Dean Smith

[villalad21]

9 minutes ago, hippo said:

If Allardyce came in and won every game 1-0 the club be in a far better place financially in the PL.

I would take Allardyce right now

[TRO]

1 hour ago, markavfc40 said:

I agree a lack of effort is unforgivable and regardless of ability or the managers tactics a lack of effort is always on the player.

Would us putting more of a shift in today have got us a result though I am not so sure as our issues run deeper than that. Whilst since the WBA we no longer show the same intensity, no longer press as high up the pitch, no longer close teams down which can all be in some way be put down to putting a shift in when in possession we are failing to look after the ball, look clueless and often slow and pondered playing the ball side ways and backwards. We are also leaving gaping holes in wide areas, our fullbacks playing way too narrow and a lack of tracking back from our wide midfielders.

This day and night in terms of our performances started the second we lost Grealish and whilst it all can't be put down to his loss I think he is a big reason. He sets the whole tempo of the way we play. Him being in the team means the opposition sit deeper as they are wary of what he can do, when he has the ball he attracts two players and when he picks up the ball deep he will drive forward with it and everybody feeds of him and his movement. He basically makes us tick and it is not until he isn't in the team that you realise how much he does.

The money we have spent though and in fairness the players we have relative to a lot of the teams we face at this level should mean we are able to cope without him but we are failing miserably. We have to ensure going into next season we aren't as reliant as we have been the last two seasons on two or three players performing otherwise the whole thing crumbles. Last season it was Jack, John Terry and maybe Snodgrass. This season it is Jack and Tammy. 

I am just speculating Mark, But I seen iffy performances from some players, off the ball, when we was winning.

I just wonder if DS has seen the same thing and got them working harder and they don't like it.( did hutton say SB was too easy on us in training), blimey Snodgrass looks a snip  of the player compared to when he played with us.

something is not right, I agree.

[Risso]

I desperately want Smith to succeed.  He's clearly an intelligent young coach who approaches his football in the right way.  He hasn't inherited a great situation, and started his career with us well.  But by Christ, today was poor, and a second 3-0 defeat in a week is deeply worrying.  He got every possible decision bang wrong today, and he looked massively out of his depth if I'm honest.  At the final whistle, the boos were as raucous as anything I've heard at the end of a Villa game.

[villa89]

The lack of effort is a huge worry too. That's a very bad sign if the players feel like they can just phone it in.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, GENTLEMAN said:

Of course, players and individuals fight for right to allow tatics to have an effect. It’s the foundation, the cake if you like. Tatics are the icing and the cherry on top, players in the right positions to hurt or nulify the opposition. However it means nought if the individual players constantly lose their battles. The best teams do both. Bielsa yesterday converted to 3 at the back after Derby when 2 up front, in order to have a spare CB. However, this wouldn’t have made a jot of difference if his players didn’t fight in every phase of play. You need the foundation first then build upon it. 

I should clarify, I was perhaps being a little presumptuous and thinking ahead. I was analysing with the hope that Smith can introduce this desire and energy, and beyond that build upon it. I still believe he can implement a successful style with the right recruitment. Perhaps it’ll only take a few individuals, a good mentality is contagious. 

precisely....first things first.

 

[MaVilla]

43 minutes ago, kiltorken said:

https://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2019/1/12/18179863/xv-dean-smith-steve-bruce-benteke-albrighton-delph-incompetence-mismanagement

Good article I thought basically about the scale of the job on Smith's hands. 

I've been disgusted by villa's performances lately but he really does need a few transfer windows to get us out of the mess that's been building up since the MON days. If we had gone for someone like allardyce we probably would have finished with higher points this season in my opinion but it would just be a continuation of the same failed model which wrecked us in the first place. 

 

agree with this article tbh, we need to knuckle down and support DS.

When DS first came here we all used the word "project", thats exactly what this is, and that project wont be completed this year, not by a long shot, the team is in a diabolical state.

