Dean Smith

[VillaChris]

Promoted 3 years ahead of schedule is certainly a strange statement. When he came in we were only a point or two off top 6, indeed our poor run then from December onwards made the play offs more of a remote prospect.

He did well to keep us up in the end. I know want to see him really get to grips with game management and be quicker and bolder with his subs and formation tweaks before the opposition start doing it as we lost so many leads last season against decent teams. Another 10 points and we're sitting pretty in mid table which will hopefully happen this season.

[Mark_1989]

1 minute ago, VillaChris said:

Promoted 3 years ahead of schedule is certainly a strange statement. When he came in we were only a point or two off top 6, indeed our poor run then from December onwards made the play offs more of a remote prospect.

He did well to keep us up in the end. I know want to see him really get to grips with game management and be quicker and bolder with his subs and formation tweaks before the opposition start doing it as we lost so many leads last season against decent teams. Another 10 points and we're sitting pretty in mid table which will hopefully happen this season.

Baffles me when people come out with statements like ‘X’ amount of years ahead of schedule therefore he can be justified ‘X’

Its a ridiculous mindset people need to move away from - like any business/sports team we need to constantly update and review our aims, ambitions and aspirations. This way we can look to constantly move forward and not stand still. 
 

[Phil Silvers]

Just now, VillaChris said:

Promoted 3 years ahead of schedule is certainly a strange statement. When he came in we were only a point or two off top 6, indeed our poor run then from December onwards made the play offs more of a remote prospect.

He did well to keep us up in the end. I know want to see him really get to grips with game management and be quicker and bolder with his subs and formation tweaks before the opposition start doing it as we lost so many leads last season against decent teams. Another 10 points and we're sitting pretty in mid table which will hopefully happen this season.

Lets be frank here, he didn't, we got bloody lucky for once, I'm guessing the appointment of Shakespeare is an admission of needing more experienced help, finding a way to finish games off the right way, in game reading and countering flow, correct subs, I was so annoyed last few minutes of the Everton game that I stood up and spoke to Dean through my TV in a raised voice, stuff like that, make some subs for gawd sake, lets hope he's got it now and becomes the manager we all want him to be.

[villalad21]

2 hours ago, Thug said:

I can’t believe we are having this conversation again.

He got us up probably 3 years ahead of schedule.

He kept us up against all odds with a tiny squad pretty much put together over a single summer.

i keep reading that our owners won’t be that patient, when they stuck with him, and indeed have him a new contract, when any other club would’ve fired him in a panicked state when we were 7 points adrift.

Lets face it.  He’s here for the long haul.  And we will be richer for it.

Mate, football is a brutal game.

Leicester sacked Ranieri after he won them the league. Southampton sacked Adkins after he got them promoted and kept them up the season after. And in hindsight both were correct decisions by the clubs.

What he's done in the past doesn't matter.

All that matters now is how he performs this season.

Edited September 20, 2020 by villalad21

[TRO]

20 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

So would I. It's worth remembering we were far more established in premier league when O'Neill came in. We only finished 11th in his first season but finished that season strongly and the signings of Young and Carew that January showed we were moving in right direction and so it proved over the next few seasons.

Anything from 11th-13th is decent progress I think, 8-10th would be excellent and probably overachieving. 14th or lower and don't think the board will be satisfied with that or have the opinion he's the man to guide us in top half/europe as he's had far more say over signings this summer so that won't be an excuse if we're struggling mid season.

It's a good test for him now. Will he come up with an effective gameplan tomorrow v Sheffield as that's an opposition we've really struggled against last few seasons.

We have.

what will I be looking for tomorrow? a positive result obviously, but I want to see an effervescent approach, a team going after the ball and winning duels, organised when we don't have it....closing down in small groups and denying Sheff Utd the oxygen they thrive on.

I want to see effort and a willingness to run, not stand off and watch.....I want to see us take the game to them.

