Dean Smith

[Vive_La_Villa]

SMITH OUT! 

[villalad21]

2 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

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.

Wanting Smith to fail also means wanting Villa to fail.

That's not a true fan.

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, GENTLEMAN said:

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? 

Smith still can’t organise a defence. There is no way we can stay up when we are conceding such soft goals.

[Tomaszk]

I look forward to him being blamed for every point dropped as he should be winning all 38 games.

[villalad21]

11 minutes ago, GENTLEMAN said:

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? 

Liverpool game, yes. Fulham game, no.

[GENTLEMAN]

To me, he is our man. His story is unique to Villa. Great Barr lad. Lower league player, worked his arse off to get the opportunity. Always learning and developing. The 18/19 winning run. The 19/20 survival when written off with 4 games left. We’ve just tied Jack down on a 5 year contract. The club is developing. Football is about those narratives and all about community.

I‘ll search for all evidence that points to Smith being a success. And frame everything with that positive mindset. There are no personal ramifications for me not to. It’s the same when I talk to a opposition fans about Jack. It is unlike other aspects of life, where being more balanced has major benefits.

Edited September 21, 2020 by GENTLEMAN
Great Barr

[Wezbid]

15 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Smith still can’t organise a defence. There is no way we can stay up when we are conceding such soft goals.

Bit harsh, after lockdown we conceded 11 goals in our last 10 games coming up against some of the league's highest scorers in Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal along with tough opposition like Wolves and Sheffield Utd. 1 of those conceded was a fluke deflection off Grealish against West Ham too. After lockdown, we looked far more organised in the main to me. 

[VillaFaninLondon]

Of course Smith being a Villa man adds romanticism to his story and it's nice to be run by someone who understands the club. At the same time, I don't think being a Villa man should have any bearing on whether he stays in a job or not. He's been very lucky walking into a job where he's so well backed financially, he wouldn't get that at many Prem clubs (Burnley, Sheff U, Southampton, West Ham, Fulham, West Brom). He's been backed financially for 2 summers now.

 

For me, if Dean gives us a stable and progressive season and we end up 12th-14th, I'll back him sensibly. If we're struggling to stay up again I think he will come under enormous pressure and rightly so. I hope it's the former.

 

With the current squad, I'm not confident it won't be a struggle again. Signing Rashica would make a big difference, and I really want Terry to help out by convincing Lampard to give us one of their fringe players even if just on loan. Someone like Barkley, Loftus Cheek or Tammy back would again make a massive difference.

 

Interested to see how tonight goes.

[bobzy]

13 hours ago, Mark_1989 said:

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. 
 

From memory, it was our owners/higher-ups who said we were promoted ahead of schedule.  It doesn't mean justification for every scenario, but bear in mind how close we came to being seriously **** under FFP restrictions, the new team will have been planning to lower costs and spend sensibly in order to push back into the Premier League.  When that happens ahead of schedule, you suddenly need to spend a lot more money for (hopefully) much higher quality.

We had an incredibly light squad in the first place so getting in a lot of players, all of whom had to be Premier League quality, and with FFP looming over us  was a huge task.  Of course Smith made mistakes last season, but survival will have been the only real aim.  Hasn't Purslow himself (closely affiliated with the introduction of FFP) said we're still hampered by FFP for another couple of seasons?  All we need to do, really, is survive and then push on properly when more "freed up".

We're making the right sort of investments and I have the usual pre-season optimism in my head, but the reality is that this is far, far, far from a polished Premier League side with a clear identity and one which should be looking at top half.  Avoiding a relegation battle this season would be a complete result - and, IMO, is what the aim is/should be.

Edited September 21, 2020 by bobzy

[Vive_La_Villa]

9 minutes ago, Wezbid said:

Bit harsh, after lockdown we conceded 11 goals in our last 10 games coming up against some of the league's highest scorers in Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal along with tough opposition like Wolves and Sheffield Utd. 1 of those conceded was a fluke deflection off Grealish against West Ham too. After lockdown, we looked far more organised in the main to me. 

That was my response to what fans that are critical of Smith would say if we got the same result against Liverpool and Fulham as Leeds did.

