It's Your Round Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 Well they certainly are ruthless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 12 minutes ago, Adam2003 said: As things stand this at least doubled our chance of relegation, from very slim to very possible. So really hope they get the appointment right! I’d say it more as it shows they are ambitious enough they’d gamble chasing the Europa League (which is only a couple of wins away) vs an increased risk of relegation from where we are today. Whether that’s good or bad in this instance remains to be seen! I don't see us going down at all. Far too early in the season to be seriously worrying even if our league position isn't good at all. We'll have a spell at some point during season when we win 3/4 or something and that will be enough. It's a bit like when Everton were bottom 3 in Dec 2019 (below us if you look at the league table then) and appointed Ancelotti and they comfortably finished mid table. Expect the same from whoever we get in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 51 minutes ago, Pissflaps said: I suspect they are now seeing they can't compete and win. The rules make it impossible to do so. If I were to bet they will look to sell up in the summer These guys aren't quitters. They are not that sort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted November 7, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted November 7, 2021 2 hours ago, mottaloo said: Exactly what I think. To quote that boss in Reggie Perrin..."I didn't get to where I am today without (sacking)...." It’s either hard or easy to compare Aston Villa to sunshine deserts 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 51 minutes ago, tom_avfc said: I mentioned elsewhere but I think that Grealish going was a tough one for them to take. The fact that we made money on transfers in the summer rather than invest further suggests to me that they had given up hope of competing a little. I’m still hoping for a Favre or a Potter to suggest that we’re still an exciting, ambitious place to be. However I fear that we’ll see a Gerrard or Terry come in which won’t fill me with confidence that they haven’t given up. I wonder if they already had qualms about Smith and decided to hold the money. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam2003 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 4 minutes ago, VillaChris said: I don't see us going down at all. Far too early in the season to be seriously worrying even if our league position isn't good at all. We'll have a spell at some point during season when we win 3/4 or something and that will be enough. It's a bit like when Everton were bottom 3 in Dec 2019 (below us if you look at the league table then) and appointed Ancelotti and they comfortably finished mid table. Expect the same from whoever we get in. It depends entirely who comes in. I wasn’t the slightest concerned Smith would take us down. But if they get this wrong then there are no guarantees. It’s a big roll of the dice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 18 minutes ago, Adam2003 said: As things stand this at least doubled our chance of relegation, from very slim to very possible. So really hope they get the appointment right! I’d say it more as it shows they are ambitious enough they’d gamble chasing the Europa League (which is only a couple of wins away) vs an increased risk of relegation from where we are today. Whether that’s good or bad in this instance remains to be seen! Surely you mean this to be the other way round. Otherwise you will need to explain it to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 This seems to mirror somewhat the Bucks situation. IIRC Edens mentions in an interview about replacing a popular head coach there because they felt he'd taken them as far as he could. Look what happened next. I think our owners are smart enough to understand that they cannot stand still in this game. I also think that any Smith replacement is going to be under serious pressure to deliver European football. The owners don't seem to come across as being here to make up numbers and get no return on their investment. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_avfc Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 4 minutes ago, AntrimBlack said: I wonder if they already had qualms about Smith and decided to hold the money. I don’t see this to be honest. People keep referring to them as ruthless. If they had qualms about Smith then the Summer was the time to get rid of him with £100m coming in to add to the transfer funds for the new man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam2003 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, AntrimBlack said: Surely you mean this to be the other way round. Otherwise you will need to explain it to me. Well, we weren’t going down under Smith. Almost certainly. In my view. We would have finished around 14th. Very slim chance of relegation. But appoint someone poor now and we could easily go down. I don’t think we will, but the chance certainly increased. (Sure, maybe the chance of finishing 7th rather than 14th did - but we don’t know that). I am not saying I don’t have faith they’ll bring in the right person - just that it is, by definition, a gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 I feel sorry for Smith. He was living the dream, and a really nice, likeable guy. But this is absolutely the correct decision. Smith was the right man at the time. Their decisions have been correct so far. Hopefully this appointment will follow the same pattern. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted November 7, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted November 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, Adam2003 said: Well, we weren’t going down under Smith. Almost certainly. In my view. We would have finished around 14th. Very slim chance of relegation. But appoint someone poor now and we could easily go down. I don’t think we will, but the chance certainly increased. (Sure, maybe the chance of finishing 7th rather than 14th did - but we don’t know that). I am not saying I don’t have faith they’ll bring in the right person - just that it is, by definition, a gamble. It’s absolutely unknowable though isn’t it? No one can say for sure that we would have finished 14th with Smith, so any new manager must finish above that or be a failure… he’s gone, we need a new manager and we can’t run both scenarios side by side. