Dean Smith

[foreveryoung]

It's like we have already changed the manager to me, an he has no idea how to set his new team up.

I hate to say it, but it's amateur hour at the moment. You can't disgaree, it seems Smith has been so used to Grealish being here and the way we played with him, he is now struggling his knackers off trying to intergrate a couple of new players into the team with a new system.

God knows how we beat Man U and Everton, cause I cannot for the life of me see what we have been trying to do out there in the last couple of games, you can see the players are not enjoying it either.

Southampton is huge for Smith, huge!

[TomC]

23 hours ago, JB said:

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. 

What we miss in Grealish is someone to bring the ball forwards. He would come back, receive a pass, and take the ball up himself. Once we get established in the final 3rd, we're still usually pretty good at putting on pressure...that's why we've scored more goals than 12 other clubs. But getting there is the problem now...we just lump it down the line as you say, or count on Cash or Targett to bring it forwards, and the latter has been off.

I think this is part of the frustration with Buendia...people expect him to run midfield. He delivers a killer final ball, and we need that kind of player in the side (which is why I'm constantly defending him) but he's not the deep distributor.

Dougie could be that deep distributor, but when Deano runs a double pivot (whether within 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2, or 4-3-3), he uses Dougie as the "pure" DM pivot and McGinn as the hybrid pivot who comes forward. I'd like us to sign a pure DM as one pivot, use Dougie as the hybrid so he can use his distribution skills, and either use McGinn as the third, more advanced midfielder (in a 4-3-3 or in the 3 in the 4-2-3-1) or drop him.

 

12 hours ago, AVFCDAN said:

Sorry but the old lost the dressing room chestnut just doesn't apply here, its pure speculation and shouldn't even be a factor for us looking elsewhere.

None of us know for sure what is going on behind the scenes, but I would say that it's more than pure speculation. The signs are there in the players' conduct

 

5 hours ago, pacbuddies said:

You do realise Smith has been in post 3 years! It's not like Villa fans are reknowned for turning on their manager after just a few months in charge and our owners are trigger happy!

In the old days, Villa fans never had a chance to get trigger happy because Deadly Doug would pull the trigger before they ever thought of it! 

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by TomC
Clarification

[KentVillan]

32 minutes ago, hippo said:

We don't look like relegation candidates ? Really ? 

Consider the west ham game - we kept them at bay for the first 6 minutes. After we equilised we kept them out for a further 2 minutes.

When west ham needed a goal - they could get one. 

 

Bookies have us 10/1 to go down.

[jacketspuds]

One of the big red flags for me has been Smith’s comments around how “players win matches, not systems.”

That is a real concern and suggests that we should rely on moments of individual brilliance to win games. This pretty much epitomises how we were with Grealish in the team.

The best teams in the league play as a unit, with a clear style of play, a clear footballing mentality, and a clear plan of action for each match.

I have not really seen this in the majority of games played since Grealish was out injured, except maybe on a handful of occasions.

It is worrying.

[Mantis]

58 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Bookies have us 10/1 to go down.

Irrelevant.

[Keyblade]

18 minutes ago, jacketspuds said:

One of the big red flags for me has been Smith’s comments around how “players win matches, not systems.”

That is a real concern and suggests that we should rely on moments of individual brilliance to win games. This pretty much epitomises how we were with Grealish in the team.

The best teams in the league play as a unit, with a clear style of play, a clear footballing mentality, and a clear plan of action for each match.

I have not really seen this in the majority of games played since Grealish was out injured, except maybe on a handful of occasions.

It is worrying.

I think if you've watched his interviews over the years at various clubs it's obvious he very much values systems and tactics, being particularly partial to the 433.

I think what he was trying to get across there was that it doesn't matter what system you play if the players aren't performing. Probably a subtle cue for them to get their act together.

Also I think people are forgetting what it's like to truly play without identity or structure and just vibes (Bruce days), because rough patches like this one aside, we clearly have a defined way of playing since our Championship days, namely getting the ball forward quickly into the channels and crossing for our forward with an emphasis on defensive compactness without the ball, ie: fullbacks tucked in. We've lost that in recent times since we switched to a back 3 I feel both in attack and defence.

[vreitti]

1 hour ago, foreveryoung said:

You can't disgaree

If you say so. 

[Icarium]

1 hour ago, TomC said:

What we miss in Grealish is someone to bring the ball forwards. He would come back, receive a pass, and take the ball up himself. Once we get established in the final 3rd, we're still usually pretty good at putting on pressure...that's why we've scored more goals than 12 other clubs. But getting there is the problem now...we just lump it down the line as you say, or count on Cash or Targett to bring it forwards, and the latter has been off.

I think this is part of the frustration with Buendia...people expect him to run midfield. He delivers a killer final ball, and we need that kind of player in the side (which is why I'm constantly defending him) but he's not the deep distributor.

Dougie could be that deep distributor, but when Deano runs a double pivot (whether within 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2, or 4-3-3), he uses Dougie as the "pure" DM pivot and McGinn as the hybrid pivot who comes forward. I'd like us to sign a pure DM as one pivot, use Dougie as the hybrid so he can use his distribution skills, and either use McGinn as the third, more advanced midfielder (in a 4-3-3 or in the 3 in the 4-2-3-1) or drop him.