[Rodders]

I think staying up will have proven to be a massive boost to the mentality of some of the players who should now feel they belong. We've spent / will have spent more than most teams who finish 17th have done. 14th or 15th would be a bit disappointing for me - caveat being depends on context - if we get lots of injuries etc, then it's fine - We should certainly aspire for top 10, if we fall short and are 12th etc that's still a very good season. It's difficult to judge as there aren't too many teams to fear in this like, but that also goes vice versa. 

man city and liverpool will be head and shoulders above us. Chelsea too. Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester, Everton, will all be up there. United too despite their indifferent start. Wolves in 9th, but equally, not in a different league, they're just a good team.  After that, who is definitively better than us in taking a 9th/10th spot? I don't think anyone is. I also don't think we are definitively better than any of the other teams. That should be the goal for a good 7/8 sides in that lower half. To avoid injuries, have that bit of luck in games here and there and try and capitalise on positive spells of momentum and turn tight games into wins. Failing to get 9th or 10th obviously doesn't mean a failed season to be clear. How far away we are from competing for it will determine that. 

[VillaFaninLondon]

13 hours 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.

For me this is spot on. We will always have different perspectives (all fans do), though those who go on about their 10 game winning run fail to realise we won 2 out of 13 prior to that with Dean in charge. Those who argue he took us up a year ahead of schedule fail to realise we weren't far off playoffs anyway and he had a very strong squad. Those who argue he kept us up fail to realise we were knee deep in it largely due to his management and failure to tweak the system for so long. But I fully appreciate it was a difficult task last season incorporating so many players into the squad and he did very well getting us out of it at the end.

 

This season is fairer to judge him on. We have to steer clear of relegation and the first half of the season is largely favourable in terms of fixtures. We need to be well clear of relegation by Christmas given the second half of the season is tougher, hopefully we will be. 

[villalad21]

4 minutes ago, Rodders said:

I think staying up will have proven to be a massive boost to the mentality of some of the players who should now feel they belong. We've spent / will have spent more than most teams who finish 17th have done. 14th or 15th would be a bit disappointing for me - caveat being depends on context - if we get lots of injuries etc, then it's fine - We should certainly aspire for top 10, if we fall short and are 12th etc that's still a very good season. It's difficult to judge as there aren't too many teams to fear in this like, but that also goes vice versa. 

man city and liverpool will be head and shoulders above us. Chelsea too. Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester, Everton, will all be up there. United too despite their indifferent start. Wolves in 9th, but equally, not in a different league, they're just a good team.  After that, who is definitively better than us in taking a 9th/10th spot? I don't think anyone is. I also don't think we are definitively better than any of the other teams. That should be the goal for a good 7/8 sides in that lower half. To avoid injuries, have that bit of luck in games here and there and try and capitalise on positive spells of momentum and turn tight games into wins. Failing to get 9th or 10th obviously doesn't mean a failed season to be clear. How far away we are from competing for it will determine that. 

I hope you are right and we can kick on and i'm not downplaying what we did post Covid break.

But teams like Palace, Newcastle, Everton and even Liverpool looked pretty "beached" when we played them the last 10 games.

Palace and Everton in particular looks completely different teams now.

Looking forward to the game later. I have no idea how Smith will set us up. Will he go back to his traditional gung ho football or play more pragmatic?

[Wezbid]

14 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

That was my response to what fans that are critical of Smith would say if we got the same result against Liverpool and Fulham as Leeds did.

Sorry. Monday mornings are not my thing! 

[nepal_villan]

Unless we are in the bottom 3 places for a long stretch, think Smith will be given a pass for another season.  Next year he will be expected to deliver a solid mid-table finish at minimum. Otherwise, I can see him being replaced by a high profile manager - similar to what Everton has done.

[Follyfoot]

45 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

I look forward to him being blamed for every point dropped as he should be winning all 38 games.

That is the bare minimum this season. They have backed him in the transfer window again and I want to see a return on their investment. Anything less than 38 victories should be classed as a failure Villa fan or no villa fan

Edited September 21, 2020 by Follyfoot

[Sulberto21]

Just now, Follyfoot said:

That is the bare minimum this season. They are back to him in the transfer window again and I want to see a return on their investment. Anything less than 38 victories should be classed as a failure Villa fan or no villa fan

VAR would still find a way for liverscum or man city being champions.

[Vive_La_Villa]

2 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

That is the bare minimum this season. They have backed him in the transfer window again and I want to see a return on their investment. Anything less than 38 victories should be classed as a failure Villa fan or no villa fan

That would be a good start but surely we need to win a cup as well?

[villalad21]

We can all agree on 35 points last season nowhere near good enough. In a lot of PL seasons 35 points would see you relegated.

Hoping for 40-45 points this season. Anything above would be a massive achievement. Anything below would be terrible and unacceptable.

Edited September 21, 2020 by villalad21

[Follyfoot]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

That would be a good start but surely we need to win a cup as well?

Both