VillaCas

This is not a thing - there is no such “strategy” in the club ethos stretching back through various ownerships. Maybe it feel that way but it’s just not true

Liverpool fans believe Origi is worth 60m !!

The lower hanging fruit is that which is first /easiest to be picked not the crap left over after the best fruit has gone. It’s like comparing apples and origis

So you feel we can safely discount Origi, Reina and McCarthy rumours?

Who are the strongest or most likely links to date? To me it looks like Olsen or Riena in goal, McCarthy, Origi and perhaps Bienramha plus another CB or DCM? Again in my view Abraham, Buendia and similar seem unlikely Hopefully a few youngsters for the academy (which needs to deliver one or two first team squad players) From experience we tend to get over-excited in the transfer window - some could end up disappointed

No it’s not — it’s using data to identify undervalued potential signings

Moneyball is not “flipping players” Using Data is Moneyball

62% of playoff winners go straight back down again - so the odds were against us Bookmakers odds are based on how much money is staked not the likelihood of something happening

I absolutely disagree. He has limited abilities but he ran, chased and harried non-stop all day.l and no one was happier than him at the final whistle

Unbelievably nerve wrecking but a whole hearted and professional performance. Magnificent for Dean and the squad Decent recruitment and we’ll be better next year. Very pleased for Smith - a really decent man Voted Trez my MotM - he’s crap but I couldn’t spot him not running all day

Nervy 45 mins coming up but I’d still take our position over Bournemouth and Watford every day of the week

That’s all true but wasn’t the point I was making

You seem to think you are refuting my argument, but you’re actually supporting it Rather than make an uneven comparison between Bruce and Smith this season where they are managing different squads at different stages of development, a more realistic comparison should be based on what they could do with the same players (Jack Grealish, Tammy Abraham, Elmo, John McGinn, El Ghazi etc) Please explain how this is “blinkered” or “having my cake and eating it” NB I wasn’t a fan of his football but I was a supporter of Bruce until very late on - I’ve no axe to grind with him but feel that Smith has done a much better job in his time here

So 14th then?

Really? You’re comparing the performance of an experienced Benitez-prepared squad versus a fledgling work in progress team. Apples and Oranges For a true comparison let’s look at 14th in the Championship versus a record breaking promotion season with the exact same players

It is possible that empty stadiums have relieved the pressure from fans and helped our performances although that ‘advantage’ would apply to every team in the relegation zone. Personally, As we had a majority of home games I feel we lost the home advantage of a roaring Villa Park - so for me and net loss not net gain I think most fans ( of most clubs tbh) are in the “I would change managers if a significant improvement is available”. I’m pleased with the job DS and his team are doing but if Jurgen Klopp suddenly expressed an interest it would be an easy decision. Finally, I set no store at all in what Micah Richards had to say, Did he played matches under Smith? I’m not sure he has much or any match day experience in the dressing room. Whatever, Different personalities manage differently - Smith may not bawl and shout 24/7 but I’m 100% confident that he has a very tough side when required (John Terry one of the most combative defenders in PL history appears to have plenty of respect for him)

Yes I understood that. My response was to highlight that we have already seen massive progression from 14th in the Championship and every reason to think that will continue

It is you who seems to be claiming the high ground. I don’t like 21 defeats any more than you do, I would like every performance (and result) to be like the one against Arsenal but I’m realistic enough to realise that given our trajectory that was not possible this season Your version of the better fan argument “you might be happy to accept that, but I have higher standards” is nonsense. I didn’t “accept flirting with relegation from the get go”, I realised from watching many years of football that a good but novice manager combined with a fledgling squad still in transition would do very well to get to 17th - most clubs who come up from the playoffs do not achieve that Constantly moaning is easy. It’s odd that you were on the other side of the argument when Bruce was here achieving not a fraction of what Smith has already delivered.

Took over a 14th place team and took them to promotion 5th place in the Championship to (hopefully) 17th place in the PL Is that enough progression for you (or are we special and should expect more?)

Who's minimum expectation? Yours? Also I guess it hangs on what you mean by minimum expection - At very best I thought 12th place was possible, at very worst I thought relegation was possible, when pressed my prediction was that we would struggle and finish 17th Could we have done "lots better"? With the challenge we faced and with a 31 plyer turnaround, Not in my reckoning

Another straw man argument TRO, with a few of your standard truisms thrown in for good measure (progress is a form of success etc etc) It's nonsense to say the people are "setting the bar at what we've achieved", nobody is "wallowing in self achievement" , nobody is "self satified" We came up from 5th in the championship and had a 31 player turn-around. Its a fact that the majority of teams that come up via the playoffs go straight back down again, so myself and many other said at the start of the season that for this year we would be happy to finish 17th and survive. Next season, if we retained the same squad I would hope for slightly better, if we recruit well then I hope we can be comfortably mid-table I'm not plesed that we are limping, hopefully, to 17th position but I am realistic in my expectations for a fledgling squad, new to the toughest league in the world As we've argued a number of times, my expectation was survival this year, yours was obviuoosly that we would do better than that - am I satified? Not really, 17th is not my ambition for the club but I am realistic enough to understand that "Rome was not buit in a day"!!

You say this like it’s a fact! We’ve got very little quality on the bench so it’s understandable that Smith decides to keep the better players on the pitch

You’re missing the point on the first argument and misquoting me on the second Its not Jacks form that I was talking about, it was the form of all those getting used to PL football I also didn’t say that ‘fans know nothing’ - my point was that coaching staff who spend all week with the players and have comprehensive analytics may be able to make a more informed decision than the average armchair fan Finally, there are very many factors in addition to team selection that lead to a defeat - the ability of those you are choosing from in particular