We need stability, a vision, a long term plan, the new management structure and DS gave us that, and we applauded it, now we need to support them and give them time.

If we start shouting for DS's head this season, we basically havent learnt our lessons, and those lessons were rubbed in our faces for years, please lets not be short sighted again.......thats how we keep getting in this mess over and over.....

we know the style DS "wants" to play, we just need to give him and the management team TIME to pull it all together.

Honest to god, i reckon the team we have is a mid table championship team at best, and any players we have that are better than average, arent even ours. (not counting two or three players - like Grealish. McGinn & Kalinic)

We need to keep the faith, its going to be a bumpy ride, no doubt, but its going to be a 2 year project at least i think, the problems with this club, which imo are VAST, and cannot be fixed in 15 games.

Am i disappointed by the last couple of games, yes of course, but i blame the players and the steaming mess DS and the team are trying to fix, rather than DS himself.

If the s*** is still present in 2 years, then i will look at DS and wonder what he was doing for that time, until then he has my support.

Edited January 12, 2019 by MaVilla

[Stevo985]

Just now, MaVilla said:

If the s*** is still present in 2 years, then i will look at DS and wonder what he was doing for that time, until then he has my support.

He gets a 2 year free pass?

That's pretty generous to be honest.

[TRO]

8 minutes ago, Risso said:

I desperately want Smith to succeed.  He's clearly an intelligent young coach who approaches his football in the right way.  He hasn't inherited a great situation, and started his career with us well.  But by Christ, today was poor, and a second 3-0 defeat in a week is deeply worrying.  He got every possible decision bang wrong today, and he looked massively out of his depth if I'm honest.  At the final whistle, the boos were as raucous as anything I've heard at the end of a Villa game.

I am with you.

but when a squad is as imbalanced as ours, its hard on a manager to get effect from changes.....you end up sending players on who are no different from them coming off.

Every time we go in to the market lately....we are looking for touch players first, when its clear we can't battle or physically impose ourselves....I am not asking for a Wimbledon, but players who can mix it and not stand off as spectators.

The players we have who can mix it are as slow as a snail and can't trap a bag of cement....hence my reference to imbalance.

[MaVilla]

3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

He gets a 2 year free pass?

That's pretty generous to be honest.

Not a free pass, but certainly an understanding of the severity of the surgery that needs to happen.

2 years is only next season and the start of the next season tbh.

If we have another manager for the start of next season, or even mid next season, we may as well pack our bags and admit we will never learn.

[Dave-R]

47 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

True, we're missing our best player. But we shouldn't go from being very good to being absolute shite just because we're missing our best player.

I dont know there's a few ways of looking at it.

Grealish is a cog in a very big wheel, one cog is removed the whole system doesn't work.

The fact Mcginn and Grealish are players in our squad which are looked up to is one thing. I think some of our players who play regular beside them, feel safe, to safe in fact that they know if they screw up then the chances that Mcginn and grealish will collect the ball or tidy up are very high. Our players are way to reliant on others doing the work that is intended for them to do.

We take a look at how reliant we have become on one striker, without him we would have anywhere near that amount of goals.

We need to become a team again that isn't relying on any one player, where if players screw up regarding how good they are they are held accountable.

As for Smith teaching these guys, some players are tailored to a certain way of playing the game. Smith had our players playing some sweet football in such a short space of time, so why have they dropped the ball on a squad that was doing well. There have been costly individual errors as of late that have led to our downfall in games.

Another thing I'd like to point out is past few games some players are reverting back to goofball. That one touch triangle football has gone out of the window, that tells me that some are ignoring what Smith is trying to build. Some players can't get it rite I understand that, there one touch is to slow or some make it a few touches and hold on for even longer. We have players who get into those tight spots and panic, can't get out or find space to pass then lose the ball.

Smith has a big job to do and this job I can see will still be going on or could be about three seasons from now, we all better be prepared for the long haul.

