VillaJay

Mid table team, we'll win some and lose some and finish 12th.

Frustrating given the investment, but early days and really missing nakamba.

At least 1 new full back and 1 top class wide forward needed, also a proper dm on loan.

Nakamba has his limitations but he's the only dm we have and shown his strengths when he's only asked to play to them. Luiz Is better further forward.

El Ghazi, Trez should be sold if possible and make room for some of our youth options who may make it.

The possession stats for the last 5 games are probably a bit skewed when we've played 4 teams who are arguably the best possession based sides in the league.

If after the next 5 the numbers don't improve then it might be worth looking at, but of our 3 wins so far, none of them were smash and grab.

Yesterday's performance was the worst of the lot and we never looked like winning, however again the reality was that we were playing one of the best teams in world football.

Overall not a great performance today against top opposition, however sometimes reality bites and you have to face facts we were playing one of the very best teams in world football.

It was disappointing not to play like prime Brazil today, but 5 games in there is already a semblance of identity and stability in the team.

Win the next 2 and and no other manager in world football could have done better. Let's see how it goes, early cautious optimism along with a good dose of reality.

2 minutes ago, Wezbid said:

He could end up not working out for us but like feck is he crap. 

I'd expect this sort of reactionary rubbish from a younger fan, new to the game but given your profile name etc, you've been around the block. Ings has had multiple seasons of being clinical in terms of goals to game-time. 

Totally agree, he's a proven talent, plenty of time for him to settle, he's played less than 10 games and probably much less than that in terms of minutes. Harry Kane is struggling this season, but no one would argue he's not a top player and rightly so.

Ings will come good I'm sure, and even if he doesn't, to call him dross is nonsense.

Just now, Stevo985 said:

Ramsey has been very encouraging. But Carney seems more exciting and attacking from what little I've seen of him.

Ramsey is another McGinn/Nakamba/Luiz.

We need something different in the middle of the park rather than just another water carrier

I think Ramsay has shown enough glimpses that he'll be more than another water carrier.

But Carney, looks a talent, different types of players but would be brilliant if both can push into starting players for us.

3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Honestly I'd far rather see more of Carney than Ramsey

Both can play in the same team if they're good enough. Ramsay has played well this season, and with under 20 pl games/minutes under his belt is arguably one of our most exciting talents since Jack.

Played well, can offer another option from the bench. He also has that little Grealish swagger when he stands players up.

Exciting potential, if he's managed correctly.

A proper Ollie performance, was excellent in the first half and got his goal his overall play deserved.

Frustrating decision making, but his pace was there to be seen on a couple of breaks.

New country, new league, new team. Will take some time, but you can see he has quality.

Excellent again, let him sit and break up play, we're using him correctly to get the best out of him.

Played well, he's a frustrating player at times, but put in a shift and can make things happen.

He's played about 6/7 games so far, crazy to write him off.

Excellent today, played well all round.

He's great for games like this where we won't have as much of the ball. Excellent today and didn't show up his limitations. Despite not having much of the ball today we were comfortable.

22 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

Sorry about the quality.

 

Also, there's only 13 key passes. One of them was falsely attributed to Targett instead of Cash. So Cash had 4 key passes this season.

Brilliant work, Target has been nowhere near last year's levels, lacks athleticism, but makes up for it with being a very good footballer. 

Some better finishing on some of those chances and he'd be on 3/4 assists this season.

10 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Sorry but this makes ZERO sense.

" The sooner he's gone the better " would indicate us doing very shite, very quickly, surely that is counter productive?

I agree, this is nonsense. I support Villa, I'm not particularly enthused by Gerrard, however I hope he's the most successful manager we've ever had. Both their performances are intrinsically linked.

The fans need to get behind the club and manager now and look forward.

On 03/11/2021 at 16:42, villalad21 said:

Didn't this guy lose 6-2 to OGS...

So did Bielsa last season

If Gerrard had proven himself or shown significant potential as a tactician, coach or manager, there would be very little argument.

The simple fact is he has proven none of the above and that alone is what makes this a huge risk, we need to take risk, however I'd hope for a more calculated risk.

Tim Sherwood had PL experience when we hired him...

Gerrard could be exceptional and if he's at villa, I hope he is, however there is very little evidence of that, and with our focus on statistical football now, I'd hope for a more imaginative hire.

1 minute ago, RicRic said:

Why are some of us getting excited over a manager thats been annihilated 9-0 TWICE!! over the last season and a half I Dont want managers with that on their CV at villa park and everyone needs to acknowledge this 

No Hassenhult

 

Klopp has been beaten 7-2...

Hassenhuttl is a good coach with a good footballing philosophy and has done well with his resources at Southampton, good job at RB Leipzig too.

21 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

Pochettino had a grand total of 3 years experience and a 32% win ratio before he landed the Southampton job. 

This is an important point, we need to look beyond certain metrics. Our next hire has to have a clear identity to their football, that's why I believe Potter or Hassenhuttl would fit the bill, both play differing styles but have clear identities.

It doesn't have to be either of them, but must be a manager that can get this team playing with a clear identity, I don't think Gerrard has shown that so far, and despite Dean doing a brilliant job overall, we never had any clear identity as a team and we're heavily reliant on a superstar in Jack Grealish.

Galtier at nice is interesting, was linked years ago, won Ligue 1 last season with lille and did great work at St Etienne too, going strongly with nice this season too, however only joined in the summer.

Hassenhuttl or Potter for me, not had spectacular careers so far, however both have a clear identity to their style of football and done quietly decent jobs so far. 

Both are far from faultless, but I believe both would improve this team and are good coaches who have potential to do more with better resources.

Gerrard, Lampard et al are all too risky and have yet to show any real identity to their teams style of play.

A real Villa man who has brought some great moments in recent seasons and helped bring positivity back to Villa.

The board need to do the right thing now and ensure they've got a top class replacement lined up and ready to go, they can't let this drag on it's not going to help the club and won't help Dean, who should only be remembered with respect as a villa manager who put us back on our feet.

Pressure on him now, he needs to make a couple of big decisions quickly and ensure he gets them right.

We need Dean to turn it around, he may prove to have brought us as far as he can at the end of the season, but I don't believe there is anyone of the level required who would want to come here right now that would give us an instant improvement in style of play and be a long term solution.

I really rate Potter as a coach, but again he's a manager that requires patience and would need a season or two to get the team playing his way.

Dean deserves another few games at a minimum and ideally we would re-evaluate at the end of the season.

Big game on Friday for Dean and the club, a defeat or even a draw could see him replaced. He's done a brilliant job so far, up there with Little and Gregory in terms of enjoyment for me. I really hope we turn it around and push on under Dean as there's no other manager I'd want us to succeed under right now, however I can see the other side of the argument and there are some red flags and concerns that his tenure has hit it's ceiling.

Bielsa has had a shocker of a start this season (Different resources granted) but he's a top coach who I expect to turn it around due to his teams clear identity. The fear with this villa team right now is there has been a lack of identity throughout his tenure and doesn't look like improving anytime soon.

Potter for me would be the ideal replacement if Dean can't turn it around quickly. He's not achieved a lot in terms of pl positions, but he's a young coach with a clear identity to his football and his Brighton team are miles ahead of this villa team in terms of playing style, another team I'd expect in the top 10 this season. We'd need patience with him though as it would take time to get up and running.

Despite all that, I hope Dean can do it, he's achieved everything expected of him at villa so far and is still learning.