Dean Smith

[VillaFaninLondon]

2 minutes ago, Farlz said:

Yeah it's rubbish and we're going down. 

He done a fantastic job to get us promoted in the first place and I've backed him long enough to believe he gets the chance to get us back up. 

But we just look like a bunch of headless chickens out there. I just think he's a desperately poor manager and not good enough for a club heading in the direction we should be heading, and the only reason people want him to stay is because he's a Villa fan. 

[dudevillaisnice]

Just now, The Hawk said:

Absolutely I can. It’s rubbish. Our squad is genuinely not premier league quality. Not even Fergie could sort it out. 

People are so quick to forget where this man has taken us and the challenge he has had to face this year putting an entire squad together. It hasn’t worked out, but hiring and firing managers and constantly starting from scratch like we have for the last 10 years is clearly not the solution. 

If there’s anyone to blame, it’s our recruitment team as a whole in which Smith is only a cog. 

Ok it may not be PL quality but has he helped the situation? championship teams can’t defend set pieces for example? I think to void him of any fault and just blame recruitment is wrong. 

[bobzy]

1 minute ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

But we just look like a bunch of headless chickens out there. I just think he's a desperately poor manager and not good enough for a club heading in the direction we should be heading, and the only reason people want him to stay is because he's a Villa fan. 

I can only speak for me, but this simply isn't true.  The narrative is **** tired.

[bielesibub]

Oh my god... I am so sorry everyone that i dragged this out, we're all down in the dumps, but we'll end up beating Chelsea by a FIFA 20-esque scoreline 

[PieFacE]

Wouldn't be upset if he was sacked. Kinda thinking we should take the chance and give someone else a go. Might be a bit late in the day for that though.

[briny_ear]

Just thought he looked and sounded lost this evening.

No idea what to do next.

 

[mykeyb]

Either staying up or fighting for promotion next season will have to start with being tight at the back, being hard to beat. That is not going to happen with Dean if he signs 11 new players and that's why he has to go sooner rather than later.

The defensive stats are completely and utterly damning.

 

[sheepyvillian]

38 minutes ago, Graham t said:

He won't be sacked, the ink is still wet on his contract extension.........

So was Paul Lamberts. 

[VillaFaninLondon]

4 minutes ago, The Hawk said:

Absolutely I can. It’s rubbish. Our squad is genuinely not premier league quality. Not even Fergie could sort it out. 

People are so quick to forget where this man has taken us and the challenge he has had to face this year putting an entire squad together. It hasn’t worked out, but hiring and firing managers and constantly starting from scratch like we have for the last 10 years is clearly not the solution. 

If there’s anyone to blame, it’s our recruitment team as a whole in which Smith is only a cog. 

This may be true, but Smith organises the set-up and players. He may not have the personnel at the right quality, but does Wilder have it at Sheffield? Does Dyche at Burnley? How much have they been backed in recruitment and where are they in the table? 

 

If he doesn't have the quality of personnel he craves to play his open football and not concede a shed load of goals, he should stop playing it and adapt his game. He clearly can't do this. 

 

It's very easy to blame the personnel but we're Aston Villa, not Real Madrid. Smith is never going to have a team of superstars to be able to play like them. He has to adapt to the league like Dyche, Wilder and Howe have done, and every week he is proving he cannot do that. We're a feckin shambles under him and it should be obvious to everyone. 

[The Hawk]

1 minute ago, dudevillaisnice said:

Ok it may not be PL quality but has he helped the situation? championship teams can’t defend set pieces for example? I think to void him of any fault and just blame recruitment is wrong. 

Fair call. Our set piece defending is well below par and needs sorting out, something that our coaching department as a whole needs to look at which I’m sure they are trying to. They’re not morons and would obviously be aware it’s an issue. 

Id also argue that of all the things a manager can instantly fix, defending set pieces is not one of them. It’s not rocket science, follow your man and put your body on the line. When people say “Smith can’t even get the basics right”, the “basics” should be something that the professional players can do without needing to be coached.

[Kiwivillan]

Should've played same lineup as 1st leg SF where Hause had most clearances and won loads in the air. That and starting Hourihane after shambles cup final appearance says Smith doesn't learn and is throwing shit at the wall and hoping something sticks so finally I'm out

[KentVillan]

Just now, VillaFaninLondon said:

This may be true, but Smith organises the set-up and players. He may not have the personnel at the right quality, but does Wilder have it at Sheffield? Does Dyche at Burnley? How much have they been backed in recruitment and where are they in the table? 

 

If he doesn't have the quality of personnel he craves to play his open football and not concede a shed load of goals, he should stop playing it and adapt his game. He clearly can't do this. 

 

It's very easy to blame the personnel but we're Aston Villa, not Real Madrid. Smith is never going to have a team of superstars to be able to play like them. He has to adapt to the league like Dyche, Wilder and Howe have done, and every week he is proving he cannot do that. We're a feckin shambles under him and it should be obvious to everyone. 

Dyche, Wilder and Howe all have men in their squads. We have some decent young players, but very few grown men. Most of our older players are quiet types like Neil Taylor.

Youth is definitely the right place to start when investing in the club, but you have to complement it with a bit of wisdom. We could have loaned someone, just for a season, just to help steady the ship. It would have been a good investment.

[kurtsimonw]

I think the risk of not having Smith in the Championship is worth the potential reward of hundreds of million for staying in the PL. So just pull the trigger and hope a new manager bounce can get us through to the summer.

[jim]

2 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

 

If he doesn't have the quality of personnel he craves to play his open football and not concede a shed load of goals, he should stop playing it and adapt his game. He clearly can't do this. 

 

It's very easy to blame the personnel but we're Aston Villa, not Real Madrid. Smith is never going to have a team of superstars to be able to play like them. He has to adapt to the league like Dyche, Wilder and Howe have done, and every week he is proving he cannot do that. We're a feckin shambles under him and it should be obvious to everyone. 

