Dean Smith

[DCJonah]

16 minutes ago, holteend1982 said:

We only had to break that club record because Smith took us on a run of games 13 games with 2 wins, we should never have been that far from the play offs in the first place. 

You blame it all on Smith? 

You remember what he took over? Having to recall players Bruce had loaned out, negativity all over the place. But yeah, let's dismiss a club record winning streak because he didn't immediately turn around the mess Bruce left. 

[Mjvilla]

Just now, TRO said:

Totally agree.

for me its the one position we have failed to see the significant relevance of and its cost us.

its the glue that holds it all together, that protects the defence and starts attacks......not saying, its just that one issue, but to me it has stopped us staying up, it would have consolidated the team and bought us time.

I remenber when Robbie Savage left the Blues, they have never been the same, never recovered and never got near us in a game since he went.

They are unsung heroes and crucial......look at Henderson at Liverpool, with all the eye candy on show, but he is the forgotten one who links it all and protects the back four......gives them the backbone. The 

It's been probably my biggest concern too. Perhaps even when it came to appointing him (I didn't want him before he came here but when he's here he gets my support). I used to read about Ryan woods dominating midfields and sitting deep and picking a pass. It's not as easy to do in the premier league. It's a tough job. I would so much rather a jedinak type, but obviously not him. I thought it's what nakamba was going to be. 

I look at milovojevic (is that how you spell it?), The job fernandinho did, Keane's and Vieira's from when I was growing up. Obviously we were never going to have someone on a Vieira level, but that type. 

We all know our pitfalls upfront, but to me, this is our other biggest weakness and has made us easier to play through. Could Dean learn from this season and bring in a midfielder to do this job? I'd like to think he could. Even losing Grealish, Mings Luiz or whoever, I think if we get this recruitment right in midfield, we would have a goo enough squad to go up. 

[sne]

24 minutes ago, TRO said:

I disagree.

• The premier league is the most arduous league in world football.
• I didnt mention their nationality, i mentioned the leagues they play in, the markets we buy from.

in my opinion, many foreign leagues put more focus on technique and by definition they give you more space to play in, they come here and unless they are very special, struggle with the press and being closed down too often......that opinion is tempered, by the very top teams in Europe who are more rounded and competitive in winning the ball And turning it over, like ours.

 

And I disagree with parts of that. The PL way very well be the most difficult all things considered, but there are leagues who are more brutal (Brazil, Argentina for example) obviously more technical ones, more tactical ones like Serie A and just as fast ones like the Bundesliga. But yeah, the PL has high standards in all of these aspects so combined the PL is very good.

As for where we get the players from I don't see any issue at all. It's the players that we got that is the issue. If you look at the players who have moved from Belgium, France, Argentina, Brazil and whatever else leagues that some people look down at as inferior and you will find the likes of Sergej Milinković-Savić, Kante, N'didi, Osimhen, Wilmar Barrios, Casimeiro, our own Gueye. I have a feeling Everton been a better side if Gbamin had not been injured all season.

IMO it's not the marked where we choose to shop, it's the judgement of which players we brought in that is the issue.

Edited July 8, 2020 by sne

[Tomaszk]

Barrios is a good shout @sne

[TRO]

4 minutes ago, Mjvilla said:

It's been probably my biggest concern too. Perhaps even when it came to appointing him (I didn't want him before he came here but when he's here he gets my support). I used to read about Ryan woods dominating midfields and sitting deep and picking a pass. It's not as easy to do in the premier league. It's a tough job. I would so much rather a jedinak type, but obviously not him. I thought it's what nakamba was going to be. 

I look at milovojevic (is that how you spell it?), The job fernandinho did, Keane's and Vieira's from when I was growing up. Obviously we were never going to have someone on a Vieira level, but that type. 

We all know our pitfalls upfront, but to me, this is our other biggest weakness and has made us easier to play through. Could Dean learn from this season and bring in a midfielder to do this job? I'd like to think he could. Even losing Grealish, Mings Luiz or whoever, I think if we get this recruitment right in midfield, we would have a goo enough squad to go up. 

It would made a huge difference if we got a good one.

