Dean Smith

[Lerner's Driver]

1 minute ago, hippo said:

Pretty much this. We have our off days and can't cut it against the very best. 

But we are not whipping boys anymore. 

The downside is - has DS been lucky having Grealish come into his prime , coupled with Martinez ....is this what we are about ???

Bottom line though - he's got us this far and deserves a while longer to see if he can make us top 4/6.

I really think we regularly need to buying £40m+ players to push on from here though.

How likely is that?

[foreveryoung]

23 minutes ago, hippo said:

Pretty much this. We have our off days and can't cut it against the very best. 

But we are not whipping boys anymore. 

The downside is - has DS been lucky having Grealish come into his prime , coupled with Martinez ....is this what we are about ???

Bottom line though - he's got us this far and deserves a while longer to see if he can make us top 4/6.

I really think we regularly need to buying £40m+ players to push on from here though.

Too true Martinez has saved us alot of games, probably wouldn't even finish midtable without him.

Alot of fans expectations have dropped, like it seems a few would still call it a good season if we didn't win another game. We could have had European football, Wolves did it, why not us, but we have flat lined and not kicked on like we should have.

[The Moustache of Teale]

38 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Didn't Eddie Howe win League One and the Championship with Bournemouth?

Pretty similar sized club to Brentford tbf

You make him sound like a miracle worker but fail to mention that they were bankrolled by a Russian millionaire, were guilty of breaching financial fair play etc. Light years from Walsall’s situation. Unfair comparison with Brentford too.

[TRO]

I watch Pep during a game and he eats, breathes &sleeps every move.....he reacts to almost every move, positively and negatively.....He reacts to what the players have been told.....in contrast tonight, i saw coaches caught in the headlights...no animation, no reaction, no real anything......does that mean it was all going to plan?

[paul514]

38 minutes ago, hippo said:

Pretty much this. We have our off days and can't cut it against the very best. 

But we are not whipping boys anymore. 

The downside is - has DS been lucky having Grealish come into his prime , coupled with Martinez ....is this what we are about ???

Bottom line though - he's got us this far and deserves a while longer to see if he can make us top 4/6.

I really think we regularly need to buying £40m+ players to push on from here though.

Realistically we need another handful of players like last summer before going down the expensive route

[useless]

Lets see how we react to tonight's very sad glum result, we've bounced back from disappointments before, and would be no surprise if we do so again.

[AndyM3000]

55 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

How likely is that?

Maybe not 40m but 25-35m players I reckon we will be looking at in the summer. If we keep Jack and he wants to play left side of a 3 then we need a replacement in AM where Barkley is, if Jack goes there then you get a new winger. Another CM would be the next place to improve for me.

Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Luiz, *New CM*, *New AM*, Grealish, Traore, Watkins.

Pushes our current starters into squad players. A bench of Heaton, Engels, Hause, *New full back*, McGinn, Sanson, Nakamba, Trez, El Ghazi, Wesley looks ridiculous. *Edit* Even missed Ramsey out.

We just have to find that quality. Tielemans, Richarlison were all in that price bracket that turned out to be gems, just need to avoid the Haller's and Joelinton's. 

Edited March 3, 2021 by AndyM3000

[Mantis]

27 minutes ago, TRO said:

I watch Pep during a game and he eats, breathes &sleeps every move.....he reacts to almost every move, positively and negatively.....He reacts to what the players have been told.....in contrast tonight, i saw coaches caught in the headlights...no animation, no reaction, no real anything......does that mean it was all going to plan?

It means absolutely nothing. For one thing, the cameras aren't even on the manager 98% of the time.

[lexicon]

32 minutes ago, TRO said:

I watch Pep during a game and he eats, breathes &sleeps every move.....he reacts to almost every move, positively and negatively.....He reacts to what the players have been told.....in contrast tonight, i saw coaches caught in the headlights...no animation, no reaction, no real anything......does that mean it was all going to plan?

Do you expect the manager of Aston Villa to be one of, if not the best in the world? 

Such a **** weird criticism. 

[thabucks]

He has shown he can learn and improve as a coach and seek guidance from the right people... Very happy with the progress we are where I would have wanted us to be, asked18 months ago. We need to keep in perspective where we’ve come from in a short space of time.

I (stupidly) wanted him gone last season and in the. Summer... And so happy to be proven an idiot and wrong! 

There will come a time when we will move on & outgrow Smith, or vice Versa - England job? and no one can predict when that will be. As long as we continue to develop as we are then challenging for Europe should be attainable in another 18 months  if Smith continues his path of development. Exciting times ! 

Edited March 3, 2021 by thabucks

[KentVillan]

58 minutes ago, TRO said:

I watch Pep during a game and he eats, breathes &sleeps every move.....he reacts to almost every move, positively and negatively.....He reacts to what the players have been told.....in contrast tonight, i saw coaches caught in the headlights...no animation, no reaction, no real anything......does that mean it was all going to plan?

