The Rémi Garde thread

[dont_do_it_doug.]

  BOF - "We're not exactly a mile off EVEN WITH Tim in charge."  

Actually, I think we are exactly a mile off. Bottom of the table with 4 points from 11 games looks pretty much like a (metaphorical) mile to me.

 

4pts from safety is a mile to you? Blimey. Whatever you want to call it is up to you I suppose.

What worries me is that we have to baiscally start from scratch, both tactics-wise and confidence-wise. Hopefully both can be addressed quickly.

Another worrying this is that of these 11 games we've had some of the most winnable fixtures (Bournemouth, Sunderland, WBA, Stoke, Chelsea (funnily enough). We have much tougher fixtures ahead, it will be harder to get results from them and get a confidence boost as a result.

But I still think we can avoid relegation. The way we played last season under Sherwood up to the Soton game suggests that we have more than enough quality to stay up. We don't have a proper goalscorer at the moment, hopefully this will be addressed in Jan.

Whilst the fixtures on paper might seem tougher, this is the premier league. On any given day any team can beat anyone else. Our chances of beating Man City for example are much higher than the bottom team in La Liga beating Barcelona. I'm just as confident (or not) facing Everton as I am Stoke. Or Watford as I am Sunderland.

It helps that I believe in the individuals in the squad and I have been sold Remi Garde as a manager. Don't get me wrong, I know that we are a poor squad relatively speaking, but the difference between finishing 17th and 18th could well be as simple as something like having a manager who knows how to get the best out of Carles Gil, or a player like Jordan Ayew having a breakthrough season. Why not stay confident, what is the worst that can happen? We fail? Fine. As long as we try our very best. ALL of us, collectively.

WE are Aston Villa. Me, you, Randy Lerner, Remi Garde and Leandro Bacuna included...

[briny_ear]

  BOF - "We're not exactly a mile off EVEN WITH Tim in charge."  

Actually, I think we are exactly a mile off. Bottom of the table with 4 points from 11 games looks pretty much like a (metaphorical) mile to me.

4pts from safety is a mile to you? Blimey. Whatever you want to call it is up to you I suppose.

You could only say we are "4 points from safety" if we were about 2 or 3 games away from the end of the season. I can assure you that getting four more points will not make us "safe". Although I recognise that blind optimism is the current theme on here..

[BOF]

That post makes no sense. But that's ok.

[avfc1982am]

  BOF - "We're not exactly a mile off EVEN WITH Tim in charge."  

Actually, I think we are exactly a mile off. Bottom of the table with 4 points from 11 games looks pretty much like a (metaphorical) mile to me.

 

 

4pts from safety is a mile to you? Blimey. Whatever you want to call it is up to you I suppose.

 

You could only say we are "4 points from safety" if we were about 2 or 3 games away from the end of the season. I can assure you that getting four more points will not make us "safe". Although I recognise that blind optimism is the current theme on here..

 

Personally I don't think it's blind optimism. To make up 4 points on those around us and kick on with a possible 81 points still left to play for isn't an impossible task at the moment, far from it. Maybe it will be 7 points after the weekend, who knows. Maybe Garde doesn't get us winning straight away, or maybe not at all?! The bottom line is I think most chose to be upbeat about the situation and have belief rather than cry, moan or accept championship football before it's a mathematical certainty. I know that's exactly how I feel about it and tie that in with the fact that I believe we have enough quality in the squad to stay up with the right guidance, maybe those writing us of already are the ones that are blind?!

 

[BOF]

He chose to interpret my post as meaning that 8pts this season will see us up. There's no point talking to someone who isn't even trying to understand the point being made, or who can't understand it. Either way, same result.

[briny_ear]

We've got 4 points out of a possible 33 so far this season. Anyone who doesn't understand the seriousness of our position shouldn't really be making snippy remarks about the analyses of those who do appreciate what dire straits we are in.

[briny_ear]

Even Rémi Garde has acknowledged that we are in a lot of trouble & he can't guarantee miracles. I admire him for that.

[BOF]

No one said we aren't. You're not actually reading the posts properly that you're responding to

[Stevo985]

It's quite obvious the point BOF is making (this is the second time today I've had to say that to briny )

[jackbauer24]

I only speak for myself here, but a few posters on here seem to imply that if you aren't positive about Villa going forward then we're overly negative, whining and almost wallowing in self pity. That's not the case. I don't feel I'm being negative, just realistic but recognise that everyone has a differing opinion. What I would say that is despite my views as to our predicament and the quality of our squad I still support Villa 100% at VP and have not given up - I just feel we have to tread water til January as I think however good Garde may be, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! Realising this means more pressure should build on Lerner supplying significant money in January - it worries me that some people seem to think a change of manager is enough. I just don't see it. 

[VillaForever1970]

I suppose it boils down to whether you think the current crop of players are actually not completely shit and have just been terribly managed up until this point.

I think they're not as good as most think, but certainly not as shit as they are currently playing, so somewhere in between, hopefully 4th from bottom in between.

