Dean Smith

[dubbs]

24 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

Isn’t it supposed to be more salty than sour

Apparently it depends on what you eat.....

[jacketspuds]

2 minutes ago, vreitti said:

Oh please, you see this happening all the time, with all the top teams too. 

I don’t think I’ve seen top teams passing around scraps of paper in matches before. Even so, they didn’t exactly look like they understood what was on the piece of paper.

[foreveryoung]

Can't remember the last game under Smith where we went down fighting. All the recent losses, actually maybe all the losses this year, we have looked poor in most parts of the game and rolled over once we have gone a goal down. Apparently I saw a stat, "Villa have not come back and won when going down 1-0 in the first half since 2020".

I also don't get Smith saying we upped the intensity in the second half. We looked a bit better, but the intensity, didn't really shift, an at no point did we look like scoring.

[villa4europe]

5 minutes ago, jacketspuds said:

I don’t think I’ve seen top teams passing around scraps of paper in matches before. Even so, they didn’t exactly look like they understood what was on the piece of paper.

Jose did it at utd, can definitely remember that 

[Wurzel]

Maybe I'm soft, but in the cold light of day even after an abject first 45 mins I still want Dean to have time to turn it round. It is very easy to get caught up in the emotion of a group of terrible performances, but he has managed to do it in the past and given time he will do it again. 

[jacketspuds]

9 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Jose did it at utd, can definitely remember that 

Fair enough. It just looked really weird last night seeing it happen. Almost like a lack of preparation.

[trevor]

21 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

I do wonder how the last few weeks would have gone if we'd beat wolves 2-0.

Indeed, turnarounds of that magnitude do a lot of damage. The draw with Stoke when 2-0 up under O’Neill did a fair amount, but the reversal when 2 up at Leicester was significant that season. We went down (I know there were many other factors too), they won the League. That Wolves game could be season defining.

[Nigel]

39 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

 

I also don't get Smith saying we upped the intensity in the second half. We looked a bit better, but the intensity, didn't really shift, an at no point did we look like scoring.

The intensity clearly went up in the second half, so much so Southampton had to change their formation to counter the shift. The paper passing too, its just thinking outside the box, nothing wrong with that.

Let's not try and pretend everything he does is wrong....its not. There is a lot right about him, hence the reticence of a lot of fans to let him go.

However the 18 losing game record is a massive problem, plus the fact that could actually be a lot higher if it were not for grealish.

I'm torn!

Edited November 6, 2021 by Nigel

[foreveryoung]

9 minutes ago, Wurzel said:

Maybe I'm soft, but in the cold light of day even after an abject first 45 mins I still want Dean to have time to turn it round. It is very easy to get caught up in the emotion of a group of terrible performances, but he has managed to do it in the past and given time he will do it again. 

I really think he has had enough time now unfortunately. Only reason he stays, is cause the board are still searching for the right man.

[Bunnski]

The players are still playing for him but are completely out of confidence, I'd like him to be given more time as I believe he can turn it around.

[vreitti]

3 minutes ago, trevor said:

Indeed, turnarounds of that magnitude do a lot of damage. The draw with Stoke when 2-0 up under O’Neill did a fair amount, but the reversal when 2 up at Leicester was significant that season. We went down (I know there were many other factors too), they won the League. That Wolves game could be season defining.

This for me is just absurd. It's only one game. Even the best teams in the world have bad days sometimes. If confidence really is that frail, maybe we need to change the manager.

[Phil Silvers]

1 minute ago, Nigel said:

The intensity clearly went up in the second half, so much so Southampton had to change their formation to counter the shift. The paper passing too, its just thinking outside the box, nothing wrong with that.

Let's not try and pretend everything he does is wrong....its not. There is a lot right about him, hence the reticence of a lot of fans to let him go.

However the 21 losing game record is the main driver, plus the fact that could actually be a lot higher if it were not for greenish.

I'm torn!

Well said. This is where I am at.

If he's given time, sorts it out and we start progressing again I'm happy, but we cannot be relegated and we are on course to be fighting for relegation.

