Dean Smith

[icouldtelltheworld]

3 hours ago, Only2McInallys said:

 

Love it towards the end when he talks about character being vital with the players we sign. You can completely see that in the way that the likes of Trez, Luiz, Keinan, Konsa and Targett have improved over the past year. Players who want to learn, want to improve and are part of a positive culture. After years of being ripped off by mercenaries this is the most refreshing thing for me. I have full faith in Dean and never wanted him sacked (not saying that to boast- I can understand why others had their doubts).

He just comes across as calm, measured, analytical and exactly what this club has needed for as long as i can remember.  I might be biased as I'm local to North Brum but I really feel that Dean gets it and is truly one of us - IMO whatever happens from here on in, he will be judged kindly in the history of this great club 

[LondonLax]

9 hours ago, Only2McInallys said:

 

Felt a real cringe when the reporter asked him how he felt when fans were callIng for his head. 

[icouldtelltheworld]

Great article from the Athletic about the changes we've made - some really positive and exciting stuff here

Quote

Dean Smith has enjoyed the wild celebrations as Aston Villa secured their Premier League status.

He has decided that rather than going home after a boozy end-of-season knees-up, he will instead sleep in his office at Bodymoor Heath.

Jubilant players, coaching staff and backroom staff had all made the bus journey back from West Ham United’s London Stadium after the crucial 1-1 draw on the final day of last season. Songs were belted out all the way up the M40 and back into Birmingham where the party started close to the training ground.

As the players partied long into the night, Smith sneaked out early and settled for a spot on his office sofa. Villa’s head coach already had one eye on next season, which had to be a drastic improvement.

“Nobody was satisfied with finishing 17th in the league”, he would later say.

It was while nursing a hangover after avoiding a crushing relegation that the start of Villa’s transformation took shape.

Lockdown was a tough period for Smith who lost his father, Ron, to COVID-19 in May.

Before the pandemic suspended the season, it looked as if Smith might lose his job. But after an upturn in results when the league resumed, there was never any chance Villa would go into the new season with a different man in the dugout.

It was reaffirmed to Smith that he would lead the challenge of establishing Villa in the Premier League. Smith postponed a family holiday to Scotland to discuss the way forward in 2020-21 alongside chief executive Christian Purslow in the days after. He also wanted to meet new sporting director Johan Lange. Less than 24 hours after that crucial final day result, Jesus Garcia Pitarch left the club and three days later, Lange was announced as his replacement.

Before new targets were drawn up, it was important to re-align the “triangle of power” between CEO, sporting director and head coach. Pitarch wasn’t to blame for all of Villa’s shortcomings last season but when the relationship between the Spaniard and Purslow soured, it was clear that change was needed.

In his place came Lange, who feels very much like an ideal assistant to Purslow, the man who typically rules the roost at Villa. An intelligent 40-year-old who worked wonders in a similar role at FC Copenhagen in Denmark, Lange has so far remained in the shadows to those on the outside but internally, he’s already making his mark.

Purslow is the leading force when getting the deals done for the players Smith has targeted, but Lange, with his superior understanding of data, helps Villa in other areas. He’s also a tough negotiator, as numerous sources have explained to The Athletic. For all of Villa’s wealth, they’re not giving money away easily.

Following Lange’s appointment, the focus shifted to the following campaign, with a strategic plan quickly drawn up. As Villa sit pretty at the top end of the Premier League, having won all four of their league games this season, the benefit of such early planning can be felt.

After some questionable transfer windows in recent times, Villa recruited well this summer. However, the most important signatures of the window were those of England internationals Jack Grealish and Tyrone Mings, who signed contract extensions with the club.

Addressing the goalkeeper issue was crucial and already Emiliano Martinez looks to be a bargain at £20 million. It was not lost on those at the club that this was a problem area, with goalkeepers signed in the last five consecutive transfer windows.

