Dean Smith

[Vive_La_Villa]

53 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

I really do not fear anybody with this side. On our day we are capable of beating all of them and beating them well

I agree mate. I’m more worried about what side we can actually field. Can Targett and McGinn get through palace game without a yellow. Mings and Jack are 2 yellows away from a suspension too.  Barkley not eligible against Chelsea. 

Them you have fatigue with 3 games in 6 days.  Chelsea and Man U have very strong squads so can deal with it better. 

Hopefully we can beat Palace and take it from there. Tricky week for us.

[HKP90]

35 minutes ago, Michelsen said:

Messi averages, what, about 50-60 games per season, playing for Argentina as well as almost every minute of every club game in all competitions. You’re overestimating the difference betweeb the PL and continental football if you think that counts for less than Jack’s total games per season. Jack can take 90 minutes of p***ing all over WBA without risk of long term fatigue, as long as he’s having fun and enjoying his football. 

Dunno about that, there is only so much shin kicking that even Jack can take without his bones breaking.

[Stratvillan]

8 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I agree mate. I’m more worried about what side we can actually field. Can Targett and McGinn get through palace game without a yellow. Mings and Jack are 2 yellows away from a suspension too.  Barkley not eligible against Chelsea. 

Them you have fatigue with 3 games in 6 days.  Chelsea and Man U have very strong squads so can deal with it better. 

Hopefully we can beat Palace and take it from there. Tricky week for us.

5 Yellows are rescinded after 19 games. That's a long way away. In a way its forced resting. Can see a few easy yellows the game before the fa cup!

[magnkarl]

1 hour ago, Michelsen said:

Messi averages, what, about 50-60 games per season, playing for Argentina as well as almost every minute of every club game in all competitions. You’re overestimating the difference betweeb the PL and continental football if you think that counts for less than Jack’s total games per season. Jack can take 90 minutes of p***ing all over WBA without risk of long term fatigue, as long as he’s having fun and enjoying his football. 

Remind me, who is the most fouled player in all European leagues over the last year again? 

[abdulaziz1]

People kept saying that Smith will be bad defensively, but look at him now? So far only Man City conceded less than us. Although we’ve played less than most but still. Add to that the fact that we kept 7 clean sheets the most while we played less than others.

We’ve been attacking naively last season and kept getting punished. Now we’re attacking while defending well. 
 

I think Smith biggest issue so far is substitutions. Especially when we’re trying to get back to a game. People keep saying we have a bad bench but in reality we have some ok players. El Ghazi and Traore yesterday showed what can they do. Hourihane, Davis have more to offer. Elmo, Nakamba and Hause have been part of our most attacking game against Burnley. Ramsey done well in his first start against a very good Wolves side. 
Luiz, Targett, Konsa, Trez and to a point even McGinn have all been either written off or questionable about wether they’re good for the PL or not. 

[regular_john]

Here's a thought - there can't be many coaches in the country, in Europe even, that have achieved as much compared to their starting position than Smith has over the last 2 or 3 years. 

 

Klopp, Wilder until the wheels fell of this season, struggling to think of anyone else!

[El Zen]

19 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

Remind me, who is the most fouled player in all European leagues over the last year again? 

And how many injuries is that? 

[El Zen]

1 hour ago, HKP90 said:

Dunno about that, there is only so much shin kicking that even Jack can take without his bones breaking.

Doesn’t have much to do with rest and fatigue, though. If Livermore snapped Jack’s tibia yesterday, you’d hardly be blaming Smith for not resting him.

[Paulie]

One thing that is flying under the radar, and is something that Dean should be appreciated for maybe over all his other attributes... the culture in the dressing room.

 

he has empowered Jack, Tyrone, and John to lead their own way and it is infectious.  You can tell even the new guys like Bert love it here.  Traore had a hell of a rocky time at Lyon by most accounts we heard before the transfer, and I believe the culture of infectious positivity and accountability will have compounding returns throughout the club.  Long may it continue 

[TRO]

Dean Smith has enterprising football in his DNA, its nothing new, he has done it, everywhere he has been.....his teams have played the game like we all want the game to be played, its great to watch.

But, .....7 clean sheets only 2 goals conceded away from home, come on Dean where has this come from?

We still have a bit of catching up at home to do.....but the defensive work has been a joy to behold recently, sure we had a wobble at  west ham, but it was soon addressed.

Hats off, to you mate, you are proving you can build a complete team, not just a one day wonder.