Edited September 20, 2020 by TRO

[sharkyvilla]

By the looks of things we should have a better balanced first XI going into the season and I'm confident we will grind out more results where we were throwing them away at the start of last season.  Our first priority will still be to get to 38-40 points as soon as possible though.  I hope we are luckier with injuries than last season as well so I'm hoping Dean will manage to get us well clear of relegation as I really want him to take us to the next step.

[Thug]

10 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Mate, football is a brutal game.

Leicester sacked Ranieri after he won them the league. Southampton sacked Adkins after he got them promoted and kept them up the season after. And in hindsight both were correct decisions by the clubs.

What he's done in the past doesn't matter.

All that matters now is how he performs this season.

Yh I suppose you’re right.

I mean we’ve already seen how ruthless NSWE are, you know, 7 points adrift after spending £150m..

Truth is, no one here knows what they are likely to do, and just love to speculate about what they are thinking.

A better season than last.  Comfortably away from a relegation fight, and he’s done an admirable job.

There will still be the usual suspects here calling for his head, regardless.

Grass always seems to be greener for some.  I remember when people were screaming for Eddie Howe to be our manager.

[villalad21]

16 minutes ago, TRO said:

what will I be looking for tomorrow? a positive result obviously, but I want to see an effervescent approach, a team going after the ball and winning duels, organised when we don't have it....closing down in small groups and denying Sheff Utd the oxygen they thrive on.

Can't believe we need to point this out.

Literally basics. Should be a given for any professional football club. Bare minimum expected.

That being said we looked a lot better post covid break. I hope we can keep on building from there.

Will he play gung ho football tomorrow? Or more balanced?

Edited September 20, 2020 by villalad21

[Vive_La_Villa]

19 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Mate, football is a brutal game.

Leicester sacked Ranieri after he won them the league. Southampton sacked Adkins after he got them promoted and kept them up the season after. And in hindsight both were correct decisions by the clubs.

What he's done in the past doesn't matter.

All that matters now is how he performs this season.

I think they sacked him half way through the first promoted season even though they were mid table.  I agree with your post though. 

[villalad21]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I think they sacked him half way through the first promoted season even though they were mid table.  I agree with your post though. 

Ballsy decision indeed.

But they obviously had great belief in Pochettino and fair play to them they were proved right despite heavy criticism from the media.

Ultimately this season will tell us if Dean has hit the ceiling with us and we're gonna have to move him on or if there's yet another chapter to be written in his villa career.

Edited September 20, 2020 by villalad21

[bannedfromHandV]

Smith has achieved all his objectives to date, to doubt him at this stage is pessimism only.

 

Lets see how he does with this next phase and his next objective - to establish us in the division and to move away from a relegation battle.

[GENTLEMAN]

2 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Smith has achieved all his objectives to date, to doubt him at this stage is pessimism only.

 

Lets see how he does with this next phase and his next objective - to establish us in the division and to move away from a relegation battle.

Yes, almost a salivation by some to be ‘proved right’ and for him to fail at Villa. Every fibre of me wants him to succeed. His story is unique to Villa. He has targets this season, fail to reach them, then he is answerable to the board. Like every other manager in the Premier league.

[Mark_1989]

1 hour ago, GENTLEMAN said:

Yes, almost a salivation by some to be ‘proved right’ and for him to fail at Villa. Every fibre of me wants him to succeed. His story is unique to Villa. He has targets this season, fail to reach them, then he is answerable to the board. Like every other manager in the Premier league.

Utter nonsense - no serious Villa fan wants to be proved right about a manager of their club failing and ultimately he hasn’t failed to date - long may this continue.

Every fibre of me wants him to succeed too. As I point out people are allowed to question him? He made many mistakes last season and the fact things went our way that weren’t under our control shows we got an element of luck towards the end.

I feel there is a trend on VT with regards to people being overly sensitive and take opinions they don’t agree with to heart and get defensive. NO-ONE wants smith to fail!

Edited September 20, 2020 by Mark_1989

[Sulberto21]

2 hours ago, TRO said:

We have.

what will I be looking for tomorrow? a positive result obviously, but I want to see an effervescent approach, a team going after the ball and winning duels, organised when we don't have it....closing down in small groups and denying Sheff Utd the oxygen they thrive on.

