Dean Smith

[TRO]

4 hours ago, terrytini said:

Only Forest and Boro of the Top 12 have conceded less than Villa since Smith took over.

And 5 of his 6 games have been against sides in that group.

I don’t think our defence is remotely as poor as some think.

And the idea that we need to cut out unforced errors ? Every single Club in the World has that as an aim.

Its the Championship. We are a Championship team. Why would we have an error free defence ?

I couldn’t believe how quickly some were crying out for a more agricultural approach after 25 minutes.

From when he took over we needed 2 points per game, we have 12 points from 6.

And it’s extremely watchable.

Fantastic. Fan bloody tastic.

who wants to play like Ipswich ….them tractor boys.

[Dave-R]

5 hours ago, terrytini said:

Only Forest and Boro of the Top 12 have conceded less than Villa since Smith took over.

And 5 of his 6 games have been against sides in that group.

I don’t think our defence is remotely as poor as some think.

And the idea that we need to cut out unforced errors ? Every single Club in the World has that as an aim.

Its the Championship. We are a Championship team. Why would we have an error free defence ?

I couldn’t believe how quickly some were crying out for a more agricultural approach after 25 minutes.

From when he took over we needed 2 points per game, we have 12 points from 6.

And it’s extremely watchable.

Fantastic. Fan bloody tastic.

I dont need to say anything took the words out of my mouth.

Dean Smith is absolutely the man for the championship so far and so are our players, massive improvement from this club.

All hail the new era at villa, we will be back where we belong.

Ooooops I said something, just could resist!!!!

Highlights here:

 

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Dave-R

[romavillan]

6 hours ago, Dave-R said:

I dont need to say anything took the words out of my mouth.

Dean Smith is absolutely the man for the championship so far and so are our players, massive improvement from this club.

All hail the new era at villa, we will be back where we belong.

Ooooops I said something, just could resist!!!!

Highlights here:

 

 

90% of the Hutton goal is missing as is the new Hutton invented sport of nose skittles.

[bannedfromHandV]

Loved the emphatic response Grealish gave when asked after the game if DS could get us promoted.

That says to me that DS is really instilling just how good these guys are individually which is the polar opposite to SB who would duck and dodge the question at any given opportunity and you have to feel, in hindsight that this mindset filtered through to the players too

[Stevo985]

17 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Loved the emphatic response Grealish gave when asked after the game if DS could get us promoted.

That says to me that DS is really instilling just how good these guys are individually which is the polar opposite to SB who would duck and dodge the question at any given opportunity and you have to feel, in hindsight that this mindset filtered through to the players too

Yep there's definitely a belief there

"of course he can", didn't even hesitate.

They believe we can go up this season and it's great to see.

[TrentVilla]

23 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Loved the emphatic response Grealish gave when asked after the game if DS could get us promoted.

That says to me that DS is really instilling just how good these guys are individually which is the polar opposite to SB who would duck and dodge the question at any given opportunity and you have to feel, in hindsight that this mindset filtered through to the players too

He did more than that, he talked us down. Remember when Terry came out and said we had a squad to go and try and win the league.

[bannedfromHandV]

1 minute ago, TrentVilla said:

He did more than that, he talked us down. Remember when Terry came out and said we had a squad to go and try and win the league.

He did, and it's a tactic, I'm sure in quiet reflection he fully believed we were good enough for promotion.

I'd imagine it was partly to keep people (players, fans etc grounded) but also to protect himself, whereas DS has put it all on the line in some respects.

I'm really enjoying it.

[Stevo985]

Yeah the playing down thing to the media is fine in certain circumstances. Ranieri did it when leicester won the league. Pep does it to the media now despite them being easily the best team in the country.

It's what they say to the players that matters, but certainly this season bruce wasn't saying the right thing there either as there was no belief.

However it is very exciting to see a manager display such confidence and for it to be running through the team too. I'm enjoying it.

[villalad21]

What is our best lineup if everyone's fit? I would go for something like this i think.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

17 hours ago, terrytini said:

I couldn’t believe how quickly some were crying out for a more agricultural approach after 25 minutes.

I noticed this too. I hope it’s more to do with how poorly we were playing rather than how we were trying to play. 

[Stevo985]

12 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

What is our best lineup if everyone's fit? I would go for something like this i think.

 

Yeah I'd probably go with that, although leaving Kodjia out is harsh.

[TrentVilla]

 

There is, to me at least, a distinction that can be made between managing expectations and setting standards, goals and objectives, the two things are and have always been quite different.

