Dean Smith

[VillaFaninLondon]

36 minutes ago, av1 said:

Wow. I don't know where to start with that. 

It was his decision to strengthen his staff, and bringing someone like Shakespeare in shows great strength of character.

I'm done. Absolutely no pleasing some people and there's no point debating with twaddle like this. 

You said this in response to me saying that this season he has done a very good job which I'm guessing you agree with. So it's actually you who talks twaddle.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

For you maybe this is the case but some on here are going way way past that.  We all agree about last night, at different levels, but I think we all agree it wasnt good enough.  We agree about the second point and the third point.   

There are many many comments on here that are way over the top, what you are stating is how you feel but definitely isnt what they are stating.

We know we need to improve, we know we need more players, we know we need to cut out mistakes, we know we need to be stronger in midfield.  We dont have all those attributes, we dont have all the players we need and no not all the players we have can provide the necessary elements we need. 

We couldnt fix it all in one summer window, January we got another hopefully quality player in, maybe some shuffling in the summer we can get some more in.  We are also competing against established quality teams who have been building for years and want the same thing as us....success.  We have no right to expect it to come to us, we have to fight for it but it's going to take time. 

Cant people see that we are rectifying things, we have improved defensively, we have improved attacking wise, as you say we are one of the best teams to watch.  We are so much better than last season, we have also brought in Sanson to help with the rotation.

Do people not think Dean and his team are seeing the same things as us, he may do things slightly differently to what some on here want but nobody can argue he's not taking us forward every six months in his 28 months he's been here.  People want quicker but that's just pie in the sky wishing.  I think how fast we have got here now is amazing in it's own right.  The post a page back about Smith being almost lucky was just a joke of a comment.

West Ham out played us last night, that will happen, they are a good team and deserved it.  Not everything will go our way.  We learn more from last night and then use that for the future games but people need patience, we are at the top end of football, trying to catch back up after a decade of being lost. 

We've had a couple of poor performances and as I said a couple of months ago how would our fans react when we did have a dip in form and I can see over the last week how that has come out?  Teams have dips in form and this is ours but we still won at Southampton, we lost easily against West Ham, now we hope we can regain some form against Arsenal and go on a run.  We have to learn from the negatives but jeez this forum has really wallowed in the negative side more than I thought.  Constructive criticism is always valubale and TRO, you are balanced, but defending some on here like they are just concerned at some of the detail but are happy overall is definitely not coming through in their messages.  

yeah, I get all that Nick.....I have made my point so back to looking forward to Saturday.

UTV

[VillaFaninLondon]

25 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Looks like others agree with me.

I don’t want to be offside with people on this forum so I apologise for the directness, just getting cheesed off generally and that comment by you I just don’t think is fair at all on Smith.  It’s way off the mark even from a different point of view from mine.

Fair's fair. I don't want to get offside with people either to be honest. I probably came across as very entitled which I never meant to do.

 

We've come a long way in a short space of time and sometimes you have to take a step back and realise this is a process that is going to take time.

 

I did actually say at the end that DS has done a very good job on the whole this season. My post on the whole probably didn't give him enough credit though, you're right. I think I'm still disappointed and angry about our result and performance last night.

[TRO]

21 minutes ago, andym said:

But as i said in a response to another of your posts, they are all different types of team, and we have played other teams who play similar to them and beat them. And in half of those games we didn't find the going tough, we matched or were the better team for most of the game. 

I don't think those games show a particular style of play we struggle against, that they suggest we can't deal with physicality - Burnley are the most physical out of those teams, and in terms of overall play we dominated in both games against them. Those games just happen to be those where as you have noted in a later post, we have 'shot ourselves in the foot'.

And this is where I 100% agree with you, i think this is the biggest issue we have. 

We haven't been completely and utterly outplayed throughout in too many games this season, (its mainly Leeds, Soton home, last night). 