Striker Ollie Watkins, signed from Brentford for £28 million, Matty Cash from Nottingham Forest and Bertrand Traore from Lyon have also hit the ground running. Acquiring Ross Barkley on loan from Chelsea already feels like a game-changer. His two displays so far have helped maintain a faultless start to the campaign.

Aligning the set-up behind the scenes is one thing, but getting it right on the pitch is another.

Smith has found a winning formula of which other teams in the division will quickly become envious if it continues. At a time when questions have been asked of the defending at the so-called “big six”, Villa have mastered the art of keeping out goals by going back to basics.

“We are a hard-working team that fights for every ball,” says the impressive Cash, who has settled into Premier League life as a duck settles into water. “We also have staff and a manager who keep us on our toes.”

Three clean sheets in four games is a result of what Smith describes as an unrelenting effort from every player to stick to their job. Often, his final message to the players before a big game is “be a good team-mate”. This season, more than ever, it’s evident they are taking that on board.

There was a touching moment after the 3-0 win over Fulham when, in the dressing room, youngster Jacob Ramsey was given a round of applause by the players for making his Premier League debut. That is the culture Smith has set at the club.

“I want the players to come into work every day and be happy and proud to play for Aston Villa,” the head coach has said.

Villa’s early-season form is a result of the end of last season’s hard work. There is a self-policing feel to the squad these days and that has been encouraged by Smith.

When football stopped for three months between March and June, he tasked his players with the challenge of devising a plan to stop leaking so many goals. First, the team was split into small groups and each one had to come up with a way of making Villa hard to beat. At that stage, Villa had shipped more goals than any other team and faced the most shots at goal.

They conceded 67 goals last season, the second-worst total in the Premier League behind 20th-placed Norwich City. Defensively they were a shambles, and that is what makes the turnaround even more impressive.

When Smith had viewed all the findings, he worked on a way to put it into practice. In short, it is largely down to a no-nonsense approach and a reduced level of risk-taking in dangerous areas.

Developing young Brazilian Douglas Luiz into a disciplined defensive midfielder rather than a player who wanted to roam forward and join in the attacks too often has improved the team. Luiz studied English to help speed up his transition and is now thriving for club and country.

Trezeguet, the Egyptian winger, is the team’s unsung hero. As he’s one of only a few players not to have access to his own private garden, he was allowed to exercise alone on the practice pitches during the shutdown months when others trained at home. The effort he puts in on match days often gets overlooked, but not from within. He is a popular player among the squad because of his tireless work ethic.

Villa’s leading Premier League goalscorer, Gabby Agbonlahor, once told how the teams of 2008 and 2009 used to go into games with cocky discussions about “which player was going to score first”. That level of confidence cannot be felt around the current camp just yet, but there’s now a feeling that if Villa continue to get it right at the back, there’s finally enough quality in attacking areas to punish opponents.

“Our mindset is to make sure we’re tough to beat and tight at the back because we know we’ve got players who can score us goals,” Smith tells The Athletic.

After signing a contract extension at the club, captain Grealish spent three weeks sending daily messages convincing his pal Barkley to join on loan and already the pair are causing havoc breaking from midfield. During the 7-2 win over Liverpool, the duo exchanged 17 passes between them, the biggest passing combination of any two players on the pitch.

Smith’s additional sales pitch to Barkley was simple. “I told him I’ll get him in the Euros squad if he comes here and helps us win football games,” he says.

When asked about the possibility of a permanent deal for Barkley, Smith replied: “It’s nothing that has been talked about, our discussions were only for the end of the season.” Villa are paying all of Barkley’s £110,000-a-week wages.

Watkins’ unselfish style adds another dimension to the attack and he takes it upon himself to put additional hours into studying the weaknesses of players he is set to come up against. Watkins revealed that he and Barkley studied how they could get at Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez before the 7-2 demolition of the champions.

“They don’t really get caused too many problems but it definitely paid off,” he told the Telegraph.

As new friendship groups at the club develop, Smith continues to get more from the squad in post-game debriefs, too.

