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Dean Smith


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9 minutes ago, CosmicVillan said:

The way I look at it is in the short term we are probably ' there or thereabouts' to where we would have been under Bruce at this stage of the season. I think we underestimate the loss of Snoddy , Terry, Grabban , Johnstone from the team that finished 4th. 

The major difference is Smith is trying to play the brand of football most fans want us to whereas Bruce had was never going to do that..ever. Variations on hoofball, nicking the odd goal , parking the bus at one-nil up,  putting an arm around players and puttin wor boots on is what he is about.

At least now we are trying to impelent a style of play and a brand of football.  It's not working yet although we've seen signs of it in some spells. Losing two players to injury that best suit Smith's system has clearly put a spanner in the works and we are having to put players on the pitch that are never going to fit the system because we've got no other option until the summer.      

Look on the bright side, things could be a lot worse..ask a Stoke fan..or a Sunderland fan. We were dropping like a stone when Bruce arrived....remember how long we went without an away win ? 15 months was it ?

This season we could have gone bust, been managed by Thierry Henry ( a toxic disaster by all accounts ), have Xia running us or still have Bruce at the helm. I know which I'd rather - Smith is clearly a man with a plan that he can't fully implement right now and I look forward to when we see his own team .

When so much changes at a club you always get inconsistency but we aren't getting battered every week and sometimes we do get it right so I will accept mid table this season as I did with Bruce after the RDM debacle but I have a lot more faith in the people running the club now and the stucture behind the head coach. I actually want us to work towards the Dean Smith playing style and am excited to what next season will bring. Between now and then I expect more ups & downs and crazy scores.    

I think you are right, those players we lost, were an integral part of us.....but that goes for both managers.

I was not happy with the football that Bruce presided over, but i still claim 24 wins was commendable.....Graham Taylor only got 22 when we went up second to Millwall, admittedly it was 44 games in a season then.....I guess we had stronger competition last season.

but irrespective of the reasons.....we are playing some very concerning stuff.

 

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I'd really like to know what happened in January that resulted in us not getting new full backs and especially a LB in.

Hope it wasn't Smith's call because if this giant flaw in our squad and play wasn't identified then I'm worried.

If there were no funds or if no target was available then so be it, still worrying thou, but for another reason.

Can't see how we can expect anything other than what we are seeing as long as the full back situation remains as it is.

It's like a very expensive car with rear wheels that are both flat. At least it's front wheel drive now under Smith.

Jury still out for me with Smith.

 

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10 minutes ago, danceoftheshamen said:

I am convinced it's down to the ridiculous number of changes we keep having back there. Every time we get a decent partnership it changes mainly through injury. You simply cannot have that and expect to not ship goals. We need a settled back four before that will change and of course improvements at LB & RB

I agree. I can probably have the patience until Smith has established a new back four next season. If we still keep shipping goals at this current rate then we have to look at Smith. 

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4 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

All Smith's past teams have been leaking goals.

We will keep leaking goals next season but we will also score alot.

I mean, it’s exciting...but I do want to live past 30 and I won’t if I have to keep watching 6 goal games and 90th minute equalisers/winners...

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26 minutes ago, danceoftheshamen said:

Just re-watched the post match interview with Smith,

When he's asked if that (last 10 mins) could be a turning point after a slight pause during which he didn't look very certain he just said " Well "i" think so". It seemed to me to be as though he knew there were issues with the players regards that although i could be reading too much into it maybe?

For me he doesn't look as confident as when he first arrived.....It looks like there are hidden agendas, we are not privvy to.

There was a clip, where the 3 coaches looked baffled in conversation....all my opinion of course.

I would love to hear Deans opinion in private.

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9 minutes ago, sne said:

I'd really like to know what happened in January that resulted in us not getting new full backs and especially a LB in.

Hope it wasn't Smith's call because if this giant flaw in our squad and play wasn't identified then I'm worried.

If there were no funds or if no target was available then so be it, still worrying thou, but for another reason.

Can't see how we can expect anything other than what we are seeing as long as the full back situation remains as it is.

It's like a very expensive car with rear wheels that are both flat. At least it's front wheel drive now under Smith.

Jury still out for me with Smith.

 

I think we had targeted full backs but just couldn’t get the deals done. We signed a rb but the only way to complete the deal was to allow the player to stay at his present club until the summer. Perhaps clubs weren’t too keen on those deals for a lb, and we didn’t want to pay over the odds. Perhaps Smith and Purslow think better deals will be available jn the summer. 

Personally I think they suspect we aren’t going up this year, so didn’t want to rush deals through that aren’t right for the club, so they are patient enough to wait.

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4 minutes ago, Spoony said:

I mean, it’s exciting...but I do want to live past 30 and I won’t if I have to keep watching 6 goal games and 90th minute equalisers/winners...

I think it's terrible.

A solid back 4 is the foundation for any good football team. Smith's teams leaking goals is exactly the reason why he's never achieved anything more than mid table, if he doesn't sort it out, next season will be similar to this.

Edited by villalad21
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1 minute ago, mikeyp102 said:

I think we had targeted full backs but just couldn’t get the deals done. We signed a rb but the only way to complete the deal was to allow the player to stay at his present club until the summer. Perhaps clubs weren’t too keen on those deals for a lb, and we didn’t want to pay over the odds. Perhaps Smith and Purslow think better deals will be available jn the summer. 

Personally I think they suspect we aren’t going up this year, so didn’t want to rush deals through that aren’t right for the club, so they are patient enough to wait.

Perhaps.

Grealish getting injured ruined our season, not signing proper full backs in January meant we gave the season up.

Season was over when the window closed.

With that in mind it's a bit of a shame we are still playing the old bodies that are both under performing and wont be here next season. 

