Dean Smith

[romavillan]

18 hours ago, Thug said:

For the love of God.

 

before grealish and axel got injured we were playing the best football I can remember, and I can remember from the GT MK I days.

With the right players, he’ll work wonders. 

chill people, give the man a chance!

 

This

[macandally]

5 hours 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.

Thank you Nostradamus!  

My prediction, those that are putting half arsed performances now because they know their contracts will not be renewed will be replaced by players who are fit, hungry and capable of playing Smith’s way.  We will stick to the plan even when there are occasions when things get a little rocky and half a dozen fans revolt because ultimately, we don’t just want to go up, we want to rebuild our identity and stay up?

[macandally]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

Well lets put it like this....The team he presides over is performing badly.

He might be working his nuts off, behind the scenes....but its not evident on the pitch.

It has much the resounding noises that was aimed at Bruce....but admittedly Bruce had much longer to put it right.

This team is not balanced right for me....There is a type of work in a game that needs to be done and it appears that we have players who can't do it, for whatever reason....we chop and change and still the work is not accomplished....That's my take on it.

We have players who some call gutless and lack tenacity or will or even belief ....problem being its more than one and there are little or no alternatives.

I would hate to be the one to try and fix it.

Noises aimed at Bruce?  He created this unbalanced mess!

[terrytini]

Some of the football is dreadful. Far worse than his first month or so.

Having said that there’s a difference between the team that beat Boro so convincingly and yesterday’s.

Nyland, Axel, Jack, Elmo, Bolasie, Chester - now Kalinin, Hutton, Jedi, Elphick, Mings, Kodja.

Regardless of the different reasons for these changes there’s no question that in terms of possession/ passing football that first group, not including Mings but including Nyland, were considerably more comfortable with the ball.

Even watching us warm up is significantly different, the fast passing game they play looked intricate and clever for several weeks, on Saturday the Warm up was as poor as the game !

And it’s quite a change personnel wise.

In particular Jack and Axel were, crucially comfortable on the ball in a Smiths first couple of months.

We simply haven’t bought enough players who can play proper football over the last three years. We tended towards the grafters. So missing even one or two is enough.

For the first eight or so games we all but eliminated the “ channel ball” from the full backs, and the hoof to the isolated striker.

I’m sure there are good reasons it’s changed, and the lack of sufficient quality ball players is a big part.

Having said that, Smith has had 19 games.

Over those 19 games Leeds are Second, have 35 Points, have scored 29 and Conceeded 26 , plus 3

We have 29 points, scoring 36 and conceding 29, plus 7.

Given the miserable situation Smith came into, compared to Bielsa starting the season with Leeds, I’d say that’s not bad. It’s not great, but it’s not bad. And, in my view, a million miles away from meriting discussion of his position.

Take it one step further, if we had Won that One game against Leeds, rather than them, we’d be 2nd in the table of results since Smith arrived, on 32 points with Leeds but with a better goal difference.

Those who choose to think things are poor will no doubt do so regardless of this, but for those hoping for some reasons for optimism I hope it helps !

 

 

 

[hippo]

1 hour ago, macandally said:

Thank you Nostradamus!  

My prediction, those that are putting half arsed performances now because they know their contracts will not be renewed will be replaced by players who are fit, hungry and capable of playing Smith’s way.  We will stick to the plan even when there are occasions when things get a little rocky and half a dozen fans revolt because ultimately, we don’t just want to go up, we want to rebuild our identity and stay up?

How will we know when the identity is built ? thinking of which what exactly is an identity ?

Villa had been going 140 years ...myself 40 years...I had never heard of having an identity until a few seasons ago - seems like we desparately need one though ...

[Dave-R]

14 hours ago, Sam3773 said:

The first 19 games of our last two managers:

Smith: P:19 - W:7 - D:8 - L:4 - PTS: 29

Bruce: P:19 - W:7 - D:5 - L:7 - PTS: 26

Just for interest, how were the first 19 games under arguably our best manager for years:

O'Neill: P:19 - W:5 - D:10 - L:4 - PTS: 25

What about other high flyers? How were their first 19 at the clubs they're managing? 

Farke: P:19 - W:6 - D:6 - L:7 - PTS: 24

Jokanovic: P:19 - W:5 - D:6 - L:8 - PTS: 21

Add in to the mix, because you can, the 'excuses' of a widely injured squad with no settling, the complete lack of a defensive set up when he joined, operating under tight FFP restrictions in January, our best player out for most of that time and a chocolate goalkeeper, and he hasn't done too bad. 

But no. We're Aston Villa Football Club and unless our manager hits the ground with 19 W's under his belt, it's bedsheets out at dawn.