But we have been the victim of our own poor decision making on numerous occasions that has cost us dear. For example, Burnley's 2 goals that equalised and then won them the game - Cash at RB has been pretty terrier like all season, i certainly wouldn't call him soft, or a stand off defender - he likes to get stuck in. Yet for those 2 goals for whatever reason he took the decision to stand off, and then just watched as the ball ended up in our net. Southampton at home, giving away stupid cheap freekicks on the edge of the box when you have Ward-Prowse on the opposition etc.

I'm sure previously i've seen you use expressions like 'lacking guile', not being 'streetwise' etc; and you are right; we are a very naive team at times, and it leads to inconsistent performances, even within individual games. That naivety is also something that can lead to a snowball effect in terms of conceding in a game - as you note conceding 3 against Leeds, Soton and Burnley in 1 half.

But improving on this is something that comes with experience; from games played and often from learning the hard way unfortunately. Rightly or wrongly, the club has taken the decision to go with a younger, inexperienced squad, and there are going to be growing pains along the way. We need to hope they do learn from their mistakes, and it pays off in the coming seasons.

 

I can't argue with that.

Andy, watch the highlights on You tube.....The positioning of some our players is suspect, in their 3 goals build up and the marking slack, why Barkley could not disrupt Lingard for his first, I have no idea, but there again, why was he there, surely someone else should have been.

some were caught out too far upfield.

Look, I have done the detail to death......on to the next game.

UTV

[TRO]

40 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

I agree we need a more physical midfield option in the squad - but as I said in the Dougie thread, this is an argument for replacing Nakamba. Dougie is 22 years old and playing well in a tactically demanding position, and he will continue to improve every season for several years. He isn't the problem with this team.

Fine,

and contrary to some opinions on here....I am not looking for 6'5 cloggers to replace him.....some of the hyperbole is ,well......creative, i suppose.

6'4 would be nice.....

[Kingman]

35 minutes ago, picicata said:

We looked pretty darn good before the enforced break and have looked a bit rubbish since.

I don't think we need to be overly critical, just accept that we have been disrupted by the situation. We know we can play much better than we did last night and it may take a little while to do so again but we will have to be patient.

Sine the restart we have lost 3 won 2. 

Newcastle aside, (pathetic non contest) the only game we deserved to win was Burnley but lost

[GingerCollins29]

2 hours ago, tomav84 said:

but we have beaten teams similar and better than west ham. multiple times this year. liverpool, leicester, wolves, arsenal, sheff utd all finished in the top half last season and we've put them all to the sword already this season.

you say 'in order to progress we need to beat teams like this' as if we're not already progressing. like we're losing to these teams regularly. i'm genuinely amazed at the reaction to last night. it's the best football i've ever seen from a villa side in my lifetime this season (i'm 37). yes, performance last night was shit, no one is saying otherwise, but it was very much the exception and not the rule.

some of us can accept last night's result because sometimes, that's football. the better team on the day beats your team. it sucks but it happens, and you remind yourself about the bigger picture and how far we've come in such a short time and how we're on course for our best PL points total in years.

to quote you, I don't understand how any villa fan wouldn't see it the same way.

so i guess should agree to disagree...carry on being miserable, just cause we lost to west ham.

**** hell. ALL I'M SAYING IS LAST NIGHT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH AND IT PISSED ME OFF.

I'M NOT ABOUT TO THROW MYSELF OFF A CLIFF.

Your post is incredibly patronising and totally lacking in any basic comprehension. "The better team sometimes beats your team and it sucks". Jesus. 

I'm delighted for you that you are so happy we lost so you can take some weird form of moral high ground.

[Sulberto21]

Dean Smith said after the Chelsea game it takes 5/6 transfer windows to shape the squad to how you'd want it.  He's had 4 in the premier League. I think after the summer we'll see a drastically improved squad.

[QldVilla]

7 hours ago, TRO said:

Its not the intention, to write Luiz off....its the intention to see what job is not being done, and do it.

Personally, I think if he was Icelandic or Irish and Not Brazillian a different Perception may be made....but he has potential, sure, I just don't think he has it in him to be CDM in my understanding of the role.....but I don't think SJM is either, for maybe not the same reasons.