I want to see effort and a willingness to run, not stand off and watch.....I want to see us take the game to them.

For me it has to be the pressing from the front and therefore higher up the pitch. As you know the further away from our goal the opposition are the less chances they'll have. There has to be more cohesion in the press this season. Last season it was too disjointed.

Watkins is a mighty presser. I'm hoping that Traore is too. Trezeguet despite his limitations improved vastly off the ball post lockdown and his positioning off the ball was much better.

[Sam-AVFC]

11 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said:

For me it has to be the pressing from the front and therefore higher up the pitch. As you know the further away from our goal the opposition are the less chances they'll have. There has to be more cohesion in the press this season. Last season it was too disjointed.

Watkins is a mighty presser. I'm hoping that Traore is too. Trezeguet despite his limitations improved vastly off the ball post lockdown and his positioning off the ball was much better.

Agree on pressing from the front and in addition I'd quite like us to be in more of a 4-4-2 shape defensively so there isn't a striker having to pointlessly press on his own but we can still be solid further back. The old 2 banks of 4 being hard to break down cliche.

I don't necessarily expect us to do this against the top teams, but it would be good to see us try and get at lower half teams.

[Trickster]

To say there isn't any fans would like to see him fail is underestimating the bitterness that exists on social media etc. I am in absolutely in no doubt that some who didn't want him appointed in the first place is holding this chip on their shoulder and just waiting to perk up like a viper and whinge 'I told you so'. Whether they are 'true' Villa fans is much of a muchness etc but I have no doubt there are fans like this.

Edited September 20, 2020 by Trickster

[villalad21]

Even i don't want him to fail

That's just ridiculous.

If Smith is successful villa is successful. Happy days for everyone.

Edited September 21, 2020 by villalad21

[GENTLEMAN]

9 hours ago, Mark_1989 said:

Utter nonsense - no serious Villa fan wants to be proved right about a manager of their club failing and ultimately he hasn’t failed to date - long may this continue.

Every fibre of me wants him to succeed too. As I point out people are allowed to question him? He made many mistakes last season and the fact things went our way that weren’t under our control shows we got an element of luck towards the end.

I feel there is a trend on VT with regards to people being overly sensitive and take opinions they don’t agree with to heart and get defensive. NO-ONE wants smith to fail!

Question him about what? A ball has not even been kicked this season. It’s human behaviour. Plenty don’t think ‘he’s good enough’ so begin to look at everything through that lens. Dip in from = ‘hate to be right but...’, substitution not working = ‘sound like a broken record but he doesn’t learn’. Rinse and repeat for all manner of things. I am of the opinion that regards football, be as positive as possible or at the very least neutral. I try to search for all evidence that points to a positive outcome. Have a positive bias. I just find it more fun that way. Villa is beyond my circle of influence, I cannot control or influence the outcome. So to me there is no reason to be bias in the negative.

[bannedfromHandV]

9 hours ago, Mark_1989 said:

Utter nonsense - no serious Villa fan wants to be proved right about a manager of their club failing and ultimately he hasn’t failed to date - long may this continue.

Every fibre of me wants him to succeed too. As I point out people are allowed to question him? He made many mistakes last season and the fact things went our way that weren’t under our control shows we got an element of luck towards the end.

I feel there is a trend on VT with regards to people being overly sensitive and take opinions they don’t agree with to heart and get defensive. NO-ONE wants smith to fail!

I think it’s just an odd thing to be highlighting and discussing on the eve of a new season, the timing makes it seem like it’s driven by an agenda.

[GENTLEMAN]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

Even i don't want him to fail

That's just ridiculous.

If Smith is successful villa is successful. Happy days for everyone.

Sure. I think it’s about perspective though. Clearly you think Bielsa is a top manager. So you see every action as positive. You don’t think Smith is good enough. So you see every action as negative.

If Villa were to have performed and got results against Liverpool and Fulham as Leeds did would you have reacted the same?