Dean Smith

[GrassyNoel]

24 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said:

 

Oh. 

[villa4europe]

23 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said:

 

Pressures, tackles and aerial duals says to me we don't want it enough 

Would like to see distance covered too 

The chances created stat makes for grim reading as it's obvious where it all went in the summer 

The successful pressure suggests bad coaching 

[andym]

23 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said:

 

Our pass accuracy has generally been very poor under Smith, we only averaged 75% first season back up and 77% last season. 

That he seemingly refuses to address this is one of the biggest concerns for me, and actually we seemed to go in the other direction when Shakespeare arrived, more and more just hit and hope on the break, relying on Grealish to make the most of it.

You are never going to consistently control games if you give the ball away so cheaply. It puts more pressure on the defense, and you get tired from constantly having to chase after the ball again. The teams who finish higher in the league are all hitting at least low 80's; they keep the ball better and they do more with it.

Its probably not helped that his first name on the team sheet in midfield hasn't individually averaged over 77% yet (and is a shocking 70% so far this year). Even those 'next level down from the top ' teams (so between 4th and 10th) have multiple midfielders hitting between 80 and 85%.

 

 

 

 

[hippo]

6 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Man we’re shit aren’t we? I’d still happily take midtable though. 

You'd have to have been a brave man to suggest that in Aug/September.

It's a mid table squad - at best.

Jack's gone. Watkins has had his position pissed about with . Martinez has slipped from being super human.

I really think everyone got carried away. I'm surprised how the whole things fell apart. But equally 11th upwards looked a tall order.

[Mantis]

Promising. Unfortunately I fear we'll have to have another couple of losses before they pull the trigger.

[M_Afro]

I have just forced myself to watch the highlights from yesterday. The lack of effort from the players made my blood boil. Every single goal that we conceded involved some (mostly multiple examples) of half arsed defending. Smith is not doing himself any favours whatsoever but the players are not helping. I am sick to death of Targett and his half arsed attitude but he is not alone. Young, Marv, Hause, Buendia, Bailey, Emi, Konsa, Watkins all had pathetic half arsed play that led to goals yesterday. Infuriating.

[JB]

Dean Smith has forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know but I can’t say I’m surprised that our passing stats are so poor.

I could be way off but it seems to me that our off-the-ball movement in possession is generally awful. I’ve thought for a while that it’s the main reason we give the ball away so often and/or just end up lumping it down the line. Our players often get isolated without anyone showing for an easy out-ball. 

[GrassyNoel]

5 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

I have just forced myself to watch the highlights from yesterday. The lack of effort from the players made my blood boil. Every single goal that we conceded involved some (mostly multiple examples) of half arsed defending. Smith is not doing himself any favours whatsoever but the players are not helping. I am sick to death of Targett and his half arsed attitude but he is not alone. Young, Marv, Hause, Buendia, Bailey, Emi, Konsa, Watkins all had pathetic half arsed play that led to goals yesterday. Infuriating.

Almost seems deliberate doesn’t it.

[Peter Griffin]

31 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

We looked so much better drilled defensively. The defensive formation shift hasn't helped - the drop in form of Mings and Targett are notable. Too many unforced errors and turnovers of possession. The midfield gets squeezed and squeezed (an ongoing problem). We've had bad luck with injuries, but it's again a problem of not knowing where to play certain players for their most impact. It's crazy how regressive it's been given how defensively we improved.

Sky showed a stat tonight when discussing Spurs/Nuno, that Spurs players were 20th for distance covered during a game and we were there in 19th. That is not good enough

[Brumstopdogs]

26 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Pressures, tackles and aerial duals says to me we don't want it enough 

Would like to see distance covered too 

The chances created stat makes for grim reading as it's obvious where it all went in the summer 

The successful pressure suggests bad coaching 

For distance covered the last stats I saw we were 19th. 
So much is wrong at the moment - huge match on Friday for Smith!

[Peter Griffin]

13 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

I have just forced myself to watch the highlights from yesterday. The lack of effort from the players made my blood boil. Every single goal that we conceded involved some (mostly multiple examples) of half arsed defending. Smith is not doing himself any favours whatsoever but the players are not helping. I am sick to death of Targett and his half arsed attitude but he is not alone. Young, Marv, Hause, Buendia, Bailey, Emi, Konsa, Watkins all had pathetic half arsed play that led to goals yesterday. Infuriating.

Your Mrs must be into S&M

[M_Afro]

Just now, Peter Griffin said:

Your Mrs must be into S&M

She’s working nights. Gotta get my kicks somehow

[Peter Griffin]

24 minutes ago, hippo said:

You'd have to have been a brave man to suggest that in Aug/September.

It's a mid table squad - at best.

playing like a relegation certainty unfortunately

[GrassyNoel]

2 minutes ago, Peter Griffin said:

I would be very happy with Zorro but if we are shopping for that type of manager we are really going to get the cheque book out and change our current modus operandi 

Indeed. Daft as it sounds I suspect at least one of our owners was in favour of doing that before we settled on Smith. I don’t think they were financially shy about courting Henry. 

[GrassyNoel]

4 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

"Paulo fonsecas claret n blue army"

Nah doesn't sound right. Don't like it. Don't want him.

At least we could bin the “one of our own” drivel

[GrassyNoel]

7 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

So deal with Spurs fell through because Fonseca didn't want to pay UK tax levels but will sign for us? Likely story

Interesting. Hadn’t heard that. 

[Peter Griffin]

1 minute ago, GrassyNoel said:

Indeed. Daft as it sounds I suspect at least one of our owners was in favour of doing that before we settled on Smith. I don’t think they were financially shy about courting Henry. 

It would be very funny on here if we sacked Smith and got Fonseca in. There would be very few if any didn't think it was a masterstroke

[OutByEaster?]

2 hours ago, Peter Griffin said:

The past exists only in our memories, the future only in our plans. The present is our only reality.

Is this Watford's motto?

 

[KMitch]

1 minute ago, Peter Griffin said:

It would be very funny on here if we sacked Smith and got Fonseca in. There would be very few if any didn't think it was a masterstroke

I doubt it...  I still think you're overestimating the amount of Villa supporters who want Smith out.  

[OutByEaster?]

5 minutes ago, GrassyNoel said:

Indeed. Daft as it sounds I suspect at least one of our owners was in favour of doing that before we settled on Smith. I don’t think they were financially shy about courting Henry. 

Our owners never wanted Henry, it was made up by a journalist, quite possibly in order to highlight Henry's availability for a job, but he was never considered by our owners.