The thing that gets me is, we are a huge professional football club and we seem to ignore this crucial job.....all the good teams get this right.

we would not dream of playing without a striker or centre back or goal keeper......but we pay scant regard to a CDM......we just play general midfielders in the role who are not specialist or designed for that role.....we don't even groom them in the academy, its as if the position don't exist at Villa.....or has no importance.

[TRO]

12 minutes ago, sne said:

And I disagree with parts of that. The PL way very well be the most difficult all things considered, but there are leagues who are more brutal (Brazil, Argentina for example) obviously more technical ones, more tactical ones like Serie A and just as fast ones like the Bundesliga. But yeah, the PL has high standards in all of these aspects so combined the PL is very good.

As for where we get the players from I don't see any issue at all. It's the players that we got that is the issue. If you look at the players who have moved from Belgium, France, Argentina, Brazil and whatever else leagues that some people look down at as inferior and you will find the likes of Sergej Milinković-Savić, Kante, N'didi, Osimhen, Wilmar Barrios, Casimeiro, our own Gueye. I have a feeling Everton been a better side if Gbamin had not been injured all season.

IMO it's not the marked where we choose to shop, it's the judgement of which players we brought in that is the issue.

Yeah, i accept that we just bought wrong....partly what i said about special players as an exception.

Edited July 8, 2020 by TRO

[villalad21]

Dean kept mentioning performance levels when asked about a lack of wins on the press conference today.

He really isn't a result man.

[Mjvilla]

4 minutes ago, TRO said:

It would made a huge difference if we got a good one.

The thing that gets me is, we are a huge professional football club and we seem to ignore this crucial job.....all the good teams get this right.

we would not dream of playing without a striker or centre back or goal keeper......but we pay scant regard to a CDM......we just play general midfielders in the role who are not specialist or designed for that role.....we don't even groom them in the academy, its as if the position don't exist at Villa.....or has no importance.

Arsenal don't. 

But, in all seriousness, I agree. I think it could be the most important part of our summer. Regardless if we keep Smith or not.

[Mjvilla]

2 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Dean kept mentioning performance levels when asked about a lack of wins on the press conference today.

He really isn't a result man.

What else is he meant to say? 

'we've been playing shit and were definitely going down'

He's trying to keep confidence levels up. Don't read to much into press conferences, it's all soundbites.

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Dean kept mentioning performance levels when asked about a lack of wins on the press conference today.

He really isn't a result man.

He has already openly admitted that.....hence his overall win ratio.

He should be a coach to a results driven manager.

[TRO]

4 minutes ago, Mjvilla said:

Arsenal don't. 

But, in all seriousness, I agree. I think it could be the most important part of our summer. Regardless if we keep Smith or not.

There again its what we all know that stops them joining the really big boys.

They had it right with Viera and Petit.

Its why i say, we are not rounded enough, imbalanced, call it what you will......and you are right, so is Arsenal ,short of one.

Edited July 8, 2020 by TRO

[TRO]

6 minutes ago, Mjvilla said:

Arsenal don't. 

But, in all seriousness, I agree. I think it could be the most important part of our summer. Regardless if we keep Smith or not.

The most important is getting a results driven manager., then the CDM

[Johnnyp]

22 minutes ago, sne said:

And I disagree with parts of that. The PL way very well be the most difficult all things considered, but there are leagues who are more brutal (Brazil, Argentina for example) obviously more technical ones, more tactical ones like Serie A and just as fast ones like the Bundesliga. But yeah, the PL has high standards in all of these aspects so combined the PL is very good.

As for where we get the players from I don't see any issue at all. It's the players that we got that is the issue. If you look at the players who have moved from Belgium, France, Argentina, Brazil and whatever else leagues that some people look down at as inferior and you will find the likes of Sergej Milinković-Savić, Kante, N'didi, Osimhen, Wilmar Barrios, Casimeiro, our own Gueye. I have a feeling Everton been a better side if Gbamin had not been injured all season.

IMO it's not the marked where we choose to shop, it's the judgement of which players we brought in that is the issue.

We make crap decisions right across the board, continuously. Brighton can go get someone like Dan Ashworth, we get Suso. I'd wager we are paying are our guy far more too. The Villa way. 