 

None of us know for sure what is going on behind the scenes, but I would say that it's more than pure speculation. The signs are there in the players' conduct

 

In the old days, Villa fans never had a chance to get trigger happy because Deadly Doug would pull the trigger before they ever thought of it! 

 

Fully agree with your thoughts on the formation. Its amazing the difference playing people in their natural positions makes. Could possibly work with current squad if you accept that Nakamba is the dm, and his sole role is to break up the play and get the ball to Luiz to drive forward.

[Peter Griffin]

10 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

had Smith got his dream of  Grealish - Smith Rowe - Buendia  behind Watkins maybe things would have been a lot different  , football doesn't work on dreams though 

 

Martinez , Targett and Mings have all suffered major dips in their form this season .. and we are haemorrhaging  soft goals 

Watkins doesn't look like he could trap a bag off dust at the moment , McGinn seems to believe the hype that he's better than he really is and Luiz seems to have lost some of his swagger 

 El Ghazi sulks when he isn't playing so is zero use as an impact sub , Traore has barely kicked a ball , ditto Bailey ...

Buendía  , well I've no idea what has happened there but at the moment we seem to have overpaid by about £35 m 

we lost 2 of our coaches this season  ,including one that seemed to work primarily with the defence in Terry .... I don't know if that's the bigger impact than losing Grealish , but assuming Citeh didn't insert a buy out clause and we can't buy him back in Jan , then something needs to be done at the coaching level and quick .. A defeat on Friday and Smith has to go  , I can't believe Newcastle wont pull out the bottom 3 and Burnley always kick their way out of trouble  ..that doesn't leave us a lot of breathing space 

 

 

 

I respect your opinion but that just sounds like a litany of excuses. It is Smith's job to manage the team and get them performing at their best each and every game. He is not doing that 

[Peter Griffin]

10 hours ago, Phil Silvers said:

I do not see anyone getable coming in and doing any better taking everything into account.

 

I get where you are coming from but just because you don't see anyone does not mean AVFC can't but staying with a manager that you don't  believe is the right man for the job is just wrong. The club cannot be afraid to sack Dean or any manager because of the risk of not getting better. That is a sure fire way to stop us reaching our potential

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

Just last month…

October was horrendous. Hope he can turn it around in November. All of a sudden we are in a perilous position. 

[picicata]

8 hours ago, jacketspuds said:

One of the big red flags for me has been Smith’s comments around how “players win matches, not systems.”

That is a real concern and suggests that we should rely on moments of individual brilliance to win games. This pretty much epitomises how we were with Grealish in the team.

The best teams in the league play as a unit, with a clear style of play, a clear footballing mentality, and a clear plan of action for each match.

I have not really seen this in the majority of games played since Grealish was out injured, except maybe on a handful of occasions.

It is worrying.

Indeed. When you look at West Ham they don't have any real stand out, brilliant players but they all know their jobs and are amazingly well organised. I actually thought WH looked pretty average on Sunday, sadly that's all they needed to be.

Dean needs to get that level of organisation across the team and pretty darn quick. Get that and we will start to pick up points again.

 

[villa4europe]

8 hours ago, Mantis said:

Irrelevant.

yep...

its like people still dont realise that bookies odds come from the amount being gambled on the thing to happen

 

[Tomaszk]

8 hours ago, Keyblade said:

I think if you've watched his interviews over the years at various clubs it's obvious he very much values systems and tactics, being particularly partial to the 433.

I think what he was trying to get across there was that it doesn't matter what system you play if the players aren't performing. Probably a subtle cue for them to get their act together.

Also I think people are forgetting what it's like to truly play without identity or structure and just vibes (Bruce days), because rough patches like this one aside, we clearly have a defined way of playing since our Championship days, namely getting the ball forward quickly into the channels and crossing for our forward with an emphasis on defensive compactness without the ball, ie: fullbacks tucked in. We've lost that in recent times since we switched to a back 3 I feel both in attack and defence.

100% this is the case.

Players are in a hole.

If Smith doesn't figure out how to get them going he's out very soon.

[sne]

Link

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2021/nov/02/david-squires-on-spurs-and-more-premier-league-managerial-hijinks

Edited November 3, 2021 by sne

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

If Deano is staying, January might need to be ruthless.

Players might need to be sold/dropped and signed.

Midfield being the most obvious area.

As I've said, alot of them have been dossing about and simply not good enough.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

Every time I look on the site I see loads of new pages and think he’s been sacked. 
 

I think the football gods will decide his fate on Friday. 

[fightoffyour]

15 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I think the football gods will decide his fate on Friday. 

VAR has never been kind to us unfortunately.

[briny_ear]

12 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Sometimes I have to take a step back, when I realise that, we're essentially a bunch of grown men, working our selves up over things we have no control over .

Proper arguing as if we are in a board meeting and we have shite all to do with any decision making.

Or that we are seasoned Football Analysts.

Are we sad?

Just wondering whether there is any other walk of life (outside politics) in which this happens. Are there web sites where people argue passionately about whether the CEO of Shell or BP should be sacked for example?

[the_eristic]

2 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Are there web sites where people argue passionately about whether the CEO of Shell or BP should be sacked for example?

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