That's nice to see, can you do the same and compare to the likes of little, Atkinson and Gregory stats??

please..

[DaveAV1]

12 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Wow, when you look at it like that he is doing a tremendous job.

I think the board will look at it like that. 

[Dave-R]

8 hours ago, Stuartc445 said:

That is what the people demanding Smith to be manger said he'd do,  but have now moved the goal posts because it hasn't happened so now are calling the squad rubbish. Again you are clearly in the Smith can't do anything wrong camp.

Oh and we aren't going up this season so we won't have our best player next season, neither will we have our top scorer and it's highly unlikely McGinn will still be with us.  So using your logic it's going to be a whole lot worse next season.

The squad was rubbish under bruce as well, again apart from the noticeable players who put in those class performances, I don't think it was entirely Bruce's fault for bad performances.

We got on Bruce's back pretty bad and after seeing some of our players play this way under Bruce and Smith, I am more than convinced that Bruce may of gotten more than he actually deserved. In fact I think the level of abuse that some put towards him may of gone to far. Don't get me wrong he made his errors and it cost him his job, but it needs to be said that it's not down to the managers entirely.

When you have the likes of Tammy, tuanzebe come in and even mings, minds over his first two games has told me alot about some of out players, is that we have to many players who well and truly need there hand holding out there.

Look at the defence under bruce with JT added into it, how solid was that defence, he then leaves the squad and all hell breaks lose in defence. It suggests to me and it's clear as day that John Terry was the gel that bonded the defence together. Maybe someone, a new defender like mings can be that tough cookie we need  Ming's is very much like John Terry, both are tough nuts to crack on the pitch and take no crap. Maybe we have our Young JT we've been searching for, just so happens he's taller and seems like a tank but maybe he can be that gel that binds the rest of our defence.

[terrytini]

29 minutes ago, Dave-R said:

That's nice to see, can you do the same and compare to the likes of little, Atkinson and Gregory stats??

please..

Atkinson got 30 points from his first 19, although he had the advantage of pre season) goal difference Plus 5

Little got 26 from his first 19, goal difference Plus 8.These results straddle a summer/ pre season/ transfer options.

Smith has 29, Plus 7.

Ron Saunders got 30, with Plus13. He had a full pre season.

Basically, Smiths record so far stands comparison to any of them except Gregory, and it’s not far off as good as any of his ruivals since he’s been here.

 

Edited February 10, 2019 by terrytini

[Zatman]

3 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Good teams make their own luck

Good teams aren't dependent on a good ref to win games

Good teams should be able to counteract refs who award goals for handballs? 

[sne]

11 minutes ago, terrytini said:

Atkinson got 30 points from his first 19, although he had the advantage of pre season) goal difference Plus 5

Little got 26 from his first 19, goal difference Plus 8.

Smith has 29, Plus 7.

Ron Saunders got 30, with Plus13.

2 or 3 points for a win?

[terrytini]

8 minutes ago, sne said:

2 or 3 points for a win?

I’ve done it as if it were 3 for the purpose of this comparison.

[foreveryoung]

All I can say is you don't score 3 goals in 10 minutes at the end of the game with shite unfit footballers. Tactics lads, he let go at 80 minutes when the game was gone an it showed.

If he don't start killing games off when Grealish an Tunazabe comes back I wonder what we will be saying then.

It's like were saying, give him a team of good footballers and we will have a better chance at promotion. I'm sure there are more than a few managers, excluding the dinosaurs who quite easily could do that, don't make him a great manager.

I remember Warnock did it with a mediocre squad.

[Dave-R]

I think one thing people are mainly missing is this season is absoloute crazy. some are blaming Smith, some are blaming players (that's me), but one thing that we have to see is that this season has had many crazy results. I expect more crazy results to happen yet, no one is running away with the league and no one is certain to be down and out as of yet.

I don't think the championship is as settled as it was back when wolves took control and went up. 

It's like McGrath said recently why don't our players go out and play that way for most of the game instead of having brief spells of bringing a game back from what was a certain defeat. If our players can snap a draw from the darkhorses of the league and stop sheffield utd from winning, then they can go out and win games and snatch victory straight away.

I think for a very long time we lacked that edge to drive a sword through a team and make them feel as though they have come to play against us for nothing. I feel it coming to be honest we are not losing, lost two games in fifteen. Anyone who gets on Smith's back for two losses in fifteen needs there heads seen to and I think they'd be doing it because they are so desperate for promotion, instead chill out more. I would rather us get our team right again than go up and possibly end up coming back down. I have said it before, I just don't think we would be able to play at a premiere level at this moment in time, teams from the championship were struggling against.

