Dean Smith

[NSmith22]

Now that his job has been confirmed safe I want clarity on Suso. I don’t think him and Smith can co-exist at the club if we’re going to be successful next season, regardless of the league. Recruitment has done us in this season there’s no denying it. 

[DCJonah]

9 minutes ago, Blasterpocket68 said:

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. 

I don't think so, I don't see that. Before lockdown we were losing games and not looking good going forward. We had some good chances against sheff United and should have been 1 or 2 up in the first 20 mins against newcastle. 

Its not like we were good going forward before lockdown. Its been an issue for a long time. 

A better striker in the team and I think we score against sheff u and get more against newcastle.

[Zatman]

17 minutes ago, sne said:

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.

look at the improvement in Luiz since he has picked up the language better during the lockdown. I dont think its a coincidence. Guilbert was another said he had problems before

It could be a thing 

[sne]

1 minute ago, Zatman said:

look at the improvement in Luiz since he has picked up the language better during the lockdown. I dont think its a coincidence. Guilbert was another said he had problems before

It could be a thing 

Could explain why Wesley looked like he was playing in a totally different position and tactic than the rest of the team thought he did.

Edited June 29, 2020 by sne

[AvfcRigo82]

18 minutes ago, NSmith22 said:

Now that his job has been confirmed safe

As a fan, I don't get why they are doing this?

I will be amazed if we manage to score a goal in the next 3 games - let alone gain a point!

What is Purslow and the board up to?

Are they trying to push Dean Smith into submission so that he walks!?

Are they planning to stick with him into next season even if we are confirmed as Relgated?

Time will tell I guess.

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by AvfcRigo82

[hippo]

2 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

As a fan, I don't get why they are doing this?

I will be amazed if we manage to score a goal in the next 3 games - let alone gain a point!

What is Purslow and the board up to?

Are they trying to push Dean Smith into submission so that he walks!?

Are they planning to stick with him into next season even if we are confirmed as Relgated?

Okay, results on he pitch have not been good to Dean Smith, granted, but I have a sense of 'I don't like what is going on behind the scenes'. 

I have a horrible feeling something else is going on and it stinks.

My fears are:-

They dread another manager hunt - and don't really have an idea how to land a significant upgrade on Smith.

Smith and Henry were the two names last time.

They might take the easy option and promote Terry.

 

Unlike XIA we know the current owners have money - but are they any good at choosing managers ?

 

 

[Dodgyknees]

44 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

Can't argue with that.

[AvfcRigo82]

Just now, hippo said:

My fears are:-

They dread another manager hunt - and don't really have an idea how to land a significant upgrade on Smith.

Smith and Henry were the two names last time.

They might take the easy option and promote Terry.

 

Unlike XIA we know the current owners have money - but are they any good at choosing managers ?

It's looking highly likely to pan out this way.

[Vive_La_Villa]

I think he has to go regardless of where we finish. We aren’t seeing improvement. Yes you can point to the players being poor but surely as team we should be improving rather than stagnating or getting worse. 
 

I really like the guy and his done a great job for us in getting us up and getting us to a final. But I think this league is a step to far.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Vive_La_Villa

[AvfcRigo82]

6 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I think he has to go regardless of where we finish.

I think that is inevitable given that his target this season was to avoid relegation.

I will be amazed if he pulls it off...

Do I want him to.. bloody hell yes. He is one of our own. Equally it doesn't excuse the poor run of form and all the other bumflufferies surrounding that.

I feel, Once that 'R' goes against our name in the league will be the time we say goodbye.

Looking at our run in.. it might not be that long before we do if anyone around us picks up a win.

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by AvfcRigo82

[Mantis]

1 hour 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 honestly think most didn't. However, a certain level of performance was expected and we simply haven't met that most of the time.

[DCJonah]

39 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

As a fan, I don't get why they are doing this?

I will be amazed if we manage to score a goal in the next 3 games - let alone gain a point!

What is Purslow and the board up to?

Are they trying to push Dean Smith into submission so that he walks!?

Are they planning to stick with him into next season even if we are confirmed as Relgated?

Time will tell I guess.

 

The board are probably aware that the recruitment has been poor and don't put all the blame of Smith. They also probably think, given how close it currently is, that ripping it up and starting with someone new is a huge gamble at the moment. And then they are also probably considering that Smith would be a good bet to bring us straight back up. 

[VillaCas]

56 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

Agreed - that’s not the same as saying he’s doing a great job though.

I don’t agree about recent performances being ‘inexcusable ‘ either - Given the resources available I thought the performances were ok (very far from good or great but ok) - we got run around against a very good Chelsea side but could still have got something out the game and we were well in contention in the other games

[DCJonah]

Just now, VillaCas said:

Agreed - that’s not the same as saying he’s doing a great job though.

I don’t agree about recent performances being ‘inexcusable ‘ either - Given the resources available I thought the performances were ok (very far from good or great but ok) - we got run around against a very good Chelsea side but could still have got something out the game and we were well in contention in the other games

Recent games have seen us using players that would not be starting for any of our rivals. 

We have 3rd/4th choice keeper that we've tried to replace twice. 

We have back up players in our defence. 

We have back up strikers playing up front. 

I don't think many teams in the league would be performing well under these circumstances, let a lone a team, whose starting players aren't premier league quality nevermind the back up players. 

[Laughable Chimp]

So uh, decided to go into the PL thread around August and just check the level of expectation we actually had for our season back then.