Plenty of great managers have been quite reserved on the touch line. I think main thing is the manager has to be authentic and have the respect of his players. I don’t want him pretending to be someone he isn’t.

[A'Villan]

Sheffield United were sixth, equal on points with fifth placed Wolves, this time last season, and they maintained that position through until July last year, before dropping off somewhat.

Dean Smith gave Nakamba and Ramsey opportunities to impress in our last two, and I respect any coach who grants his players time on field, if and when he feels they deserve it, even if they aren't necessarily first choice.

I also respect any manager who has the guts to try a setup and approach that he hasn't previously, with the thinking that the new composition will be dynamic and fruitful.

So far we've beaten Leeds, who are no mugs, and dropped valuable points to the blades, who were never penciled in as a victory regardless of the expectations of any Villa faithful.

Based on those two results, I'd say Smith's idea has proven that there's merit behind it. However, I do wonder if he's fielding a side that can go on to become first choice, or if what we've seen was momentary.

I'm hoping it's the latter.

[Zatman]

3 hours ago, dudevillaisnice said:

Our abysmal record against 10 men continues 

50 percent win record this season in 4 games

[Zatman]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I watch Pep during a game and he eats, breathes &sleeps every move.....he reacts to almost every move, positively and negatively.....He reacts to what the players have been told.....in contrast tonight, i saw coaches caught in the headlights...no animation, no reaction, no real anything......does that mean it was all going to plan?

Brilliant for Pep with his 50 million pound per player squad player

[VillaChris]

One thing he needs to do now is finish top half.

I don't quite get the mentality of people who'd be fine with 12-14th as they'd have been more than happy with that in September.

So would I but we've been top half for all bar about two weeks and were playing excellent football right up to January.

Why is it acceptable just to give up now because Grealish is out? (and he'll hopefully be back very soon).

Finishing 12th would probably mean finishing below Wolves and Leeds which would cause a mini meltdown on here so I'd rather avoid that.

Wouldn't say much for our future ambitions of wanting to be top 6 in 2-3 years time if we just give up on a season once we get to 40 points so I hope the manager has more about him than that.

8th or 9th is still very realistic imo.

[A'Villan]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I watch Pep during a game and he eats, breathes &sleeps every move.....he reacts to almost every move, positively and negatively.....He reacts to what the players have been told.....in contrast tonight, i saw coaches caught in the headlights...no animation, no reaction, no real anything......does that mean it was all going to plan?

Surely @TRO you understand that preparation is the most fundamental path to victory. As said by Miyamoto Musashi and written into the Bushido principles, "Do not think dishonestly, the way is in training." Pep can be as passionately animated as he likes whilst delivering sideline instructions, but riddle me this, if his players had not prepared with any instructions prior to KO, would they, or would they not, spend the entire 90minutes focused on Pep's antics and guidance, rather than focused on the game unfolding before their very eyes, should they pay attention to Pep's intense gesturing and commentary during play?

 

14 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Plenty of great managers have been quite reserved on the touch line. I think main thing is the manager has to be authentic and have the respect of his players. I don’t want him pretending to be someone he isn’t.

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” - Bruce Lee

[lexicon]

6 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

One thing he needs to do now is finish top half.

I don't quite get the mentality of people who'd be fine with 12-14th as they'd have been more than happy with that in September.

So would I but we've been top half for all bar about two weeks and were playing excellent football right up to January.

Why is it acceptable just to give up now because Grealish is out? (and he'll hopefully be back very soon).

Finishing 12th would probably mean finishing below Wolves and Leeds which would cause a mini meltdown on here so I'd rather avoid that.

Wouldn't say much for our future ambitions of wanting to be top 6 in 2-3 years time if we just give up on a season once we get to 40 points so I hope the manager has more about him than that.

8th or 9th is still very realistic imo.

Anything that isn't relegation battle is acceptable. 12th-14th would be a little underwhelming but would be OK.

[nick76]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I watch Pep during a game and he eats, breathes &sleeps every move.....he reacts to almost every move, positively and negatively.....He reacts to what the players have been told.....in contrast tonight, i saw coaches caught in the headlights...no animation, no reaction, no real anything......does that mean it was all going to plan?

Money isn’t everything but there is a world of difference between what Pep and his players should do compared to the rest of the world.  It should certainly be our aim but comparison is hard when Pep himself is allegedly earning 15-20m a year himself and his players cost a fortune, just his defence cost silly money....

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/12789663/pep-guardiola-man-city-spending/

 

[lexicon]

Tell u wot ladz if we don't win da league we shud sack smiff and get sheeruwd in

[Zatman]

18 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Money isn’t everything but there is a world of difference between what Pep and his players should do compared to the rest of the world.  It should certainly be our aim but comparison is hard when Pep himself is allegedly earning 15-20m a year himself and his players cost a fortune, just his defence cost silly money....

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/12789663/pep-guardiola-man-city-spending/

 

I am sure Pep could make Hause, Engels, Elmo and Taylor supreme defenders

It took him 10 years and about a Billion pounds to finally build a defence