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Welcome to B6 Steven Gerrard

Sounds like Beale is the brains of the incoming group. Some glowing praise from highly credible people in the game. A tactical wizard, apparently. Excited to see how things develop under his tutelage.

Welcome Dean, an exciting appointment!

To my surprise I couldn't find a thread for Mark Delaney? If I've missed it apologies and can the Mods merge. Just watched a great interview with him on AVTV. He was one of my favourite players but its struck me he's become a proper Villa Man. Great player, started coaching the under 15s on a part time basis and now in charge of The Academy with 21 years service with the club. It was a very interesting interview which I urge you to watch and shows the connectiveness flowing through the club. I didn't realise George Boateng was also coaching with him. Talked nonchalantly about their 6th place league finish. God, imagine that, Villa finishing 6th. Seems like a universe away. * His accent was funny as well. Definitely a Welshman living in Brum for too long. Anyway, I remember feeling really sad when his career was ended prematurely and delighted he's forged a post playing career in football full stop but especially with us. Mark Delaney. A Villa man. * sorry, he may not have spoken about this, I think I read it on Wikipedia after I watched the video and thought he had talked about it, but the point still stands.

There is an Asian and a ginger haired members of our backroom staff, does anyone know their names?

Isn't it about time he had a thread? Things seem to be moving in the right direction - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/06/21/aston-villa-make-concrete-offer-john-terry/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw

Why is it, we seem to consistently go from winning to losing in bulk? What happened to winning and then backing it up with a draw? Do we ever draw football matches anymore? Why do we have to lose 3/4 on the bounce followed by winning a couple? It cost Smith his job but it seems to be a problem with Gerrard too. Can’t we just grind out a few 1-1 / 0-0 draws against teams around/above us? Its f****** frustrating. How many games this season have we lost by one goal? I bet it’s a fair few. We can’t seem to master the art of drawing when games are close. We just lose instead.

Been brought in from WBA as goalkeeping coach He’s got a lot of work on his hands....

Thought it would be good for Austin to have his own thread (I couldn’t find an existing one) given the positive impact of the set pieces against Newcastle. Also it’s been reported (Sky Sports and The Times) that he’s joining up with the Scotland national team. Not sure how this will work with his role at Villa.

Every game that passes it's the same story. Watkins poor, McGinn off the pace, Mings at fault again, etc, etc... Yet these same players, and others, have performed to levels high enough to be selected for national teams. They achieved this whilst playing for us. Another case in point is Martinez. Players perform well when those around them are playing well too. It's an old adage that it's easier to give regular 8/10 performances with "better" players around you. When Gerrard first came in we needed to stabilise and stop conceding. We had a strong playing tactic. Keep it tight through the middle, force attacks out wide and work hard. This was clear. The players understood, bought into it and, on the whole, performed. The last 5 games or so this has changed. Our "style" seems uncertain at best, undefined at worst. I don't believe this is the fault of the players. To that end I think criticism of the players is very unfair. To my eyes there's no plan at the moment. I'm not sure the players know what's expected of them. The last few games it's been evident that defenders don't know what their out-ball is. Nobody in midfield seems to show to receive a pass. Back under Smith there was lots of interplay with the defenders and midfield, notably with Luiz. This seems to have dissolved and the punt forward appears to be in vogue now. Not good! Biggest concern for me is the performance level of Martinez has fallen off a cliff. What's happened? Have the previous training methods been upended, is he being asked not to challenge for crosses??? It's baffling that a player so good is playing so poorly after only a few weeks of transition. I get that he wasn't great in the last few Smith games but recently he's looked a different player... Anyway, back to the point (if there is one). These aren't bad players are they?

Well I've heard that Lambert's new assistant manager is sorted and its certainly a big name. Not one I'd have guessed and not sure many would. I won't/can't say who it is so please don't clog the thread up asking or send loads of PM's, it will break soon enough or I will say when I can. Feel free to dismiss this if you want given I've not named him, given some of the vague stuff people post I wouldn't blame you. But I've absolutely no reason to doubt this information is accurate.

Confirmed as part of Gerrard's back room staff. So, anyone have any knowledge of how he was thought of when he was last at Villa?, anyone have any interesting stories or insights?

Ex West Brom Academy. Shock. . Joins from Anderlecht

Full article... https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2020/08/07/shakespeare-assistant-head-coach

Welcome Steven Gerrard.

The people have spoken and the people have said, "Give us somewhere we can discuss whether we want a new manager, and if we do, who we want it to be". So here it is. Please use this thread to discuss whether you'd like a new manager, whether you'd rather stick with the current one, why you feel that way, what it would take to change your mind, who you'd like to come in if he goes and why you like them - all of that sort of stuff. As with player speculation, if there's an actual link in the press to a manager, we'll open a new thread for speculation on that individual manager, so if we're linked to Giorgio Frimponi and you know something about him, or something about the article, you can share it there. If you want to talk about Dean Smith and how he's doing, where he can improve, what you think he's doing well or his selections, please put that in the Dean Smith thread. This one is for all of the speculation, discussion and your thoughts on the current situation in regards to our future and the manager's position. Enjoy. (and stop googling Giorgio Frimponi.)

I don't have an Athletic sub to post the article but hopefully somebody else does

Apparently Richard O’Kelly has joined the coaching team from Brentford with Dean Smith. I thought he deserves his own thread. Not confirmed on the OS yet so still speculation for now.