The issue is creating a confident environment to win games, moral must terrible and needs to be massively improved for us to have any chance.

[Stevo985]

I only speak for myself here, but a few posters on here seem to imply that if you aren't positive about Villa going forward then we're overly negative, whining and almost wallowing in self pity. That's not the case. I don't feel I'm being negative, just realistic but recognise that everyone has a differing opinion. What I would say that is despite my views as to our predicament and the quality of our squad I still support Villa 100% at VP and have not given up - I just feel we have to tread water til January as I think however good Garde may be, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! Realising this means more pressure should build on Lerner supplying significant money in January - it worries me that some people seem to think a change of manager is enough. I just don't see it. 

I don't think anybody is suggesting that you have to be positive going forward. In fact I think the vast majority of fans have a pretty pessimistic view of Villa right now, myself included, you only have to look at Limpid's optimism meter to see that. 

A change of manager might not be enough, but it was the best thing we could do in our scenario, as the previous manager was the worst one we've ever had. That's what's breeding the slight spark of optimism, because Sherwood was a big problem that we have got rid of. Whether Garde is a big enough improvement to keep us up remains to be seen. It's a big ask.

 

 

(on a side note, I hate this "i'm not being negative, I'm being realistic". Everybody, regardless of their opinion, is being "realistic" in their eyes, otherwise they wouldn't be saying it. If I genuinely thought we'd still win the league this season, I'd say I was being realistic. Just saying you're being realistic instead of negative doesn't mean you're opinion is suddenly the realistic one and everyone else is being unrealistic  )

[Villarocker]

In the grand scheme of things, with so many games to go and so many points to play for, 4 points really isn't a lot to pull back. I guess people are looking at our next 6 games and imagining that the 4 point gap will be 6, 8 or even 10 points but the reality is that we won't know what it will be until after those games have been played. Who knows, we might get 5 or 6 points ourselves and there might not even be a gap after those games. 

[markavfc40]

  BOF - "We're not exactly a mile off EVEN WITH Tim in charge."  

Actually, I think we are exactly a mile off. Bottom of the table with 4 points from 11 games looks pretty much like a (metaphorical) mile to me.

 

 

4pts from safety is a mile to you? Blimey. Whatever you want to call it is up to you I suppose.

 

You could only say we are "4 points from safety" if we were about 2 or 3 games away from the end of the season. I can assure you that getting four more points will not make us "safe". Although I recognise that blind optimism is the current theme on here..

 

 

Briny I don't think anyone would even try to argue that we have not had a diabolical start. We aren't the only ones though. Sunderland and Newcastle have had terrible starts also and Bournemouth and Norwich very poor starts

The way I see it is that at present the five teams at the bottom are in dire trouble. If the team in 16th carry on as they have started (points per game) they will finish on 31 points. If the team in 17th carry on as they have started they will finish on 27 points. There is not a cat in hells chance that 27 points will keep you up. It never has and I doubt it ever will. I would almost put my house on the fact that two of the five clubs down the bottom currently will put a run together totally out of sync with their first 11 games and I think we have as good a chance as any of doing that as any side down there.

No one is arguing that we are 4 points from safety or that 4 points will see us safe as that would just be silly but I would much rather be sat 4 points from the team in 17th with 27 games to go than be sat 4 points from the team in 17th with 2 or 3 games to go.

Edited November 6, 2015 by markavfc40

[Cliffy Biro]

I think he'll have done an amazing job if he keeps us up don't get me wrong but at the same time he does have 28 games and 6 months, its not like he's got 8 games and has to win 5 of them.

[dounavilla]

O      <-------------- this thread 

[KSV]

If at some stage in the remaining games we go on a 6-7 unbeaten streak it won't look so bad. Have faith. We will survive. 

[bose]

This is the best thing I've heard yet. Paul Merson thinks we should have gone a different way.

“I would go and get Nigel Pearson tomorrow morning,” Merson said. “I think Tim [Sherwood] was unlucky, but now he’s not there I would go and get Nigel Pearson.

“He’s proven, the job he’s done at Leicester City was phenomenal.

“You bring in Remi Garde, a foreign manager who has never worked in the Premier League, and he might take six months to get used to it. By then, it could be all over.”

Why the **** didn't we hire Nigel Pearson?! You couldn't make it up.

I'm sorry but 98% of ex footballers (Gary Neville and some others are in those 2%) are complete and utter idiots.

[Wittmann]

I think it's the drugs and booze talking not Merse.

[baldivisvilla]

I'm optimistic we can turn this around, based on the fact that in none of the loses we have took a hiding,infact many of the loses have been self inflicted either by ridiculous managerial decisions - such as when 2-0 up at Leicester and not packing midfield, playing 5 at the back at home to Stoke then reverting to a flat back 4 at halftime only to play Crespo instead of Lescott (for all his faults) as the other CB- or by individual errors Amavi at Palace,Guzan at Chelsea. Hopefully with Garde the first part I mentioned can be addressed.