The head coach believes it’s important to share feelings honestly after a match, no matter the quality of performance. It’s an environment that can help solve on-field issues. An emotional contribution from on-loan goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, after the brilliant 1-0 win over Arsenal that effectively saved Villa’s season back in July is said to have been a defining moment. Some of the quieter players in the group have since felt more confident to speak out.

Smith also believes the lack of supporters inside the stadium on a match day is uniquely benefiting his younger players.

“What has helped a lot of the player’s growth is that, because it is so quiet, they have to talk on the pitch,” he suggests. “Also, we know that every message we send out is getting across to the players.”

For Villa, it’s now a case of building on their terrific start to the season.

“When you are doing well, there is always the pressure to keep doing well,” adds Cash. “We don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves but with the squad of players we have, we have to look towards the top half of the table.”

This season, Smith brought in a fresh voice and new ideas in the form of ex-Leicester City boss Craig Shakespeare, which has also played a part in the upturn.

Villa are now eight Premier League games unbeaten stretching over two seasons. As one source close to the club told The Athletic, “It’s good to strengthen even when you feel like you’re in a good moment. Dean has his long-term right-hand man, Richard O’Kelly, on board because he constantly challenges him. They don’t always agree on everything and that’s a good thing.

“With John Terry being able to relate to the modern-day dressing room and now bringing in Shakespeare, too, Villa have finally got Premier League coaching experience in their set-up.”

Goalkeeper coach, Neil Cutler, is also said to be one of the best in the business. 

It’s no coincidence that Villa’s defence is thriving after two solid years of work with Terry, one of the greatest defenders the Premier League has ever seen. His analysis sessions with individual players are said to be detailed and very productive but the entire group recognise that it’s not just about the defenders. The change has come from a collective team effort.

Although the basic principles have remained in place for each of Villa’s four victories this season, there are still individual plans for each game. Villa tried to draw out Sheffield United by playing slowly and patiently out from the back; against Liverpool, they exposed the champions’ high line and at Leicester, Smith had to flip the system early into the game.

“After 15 minutes, we went man-for-man against them because they were playing through us a bit too easy for my liking. It worked and we grew into the game and got better,” he explains.

Incredibly, Villa need just a point against Leeds United on Friday to move to the top of the Premier League table for the first time since 2001.

They are the beacon of light at the club right now, but there’s also a strategy in place to improve the academy and the women’s team.

Overseeing the whole project is performance director Jeremy Oliver, who, like Lange, hasn’t conducted an interview since joining the club. Oliver, who has an attention to detail in behavioural factors as well as technical, was hired on the recommendation of co-owner, Wes Edens, who initially recognised his work in Australian rules football.

Oliver oversees the backroom staff and sets the framework that they work within. He has input in training plans, schedules, logistics and even marketing. He has also been influential in helping the women’s team grow by making sure the sports scientists and other members of the medical and performance team are available for their needs.

He was entrusted with making Villa Park a fortress again in the promotion-winning year when he pushed to introduce pyrotechnics into the stadium before key clashes.

The saddest part of Villa’s recent rise is the fans cannot fully embrace and experience it. However, there’s a growing feeling within the club that Villa’s faultless start to the season might only be the start and has created a platform for the good times to roll again.

 

[YouUnastanFren]

34 minutes ago, icouldtelltheworld said:

Trezeguet, the Egyptian winger, is the team’s unsung hero. As he’s one of only a few players not to have access to his own private garden, he was allowed to exercise alone on the practice pitches during the shutdown months when others trained at home. 

Rumour has it that he was training at home until @samjp26 complained to the front desk about the lunatic on the floor above doing box jumps 6 days a week

[ender4]

1 hour ago, icouldtelltheworld said:

Great article from the Athletic about the changes we've made - some really positive and exciting stuff here

 

That is a good article.

Very interesting to read about what goes on behind the scenes.