Much rather have seen O'Hare and Clark for the remainder.

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55 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

No more excuses next season then i fully expect from everyone on here?

We have more than good enough players to win comfortable agains the likes of Wigan and Reading without Grealish and Axel, so tired of these lame excuses every week.

Broadly speaking, yes.

It will be a different squad though, so thinking about what Smith will do next season based on this season may not be quite so straightforward. 

Just from Friday’s match day squad, players out of contract in the summer are Mings, Elphick, Hutton, Whelan, Jedinak, El Ghazi and Abraham. Throw in Axel and possibly Jack not being here too. Throw in the question marks over the likes of Kodjia and Adomah. That’s eleven first team players potentially not here next season.

Now that may all sound like ready made excuses, and indeed they may not all go. But there’s going to be a fair bit of upheaval so what to expect from next season is a bit more up in the air. 

We should always be aiming for promotion, but a lot will depend on who keep and who we bring in.

Edited by Shropshire Lad
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8 minutes ago, sne said:

Perhaps.

Grealish getting injured ruined our season, not signing proper full backs in January meant we gave the season up.

Season was over when the window closed.

With that in mind it's a bit of a shame we are still playing the old bodies that are both under performing and wont be here next season. 

Much rather have seen O'Hare and Clark for the remainder.

Agree totally , would rather use players that we are looking to keep next season than persevere with those that won’t be here - the failure to sort the full back situation and defensive midfielder in January has cost us any slim  chance of promotion In my opinion .

Rather have given Bree a run at right back than stick with Hutton and Taylor . I was surprised Mitch Clark didn’t get recalled as surely he deserves a chance ahead of Taylor . 

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4 minutes ago, sne said:

Perhaps.

Grealish getting injured ruined our season, not signing proper full backs in January meant we gave the season up.

Season was over when the window closed.

With that in mind it's a bit of a shame we are still playing the old bodies that are both under performing and wont be here next season. 

Much rather have seen O'Hare and Clark for the remainder.

Aren’t both out of contract in the summer as well? 

I agree, if they are here next season I would’ve used the last 18 games of the season to blood younger players to get them ready. That is one criticism I do label on Smith in that he isn’t giving the players game time. 

As others have alluded, Smith doesn’t look as confident as he did when first started, his substitutions are now very reactive, when initially they were proactive. When he came in, I was worried that he wouldn’t be big enough for the role. Now I’m not saying he has failed, far from it, and I’m willing to give him time to develop the squad and his playing style, he deserves a pre season to change things around fully and build his squad. I just hope Aston Villa doesn’t engulf him like it has numerous others previously. 

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1 hour ago, mikeyp102 said:

Aren’t both out of contract in the summer as well? 

I agree, if they are here next season I would’ve used the last 18 games of the season to blood younger players to get them ready. That is one criticism I do label on Smith in that he isn’t giving the players game time. 

As others have alluded, Smith doesn’t look as confident as he did when first started, his substitutions are now very reactive, when initially they were proactive. When he came in, I was worried that he wouldn’t be big enough for the role. Now I’m not saying he has failed, far from it, and I’m willing to give him time to develop the squad and his playing style, he deserves a pre season to change things around fully and build his squad. I just hope Aston Villa doesn’t engulf him like it has numerous others previously. 

No  neither o  hare or Clark are out of contract in the summer as far as I’m aware 

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2 hours ago, striker said:

I think DS is caught in ' no man's land.'

He wants Villa to play his way and had Villa playing that way almost from the start of his tenure here.

However the loss to injury of Tuanzebe who was the connection from defence to midfield and then Grealish who connected the midfield to attack has pretty much decimated his preferred style of play. Even his new signing Carroll brought in for better ball retention in front of defence and to connect defence to midfield is not available to him due to a thigh strain.

I would hazzard a guess that if Tuanzebe and Grealish hadn't picked up those injuries then we would still be watching the same type of DS football we seen at the start of his tenure here.

Presently however Smith is trying to keep Villa in the promotion race with a style of football he doesn't want to play but has no real choice in the matter until his two best players are available again and indeed until he has the squad of players he wants.

 

Why don't he come out and say this, it'll do him a world of good. I understand he obviously couldn't just say he has changed the style cause the rest of the team is shite. But he could say he has changed us tactically due to Grealish ans Tuanzabe being out injured.

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18 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said:

Aren’t both out of contract in the summer as well? 

I agree, if they are here next season I would’ve used the last 18 games of the season to blood younger players to get them ready. That is one criticism I do label on Smith in that he isn’t giving the players game time. 

As others have alluded, Smith doesn’t look as confident as he did when first started, his substitutions are now very reactive, when initially they were proactive. When he came in, I was worried that he wouldn’t be big enough for the role. Now I’m not saying he has failed, far from it, and I’m willing to give him time to develop the squad and his playing style, he deserves a pre season to change things around fully and build his squad. I just hope Aston Villa doesn’t engulf him like it has numerous others previously. 

If he is not up to it, I am convinced that these owners will bring in a big name who will not be fazed by the Aston Villa name.

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10 minutes ago, AntrimBlack said:

OS says they are.

Yeah I've seen both.

No idea tbh. 

with the massive rebuild we're once again going to have to undertake I hope we extend their contracts or sign new ones or whatever it is.

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22 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said:

I’ve no idea, but the details in the “contracts” thread seem to indicate both are out of contract in the summer.

Glenn Whelan, Mile Jedinak, Mark Bunn, Alan Hutton, Tommy Elphick, Micah Richards, Ritchie de Laet, Jed Steer, Jordan Lyden, Harry McKirdy, Easah Suliman, Callum O’Hare, Kelsey Mooney, Mitchell Clark, Harvey Knibbs. 

These are what i can find of our contracts ending in 2019.

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