[AvfcRigo82]

4 hours ago, mikeyp102 said:

However, those calling for his head are very premature. This smacks to me very similar to when Wagner took over at huddersfield and  Farke at norwich. They had some ups and down in their first seasons in charge, but then in the second season when people knew more of what they were meant to be doing it clicked into place. 

They are also both German managers that came to a different country from a different league, I would expect them to need nearly two years to get to grips.

Dean Smith is an Aston Villa fan and should know this club through and through and knows this league very well having been in it years already now, So no, there is no premature anything in my book.

He needs to turn this around very quickly indeed.

[M_Afro]

2 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

agree with this article tbh, we need to knuckle down and support DS.

When DS first came here we all used the word "project", thats exactly what this is, and that project wont be completed this year, not by a long shot, the team is in a diabolical state.

We need stability, a vision, a long term plan, the new management structure and DS gave us that, and we applauded it, now we need to support them and give them time.

If we start shouting for DS's head this season, we basically havent learnt our lessons, and those lessons were rubbed in our faces for years, please lets not be short sighted again.......thats how we keep getting in this mess over and over.....

we know the style DS "wants" to play, we just need to give him and the management team TIME to pull it all together.

Honest to god, i reckon the team we have is a mid table championship team at best, and any players we have that are better than average, arent even ours. (not counting two or three players - like Grealish. McGinn & Kalinic)

We need to keep the faith, its going to be a bumpy ride, no doubt, but its going to be a 2 year project at least i think, the problems with this club, which imo are VAST and cannot be fixed in 15 games.

Am i disapointed by the last couple of games, yes of course, but i blame the players and the steaming mess DS and the team are trying to fix, rather than DS himself.

If the s*** is still present in 2 years, then i will look at DS and wonder what he was doing for that time, until then he has my support.

I do think that our players are better than mid table. Look at the evidence. Kallinic is the most highly rated keeper in the league. Chester often captains his country. Elphick has been flying with Hull and winning every week. McGinnis pure class,as isGrealish. Abraham is the best striker in the league. We have got the players. Sheff Utd are second and they have got Billy Sharp up front Ffs!

Smith already looks to be wilting under the pressure. Due to the nature of the last 5-6 years, Villa is a pretty unique prospect. The fans are, understandably at a very low ebb and patience is very thin. We are quick to criticise and it will take a big personality to turn things around. I hope that Smith can do it, I really do but I have serious doubts. I genuinely did not want Smith as manager. I thought it was too big a risk at a time when certainty was required. However, we have him now and we must try to pull together and support him. Even after a 3-0 loss to **** Wigan!!!!!!

[hippo]

1 minute ago, MaVilla said:

Not a free pass, but certainly an understanding of the severity of the surgery that needs to happen.

2 years is only next season and the start of the next season tbh.

If we have another manager for the start of next season, or even mid next season, we may as well pack our bags and admit we will never learn.

But he has to show something in the interim. Last few games we have looked devoid on anything. We need some evidence that something is being built. No manager at any club gets time if week in week out they look a total shambles. He still has time to turn it around but needs some wins sharpish ....am I right in thinking our last home win was v the noses ?

[Stevo985]

8 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

Not a free pass, but certainly an understanding of the severity of the surgery that needs to happen.

2 years is only next season and the start of the next season tbh.

If we have another manager for the start of next season, or even mid next season, we may as well pack our bags and admit we will never learn.

I can see what you're saying. But we have to show progress in that time.

It can't just be performances like the last few happen and we say "well we'll judge him in 2 years"

That's a lot of time to waste if we get to 2 years down the line and things are still bad.

 

I agree it's a project and Smith needs time. But I also don't think that makes him immune from criticism. And today justified the criticism.

[mikeyp102]

56 minutes ago, Eastie said:

May need to go down the Leeds route and bring in a few of the younger lads for a run in the team - Clark, Doyle -Hayes, bedeau , o hare , Davis , green etc . 