I see a lot of people expecting us to finishing between the 10 to 15 range. Not a single person so far who've said survival or seventeenth was the goal.

Edit: Actually I see one guy saying survival should be the expectation 

Quote

"I reckon we’ll finish 8th. "

Quote

"Whilst I feel optimistic that we will avoid relegation and finish 15th, I think it’s going to be a hard season for us with some bad patches where we will be desperate to even get a point."

Quote

"We’ll be pushing the top 6, then have a late season drop off and finish 9th. "

"

Quote

I don't think many teams will stop us from scoring this season. Even the so-called bigger clubs will find it difficult to stop this Villa team scoring. "

Quote

"Fans that think that we are going to finish in the top 8 are going to be in for a big shock."

Quote

"I loved reading this guy's tweets last season.  I think he's got a good brain for football and does some great articles.  He's gotten a job at Posh this summer because of his work on Twitter.  He thinks some of our signings are horrible and thinks Trezeguet will be a massive flop in the Premier League.  He rates Dean Smith, though, and is predicting us to finish in 14th right now, with Burnley, Newcastle, and Norwich going down.  "

 

Quote

 

"Prediction time - 

1 Citeh

2 Liverpool

3 Spurs

14 Villa

Down - Sheffield, Brighton, Newcastle"

 

Quote

 

"

Hard to argue against 1,2,3.

Villa 12th

Down - Sheffield, Crystal Palace, Newcastle."

"

 

Quote

 

1. Man C

2. Liverpool

3. Tottenham

12. Villa

Out: Newcastle, Norwich, Brighton"

"

 

Quote

 

Stuff it: I'm going to predict a cracking season for the league. 

 

1. Liverpool

2. Spurs

3. Man City

 

16. Villa

 

Relegated: Burnley, Norwich, Sheff Utd"

 

Quote

 

"I have noticed that as well. Thankfully, I have also noticed that pretty much the consensus is that we are not going to go down this season.  Honestly that is the goal.   Consolidation.  If you are expecting anything more than survival you are probably going to have a rough time.  Let this young team gel and improv"

"

 

Quote

 

1st Man City

2nd Liverpool 

3rd Spurs

10th Villa 

Relegated; Norwich, Palace, Sheffield Utd"

"

 

Quote

 

1 - Man Blue

2 - Red Scouse

3 - Spuds

4 - Gooners

14th - Villa

18th - Burnley

19th - Sheffield United

20th - Norwich"

 

Just from the first 3 pages of the PL thread from the start of August

Edited June 29, 2020 by Laughable Chimp

[weedman]

5 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

So uh, decided to go into the PL thread around August and just check the level of expectation we actually had for our season back then.

I see a lot of people expecting us to finishing between the 10 to 15 range. Not a single person so far who've said survival or seventeenth was the goal.

Edit: Actually I see one guy saying survival should be the expectation 

So you're saying our expectations were too high and as a result we are judging DS too harshly? 

[sne]

5 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

So uh, decided to go into the PL thread around August and just check the level of expectation we actually had for our season back then.

I see a lot of people expecting us to finishing between the 10 to 15 range. Not a single person so far who've said survival or seventeenth was the goal.

Edit: Actually I see one guy saying survival should be the expectation 

You also have this thread where most people have us finishing around 14th-16th. But a lot of the votes were cast before the transfer window closed.

 

[Demitri_C]

2 hours ago, Zatman said:

Its been poor but disaster is extremely OTT. What were your season expectations? 

Playoff winning teams aim to survive, we are pretty much still alive. Relegation in 2015/16 in October was a disaster 

Thats a fair question.  Ill be honest i thought we would be clear of relegation by this point. I thought i would see more battling and passion with more urgency even if we lost games. I certainly didnt think we woukd botyle as many games as we have with no fight.

I certainly expect to beat teams with ten menwhich smith has failed to deliver. I dont think its ott. One win in what 7-8 league games is a complete disaster as is the amount of goals conceded. 

When you consider how poor watford west ham bournmouth are we should be doing our utmost to stay up. And i dont think we are 

[Laughable Chimp]

Just now, weedman said:

So you're saying our expectations were too high and as a result we are judging DS too harshly? 

No, not necessarily. I'm just refuting the idea the goal was always only 17th and survival when that was clearly not the expectations of Villa fans at the start of the season. Whether that's a fair expectation or not is another issue entirely.

[OxfordVillan]

1 hour ago, DCJonah said:

I don't think so, I don't see that. Before lockdown we were losing games and not looking good going forward. We had some good chances against sheff United and should have been 1 or 2 up in the first 20 mins against newcastle. 

Its not like we were good going forward before lockdown. Its been an issue for a long time. 

A better striker in the team and I think we score against sheff u and get more against newcastle.

Agree 100%. We were the better team against both Sheffield Utd and Newcastle, and on another day we take the good chances we created and get the wins which would see us with 4pts more in the table and approaching safety. The other teams around us (Brighton excluded) have looked pretty woeful and incapable of getting points. If we’d looked as hopeless as Watford, Norwich, West Ham, or Bournemouth then I’d be really concerned. The one game that I was frustrated with and thought Dean should have done better was the Chelsea game. 
However it’s that lack of converting performance into points that could well be the death of us, there’s been a few games this season where our performance should have resulted in 3pts but we’ve ended up with none. That has to stop pretty damn quickly.