When John Terry said last summer we had a squad for challenging for the title that to me was him attempting to set standards, the sort of standards to which he has always held himself and others. It was a call to action, it was about saying what the expectations were from the collective group of players. Then Bruce almost instantly undermined that and set a different set of standards. I said at the time and I maintain to this day that was damaging.

If you are going for the title/automatic then every game matters, at times last season we didn't play like that, we played like we were happy to reach the play offs and Bruce set that tone. Granted he might have said different in the dressing room but I really doubt it.

Yes managers often talk down expectations to remove pressure from their players but you know in private they are saying something different, the two examples above certainly would. I just don't think Bruce was doing that and I think it showed in our performances.

Smith on the other hand is setting standards and not particularly worrying about expectations at this stage, his messages to the media are in my view more about communication to the players and crucially opposition teams than they are the fans. I think the tone of his communication and the underlying message to opposition managers and players is intentional and calculated, its almost Fergie like.

He is telling people, we are going to come at you not worry about you, you try and stop us. That will impact on teams approach to playing us, positive and negative, particularly if we are effective in winning games. Just as it was effective for Wolves last season where teams thought they couldn't attack/beat them. So much of football is in the mind.

Smith isn't at this stage concerning himself with expectancy, he doesn't see it as a burden that might change if we are in the mix at the business end of the season, right now he is laying down his standards and I think the players are responding.

Bruce was intent on covering his arse before a ball was kicked last season, Smith seemingly is a very very different character. Long may it continue.

 

 

[villalad21]

8 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

although leaving Kodjia out is harsh.

Adomah is often injured though so he will get plenty of playtime

[pas5898]

Wednesday will tell us a lot about the squads mentality, instilled into them by Dean Smith.

As mentioned, last season after a great win (wolves), we went on to lose to QPR and Bolton. 

[Demitri_C]

I also like that smith isn't being over shadowed by the terry influence. Every one  knows who the boss is and the terry impact has died down which I am happy about.

Smiths come in and not been intimdated by the size, expectations of the club. Very happy so far. 7 goals in two games against two decent teams.

[TrentVilla]

15 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I also like that smith isn't being over shadowed by the terry influence. Every one  knows who the boss is and the terry impact has died down which I am happy about.

Smiths come in and not been intimdated by the size, expectations of the club. Very happy so far. 7 goals in two games against two decent teams.

From what I've seen and from what I'm told by someone who played with him, Smith doesn't get intimidated.

[villalad21]

What i didn't like is when we were 3-1 up players like Kodjia and Abraham started to dribble more, trying difficult things.

Instead they should have played like they did before the goals and push for 6 or 7 goals

[Daweii]

Not to forget we have three wins on the bounce and no fear that it's going to end any time soon. Previous managerial tenures were different, we would win two or rarely three in a row and the thought would be "when is this going to end, when are we going to do a Villa and **** this up?", but I haven't seen any of that. We are the second most in-form team in the league right now behind Norwich who are bossing the league right now, I don't see where our next loss comes from if we keep playing like we are and that's amazing to me. That change in mentally alone is huge. 

[Junxs]

2 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

Yeah the playing down thing to the media is fine in certain circumstances. Ranieri did it when leicester won the league. Pep does it to the media now despite them being easily the best team in the country.

It's what they say to the players that matters, but certainly this season bruce wasn't saying the right thing there either as there was no belief.

However it is very exciting to see a manager display such confidence and for it to be running through the team too. I'm enjoying it.

Yeah, like you say theres playing things down, but then theres outright making excuses like Bruce was doing.

With this same set of players that are now proving they are good enough - at the start of the season Bruce mentioned quite a few times that "We've had to start all over again after losing 6 players" heard him say regularly in interviews and pre-match pressers.

In reality he got Tuanzebe back and Onomah only played a bit part and didnt exactly set the world on fire. So really he lost 4 - Terry, Snodgrass, Johnstone and Grabban yet every opportunity he was going on about losing 6 players and starting all over again.

How did it make Abraham, McGinn, Nyland and Bolasie feel when the manager is indirectly complaining constatntly that last seasons team was better. It has to affect them mentally, and the rest of the squad start losing confidence as well thinking we arent as good as last year.

Smith is a breath of fresh air, part of me is worried if we go up this year then it might be too soon for him where massive changes in personnel will be required. But we'll worry about that if/when it happens!

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Junxs
grammar

[Farlz]

It's so good to finally enjoy watching us again. For years now I've wanted us to become a possession side and dominate the ball, it's bloody brilliant to see. Even yesterday we were a bit sloppy playing from the back and gave a couple of chances away but we still stuck to it and I love it. Building out from the back as a 3 with Hourihane dropping in is so much better than previously. 

A Villa man in charge who understands tactics and treats the fans with respect. It's good to properly love this club again.