[Johnnyp]

9 minutes ago, Mjvilla said:

What else is he meant to say? 

'we've been playing shit and were definitely going down'

He's trying to keep confidence levels up. Don't read to much into press conferences, it's all soundbites.

Trying to keep confidence up ? He threw Konsa under the bus the other week, publicly. Google it if you want to

[weedman]

6 minutes ago, TRO said:

The most important is getting a results driven manager., then the CDM

No way, sacrificing the future for short term results is not the answer, nor is sacrificing the present for supposed long term gains, the answer is finding the right balance, we're too far into the planning for the future but forgetting about the present side right now, going too far the other way is just as, if not more costly in the medium to long term. 

We need an experienced core, ST, MC, DC, GK with "up and coming" players backing them up, we have half of that with Heaton and Mings, the lack of an experienced CM and ST has been costly as well as big injuries to our most experienced senior player in Heaton and Wesley who was just getting into his stride (and even before that has been clearly superior to Davis and Samatta) 

Going too Steve Bruce or Tony Pulis works in the short term but is unsustainable, we've gone too far the other way. You can see we tried to address it in Jan, bringing in an experienced GK, ST and MC, but with no real budget they've not really made much difference to us 

[hippo]

4 minutes ago, weedman said:

No way, sacrificing the future for short term results is not the answer, nor is sacrificing the present for supposed long term gains, the answer is finding the right balance, we're too far into the planning for the future but forgetting about the present side right now, going too far the other way is just as, if not more costly in the medium to long term. 

We need an experienced core, ST, MC, DC, GK with "up and coming" players backing them up, we have half of that with Heaton and Mings, the lack of an experienced CM and ST has been costly as well as big injuries to our most experienced senior player in Heaton and Wesley who was just getting into his stride (and even before that has been clearly superior to Davis and Samatta) 

Going too Steve Bruce or Tony Pulis works in the short term but is unsustainable, we've gone too far the other way. You can see we tried to address it in Jan, bringing in an experienced GK, ST and MC, but with no real budget they've not really made much difference to us 

Steve Bruce seems to sustaining Newcastle.

It's easy for the club board to say - we are laying foundations for the future - we've being saying it for 10 years or so now.

The problem with the future is that's always so far away !

 

[Zatman]

7 minutes ago, hippo said:

Steve Bruce seems to sustaining Newcastle.

It's easy for the club board to say - we are laying foundations for the future - we've being saying it for 10 years or so now.

The problem with the future is that's always so far away !

 

Newcastle are owned by Mike Ashley, is no ambition or future planning. Just stay up and take the money from PL

[VillaCas]

59 minutes ago, TRO said:

Totally agree.

for me its the one position we have failed to see the significant relevance of and its cost us.

its the glue that holds it all together, that protects the defence and starts attacks......not saying, its just that one issue, but to me it has stopped us staying up, it would have consolidated the team and bought us time.

I remenber when Robbie Savage left the Blues, they have never been the same, never recovered and never got near us in a game since he went.

They are unsung heroes and crucial......look at Henderson at Liverpool, with all the eye candy on show, but he is the forgotten one who links it all and protects the back four......gives them the backbone, to build attacks on.

ps if i never wrote another post, the is the one thing we got wrong, that has cost us the most....imo

I agree with this....not that straightforward to recruit one though.

Shame Drinkwater didn’t work out - I think it nearly did but the guy had some demons and just couldn’t get back to the level of performance required ( .....if he wasn’t a gamble he wouldn’t have come to us!)

Cahill was someone we should have signed - I think we would be safe now if we had (who was at fault here? Smith? Suso? Purslow gets my vote for this one)

[villalad21]

To be fair.

I think Rafa placed all the foundations for Bruce to succeed there.

Once Rafa has drilled your team for years you know the art of defending.

Edited July 8, 2020 by villalad21

[Zatman]

Just now, VillaCas said:

 

Cahill was someone we should have signed - I think we would be safe now if we had (who was at fault here? Smith? Suso? Purslow gets my vote for this one)

Cahill wanted to stay in London, if we wanted him he would have joined since Terry is here