It's a funny old game, we want him to do it or we want someone of quality who WILL do it. Sometimes things just go a certain way and it's hard to define why. I wonder how many, hand on heart would have gone into this season preferring Moyes in instead of Dean, I certainly wouldn't, still wouldn't but look what's happening at spam, why are so many players that wouldn't probably command a fee suddenly different class. Funny old game.

[Zatman]

23 minutes ago, jacketspuds said:

I don’t think I’ve seen top teams passing around scraps of paper in matches before. Even so, they didn’t exactly look like they understood what was on the piece of paper.

It definitely happened at Chelsea before under Mourinho or Conte

[Zatman]

20 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Can't remember the last game under Smith where we went down fighting. All the recent losses, actually maybe all the losses this year, we have looked poor in most parts of the game and rolled over once we have gone a goal down. Apparently I saw a stat, "Villa have not come back and won when going down 1-0 in the first half since 2020".

I also don't get Smith saying we upped the intensity in the second half. We looked a bit better, but the intensity, didn't really shift, an at no point did we look like scoring.

We were one down to Fulham in April later in the game 

[Tayls]

6 minutes ago, Bunnski said:

The players are still playing for him but are completely out of confidence, I'd like him to be given more time as I believe he can turn it around.

It has been fairly obvious since December last year that he doesn’t know how to properly line up his team and out smart opposition managers. A few lucky wins here and there just papers over the gaping holes. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Tayls

[jim]

21 minutes ago, Wurzel said:

Maybe I'm soft, but in the cold light of day even after an abject first 45 mins I still want Dean to have time to turn it round. It is very easy to get caught up in the emotion of a group of terrible performances, but he has managed to do it in the past and given time he will do it again. 

Having to keep turning it around is part of the problem. Plus, last time he had Grealish. I don’t see the point in giving him anymore time, we haven’t looked like turning anything around in the last 5 games.

18 defeats in 2021 says all we need to know. Not the man to take us forward.

[ejvilla]

Squad's not good enough. Overperformed last season because we had one of the best players in the world. Replacements haven’t bedded in yet. Glimpses of quality from Buendia and Bailey. Luiz has looked good. Ings is too slow for the type of football we play. Haven't had time to build patterns of play.

Nightmare injuries, decisions going against us. Can't all fall on Smith. 

He is accountable for mentality - though that's a fragile thing & difficult to manage.

Needs to take them all on a foreign holiday team building break. Block social media and go full siege mentality. 

Needs to sign 3 first teamers who raise the level in Jan. Avoid relegation this year and go again. 

Haven't seen a name linked I'd want to replace Smith. Don't want another journeyman. Definitely don't want that scumbag Terry anywhere near Villa. 

 

[Peter Griffin]

9 hours ago, jacketspuds said:

If Smith goes, Shakespeare, Danks and McPhee need to go to.

 

If Smith goes then hopefully we will get a manager that is big enough to tell Purslow that if he joins Villa then he picks the coaching team

[danceoftheshamen]

I think it's straw clutching now to give him more time. The last 12 months results and number of losses say it all for me. We are much worse now than we were this time last season and that says it all. The coaching team has been decimated and clearly DS is flapping and has no idea how to set this team up. 

To wait for another 2 highly likely defeats against Brighton & Palace (a) (Both of whom are playing well currently) is just asking for trouble in my view. Brighton will obliterate this Villa team who struggle to compete or pass the ball even.

We have the international break now which is the ideal time to change it, as it at least give the new guy (provided he was appointed quickly of course) a bit of time to get his idea's across and weigh the squad up. Imagine if we give DS another chance, lose against Brighton & Palace (highly probable) and then sack him when the new guy then has to come in at the start of December with no preparation time ready for Man City, Leicester & Liverpool! It's a scary thought and would likely mean the new manager bounce would be burst straight away.

In some ways you have to respect the loyalty shown by the owners but then again sometimes you just have to make the decision required to reduce the damage. The ship is sinking and it needs to be brought into harbour for repairs not left out in rough seas with a panicking crew to see if they can ride it out.

 

[Davkaus]

If we lose the next two games, I think there's a good chance us and Norwich are cut adrift at the bottom by Christmas.