Bingo! And this is what good managers do. They adapt with what they’ve got. If it’s not working, they find a formula that does. The players may not be the best but I firmly believe we have enough quality to finish outside the relegation zone if they are used correctly. 
 

Smith clearly cannot do this. All season in post match interviews he sees what we do talks the talk and does absolutely nothing the following week to address the problems.

For this reason he must go. 

[KenjiOgiwara]

24 minutes ago, avfc1982am said:

Smith is just out of his depth imo. His teams never defend well. He's had luck with the players he inherited in order to get us up, with Jack, Tammy, McGinn, Mings etc. I think him and the coaching staff have been bloody awful this season. Fair enough putting a new squad together is never going to be easy. However I really don't think there has been any significant improvement in any area since the start of the season in the 11 and set up. We've been driven by our captain all season and are still flailing around switching this, that and anything with zero continuity. I really don't see us surviving with him in charge and see no point in giving him next season minus the 3 players above and a couple more.    

Should probably give him credit. He improved all of them massively and I think Mings was his signing in the first place 

[DCJonah]

2 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said:

I think the risk of not having Smith in the Championship is worth the potential reward of hundreds of million for staying in the PL. So just pull the trigger and hope a new manager bounce can get us through to the summer.

Nothing is keeping this squad up.

[tomav84]

Smith to remain...mainly cause I really don't see who could keep us up with this team. Suso et al really have signed some shite. I said Luiz was crap vs Bournemouth at home and I stand by that. Guilbert got relegated from league 1. Targett couldn't get into a side that went on to ship 9 goals in 1 game this season. Wesley even looked crap in his YouTube highlight reel.

The fact that Elmo is still starting games, and is by far not the worst player on the pitch shows how bad the squad is. 

Positive...mcginn is going to be back for winnable games such as palace, Sheff Utd and Newcastle. Our hopes lie with him.

[Sulberto21]

10 minutes ago, The Hawk said:

Absolutely I can. It’s rubbish. Our squad is genuinely not premier league quality. Not even Fergie could sort it out. 

People are so quick to forget where this man has taken us and the challenge he has had to face this year putting an entire squad together. It hasn’t worked out, but hiring and firing managers and constantly starting from scratch like we have for the last 10 years is clearly not the solution. 

If there’s anyone to blame, it’s our recruitment team as a whole in which Smith is only a cog. 

Smith is a major cog in the recruitment process. He has said In a few interviews this season that he has a major say. Yes he did well getting us up but what is the point of getting promoted if we’re going to surrender like headless chickens in most of the games. It’s acceptable if we were playing the possession based attacking football I saw at Brentford and Walsall. But it’s not been evident in the main at Villa. When Swansea first came up with Rodgers they outplayed a-lot of teams in the Premier league.  

We’re too weak physically (as a unit) and we get bullied every game - this has happened since game one. It’s evident only one or two players have improved physically since that game yet as a unit we haven’t. That tells me Grealish, McGinn and Nakamba have decided to get themselves stronger yet others haven’t. Surely this is where Smith has to set The standards.? 

6 games ago I said 4 wins with a few draws will see us safe but I fear we’re gone now. 

 

[kurtsimonw]

3 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Nothing is keeping this squad up.

I don't believe this to be true.

Much worse squads have stayed up. I admire that he tries to play football 'the right way', but ultimately it's not always the best option. Remi Garde used to get a similar defence "It's not his fault the players can't play good football", but it really is. It's a coaches job to recognise what his players can and can't do and put the team in the best situation to win. I just don't think Smith has a plan B and as a result we don't stand much hope.

With someone, a "dinosaur", maybe, we have a chance. However slim, it's still a chance.

[Blasterpocket68]

49 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Hilarious, the manager who hung on by the seat of his pants last season, and can't find another club.

Smith isn't the problem. We misjudged our transfer strategy, and it looks like Purslow and Suso cooked that up.

The big mistakes:

• Refusing to countenance making any loan signings until desperation struck in January
• Not signing an outfield "leader" type with some PL experience - Grealish and Mings have played well this season, but I'm not convinced by their leadership qualities at this level. Not yet anyway.
• Gambling everything on one striker.

Add in the injuries to Mings, McGinn, Wesley, and Smith has had a stinker of a hand here.

Just as an example, one of Smith's biggest critics on VT has said he 100% agreed with Smith's team selection today. Lol. Perhaps it's harder than it looks?

Half the people attacking Smith are attacking him for things that aren't even his job. At least spend some time thinking about it ffs. We're shit, yes, but our squad is half-baked. Any manager would struggle with it. We have no pace to hit teams on the counter, so Bruceball wouldn't work either.

I look at our defence and defensive mid, and to me it looks like a Championship defence + Mings. If we're still debating whether Hourihane or Elmo should start, or if Taylor is a better defender than Targett, then we have a huge, huge problem. This is not on Smith.

Really disagree. The manager sets the team up with what he has got. He plays with a philosophy  and coaches and drills tactics into the team who he chooses. Agree he has not much in the barrel to choose from, but given  the bottom of the premier league this season is so poor ,  we should EVEN with the squad of players be competitive and at least 6 points better off IMO. 

His naive way and approach all thru the season has been far to open , he has not learned anything. We have glimpse now and again thru out the season so far maybe a 10 or  25 minute max purple patch  then we capitulate defensively as the midfield is  constantly overwhelmed because were always so open and easy to play thru. 

BASICS -   defensively shocking . How much say he had in recruitment we will never know,  but he did travel to watch some of his purchases prior to the signing. All well and good giving some one time to sort things out but based on what we have seen this season  its  absolutely appalling by any coaching standards.