All good mate, they were my words, wasn’t implying you or others were writing him off.

[DaveAV1]

1 hour ago, Sulberto21 said:

Dean Smith said after the Chelsea game it takes 5/6 transfer windows to shape the squad to how you'd want it.  He's had 4 in the premier League. I think after the summer we'll see a drastically improved squad.

Ron Saunders once said that it takes a team about 3 years to settle in a new division. I know things have changed since then but the basic point still remains, it takes time to get where you want to be. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

4 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Ron Saunders once said that it takes a team about 3 years to settle in a new division. I know things have changed since then but the basic point still remains, it takes time to get where you want to be. 

It’s been also said to death that FFP looks at the last 3 years of turnover too. So why people think we can just buy a whole squad in 2 summers of being in the league and be better than what we currently are I have no idea. 

[PaulC]

1 hour ago, DaveAV1 said:

Ron Saunders once said that it takes a team about 3 years to settle in a new division. I know things have changed since then but the basic point still remains, it takes time to get where you want to be. 

Possibly but it only took Ron a year and Clough won first season up with Forest , Leicester won it 2nd season and Wolves seem to have got worse. I don't think you can ever be settled in the Premier League. 

[PaulC]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

It’s been also said to death that FFP looks at the last 3 years of turnover too. So why people think we can just buy a whole squad in 2 summers of being in the league and be better than what we currently are I have no idea. 

We might loose players in the summer we will find difficult to replace. Smith is doing well but have to expect better than we performed against West Ham. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

Just now, PaulC said:

We might loose players in the summer we will find difficult to replace. Smith is doing well but have to expect better than we performed against West Ham. 

Yeh that was a poor performance, nobody is denying that. But it’s not like we’ve been playing like that all season.

My post was more in terms of any complaints about the quality in our squad. 

[PaulC]

2 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Yeh that was a poor performance, nobody is denying that. But it’s not like we’ve been playing like that all season.

My post was more in terms of any complaints about the quality in our squad. 

Yes the quality is definately there. West ham were really up for it and we didn't seem to be yet a few days before West ham were woeful against Liverpool reserves. Lets hope we get a reaction against Arsenal. 

[Sulberto21]

1 hour ago, DaveAV1 said:

Ron Saunders once said that it takes a team about 3 years to settle in a new division. I know things have changed since then but the basic point still remains, it takes time to get where you want to be. 

Exactly. This season has been brilliant up till now. After lockdown Dean Smith showed me he has the ability to adjust. The signing of Sanson shows that we're pro active for a change (even though they've been tracking him for a while). It bodes well for the summer.

 

[Kiwivillan]

1 hour ago, PaulC said:

We might loose players in the summer we will find difficult to replace. Smith is doing well but have to expect better than we performed against West Ham. 

West Ham are 2nd in form table behind Man City. 9 wins 3 draws 3 losses last 15. If people underestimated them and are shocked by result that's on them

[Kiwivillan]

Saw this comment on BBC live web commentary from Spurs fan. Sounds familiar:

Peter: The joyless predictably of supporting this Spurs team. Nothing will change. Mourinho has no plan B and 4/5 championship quality players.

[DaveAV1]

1 hour ago, PaulC said:

Possibly but it only took Ron a year and Clough won first season up with Forest , Leicester won it 2nd season and Wolves seem to have got worse. I don't think you can ever be settled in the Premier League. 

We came up in 1975 and won the LC in our promotion season. We won it again in 1977, eventually! I think you’re right about never settling, or at least you can never stop trying to go forward. Standing still rarely happens, you either go forwards or backwards. 

[TRO]

17 hours ago, Sulberto21 said:

Dean Smith said after the Chelsea game it takes 5/6 transfer windows to shape the squad to how you'd want it.  He's had 4 in the premier League. I think after the summer we'll see a drastically improved squad.

I think it depends who we sign.....We can't keep signing offensive players because, we think the ones we have are not good enough.

We have to add players, who understand the art of defending.....that could mean in Midfield or at the back.