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 5 minutes ago, tom_avfc said: I don’t see this to be honest. People keep referring to them as ruthless. If they had qualms about Smith then the Summer was the time to get rid of him with £100m coming in to add to the transfer funds for the new man. Ruthlessness doesn't have to be rashness though. The owners would have been fully aware that the large majority of the fanbase we're behind Dean. Any move in the summer with the loss of JG would have lost them credibility with the fanbase. They need that cred moving forward if they want their investment to grow. They may be many things but stupid doesn't appear to be one of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 Just now, avfc1982am said: Ruthlessness doesn't have to be rashness though. The owners would have been fully aware that the large majority of the fanbase we're behind Dean. Any move in the summer with the loss of JG would have lost them credibility with the fanbase. They need that cred moving forward if they want their investment to grow. They may be many things but stupid doesn't appear to be one of them. To add to this. Nobody really knows how long they have possibly wanted to replace Smith. This may have been in the pipeline for several months waiting for the right moment to bring the changes they wanted long term. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouUnastanFren Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 38 minutes ago, tom_avfc said: I mentioned elsewhere but I think that Grealish going was a tough one for them to take. The fact that we made money on transfers in the summer rather than invest further suggests to me that they had given up hope of competing a little. I think the Grealish thing was especially galling with the context that WE had just managed to keep Giannis in the much more level playing field of the NBA. Signed him up to a big new deal and won the championship. Compared to having the current best team with unlimited budget taking our best player only to sometimes leave him as an unused sub probably really knocked the enthusiasm he had for investing in such an unfair sport. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, TrentVilla said: This isn’t a criticism of our owners but you cannot be serious about wanting to challenge for Europe and make a profit in a summer window. You also cannot have a middle of the road manager if you are serious about wanting to compete at the top. The owners have done incredible things for the club but I think it is time for some honesty, with themselves as much as anything. If they want us to compete as a top club we have to be run as a top club, currently we aren’t run as a top club. I agree. People saying they’ve got balls and aren’t messing around in sacking Smith I think are wrong. Sacking Smith feels like taking the easy option in my opinion. For me, all eyes are on the Owners and Purslow on the next appointment because that’ll show what they truly want to achieve here. If they are happy being a midtable then fine, not the best news but at least the fans know but I don’t want loads of fanfare of wanting to play with the big boys. If you want to play with the big boys then don’t tell us, show us. If you go and get the run of the mill Smith equivalents then a midtable team we will remain despite whatever communication the club give. If you are after your Potter, Fonseca, Gerrard or like then we will know that our ambition remain around midtable for the future and that’s fine, I would just like to know and in that case I would’ve kept Smith. Sacking him only makes sense if you have that big manager coming in. Edited November 7, 2021 by nick76 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 (edited) Really hope this is just chapter one in an amazing book, and that they stay commited and driven to keep moving this club forward. Please don't do a Lerner. Edited November 7, 2021 by villalad21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Credibility on the line for these guys now. Can't help thinking they are just collecting big names at the club and think if they get enough of them it will all fall into place....... Maybe it will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossco76 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 36 minutes ago, hippo said: Credibility on the line for these guys now. Can't help thinking they are just collecting big names at the club and think if they get enough of them it will all fall into place....... Maybe it will. It does feel quite "American" doesn't it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedClaretAndBlue Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Lets see what the future holds. Dean Smith will go down as 99% of fans favourite manager of the last 10 years and probably beyond. Did a great job and met targets and remits. We were ahead of schedule as he confirmed in his LMA statement. Losing Grealish last season and in the summer was a huge blow to everyone at the club, and was Smith’s ultimate downfall and his failure to make us solid without him probably cost him his job. Far too many defeats and disjointed performances made the need for change more obvious to the board. Gerrard is a gamble but they obviously like his tenacity and mentality and Purslow is banking on him translating his methods from Scotland to Premier League football. The squad certainly need a fresh voice and ideas to get them out their funk and SG and his team might be just the tonic. Time to get behind the lot of them Dareen Farley new videos will soon be up. Ehhhhmmmmm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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