We can be safe to say, we fear no one, away from Home, we can beat anyone.....that is some position you have managed to land us in.

Bravo Dean Smith.

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by TRO

[TRO]

56 minutes ago, Paulie said:

One thing that is flying under the radar, and is something that Dean should be appreciated for maybe over all his other attributes... the culture in the dressing room.

 

he has empowered Jack, Tyrone, and John to lead their own way and it is infectious.  You can tell even the new guys like Bert love it here.  Traore had a hell of a rocky time at Lyon by most accounts we heard before the transfer, and I believe the culture of infectious positivity and accountability will have compounding returns throughout the club.  Long may it continue 

and it also looks like Emi has joined this happy band of brothers too.

its very good, reminds me of the Ron Saunders era.

[sharkyvilla]

3 hours ago, TRO said:

and it also looks like Emi has joined this happy band of brothers too.

its very good, reminds me of the Ron Saunders era.

Now there's a surprise

[villalad21]

An interesting read on the Wolves forum

"Totally agree. Would add that there is something about Dean Smith, too. As pointed out by another poster here who posted the stats for Dean Smith sides over the past few seasons. When he managed Brentford, it was them who were at the top of the "fouled" table, with Villa far behind. Soon as he moved to Villa, this reversed and has been the same ever since. So even when Villa had Grealish in the Championship, before Smith arrived, they were getting fouled at a normal rate. Soon as he arrives, it shoots through the roof.

Wherever Dean Smith goes, his side become the most fouled poor little mites in the world. The guy and his "tactics" need investigating. At the very least, refs need to be clear on Anti-Football Villa and be more wary of dishing out the free kicks every time one of them is down (which is about 80 minutes of the 90)."

[M_Afro]

I told you all that Smith was destined to fail. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..........I am an idiot. Merry Christmas Villans. We are back!

[HKP90]

40 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

An interesting read on the Wolves forum

"Totally agree. Would add that there is something about Dean Smith, too. As pointed out by another poster here who posted the stats for Dean Smith sides over the past few seasons. When he managed Brentford, it was them who were at the top of the "fouled" table, with Villa far behind. Soon as he moved to Villa, this reversed and has been the same ever since. So even when Villa had Grealish in the Championship, before Smith arrived, they were getting fouled at a normal rate. Soon as he arrives, it shoots through the roof.

Wherever Dean Smith goes, his side become the most fouled poor little mites in the world. The guy and his "tactics" need investigating. At the very least, refs need to be clear on Anti-Football Villa and be more wary of dishing out the free kicks every time one of them is down (which is about 80 minutes of the 90)."

Wolves on the other hand have been the model of consistency....their fans were dicks both before and after Nuno arrived. 

[PieFacE]

I kinda feel like if we get the first goal against any team atm we'll go on to win the game. Bit of a different story if we concede first. 

[TrentVilla]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

An interesting read on the Wolves forum

"Totally agree. Would add that there is something about Dean Smith, too. As pointed out by another poster here who posted the stats for Dean Smith sides over the past few seasons. When he managed Brentford, it was them who were at the top of the "fouled" table, with Villa far behind. Soon as he moved to Villa, this reversed and has been the same ever since. So even when Villa had Grealish in the Championship, before Smith arrived, they were getting fouled at a normal rate. Soon as he arrives, it shoots through the roof.

Wherever Dean Smith goes, his side become the most fouled poor little mites in the world. The guy and his "tactics" need investigating. At the very least, refs need to be clear on Anti-Football Villa and be more wary of dishing out the free kicks every time one of them is down (which is about 80 minutes of the 90)."

It’s almost like we went from an anti possession manager to a manager who plays a possession based game. Investigate tactics... what a weapon

[LondonLax]

15 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

I kinda feel like if we get the first goal against any team atm we'll go on to win the game. Bit of a different story if we concede first. 

Because we are at our best when we can counter attack. We make much harder work of things when we have to break down a stubborn packed defence when a team is defending a lead. It’s also why we have got some great results against the better sides who are willing to take the game to us.

[sharkyvilla]

23 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

It’s almost like we went from an anti possession manager to a manager who plays a possession based game. Investigate tactics... what a weapon

Occam's razor springs to mind.  There are some real daft football fans out there. 

[MotoMkali]

10 hours ago, Michelsen said:

Jack probably wants to play 90 minutes. Messi was always the same, never seemed to do him any harm. When you’re as talented as Jack is, it’s more fun than it is taxing to cruise home in a dominant win. I have no issue with it.

Except Messi missed half the season like 6 times.