‘Could they really do much worse than this bunch - it will take time but may reap dividends 

Yeah exactly. Some won’t make it, but we’ll never know unless we give them game time. We aren’t going down and we aren’t going up, so may as well give some of them 15 or so games to prove themselves for next year. We’d still have a spine of Kalinic, Chester/Elphick (not both together), McGinn, Grealish, Bolasie and Tammy (young but has a decent amount of experience)

Like you say Leeds have played youth as have Norwich.

[MaVilla]

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

I can see what you're saying. But we have to show progress in that time.

It can't just be performances like the last few happen and we say "well we'll judge him in 2 years"

That's a lot of time to waste if we get to 2 years down the line and things are still bad.

 

I agree it's a project and Smith needs time. But I also don't think that makes him immune from criticism. And today justified the criticism.

oh i agree, we need to see progress, as he starts to bring in his own players, i would expect results to improve, and the style of football to be more consistent.

I just mean the "project" of rectifying the issues we have as a club, will likely take time, regardless of who the manager is.

[hippo]

7 minutes ago, Dave-R said:

I dont know there's a few ways of looking at it.

Grealish is a cog in a very big wheel, one cog is removed the whole system doesn't work.

The fact Mcginn and Grealish are players in our squad which are looked up to is one thing. I think some of our players who play regular beside them, feel safe, to safe in fact that they know if they screw up then the chances that Mcginn and grealish will collect the ball or tidy up are very high. Our players are way to reliant on others doing the work that is intended for them to do.

We take a look at how reliant we have become on one striker, without him we would have anywhere near that amount of goals.

We need to become a team again that isn't relying on any one player, where if players screw up regarding how good they are they are held accountable.

As for Smith teaching these guys, some players are tailored to a certain way of playing the game. Smith had our players playing some sweet football in such a short space of time, so why have they dropped the ball on a squad that was doing well. There have been costly individual errors as of late that have led to our downfall in games.

Another thing I'd like to point out is past few games some players are reverting back to goofball. That one touch triangle football has gone out of the window, that tells me that some are ignoring what Smith is trying to build. Some players can't get it rite I understand that, there one touch is to slow or some make it a few touches and hold on for even longer. We have players who get into those tight spots and panic, can't get out or find space to pass then lose the ball.

Smith has a big job to do and this job I can see will still be going on or could be about three seasons from now, we all better be prepared for the long haul.

Smith won't get 3 seasons without promotion or pretty close to it.

The owners will want some evidence things are moving in the right direction - and they will want that evidence before 3 seasons IMO

[Villarocker]

5 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I think there's something in this. Wigan got into us early, kicked us about a bit. It wasn't desperation, it was a plan. I think teams see us as soft. I think they're right.

 

 

Who could possibly argue with this?

Hourihane made an half-hearted attempt to "block" the shot for the first goal then immediately turned to Taylor to blame him. Yes, Taylor was done easy for the cross leading to that first goal but there were still something like 4-5 Villa players between Roberts and the goal. Those defenders are abysmal and until they're all changed we are staying right where we are. 

[Hanky]

Most of these players just aren’t good enough for where Aston Villa want to be. That’s been clear throughout games this season and to some extent in games last season. Through the starting line up shows we are no where near promotion, I do think the squad is massively overrated at times compared to what it shows.

That being said is it a squad that loses consecutive games 3-0 to Wigan and Swansea sides? And scraping draws against Preston and QPR? I’d say not and Smith needs to seriously look at these performances and sort them out or it’s going to turn sour very quickly. 

[wilko154]

19 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

He gets a 2 year free pass?

That's pretty generous to be honest.

He's got to be given time to rebuild.

We can't just keep jumping from manager to manager. Building a team here to suit a style, sack the manager then start a new rebuild to suit a new style here.

This club is so broken, yet our fans keep demanding we go out and win every game with Barcelona style football.