[sheepyvillian]

12 hours ago, LondonLax said:

Felt a real cringe when the reporter asked him how he felt when fans were callIng for his head. 

He's wise enough to understand the fickle nature of Villa supporters. 

[GENTLEMAN]

38 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

He's wise enough to understand the fickle nature of any supporters. 

There we go. Let’s not pretend we hold monopoly of fickleness.

[leemond2008]

#SMITHOUT

[bose]

I don’t blame Smith tonight. Some very poor performances tonight.

[VillaChris]

Tonight's a reality check.

What will seperate this season hopefully from our last decade is do we now go into our shells and feel sorry for ourselves for next two months as we've done for most seasons since 2010 or do we come back strong against Southampton who will press us in a similar style to Leeds and had our number in the two games last season.

A bad run will kill this promising season stone dead which I don't really want given how decent we've looked before tonight. What this season has shown is any team in this league is capable of a wretched 90 minutes but the best quickly bounce back. Man. United lost 6-1 at home to Spurs and within two weeks are beating PSG away. Man. City done o.k since losing 5-2 at home to Leicester so that's the type of mentality we need rather than collapsing like we tended to do whenever we were having a mini good run under Lambert.

Last season we were doing o.k and then Leicester knocked 4 past us at VP and we were in panic stations for next 3 months and probably would've gone down but for the stoppage.

Would imagine the 11 will be mixed up a bit next weekend, can see starts for Traore and Nakamba.

[LondonLax]

Need more Murder Ball training sessions. 

[sidcow]

I think you're going to see teams really target our fullbacks after this. Dean is going to have to work out what he does about that. 

[Indigo]

Game really hinged on that first goal, had either of Grealish's chances gone in it could've been a different game but once the momentum was with them it was game over.

A lot of Villa fans won't want to admit it but Leeds were brilliant tonight and that's the main reason we've lost.

[AVFCforever1991]

Just now, Indigo said:

Game really hinged on that first goal, had either of Grealish's chances gone in it could've been a different game but once the momentum was with them it was game over.

A lot of Villa fans won't want to admit it but Leeds were brilliant tonight and that's the main reason we've lost.

They've absoluted dominated us to tonight , have to hold your hand up and say they've been much the better side, we've still got a lot to learn.

[leemond2008]

I'm not going to knock Smith, I'm have never been his biggest fan but I think that he should have took Trez off at half time and gave Traore a good 45 minutes, everything we have done has gone down the left all night, get Traore on and give them something to think about.

This has been a throw back to last season, lets hope that he can sort something out for the next match.

 

[PaulC]

2 minutes ago, Indigo said:

Game really hinged on that first goal, had either of Grealish's chances gone in it could've been a different game but once the momentum was with them it was game over.

A lot of Villa fans won't want to admit it but Leeds were brilliant tonight and that's the main reason we've lost.

Quite right Grealish nearly scored the goal of the season. Cant argue that didn't deserve to win though. 

[sidcow]

1 minute ago, Indigo said:

A lot of Villa fans won't want to admit it but Leeds were brilliant tonight and that's the main reason we've lost.

We have been well beaten. Outfought for nearly the whole game. They've scythed through our poor midfield and murdered us down the flanks. 

Yes we've played badly but they have been very very good all over the pitch. 

[DCJonah]

I think the game has been lost in midfield. Barkley and mcginn especially poor. 

Trez lazy for the first goal. 

If jack takes his chances maybe a different game. 

[DCJonah]

Next game, Southampton will have different threats but they won't be like this. 

[danceoftheshamen]

I thought Dean & the coaching staff were poor tonight.  Did absolutely nothing to address the Leeds overload on the wings whatsoever which is quite bizarre and the reason Leeds won easily as has been correctly spotted by the commentators. Awful.

You could see from the off we were not at it tonight, sloppy, constantly giving the ball away needlessly, slow & laborious all over the pitch. I'm surprised Subs didn't come on sooner to shake it up a bit.