Dean Smith

[lexicon]

1 hour ago, Demitri_C said:

I bet his record since janaury is as bad as bruces before he got removed

Even if it is, the circumstances are not comparable at all.

Bruce had a decent squad in the Championship and couldn't do anything, Smith has one of the worst squads in the Prem and is struggling. 

[lexicon]

13 minutes ago, VillaCas said:

I don’t think anyone is saying he is doing a good job? Circumstances mean that it is an uphill struggle for him but I still have a little more patience for him. 

This. Doing a good job with the players we have would mean having around 6 points more than we have IMO. Fine margins. 

[AvfcRigo82]

2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Well thats us truly fecked then sticking with smith.

Leads it even more now that JT will be taking over from Smith once we go down.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

If we get relegated it’s not because of these last 10 games. It’s because of how poor our record has been against teams around us. Especially away from home. 

Now we have quite a few fixtures against much better teams and are struggling to pick up points.  Without our home crowd it’s become even harder. 

i think the damage has been done.

[lexicon]

14 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

If we get relegated it’s not because of these last 10 games. It’s because of how poor our record has been against teams around us. Especially away from home. 

Now we have quite a few fixtures against much better teams and are struggling to pick up points.  Without our home crowd it’s become even harder. 

i think the damage has been done.

Quite possibly, but we're still in the fight for now. 

[Stevo985]

37 minutes ago, VillaCas said:

I don’t think anyone is saying he is doing a good job? Circumstances mean that it is an uphill struggle for him but I still have a little more patience for him. 

There seems to be a lot of people making excuses for recent performances. 
 

We’re getting worse at the most crucial time of the season. 
 

Again I like Smith and I wouldn’t sack him. But recent performances are inexcusable imo

[Dodgyknees]

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

There seems to be a lot of people making excuses for recent performances. 
 

We’re getting worse at the most crucial time of the season. 
 

Again I like Smith and I wouldn’t sack him. But recent performances are inexcusable imo

That's how I see it apart from I think maybe we need to sack him to stop the rot.

[lexicon]

2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

There seems to be a lot of people making excuses for recent performances. 
 

We’re getting worse at the most crucial time of the season. 
 

Again I like Smith and I wouldn’t sack him. But recent performances are inexcusable imo

But we're not getting worse, though. We were a lot worse when the season was stopped a few months back. 

[Stevo985]

Just now, avfcDJ said:

That's how I see it apart from I think maybe we need to sack him to stop the rot.

I think if you view it that we have to stay up under any circumstances then he has to go. If the board are that desperate to stay in the league then he should go. 
 

However, I think we’d be better off getting relegated and sticking with Smith for another season. I’m confident of our ability in the championship this time around and I think we’d come back up in a much better position with a settled squad and a settled manager

[Stevo985]

2 minutes ago, lexicon said:

But we're not getting worse, though. We were a lot worse when the season was stopped a few months back. 

I disagree. We’re as bad as we were when it stopped. We were far far better at the start of the season. It’s the most crucial part of our season and we’re shit

[Zatman]

27 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

If we get relegated it’s not because of these last 10 games. It’s because of how poor our record has been against teams around us. Especially away from home. 

Now we have quite a few fixtures against much better teams and are struggling to pick up points.  Without our home crowd it’s become even harder. 

i think the damage has been done.

Of our away games vs bottom half we beat Burnley, Norwich, drew with Brighton and Newcastle and lost to Watford, Bournemouth, Southampton

Its actually not that bad. 2 points picked up from the top 10 is the major issue

Edited June 29, 2020 by Zatman

[Hobbit Feet]

3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I think if you view it that we have to stay up under any circumstances then he has to go. If the board are that desperate to stay in the league then he should go. 
 

However, I think we’d be better off getting relegated and sticking with Smith for another season. I’m confident of our ability in the championship this time around and I think we’d come back up in a much better position with a settled squad and a settled manager

I agree in that respect with us going back down and keeping him but I think it becomes difficult if he keeps us up, he will achieve his target of keeping us in the premier league but it won’t of been a successful season in my opinion, do we stick with him or go after a more experienced premier league manager and push on or do we chance another season with smith and take our chance he’s learnt and improved?

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, Hobbit Feet said:

I agree in that respect with us going back down and keeping him but I think it becomes difficult if he keeps us up, he will achieve his target of keeping us in the premier league but it won’t of been a successful season in my opinion, do we stick with him or go after a more experienced premier league manager and push on or do we chance another season with smith and take our chance he’s learnt and improved?

If he keeps us up on goal difference after scoring a goal off Samatta’s arse in the 95th minute of the final game then he’s done his job.

[Stevo985]

42 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I think some Villa fans saw what Wolves did last year and expected us to do similar hence some unrealistic expectations for some fans

I expected us to stay up. 
We probably won’t. 
 

It’s that simple 

[Vive_La_Villa]

5 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Of our away games vs bottom half we beat Burnley, Norwich, drew with Brighton and Newcastle and lost to Watford, Bournemouth, Southampton

Its actually not that bad

I guess other teams have managed the odd result against the top half teams. I think we have managed 1 point all season from teams in top half which is why the 6 pointer games have been so crucial for us. 

[DCJonah]

9 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I disagree. We’re as bad as we were when it stopped. We were far far better at the start of the season. It’s the most crucial part of our season and we’re shit

I disagree with that. The leicester game was abysmal. 

I think we've looked better at the back and have created a few chances. Its by no means massive improvements but I think its better than when lockdown happened. 

I agree that we aren't as good as at the start of the year but I think there are quite a few valid reasons for that. We've got back up players throughout our defence and in attack. I think most teams in the league would be worse when relying on these types of players. 

[sne]

2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I expected us to stay up. 
We probably won’t. 
 

It’s that simple 

That, but I also expected us to act more like a team who knew what they were doing and who had a clear idea. We've not done that either.

I Mentioned it earlier in the season but I wonder if the language barrier has been an issue?

We have a bunch of players who doesn't have English as their first language. That in combination with a unexperienced coaching staff and squad might have made it difficult to get the ideas across.

We still don't look like a team.

[Stevo985]

4 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I disagree with that. The leicester game was abysmal. 

I think we've looked better at the back and have created a few chances. Its by no means massive improvements but I think its better than when lockdown happened. 

I agree that we aren't as good as at the start of the year but I think there are quite a few valid reasons for that. We've got back up players throughout our defence and in attack. I think most teams in the league would be worse when relying on these types of players. 

A few being the operative word. We’ve created more or less **** all

[Blasterpocket68]

6 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I disagree with that. The leicester game was abysmal. 

I think we've looked better at the back and have created a few chances. Its by no means massive improvements but I think its better than when lockdown happened. 

I agree that we aren't as good as at the start of the year but I think there are quite a few valid reasons for that. We've got back up players throughout our defence and in attack. I think most teams in the league would be worse when relying on these types of players. 

You are correct we have looked a little tighter at the back as a team  - but this has been detrimental to everything going forward as a team. 

[Hobbit Feet]

12 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

If he keeps us up on goal difference after scoring a goal off Samatta’s arse in the 95th minute of the final game then he’s done his job.

Yes he’s done a job but I haven’t seen enough to be convinced he’s the right man to take us forward, it’s a difficult decision, thanks for keeping us up dean but goodbye or stick with him and probably have a similar season.