It's tough to pin point it all, to find out what's going wrong, then again nothing really is going wrong as of yet I don't think, If it were we would be losing. Like I said above I feel it coming, I reckon Grealish and Tuanzebe mite be the pieces to the puzzle, let's hope, if more is needed then summer is only round the corner and changes will be made.

We were unfortunate at sheff utd to not have won that game I think from either there second goal being disallowed or a possible penalty from Tyrone being bought down.

Yes that is another thing, the lousy officiating is that bad that crucial decisions are going against us. Could even say it's conspiracy like in the way that decisions often happen to the point it completely changes our game for the worst. At times our players can't seem to rise above it all and for one in a way I don't blame them because it's annoying as hell. 

[villalad21]

We might as well have kept Bruce until the end of the season.

The majority of them obviously aren't suited in DS style of play and this season is just drifting to no man's land.

Who knows where we would be if Bruce was still in charge? Things can change fast in this league, just look at Hull earlier in the season in very bad form similar to us and suddenly thy go on a great run.

Sacking a manager mid season rarely work out well and the more i think about it the more i think keeping Bruce till the end of the season would be the better option. At least the majority of the players suited his style of play.

[sne]

3 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

We might as well have kept Bruce until the end of the season.

The majority of them obviously aren't suited in DS style of play and this season is just drifting to no man's land.

Who knows where we would be if Bruce was still in charge? Things can change fast in this league, just look at Hull earlier in the season in very bad form similar to us and suddenly thy go on a great run.

Sacking a manager mid season rarely work out well and the more i think about it the more i think keeping Bruce till the end of the season would be the better option. At least the majority of the players suited his style of play.

That's an emphatic nope!

For so many reasons.

[Thug]

39 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

We might as well have kept Bruce until the end of the season.

The majority of them obviously aren't suited in DS style of play and this season is just drifting to no man's land.

Who knows where we would be if Bruce was still in charge? Things can change fast in this league, just look at Hull earlier in the season in very bad form similar to us and suddenly thy go on a great run.

Sacking a manager mid season rarely work out well and the more i think about it the more i think keeping Bruce till the end of the season would be the better option. At least the majority of the players suited his style of play.

It’s a no from me too I’m afraid.

we were going nowhere under him.

id rather have a new manager mid season to fully assess the players he has and make his mind up about dead wood, and be prepared fully for the summer transfer window. Be in no doubt about what he needs.

just need a little patience from being judged by well-meaning but overly eager for immediate results fans 

[vreitti]

3 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Who knows where we would be if Bruce was still in charge?

Honestly I think you do know, much like the rest of us do. Bruce is still an abysmal manager, irrespective of your view on Smith. Furthermore I'll gladly take scintillating 5-5 or 3-3 draws as opposed to Bruce's typical 0-0s defending deep for 90 minutes.

[Junxs]

4 hours ago, villalad21 said:

We might as well have kept Bruce until the end of the season.

The majority of them obviously aren't suited in DS style of play and this season is just drifting to no man's land.

Who knows where we would be if Bruce was still in charge? Things can change fast in this league, just look at Hull earlier in the season in very bad form similar to us and suddenly thy go on a great run.

Sacking a manager mid season rarely work out well and the more i think about it the more i think keeping Bruce till the end of the season would be the better option. At least the majority of the players suited his style of play.

We were 15th with an average of 1.25ppg (lets not forget the kind fixture list Bruce had as well)

Since Smith has taken over we are averaging a much higher ppg ratio (1.52) and still within the grasp of the play offs. 

Like @Thug says, it will give Deano time to thoroughly assess the squad and work out exactly who to bring in and who to get rid in the summer.

Plus all Bruce would have done in January is brought in more deadwood ageing players for the next manager to shift in the summer.

 

[sharkyvilla]

4 hours ago, villalad21 said:

We might as well have kept Bruce until the end of the season.

The majority of them obviously aren't suited in DS style of play and this season is just drifting to no man's land.

Who knows where we would be if Bruce was still in charge? Things can change fast in this league, just look at Hull earlier in the season in very bad form similar to us and suddenly thy go on a great run.

Sacking a manager mid season rarely work out well and the more i think about it the more i think keeping Bruce till the end of the season would be the better option. At least the majority of the players suited his style of play.

We would probably still be playing with 2 or 3 right backs in the team with none of them at right back, we would not have attempted the playing from the back style that Smith won his games with therefore be in a worse position, plus God knows what cloggers we would have signed in January.  I suspect you actually know all this really and I'm the fool for replying.