Probably needs its on thread now as RDM has confirmed his interest in him. Just click it I would imagine this ones happening for him to confirm it. i have to be honest i don't know anything about him, wont take much to be better than our current cm though

is Bodymoor Heath an Albatross around our necks as opposed to an advantage for us? Now I'm not proposing that we sell and go back to training over the local park, but it seems to me that ever since we have had it, we have struggled. It could be a complete coincidence or some of the very average players we have signed take one look at it and think "Oh I've arrived in the big time"...." I haven't got to graft now" There seems a very soft under belly to all our teams at every level.....I don't see controlled aggresssion or total graft in the sides, I don't see a leaning towards Physical encounter to platform the talent, I see very few players big in stature or powerful, with drive and determination to succeed. are we producing shrinking violets down there or nurturing a philosophy of Que sera sera. I might be miles of course here, but ever since we have this gin palace of a training ground it seems like we have developed a rest home for over inflated ego's of football players.....who never got picked up by the elite.

Subs is something that dominates the Dean Smith thread. Obviously an important part of Deans job in influencing a game from timing, balance and the right player to bring on or take off. It seems though to be taking a complete dominance of the Dean Smith thread in a negative fashion when we are having one of our best times in recent decades and I think the vast majority of fans are delighted with Smith. So creating this thread to bring that discussion here and the Dean Smith thread can focus more on other parts of Dean Smith discussion.

Thought this was interesting, If true, welcome back George! Hopefully he can coach some of that grit he used to have into the kids! CLICKY George Boateng returns as youth coach George Boateng re-joins Aston Villa in Youth Coaching Capacity George Boateng has returned to Aston Villa, coaching within the academy setup. The former Dutch midfielder who played for Villa between 1999 and 2002 before joining Middlesbrough, joins the club from Blackburn Rovers where he was Youth Team Coach for age groups ranging from Under 13’s up to Under 16’s. Our sources tell us that Boateng has joined as Aston Villa’s new Under 18’s coach following the departure of David Hughes to Southampton, however this is yet to be confirmed by the club and he could well be working within various age groups within the Aston Villa academy. As a player, Boateng starred for Feyenoord before moving to England. He went on to play for Coventry City, Villa, Middlesbrough, Hull City and Nottingham Forest before brief spells in Greece and Malaysia. Boateng was a well liked figure at Villa Park and built up a strong partnership in the midfield alongside the likes of Ian Taylor, Paul Merson and Lee Hendrie. Following his retirement in 2016, Boateng completed his coaching badges and revealed how he would love to manage any of his former clubs, especially Villa due to the training ground, fan base and great stadium. Boateng had a brief spell as manager and technical director of Kelantan FA, a professional club in Malaysia. He was appointed as a Youth Team Coach at Blackburn Rovers in 2018 and has nurtured mainly the Under 13’s side at Ewood Park. It remains to be seen exactly what role Boateng will have at Bodymoor Heath but with the departure of David Hughes and the yet to be confirmed exit of Kevin MacDonald, there is certainly room for additions to the coaching set up. Villa are undergoing somewhat of a change within the academy setup with the arrival of Mark Harrison from West Bromwich Albion as the new Academy Manager. The academy has been an area needed to improve according to Chief Executive, Christian Purslow and the rejuvenation of the academy is being led by Harrison and Sporting Director, Jesus Garcia Pitarch. Boateng was well liked by the Villa faithful during his time at Villa Park. His addition to the youth team set up can only be a good thing for the young lions. Having a player who was successful at Villa and well liked by fans and players alike coaching you can only be good and Boateng knows what Aston Villa is all about as a club. He knows what it takes to succeed not only as a professional footballer, but also whilst wearing Claret and Blue. In an interview with the Birmingham Mail in 2014, Boateng revealed how he feels he was destined to play for Aston Villa; “ People don’t know this but when i first came to the UK and i signed for Coventry i lived closer to Bodymoor Heath than to Coventry’s training ground. In my heart I was always destined to play for Aston Villa”. Boateng will certainly be in familiar surroundings as he looks to guide the future Aston Villa stars forward. Welcome back, George!

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/aston-villa-club-masseur-alex-21747408 Get well soon big fella !

With Ian Atkins, Tommy Mooney and other personnel leaving the club today after disagreeing with the current Manager. What would you suggest the NWSE Board and Purslow will do from now on regarding the Player Recruitment/Technical/Scouting part of Villa? The crazy thing is The Technical Team that left suggesting younger (European maybe even UK Based) players and disagreed with Bruce who may have wanted more experience or just down the British route only. Thought the board wanted younger players coming in according to Bruce in interviews last month. What on earth is going on currently and why can't we have someone step up and sort the whole scouting/coaching from the top downwards or will that happen when we appoint a Technical Director/Director of Football or whatever they are going to title it? What's everyone's thoughts? and what do people think will happen going forward? Is there a plan? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6186057/Aston-Villa-sack-seven-members-technical-staff-Steve-Bruce-present.html

After triple checking the correct spelling, I think our new Assistant Manager deserves his own thread. Steve Clarke should be a good appointment and has the right experience. Only time and VT opinions will tell. Currently, Clarke's appointment is pure speculation, even though the BBC states otherwise, thus - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36435484