 points from our first 14 games, if he fails to take at the minimum a mere 24 points from the next 24 games then clearly that is nowhere near good enough). I believe he should get to that, but right now you wouldn’t bet on it. We go into the summer needing to strengthen again and with Smith I just have no clue which players we will end up with. We need players of real proven calibre that can take the pressure off Jack, but my worry is he won’t be able to attract players of the quality a manager like Rodgers or Ancelotti could and we’ll once again bring players in who aren’t going to elevate us to Everton, West Ham, Wolves level, let alone Spurs or Leicester level. I’ve wanted Smith to succeed all along, but I just think there are too many flaws in his management for him to be the answer long term for us. How many years are we going to keep saying he’s still learning and he needs better players (incidentally virtually every player in the squad are his own buys btw), we can’t keep using that as an excuse for these dire runs every season. I honestly don't care what's gone before, and how crap we were under Lerner, and how we should be grateful for where we are now. I couldn't care less about the past, Villa is still a big club regardless of Lerner and Xia nearly ending us. I look at the potential of what the club can achieve now, we haven't had owners like we have now for a long time (probably ever), I believe with them our potential is huge and with a manager who knows what he is doing we could very well find ourselves as one of the big clubs of this country again. With Smith we'll only ever be an also ran.

Yeah, I'm going to be giving the team a wide berth for the foreseeable as they only seem to ruin my weekends and give me false hope and I can't be bothered with that any more. It promised to be such a good season, and is now turning into a pretty miserable one in all honesty. Much rather enjoy my weekends. Avoiding not only watching Villa but also checking the score (which also will make me depressed no doubt) is probably the best thing to do for a while.

We've turned from one of the most exciting teams in the league to one of the most boring and abject. Quite some turnaround Dean, well done mate. Clearly far too reliant on one man in particular despite being told our recruitment was brilliant this summer (which clearly it wasn't), clearly a manager who doesn't know how to address a slump and is probably out his depth if we want to challenge for European places eventually, clearly no goals whatsoever in this team due to to God knows what but most likely coaching and tactics being at the forefront of it. It's just depressing. There has to be some kind of benchmark on performances rather than just "oh, we're doing better than expected so it's OK not to win a game now until the end of the season" which many of the pro-Smith people on here keep saying. I'm sorry but recent performances are completely unacceptable, we've lost to a well out of form Spurs team who've just been knocked out by a team I've never heard of in Europe, failed to beat a terrible Newcastle, lost to a dire Sheff U, should have lost to Wolves and got very lucky, and got a smash and grab win against Leeds. We were also absolutely well and truly dominated by Brighton in Jack's last game before his injury. How are these performances and results acceptable to anyone. We have a much tougher run of games from now to the end of the season, honestly if we continue to play as we are and end up well in the bottom half there must be serious questions asked of the management come the end of the season.

Our win rate with Grealish this season: 50% Our win rate without him: less than 20% Says it all.

We've got no other viable options though. Shocking how someone of his quality and experience continues to perform this badly.

If we don't beat Fulham then Smith deserves every criticism that comes his way.

Just grow some bollocks and put Barry on the bench. Davis couldn't score in a brothel.

In terms of form we are yes.