Dean Smith

[Dave-R]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

TalkSport meant to be talking about whether we can break top 4 today. Not sure if it’s already been covered.  Be interesting to hear whether Adrian Durham is trolling our villa.
 

FWIW I don’t think we are ready to break top 4, I think we’ll finish around 8th. But who knows what could happen. 

Personally I think people are mad when they say we can break top 4, I was thinking top 3 myself

[DaveAV1]

2 minutes ago, Dave-R said:

Personally I think people are mad when they say we can break top 4, I was thinking top 3 myself

Perhaps we can’t win the PL but we could certainly make the top 1. 

[ender4]

2 minutes ago, Dave-R said:

Personally I think people are mad when they say we can break top 4, I was thinking top 3 myself

Hmmm, I’m still on the title challenge train. 

First or go home.

[Sulberto21]

5 minutes ago, Dave-R said:

Personally I think people are mad when they say we can break top 4, I was thinking top 3 myself

Anyone who thinks top 3 or winning the title has lost the plot. We should be winning the the Champions League this season.

[villa_shere]

7 minutes ago, villa_shere said:

To answer my own question. We are currently 14th in the league for passing accuracy. 
 

Improving on passing and shooting accuracy could shoot us into European spots without sacrificing the way we play. 
 

I imagine the items above are more due to personnel and will improve with the quality of players we bring into the club

Interestingly 83% seems to be the percentage to aim for and most of our players fall short of that. 
 

I can only assume target cash el ghazi and Trez and lower due to crossing?

 

surprised Mings is low

stats taken from whoscored.com

[mjmooney]

12 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Perhaps we can’t win the PL but we could certainly make the top 1. 

 

[TRO]

3 hours ago, Rightdm00 said:

This game right here is when my man crush for Dean developed. Brentford destroyed us 3-0 and that was after we took Hogan off of them.  Brentford looked so good, well coached and organized. 

Didn't even know he was a Villa fan til we signed him. That sealed it right there. I was riding with Dean hell or high water. 

Side note, has Dean ever lost to Bruce?  I went back as far as 2016 and it's nothing but wins and draws. 

Me too.

I am more impressed with what he does, than who he is......Its nice that he is a fan, but his credentials far out weight that.....He is in the job on merit. not nepotism.

I also think it was nifty getting Craig Shakespeare in.

baring any unforeseen events, I can see him with us for quite some time.

[Tomaszk]

3 minutes ago, TRO said:

Me too.

I am more impressed with what he does, than who he is......Its nice that he is a fan, but his credentials far out weight that.....He is in the job on merit. not nepotism.

I also think it was nifty getting Craig Shakespeare in.

baring any unforeseen events, I can see him with us for quite some time.

I have fear a big job will be appearing after the Euros this summer are over.

Not sure what Smith would do.

[AV82]

Pinching myself on the daily having this guy in charge.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Yep, it’s happening!

With my mates it’s nothing but banter and piss taking but even they’re starting to admit they enjoy watching us play now.

Pundits are all over us, Carragher seems to want to let everyone know how much he likes us at every given opportunity.

Such a stark contrast to the previous decade or so. Everything about us is so ‘feel-good’ at the minute, even in a 4-1 defeat to Liverpool all anyone spoke about was Louie Barry and that goal (which by the way, is our goal of the season for me, irrespective of what’s scored between now and the end of the season).

Long may it continue hopefully.

Martin O'neill got 6-6-6 but his football was no where near the delight of this team......Deans style is so believeable that we are going somewhere.

I am still surprised how he has improved the defensive side of our game....we are really not far away from being really really special.....we are just special right now.

[Dave-R]

33 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said:

Anyone who thinks top 3 or winning the title has lost the plot. We should be winning the the Champions League this season.

Yeah I think your crackers when we can go win the world cup, didnt you know Villa is about to own it's own country

[TRO]

4 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

I have fear a big job will be appearing after the Euros this summer are over.

Not sure what Smith would do.

I have a fear of England, again.....but Southgate is young, so it might not happen.

However, providing the owners pay him, his worth and support him in the transfer market, so far,so good......I just can't see him leaving for another club......He just looks like he is at Home, with us.

It was interesting when asked which 3 managers he would spend his own time with, he said Big Sam,Klopp and Pep......so he must be quite friendly with them.

[MaVilla]

9 minutes ago, AV82 said:

Pinching myself on the daily having this guy in charge.

[mjmooney]

12 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

I have fear a big job will be appearing after the Euros this summer are over.

Not sure what Smith would do.

I hope he would consider the fate of previous incumbents (not least our own Graham Taylor) and realise it's a poison chalice. Be the greatest Villa manager of all time, don't sacrifice yourself on the England funeral pyre. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

Why would he want to manage England?

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Why would he want to manage England?

Villa fans legit have a " Anything good I have will leave me, they always leave " type mentality.

It's a theme in almost every thread when we are doing well.

Seems we need a mini slump soon to bring it back closer to the middle. lol

[sheepyvillian]

I've heard of " riding the wave ", but this is taking the gypsies. 

[QldVilla]

I have no fear of Smith taking the England job.

Any quality coach has their own personal goals they want to achieve and coaching the national team is for those coaches who have achieved their goals or can't get a better job. Yes, I said it.

As I've said many times, Smith isn't the finished article as a manager, he is still developing and it will come with experience. He's smart enough to put good people around him to challenge him and give alternative views, which breeds better decision making.

We've also seen that when he is able to get better players into the squad, the team improves.

Things aren't going to get any easier, the team will continue to need to improve and more talented players brought in.

If we are to get close to a Top 4 we need to be winning against teams like Burnley away and we need to beating Tottenham and Everton.

 

[Sulberto21]

4 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Villa fans legit have a " Anything good I have will leave me, they always leave " type mentality.

It's a theme in almost every thread when we are doing well.

Seems we need a mini slump soon to bring it back closer to the middle. lol

This is why I'm a big advocate for bidding for the likes of Rashford et Al just to unsettle those clubs and show our fans we mean business. Or start rumours in the media as those clubs do. 

Nassef Sawiris is a board member of Adidas and he has around 6-8% stake in them. I think we should believe that he knows what he's doing. Wes Edens has just initiated a one of the largest contracts ever in NFL history. 

Dean Smith is going to win trophies with us before the England conversation even enters his thoughts.

[zab6359]

11 hours ago, villa_shere said:

To answer my own question. We are currently 14th in the league for passing accuracy. 
 

Improving on passing and shooting accuracy could shoot us into European spots without sacrificing the way we play. 
 

I imagine the items above are more due to personnel and will improve with the quality of players we bring into the club

Passing is the only real area of our play that constantly annoys me,  and that table backs it up. Watching the way Man City pass the ball around is a joy, I guess it's something that will only improve as we bring in better quality players over time.